Thursday, January 7, 2010

Liking The Loving Hut

Are you attending a Ringling Bros. or rodeo protest at Madison Square Garden (the bull riders are in town this weekend!), or just catching a game or concert there? Leafleting outside of the fur district? A tourist? An office worker in search of humane dining? If you answered yes to any of these, and are hungry, you may want to consider New York City's new entry on the vegan scene: The Loving Hut.

The former tenant was a mac and cheese place, where I vaguely recall someone trying to hand me a leaflet wearing a sandwich board and a fake plastic cheese on his head. I once e-mailed them to suggest soy mac and cheese (check out Alicia's version). They should have listened. The vegans in the area would have pounced faster than you can shout, "Olsen twins you're so tired, wearing fur in uninspired."

The Loving Hut sandwich, $6. With tarragon mayo (which I chose) or chipotle sauce. Not having eaten a real chicken since I was a teenager, I can't compare it to the real thing. Tasty, loved the mayo. To drink: complimentary hot tea.

Vegan beef fried rice...my taste buds are intrigued.

Share the love for less: 15% off between 3-6 PM.

Visit the Loving Hut, 348 Seventh Ave. between 29th and 30th Sts., New York City, Mon-Fri., 11-9 PM, Sat., 11-8 PM. Closed Sundays.

Have a Trader Joe's nearby? Pick up their beef-less or chicken-less strips in their refrigerated section and stir-fry with your favorite sauce and veggies. Below is my mom's version. Add toasted sesame seeds for sesame 'chicken'. Serve over organic brown rice (easy, breezy single serve packs) or their vegetable fried rice (both in their freezer aisle), and you have Chinese take-out, without, well, the take-out. You won't miss the meat. Check out more of their vegan goodies.

6 comments:

Gillian Young said...

That restaurant looks adorable! I'm not a huge fan or soy but I sure miss grilled cheese sandwiches since I cut out dairy and might have to try one out with soy cheese!

Catherine said...

Hi Gillian. Happy New Year. It was cute...very cozy!

I've only used soy cheese for my grilled cheese sandwiches, but know there's a lot of non-soy recipes floating around on the web:

http://www.recipezaar.com/Vegan-Grilled-cheeze-Sammiches-249076

Many non-dairy fans love nutritional yeast flakes.

My favorite non-dairy product: organic almond 'milk,' which I use on my granola and fruit, and even with my drinking chocolate.

Ted Teodoro said...

I wish there was a place like this in my area, 5th and 42nd street. Subway predominates in the area.

Anonymous said...

Hey Gillian,
The newest and best addition to the vegan cheese world is soy-free! It's called Daiya and is made of cassava and tapioca. It's amaaaazing for melting on grilled cheese, nachos, pizza, quesadillas, etc. You can order it pre-shredded here: http://www.veganstore.com/daiya-vegan-cheese-shreds/Page_1/209.html

Enjoy!

Catherine said...

Chessbuff: same situation by Penn Station/Madison Square Garden, I'm afraid. Dominated by chain restaurants/fast food. So glad a veg option opened up in this area. All the vegans and vegetarians aren't in the Lower East Side! I hope they do well. If they build it, they will (hopefully!) come.

The New Vegan said...

I love the Loving Hut. We have one here in Orlando. They have a Fabulous Pho that I love to get. The prices are so good and the people that work there are the nicest.