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My Recent Dinner at One Lucky Duck
The other night I took an old friend of mine from Nantucket to One Lucky Duck, one of my favorite organic restaurants in NYC. About 20 years ago we used to work together at The Wauwinet Inn and after not seeing each other for more than a decade, I bumped into him on the street the other day. He’s a super guy who is now doing big things in the photography world and enjoys coming to organic places with me.
One Lucky Duck is the takeaway, less formal, much smaller part of Pure Food and Wine. There are only three tables (all close together) at One Lucky Duck, which makes for a very social environment. In fact, it is where I met one of my very dear friends, an amazing woman who lives in India but just happened to be visiting New York for a few weeks earlier this summer.
Now, onto the food. One Lucky Duck is a raw food restaurant, which means that nothing is cooked above 118 degrees and all the food is vegan. No meat, no dairy, no sugar.
I absolutely LOVE the salads at One Lucky Duck — they are amazing. And, the desserts are just fantastic.
It doesn’t make sense to put a dessert first but they were giving away samples as soon as we got there and I was starving. Not overly concerned about ruining my appetite and unable to help myself, I dug into this Eggnog Truffle. People would not believe it has no sugar and no dairy. Awesomeness.
Next, came the salads. I normally order the Pumpkinseed and Herb Salad (greens, kale, parsley, cilantro, mint, hemp seeds, pumpkinseed macadamia parmesan, pumpkinseed lemon dressing) but went for something different during this visit.
I got the Mediterranean Salad for the very first time. It was arugula, kale, kalamata olives, tomatoes, pumpkinseed macadamia parmesan and balsamic vinaigrette. As I normally do, I had them add avocado and dulse.
Dulse, the sea vegetable which is piled on top, really ramped up the flavor profile. The olives had great texture, the greens were firm and delicious, and the overall taste was filling and refreshing.
There are four primary reasons why I love the salads so much at One Lucky Duck.
1) The dressings have such a unique taste and are not overpowering.
2) The ingredients are so unique and fresh.
3) Everything is mixed so well. I never have to mix anything myself. It is all done for me.
4) The presentation and color are always spectacular. The bowl size is spot on.
Oh, yeah. Let’s not forget how fantastic they taste.
My friend Jeff had the Spicy Sesame Salad. I had never ordered it before nor had seen it. The shredded cabbage, beets, jicama, daikon, cashew sesame crunch, wasabi aioli, cilantro and sesame dressing looked and tasted spectacular. Again, very fresh and phenomenal texture.
By the time dessert rolled around, which we technically started out with, both of us were pretty full. However, I couldn’t leave without having something.
So, I went for my usual — the Orreo Cookie. They are probably not legally allowed to call it an Orea cookie but that is what it is. Except it is organic and no dairy or sugar is used.
The cookie part is made of Italian almond flour, cacao powder, coconut oil, vanilla extract and maple syrup. The cream is made of cashews, agave, cacao butter, soy lecithin, vanilla bean and salt.
How they can replicate the traditional Orea so well kind of blows me away.
Another great meal at One Lucky Duck. For sure, I will be back