V-Note, NYC

UPDATE: This restaurant has permanently closed.

V-Note is Blossom's newest venture having only been open since last winter. After the experience at Blossom du jour at lunch, I had lower expectations. I was pleasantly surprised. The restaurant is small with very little seating and a good-sized bar. The decor is black and white with a full window at the front of the restaurant. It has a trendy feel to it. They are big on their wines, but after spending the afternoon at a bar with friends, I wasn't in the mood for wine at dinner. We started off with the mushroom phyllo cigars. The presentation was very nice -- the "cigars" were placed on top of each other on an angle in a cashew cream sauce with almonds and pomegranate seeds. The sauce and seeds complemented the mushroom pastries quite well. I thought it could have had less sauce, but I suppose more is better than not enough. Instead of less sauce, adding two more cigars would have been even better. I could have easily eaten 3 of them!

For the main course, I ordered the mushroom walnut ravioli while Zach ordered the seitan medallions dish. The housemade ravioli stuffed with mushroom walnut mixture in a light citrus sauce was very tasty. It was over a bed of spinach, which was a nice complement to the thick cream sauce. I do think that the sauce was a bit too lemony--a little less lemon and bit more herb would have been nice.

Zach's dish was seitan medallions in a French peppercorn sauce. The seitan was a great texture and the delicate flavors went well with the potato cauliflower puree and roasted asparagus. I actually liked Zach's dish better than mine as it also had a small mesclun salad and had a good mix of food. Mine was a bit on the heavy side.

Lastly, we finished the night off with a chocolate ganache cake. This cake was so soft, it just melted in our mouths. The soft peanut butter center and ice cream were delish and the perfect way to end a superb meal.

I give V-Note 4.5 stars. I do think their portions could be slightly smaller--for what is a nice, upscale restaurant, I found the portions too generous. I think they are on their way to competing with the big boys in the ranks of the top vegan restaurants in the country. This is a must-do on a vegans' trip to NYC.

V-Note
1522 First Avenue, nr 80th St.
New York, NY
(212) 249-5009