Many excellent options exist for fine vegan dining in NYC, however, I just want to share some of my favorites:

Traditional (yes, I said traditional) Japanese Shojin cuisine.  Perfect for special occasions.  The menu changes monthly and, for a treat, try their Omakase menu.  Everything is authentic and beautifully prepared and presented.  A treat for all the senses.
KAJITSU
http://kajitsunyc.com/about.html
125 E. 39 Street
**They also have a tea store on the street level with some incredible selections**

​Marvelous tapas style dishes filled with rich favors and delectable aromas.  A bar well supplied with creative and fun beverages.  Gorgeous plush green seating.  Brings in a trendy, hipster crowd.
LADYBIRD
http://www.ladybirdny.com
111 E. 7th Street
**Especially fun in the summer when they open up the windows and it's full of cool breezes, tasty tapas and wonderful drinks**

Chinese DIM SUM!  I never, NEVER thought it would be possible to get authentic Chinese dim sum in Chinatown that would be cruelty-free ... yet ... it is possible!  Bodhi makes awesome, super delish dim sum and it's kosher, too!
BODHI
www.buddhavegetarian.com
77 Mulberry Street New York, NY 10013
**They deliver, too!  From Houston to 34th Street!**

Korean cuisine in a traditional setting (yes, you must take off your shoes and, yes, it's super fun) with beautifully balanced and healthy dishes focused on health and run by native Koreans.
HANGAWI
http://www.hangawirestaurant.com
12 E. 32 Street
**I was taken here on a date and it is very romantic.  They have an amazing Valentine's Day tasting dinner**

Best Mexican food EVER plus awesome tequila.  What's not to love?
BAR VERDE
65 2nd Avenue, NYC
http://www.matthewkenneycuisine.com/bar-verde
**Outdoor seating in the summer so if you want to bring your dog (as I do mine!) and enjoy dining al fresco, you can!**

They deliver!  Contemporary vegan sushi and more - plus they have nut-free, gluten-free, soy-free options.  Delish!  With their app you can get 20% off your first order with the code "beyond20"
BEYOND SUSHI
www.beyondsushi.com
**Locations all over Manhattan:  Union Square, Chelsea Market, W 37th Street, W 56th Street, and the Financial District**

This is the perfect spot to bring meat eaters who are skeptical of veganism and want to see "familiar" things like burgers on the menu.  They offer vegan brunch, lunch and fun dinner with a multitude of options, great wine selection and helpful indicators on the menu to note nut-free, gluten-free and soy-free options:  BLOSSOM
http://www.blossomnyc.com
Locations on 9th and on Columbus in NYC.
**Outdoor seating in the summer so if you want to bring your dog (as I do mine!) and enjoy dining al fresco, you can!**

Fancy date night/special occasion dinner with delectable tapas-style dishes focusing on fresh, wonderfully prepared vegetables and grains and superb wine in an absolutely beautifully decorated, intimate setting:  AVANT GARDEN
http://www.avantgardennyc.com
East 7th Street in Alphabet City
**You can actually watch the chef prepare the food, which is really fun.  This place is very popular so best to call ahead and make reservations**

Pizza and calzones.  Vegan.  Delicious.  Casual.  Nuff said.  
SCREAMERS PIZZA.
http://www.screamerspizzeria.com
620 Manhattan Ave. in Brooklyn
**Yes, this one is in Brooklyn**

Korean and Asian Fusion vegan food at very decent prices and in the coolest setting - a multi-tiered seating set up with beautiful presentations, with everything from vegan sushi to Bibimbap to noodles to dumplings to delicious sake tasting flights.
FRANCHIA VEGAN CAFE
12 Park Avenue, between 34th and 35th Streets
http://www.franchia.com
**Sit on one of the upper tiers facing out for a neat view**

Pizza pizza pizza.  Oh, yeah, and a superb wine selection!
DOUBLE ZERO
65 2nd Ave., NYC
​www.matthewkenneycuisine.com/double-zero
**Outdoor seating in the summer so if you want to bring your dog (as I do mine!) and enjoy dining al fresco, you can!**

Go forth and eat delicious, cruelty-free nom noms!  

I have to share this so so so good make-your-own healthy, gluten-free, vegan crackers recipe from Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods:

You'll need:
2 C flaxseed meal
1/2 t salt
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t onion powder
1/2 t poppy seeds
1 t sesame seeds
1 C water

Then:
Preheat your oven to 400 F. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add in the water and mix until dough forms. Spread onto a baking sheet and flatten to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into 1 1/2 inch squares and bake until crisp with brown edges (about 25-30 minutes). Makes 3 dozen crackers.

Happy snacking!

More nifty recipes using whole grain flours, oats and seeds at http://www.bobsredmill.com​.

It was my privilege to give opening remarks at the Launch Party of the 2017 72 Hour Shootout filmmaking competition.  The competition's theme this year is "Welcome to the New Normal," which the Film Lab felt was particularly on point given the current cultural and social climate in the United States.   This year, a sponsor generously hosted the party in a private residence with a no shoes policy.  It was so different and fun giving remarks that I've done in years past all dressed up on a stage in heels instead barefoot in a lovely living room.  It gave me more of an opportunity to interact with the audience and gauge their reactions to my words.  As is always the case, some people will agree with what I had to say and others will not.  Sharing the speech (or watch/listen here):

To put it lightly, we’re living in interesting times right now.  Perhaps never before in many of our lifetimes have we seen such deep political divides in our country, such animosity, separation and alienation of people.  We are living in a time when people fear one another based on religion and skin tone and where free and open debate in the so-called “free world” is stifled.  We live in a time where the freedom of the press is under direct assault by the executive branch of our government; in a time when xenophobia – fear of foreigners, of immigrants – is at an all time high; [is anyone here a true American by ancestry – meaning they can trace their ancestry all the way back to here, this country?  Any Cherokee?  Any Navajo?  If not, then everyone in this auditorium is or comes from people who are not native to this country.  Think about that] This is something to think long and hard about when our actual native people – specifically, the Sioux Native Americans - are again being violently abused and robbed by American authorities.  The same American authorities who committed genocide against them but we don’t really talk about that in school, do we? 
 
Lady Liberty has had her hands tied.  The media is having its tongue cut out and it sometimes looks like the only one left standing is Lady Justice…and she’s on pretty shaky ground. 
 
Both the alt right and the alt left – from the anarchists to the fascists – want to break the system.  Destroy it and create something new.  For some, the collateral damage, the people who are destroyed in the process, doesn’t matter because the ends justify the means.
 
What does that have to do with the Film Lab?  With the 72 Hour Shootout?  Everything.  The Film Lab promotes diversity in entertainment media.  Not just for fun or out of hubris, but as a positive and constructive means of effectuating necessary social change.  Entertainment media is power.  It’s power because it shapes our perception, a culture and as a society, of race, gender, sexuality, and religion on a national – if not a global - level.  Perception creates reality. 
 
The Film Lab’s 72 Hour Shootout provides a platform for people, faces and voices marginalized, stereotyped and erased altogether from the mainstream media.  The Shootout enables those who have been silenced and hidden to be seen and heard in a meaningful and substantive way.
 
2017 is the Shootout’s 13th year.  Lucky 13, I hope.  It is, perhaps, the Shootout’s most important year in terms of where America is, politically and culturally.  And what we at the Film Lab want to focus on is not walls or threats or divides; we want to remind everyone what brings us together.  What connects us.  We want to focus on our common humanity.  The black woman lighting the candle at the vigil for the fallen Asian American police officer.  The Latino man at the Women’s March shouting, “Equal pay for equal work!”  The white woman standing in solidarity at the Black Lives Matter rally.  The straight, Asian American man waving a rainbow flag at an LGBTQ demonstration. 
 
We need to support one another – now more than ever.  We need to create entertainment media that shows our possibilities and our potential.  In order to create an equal playing field where all are welcome and respected, we need to welcome.  We need to respect.  We need, Ladies and Gentlemen, to stay woke. 
 
This is easier said than done.  But it is possible if we care enough to try hard enough.  With the Shootout, you have the power to control the narrative.  You have the power to shape our reality.
 
I’ll close with a quote I love from Ernest Renan, who said, “People are slaves neither of their race nor of their religion, nor of the course of rivers nor of the direction taken by mountain chains.  A large aggregate of people, healthy in mind and warm of heart, creates the kind of moral conscience which we call a nation.”
 
This year, our Shootout hashtag is #StandTogether.  We hope you will.  I hope you will.