P.S. Kitchen should be on your radar for two reasons: its readily accessible location—at 246 West 48th Street by 8th Avenue, the restaurant is steps away from Times Square—and its mission. About the latter: shockingly, given the margins that all NYC eateries work with, let alone kosher ones, P.S. Kitchen donates 100% of its profits to charity.
“The restaurant started as a passion project in 2017 to help animals, the environment and people,” says Jeffrey LaPadula, general manager at P.S. Kitchen and former manager and co-owner of other NYC vegan enterprises, Terri and Peacefood Cafe. “We donate 100% of the profits to charity but, often, we don’t make any profits for months. We also host events for charities and employ people from nonprofit Defy and other local organizations.”
The restaurant has been certified kosher by IKC since the day it opened.
“As a vegan place, it just makes sense,” explains LaPadula. “It’s easy since we don’t have dairy, eggs or meat in the building.”
Speaking of the food: classic vegan go-tos pepper the menu, including a Beyond burrito, mac and cheese, a dish of linguini Alfredo and breaded maitake mushroom wings served with Buffalo sauce alongside a potato salad and house bleu cheese.
Other interesting choices include a seitan marsala, a Thai chicken sandwich, a Western BBQ chicken salad and a Colombia potato soup.
Dessert wise, expect the usual suspects: tiramisu! Carrot cake! Brownie with ice cream!
A full bar serving classic cocktails alongside more creative concoctions (the Thyme to Chill is made with limoncello, Floc De Gascogne, thyme syrup and soda) is also on site. But P.S. Kitchen also keeps up with the times: the bar menu features a zero proof section.
As for the crowd that frequents the eatery, it’s all about Times Square. According to LaPadula, most guests are either heading to a Broadway show or stepping out of one.
“We’ve got many parties of two,” he reveals. “But we also do large groups and private events. The cast of Hamilton has been here!”
The difficulties involved in operating a culinary enterprise in NYC are no secret, a fact that makes P.S. Kitchen that much more impressive and worthy of kosher New Yorkers’ attention. See you there?
