Once I went to a raw food restaurant, thinking that the at-the-time-latest-trend-in-food might be kind of interesting. I was wrong. Raw food was just raw, and the couple of dressings on top of the few leaves I ate were not anything I couldn't get bottled from the organic grocery store down the street. I was not pleased, especially when I saw the astronomical bill. If I recall correctly, I headed straight to Lombardi's for a huge four-cheese pizza, and left my vaguely vegan friend in the dust.

But the thing is, I quite like veggies. I believe in them, believe in cooking them carefully, believe that they can be more than just a side recommended by the guys in charge of the good food chart. So I was thrilled to hear about Dirt Candy.

Dirt Candy specializes in vegetables. Not as sides; not as vegan, healthy food; but as individual things that have their own rich flavours that can be teased and twisted into something glorious. Owner and executive Chef Amanda Coehn says in a press release, "Just as there are a lot of steak houses that specialize in doing wonders with steak, and seafood restaurants that specialize in serving great fish dishes, I want to create a restaurant that specializes in cooking amazing vegetables."

The menu looks stellar. Jaleapeno hush puppies come served with maple butter; portabello mousse has fennel pear compote; spinach soup (bright green) comes with smoked tofu dumplings, lemon confit, water chestnuts, and pistachio oil; kimchi doughnuts have watermelon radish kimchi and almond hoisin sauce. The second course includes a paella crisp with asparagus saffron broth; pinot grigio papardelle with roasted cauliflower and pine nuts; and crispy tofu with green ragout, with kaffir lie beurre blanc. The stand-out dish seems to be the stone ground grits, with pickled shitakes and a tempura poached egg. (How do you tempura an egg without breaking it?! Genius.) Dessert-lovers will not suffer the usual vegan butter-less disasters (although there are vegan options.) Instead they can indulge in seasame caramel cake, with citrus salad and carrot ice cream; popcorn pudding, with hazelnut caramel corn; ricotta fitters, with green tomato marmalade, and lemon olive oil ice cream; or candied apple with shiso tempura and green apple sorbet.

"Vegetables are amazing," says Chef Cohen. "Made out of little more than water, sunlight, and dirt they wind up growing into a candy store full of color and flavor. And that’s what I want Dirt Candy to be: nature’s candy store."