Although the menu is inspired from world cuisines, Peter says that his preferred flavors are Asian, his favorite dishes that he cooks being the Thai, Vietnamese and Japanese items on the big broad menu – from a seitan satay appy, on skewers with sriracha aioli ($9), to a stir-fry of broccoli, bok choy, carrots, kale and tofu in a ginger garlic sauce with brown jasmine rice or rice noodles ($16). Asian flavors even sneak into non-Asian dishes, like the sriracha-and-sesame-oil-spiked “Rushing Out” dressing on the tempeh Reuben sandwich ($11). Popular are noodle pots like the Laksa, with rice noodles, broccoli, bok choy, carrots and shiitake mushrooms with tofu cooked in a spicy coconut broth ($17), or rolls like the Maki 61, a sushi-style roll of shiitake mushrooms, avocado, flying carrot “roe” and ume plum paste ($11). There’s the Dragon Noodle Salad of vermicelli in a Szechuan sesame peanut sauce ($9), and there’s Pad Thai ($16) and Scallion Pancakes ($8).
But Asia is by far not the only continent represented. Mexican and Italian cuisines are very veggie-friendly, per Peter, so you’ll find the super-popular sweet potato enchilada ($16) with corn tortilla, grilled sweet potato, sautéed spinach and goat cheese topped with black beans, and ravioli with a variety of fillings ($17). That’s not to mention the Machismo, a starter of grilled tofu, black beans, avocado and roasted red peppers in a tortilla roll ($10), and – in the sandwich category – the Bonzai Burrito, a flour tortilla filled with brown rice, black beans, goat cheese, salsa and avocado ($10).
There are about seven salads – such as Roasted Root, with beets, carrots, onions and goat cheese ($9) – with housemade dressings like sesame balsamic, Greek and tahini, and several sandwiches that are very popular with students, from falafel ($9) to pressed ones with veggies and cheeses. Tofu, seitan and tempeh make sure that you don’t miss the meat, like in the crispy jerk seitan chimichanga or the seitan piccata with panko-crusted cutlets in a lemon/white wine/caper sauce, with quinoa (either $17).
A kids’ menu makes sure that everyone’s happy, with dishes ($2 to $8) from sliced bread and butter to noodles with butter and parm. An experiment in eliminating that part of the menu made for a very unhappy little customer or two, Peter tells me, so it was quickly reinstated.
Sunday brunch offers the full menu, along with brunchy dishes like omelettes, breakfast burritos, huevos rancheros, challah French toast, McLunatic and Eggs McDeb and more, like sandwiches such as a veggieburger on ciabatta ($9) and the BPLT, with veggie bacon, Portobello, lettuce and tomato on whole grain ($8).
Several specials are available each day: an appetizer, a salad and two special entrées ($17 to $18). Everything on the menu is available as vegan, and the Maisels are happy to accommodate requests for an all-raw meal, say, or a gluten-free dish, with rice noodles. “I understand where they are coming from,” says Peter, who admits that gluten doesn’t always agree with him either.
Desserts are worth the trip from anywhere. Debra generously gave me a slice of her sumptuous banana cream pie: rich, not too sweet, a symphony of flavors and textures that lives up to the hype. I was told that homemade “Oreos” are part of the mix. All the desserts that she bakes use organic sugars and flours (never white) and quality chocolates and fruits. Her clamored-for desserts include key lime pie, coconut cream pie, pumpkin and other pies, German chocolate cake, big cookies, vegan fruit crumbles and cobblers and the heavenly Death by Chocolate, a multilayered confection of a flourless torte with layers of chocolate mousse, Reese’s Cup and Kit Kat. Vegan versions of many are always available, as are special orders for vegan or gluten-free anything, including wedding cakes.
Debra and Peter have been married 33 years and raised their kids in the restaurant, enjoying watching the evolving tastes of kid customers as they grow. “We’re a Mom-and-Pop place,” Peter says. “We’re always here.” If they have to go out of town for some reason, the place closes down while they’re gone. While Peter attended the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City, after a stint as chef at a Key West spa inspired him to help people eat healthily, Deb is self-taught. Both are originally from Long Island and owned a vegetarian restaurant in Portland, Oregon in the early ‘90s before opening Luna 61.
Peter tells me that 75 to 85 percent of the customers are not even vegetarian; but whether you are completely carnivorous, vegetarian, vegan, macrobiotic, gluten-free or a raw-foods-only eater, you will find something delicious on the menu that will nourish, sustain and please you.
Luna 61 is at 55 Broadway in Tivoli, (845) 758-0061, www.luna61.com. Luna opens nightly at 5 p.m. and closes at 9 p.m., except for Friday and Saturday at 10 p.m. Brunch hours are Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
