Restaurant Review: Blossom on Carmine

Before I jetted off to eat like a fatty in Las Vegas and Philadelphia, I had a few Groupon’s at healthy places that I needed to try before they expired.  The first was Blossomon Carmine- which made me really nostalgic since it was basically across the street from my old apartment on Bleecker St. that I miss so much!

Blossom on Carmine is super cute inside, and I am kicking myself for not knowing it existed when I lived so nearby! Not that I could have afforded to eat there on a regular basis.  Those were the days of $1 beers and pizza.  (Ok, if we’re being honest, my wallet says it’s still the days of $1 beers and pizza.  My taste is what begs to differ).

Blossom on Carmine is owned by the same people behind Blossom in Chelsea, Café Blossom on the Upper West Side (reopening in September) and V-Note on the Upper East Side (which I have already reviewed on this blog).

I was excited to try this place after an exception experience at V-Note. Like V-Note, Blossom on Carmine is a vegan restaurant- a lifestyle that I’ve been giving some serious thought to! If I could have Blossom provide my 3 meals a day, I would have made the switch already! The website described Blossom on Carmine as having “delicious, varied small plates meant to be shared and enjoyed with wine and cocktails.”

Luckily, my friend and I are pretty great at agreeing on what to order, and I love shared plates. We started with the eggplant lasagna small plate and the housemade marinara and daiya mozzarella created pretty convincing lasagna! The sauce was a little thin and soupy for me, but it made up for it with a solid taste.

(Eggplant Lasagna)

Next up for the small plates was the gnocchi. This was killer! This roasted pumpkin and sweet potato gnocchi, sautéed kale, golden beets and a sage cashew cream had me ready to say goodbye to dairy forever.  The gnocchi, besides combining potato and sweet potato which is always yum, was perfectly crispy on the outside with a fluffy middle. 

(YUM sweet potato and pumpkin gnocchi!)

A great thing about Blossom on Carmine is that they change their menu with the seasons, to ensure they’re using veggies that are in season! Currently, the menu features a green pea gnocchi with sautéed leeks and pea shoots, fennel, truffle butter and a cashew cream. Since I’m not a huge fan of truffles or fennel, I’m so happy I got to experience the heavenly pumpkin and sweet potato gnocchi.  I mean, it came with beets and kale too.  What more could I have asked for? 

For our large plate, we had a little more difficulty choosing.  Eventually, we settled for the picatta- pan seared seitan cutlets, lemon/white wine/caper sauce, truffle mashed potato and sautéed kale.  The more I eat at vegetarian and vegan restaurants, the more I’m coming to realize that I’m not the biggest fan of seitan’s consistency.  It’s a little slimy, or something? That took away from this dish for me, but the taste was pretty delish, and I always love mashed potatoes (and luckily they weren’t truffle-y at all). 

(Ok, this doesn't look very appetizing)

As a side, we went with our go-to…brussels sprouts! We’ve sampled a lotttt of brussels sprouts, and Blossom on Carmine’s, served with garlic and shallots, were just OK. 

(Sproutz)

At the end of the day, as a non-vegan (at least for now), I wouldn’t come back here without a Groupon.  It’s pricy for the amount of food you get, and I was only really impressed with one of the dishes (that gnocchi was damn good!) Usually, I wholeheartedly support the notion that vegan and vegetarian food is just as good as any other food.  But in this case, the seitan picatta had me missing chicken just the tiniest bit.

That’s not to say that the flavors here weren’t excellent. And if you’re vegan, I would definitely check it out.  But so far, V-Note still gets my vote (hey, that rhymes)!

  (*Also, take this review with a grain of salt- I ate here a pretty significant time ago, and am only writing the review now!)