NYCReview
photo credit: Kate Previte
Anixi
Included In
New York's vegan dining scene moved past its patchouli-scented phase a few decades ago. Now you can have a meatless, five-course tasting menu at Dirt Candy, or a burger that bleeds like the real thing at PLNT Burger.
But decadence—the kind you indulge in when you want to live in a less insane version of The Wolf of Wall Street—still evokes carnivorous images of excess: steak, caviar, tax fraud. You’ll find that sort of unabashed glamor at Anixi, a plant-based operation in Chelsea. This outstanding Mediterranean restaurant is an ideal start to a big night out, preferably in your best faux fur.
photo credit: Kate Previte
photo credit: Kate Previte
photo credit: Kate Previte
photo credit: Kate Previte
photo credit: Kate Previte
From the chef behind Shark Tank-approved vegan franchise Beyond Sushi, Anixi leans heavily on fake meat and seafood products. (Besides being vegan, all the food and drinks are also kosher.) The appetizer on every table is an arak-cured soy salmon dish that’s committed to cosplay. Hanging from hooks on a small metal bar resembling a jerky rack, each strip of "fish" is painted with white stripes of fat. It’s borderline camp, and an indication that you shouldn’t take anything at Anixi too seriously.
Every dish has an element of pageantry, like it's dressed up as meat in a play about meat. Comically large and seriously flavorful chick’n and steak kebabs arrive at the table crossed like swords in a medieval duel. The preserved lemon-cured tuna tartare comes with an absurd amount of caviar on top—you can afford it only because it's made out of black seaweed.
That’s the fun of this place: indulging in the same level of completely unserious excess that makes restaurants like Casino and Holiday Bar feel like nightclubs with Bacchanalian appetites. That includes the space, which borrows from the '80s Art Deco revival with white marble walls, green suede, and a blinding amount of crystal. Whether the pile of caviar you’re eating is real or not, it’s only appropriate that you eat it under a sparkling chandelier that could cover someone’s mortgage payment.
Is Anixi the place to take that straight-edge Rise Against fan you picked up in the East Village? Probably not, unless they have a very generous sense of humor. (Take them to Superiority Burger.) Instead, bring a friend—herbivore or otherwise—who will prank call PETA with you after a few glasses of kosher wine.
Food Rundown
photo credit: Kate Previte
Arak Cured “Salmon”
photo credit: Kate Previte
Grilled Chick’n Shish Kabob
photo credit: Kate Previte
Preserved Lemon Cured “Tuna”
photo credit: Kate Previte
Crispy “Lamb” Cigars
3 Dip Mezze
photo credit: Kate Previte
Wild Mushroom Kabob
photo credit: Kate Previte
Olive Za’atar Pide
photo credit: Kate Previte