Exploring the Lower East Side and finding a Knishery

In case you’ve ever wondered, this is what part of the Lower East Side looks like at 5am.

I was up, bright and painfully early on a Saturday morning ready to take on the city, but we had to wait until the city that never sleeps… woke up. First stop that day was Yonah Schimmel’s Knishery (137 E Houston St, New York, NY). It was just around the corner from our hotel, and after reading a few reviews of the place on IEatVegan and LunchBoxBunch about the place, and I thought – well this place sounds great. I’ve never had a knish why not get an accidentally vegan and authentic one? There is an assortment of flavours some vegan, some not. I asked the man working in the store if they were vegetarian, if they had eggs or milk in them, and he said they didn’t (other than the obviously non-vegan ones like cheese filled) So we ordered a vegetable one and a sweet potato one. I found the sweet potato one a lot sweeter than I would have expected, with a hint of cinnamon, it was the perfect breakfast.

Jordan’s vegetable one was soft and savory, and probably my favourite (which is why I might have picked off several pieces of it when he wasn’t looking.) They have a bunch stacked in a glass case, ask you what you want, and throw them in the microwave for a couple of minutes. They were good, but I’m curious what a freshly baked one would taste like (which is how new baking projects start up.)

The knishes were great, and I can totally see why people would order a dozen from their website, but it definitely inspired me to try making my own at home.