Happy news for vegetarian foodies in New York City (and no, vegetarian foodie is not an oxymoron. There are plenty out there!): Zagat is reporting that five years after Zen Palate's Union Square restaurant shuttered and three years since the Financial District outpost closed, a new branch of the gourmet vegetarian Chinese "mini-chain" has opened in Manhattan's Murray Hill district.
The restaurant, which has had outposts in various locations around the city over the years (its flagship is on 9th Avenue and 46th Street), specializes in healthy and surprisingly tasty vegetarian cuisine. (The "Celestial Tofu," for example, is a combination of bean curd and seitan with veggies in a tomato sauce, while the "Sizzling Medallions" will make even the most devout carnivore forget about General Tso's chicken.)
A new outpost opened last year in a different Union Square location, and the new eatery is located at 516 Third Ave, close to Grand Central Terminal and the Chrysler Building. Visit www.zenpalate.com.