Throwback $95 prix fixe at Dirt Candy (LES) February 2023

I wish I could say it took a lot of restraint to keep form clicking "birthday" or "anniversary" when it's not my birthday nor my anniversary on the Resy reservation I made at Dirt Candy, a one-Michelin starred vegetarian located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. I usually hit the expensive restaurants, like Dirt Candy, alone though meaning it's a little harder to say it's your anniversary when you're a party of one.

I ate at Dirt Candy almost a year ago now and I had a very small Tumblr post about it back when I used to sporadically post restaurant reviews and general food related news there. At the beginning of 2023, Dirt Candy's 5 course tasting menu ran $95, tip and 2 non-disclosed "kitchen snacks" included, but not tax. Now, it's $105.

Winter 2023 menu at Dirt Candy in the LES, Manhattan, NYC

When I went to Dirt Candy last year, patronage was younger, dress code casual, and noise levels were lively but civilized lending to a relatively unstuffy vibe, despite the higher price tag on the prix fixe.

I sat at the counter, looming over the back of house staff putting the finishing touches on dishes before they go out. I also ordered an $18 glass of Muri Passing Clouds sparkling white non-alcoholic white wine.

The first course was a beet éclair that was served with a beet tisane, aka fancy words for beet tea. I loved the goat cheese heavy filling, but the shell was a bit stale. My favorite component though was the warm, slightly briny beet tisane.

Inside of beet eclair, goat cheese, grapefruit, Sicilian pistachio, beet tisane course during prix fixe meal at Dirt Candy in the LES, Manhattan, NYC — Beet eclair, goat cheese, grapefruit, Sicilian pistachio, beet tisane

Beet eclair, goat cheese, grapefruit, Sicilian pistachio, beet tisane course during prix fixe meal at Dirt Candy in the LES, Manhattan, NYC — Beet eclair, goat cheese, grapefruit, Sicilian pistachio, beet tisane

I've never been the biggest fan of any part of the celery plant, but the grilled celery and celeriac skewer kitchen gift at Dirty Candy surprised me. Once I got over feeling stupid about burning the corner of my lips on the searing hot metal skewer (they did warn me 😭) and pulled the celeriac and fixings off with a fork, I found that it was wonderfully smoky from sitting over the grill. There was a slight bite to it thanks to the Szechuan pepper sprinkled over it and medium-hot slices of green chili. Could have eaten 5 more (washed down with beet tea).

Smoky grilled celeriac skewer kitchen snack during prix fixe meal at Dirty Candy in the LES, Manhattan, NYC — Smoky grilled celeriac kitchen snack

I also loved Dirt Candy's onion pizza: cheese and caramelized and raw onions on a pillowy chive crust, decorated with small dollops of creme fraîche and seaweed caviar, finished with a little lemon zest to brighten everything up. A really creative way to show off the different flavor profiles of onion depending on how it's cooked. Plus I love seaweed caviar.

Chive pizza, caramelized onions, ricotta, seaweed caviar (created by Sous Chef Michaela Duke) during prix fixe meal at Dirt Candy in the LES, Manhattan, NYC — Chive pizza, caramelized onions, ricotta, seaweed caviar created by Sous Chef Michaela Duke

The next Dirty Candy kitchen gift that came out repeated beets. This time though, it was a bed of prettily placed fresh shaved beets with a bit of pickled beet on a knob of creamy labne, finished with a drizzle of olive oil and a bit of grated horseradish.

Fresh beet or radish kitchen snack during prix fixe meal at Dirt Candy in the LES, Manhattan, NYC — Shaved beet, pickled beet, labne, grated horseradish kitchen snack

The rutabaga dish Dirt Candy Sous Chef Andrew Duong created reminded me of the tamarind based sinigang my mother used to make, but cleaner. Sour and savory broth with perfectly cooked rutabaga so it still had a little firmness in the middle.

Rutabaga gnocchi, galangal, coconut, tamarind (created by Sous Chef Andrew Duong) course during prix fixe meal at Dirt Candy in the LES, Manhattan, NYC — Rutabaga gnocchi, galangal, coconut, tamarind created by Sous Chef Andrew Duong

At this point, I started getting full and therefore less interested in what Dirt Candy would serve next and how. When the main, a Kentucky-fried butternut squash came out, I picked at the crunchy squash, but was more keen on the pumpkin biscuit and the slightly oniony spaghetti squash slaw. The slaw tasted a bit like egg salad in the best of ways.

Crispy butternut, pumpkin biscuit, kabocha gravy, spaghetti squash slaw course during prix fixe meal at Dirt Candy in the LES, Manhattan, NYC — Crispy butternut, pumpkin biscuit, kabocha gravy, spaghetti squash slaw

A potato dessert capped off Dirty Candy's 5 course prix fixe meal. A couple curls of dark, crispy potato mille-feuille and chocolate malt ice cream was plated on a generous pool of french fry caramel. It brought to mind the idea of dipping salty, hot out of the fryer french fries into a cold milk shake, which isn't my thing but I was surprised by how well the salted savory of the mille-feuille and caramel balanced the sugar content.

Dessert course of potato mille-feuille, french fry caramel, chocolate malt ice cream during prix fixe meal at Dirt Candy in the LES, Manhattan, NYC — Potato mille-feuille, french fry caramel, chocolate malt ice cream

The check came with a sweet collard green gummy that was...definitely made from collard greens. 😕. I asked a passing server what he though of them: "😕 It's okay. I like collard greens but maybe not like this." I agreed.

Collard green gummy at end of the meal during prix fixe meal at Dirt Candy in the LES, Manhattan, NYC — Collard green gummy

All in all, for the amount of food and the creativity, I thought Dirt Candy's prix fixe was worth it.

If prix fixe is your thing and money isn't really a big deal, consider joining the Tasting Collective, a NYC-based dining out club with paid membership and monthly prix fixe meals. As someone who's pockets are bottomless, I have mixed feelings on the dinner club and won't renew, but wrote about all the feels here.

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