East Side, Represent

Counter is the East Village’s best veg spot in my humble opinion. It is a bit on the costly side so I haven’t been there but twice. Once in 2008, which seems like 5 minutes, ago for their spectacular brunch, and again in the twenty-ten with my dear CandyPenny for a catch-up /I can’t believe she’s moving to Austin, Texas dinner conference. Such a important evening required several courses, starting first with a strong cocktail to take the week’s edge off. I ordered the Angry Lesbian, their signature with tarragon-infused vodka, framboise and orange. But part of me wanted to say “I’ll take an Angry Lesbian.”

As with many classy joints, we had dimmed lights to contend with in our food photography. Since I will be sharing a more exposed picture of their yummy East Side Burger with my Part 2 of my NYC burger reporting (See here for Part 1), I will keep you in the dark for now. The burger and fry combo was a tough choice as I was tempted by much in their dinner menu. The entree hit the spot with its house made mushroom-seitan, herbed patty on a thick potato bun and pommes frites sprinkled to the nines.

I demanded we split a dessert and what a delectable and interesting treat we fork-fought with.. a pear-chocolate semolina cake topped with a porto caramel & oatmeal streusel with a scoop of a nut-based vanilla ice cream. So good I nibbled on the edible flower after we cleaned the plate, in denial…