• New York City is one of the few places in the world where it is actually easy to stick to a vegan diet. Animal-friendly restaurants---from ethnic diners to juice bars to fine-dining restaurants---excite vegans who might otherwise have to always cook for themselves. Organic and vegan restaurants and dessert shops dot Manhattan, especially, and the boroughs. For people just starting to explore a vegan diet, many vegetarian restaurants serve both meatless and tasty vegan options on the same menu.
  
  

Angelica's Kitchen

• Angelica's Kitchen is purist restaurant---the kitchen offers only fresh, 100 percent certified organic ingredients served to diners less than 48 hours after harvest. The kitchen uses no refined sugars, preservatives, dairy, eggs or animal products at all. Angelica's, unlike some other tiny vegan eateries, is a fully operating dining room designed with a warm, refreshing, clean and modern motif. The restaurant is always buzzing with a young crowd, and there is a daily menu and a standard menu, both filled with tasty, healthy options. Some exemplary dishes include the traditional hummus plate served with baked zahtar pita triangles and crunchy crudités; the warm open-faced tempeh sandwich; southern-style cornbread; and delicious thick or clear homemade soups perfect on a frigid afternoon in the city. As of Winter 2009, prices range from about $6.50 for wholesome appetizer plates to special entrees for $10 to $14--truly worth the price.
  
  Angelica's Kitchen
  300 E. 12th St.
  New York, NY 10003
  (212) 228-2909
  angelicakitchen.com
  
  

Candle 79

• Candle Cafe, Candle 79's predecessor, was named the first Certified Green Restaurant in New York City by the Green Restaurant Association. By popular demand, Candle 79 opened in 2003 just five blocks away, with the same 100 percent organic and vegan ethic in a new farm-to-table design. Candle 79 offers vegan diners a two-floor fine-dining experience with an organic wine and sake bar. Candle 79 serves vegan sandwiches and burgers like the Tuscan Seitan Parmesan Sandwich or the Tofu Club with vegan mayo, or the more refined (but equally delectable) Ginger Miso Stir Fry or Tuscan Lasagna with grilled fresh vegetables and tofu basil ricotta. Zagat has rated Candle 79 twice as the number one vegetarian restaurant in Manhattan. An average entree at Candle 79 costs between $15 and $20 as of Winter 2009.
  
  Candle 79
  154 E. 79th St.
  New York, NY 10021
  (212) 537-7179
  candlecafe.com
  
  

The Ayurveda Cafe

• Ayurveda is an organic Indian fine-dining restaurant. The owners believe that pure (Sattvic) food is necessary for a healthy diet, and the restaurant's ethic says that every meal must incorporate the six tastes: sweet, salty, bitter, sour, astringent and pungent. The restaurant offers mostly vegetarian food, but with vegan options. The preset menu of the day provides a tasty sampling of Indian delicacies, with a basmati brown rice appetizer with assort chutneys, vegetable entrees with bread and lentils, special mango lassi or shake, and Indian spiced or black tea. As of Winter 2009, lunch prices start at $8.95 for the preset menu, and at $12.95 for the dinner menu.
  
  The Ayurveda Cafe
  706 Amsterdam Ave. (at 94th St.)
  New York, NY 10025
  (212) 932-2400
  theayurvedacafe.com
  
  

Blossom

• Blossom is an intimate, gourmet-friendly vegan restaurant settled in the Chelsea area amid neighborhood townhouses. All the restaurant's ingredients come from local farms and distributors and are certified organic. The menu items are ornate and creative. Starters include a ravioli dish with cashew cream with smoked tempeh and white mushrooms, and the Black-eyed Pea Cake--a cut of Yukon gold potatoes served with black-eyed peas and chipotle aioli. Entrees are even more lavish, and include the Hickory Basted Tempeh over Horseradish Creme Fraiche, and the Phyllo Roulade, made with lentils and root vegetables baked in phyllo dough with a carrot cream sauce. Appetizers range from $10 to $12 and entrees run from $18 to $22 per plate as of Winter 2009. The dining room functions as a juice bar and cafe by day and a fancy candlelit restaurant by night.
  
  Blossom
  187 Ninth Ave.
  New York, NY 10011
  (212) 627-1144
  blossomnyc.com/site