Writings, Thoughts, Interviews.
Anixi: An Omnivore’s Vegan Dream
By Emily Eggers
I know what you’re thinking. “Oh great, another new vegan restaurant in Manhattan, and I still don’t want to eat tofu.” But I am here to tell you, Anixi is different (dare I say, better) than all of them. Opened by Chef Guy Vaknin in early 2023, Anixi boasts bold Mediterranean flavors in a swanky but unpretentious spot in Chelsea. After experiencing the food, the ambiance, and the service, I am here to confidently say that this is one of NYC’s best new restaurants––vegan or not.
We started our meal with appetizers from both the “dip mezze” and the “raw mezze” portions of the menu. Opting for the riskier choices, we indulged in the Taramasalata (which is typically a Greek dip with a creamy yogurt-like base and cod roe) as well as the Preserved Lemon Cured “Tuna.” Paired with their za’atar-spiced pita chips, these may have been some of the best appetizers I’ve had ever. The taramasalata, made with a non dairy yogurt base and some vegan form of cod roe, was even better than the real thing. And, oh my god, the tuna. I need to know where or how they are making that tuna, because it was so flavorful, and tasted just like real tuna. To make a good thing even better, they top the tuna with a large scoop of seaweed “caviar” that pops in your mouth just the way real caviar does. By this point, they could have served me nothing for the rest of the meal, and I still would have left happy.
After the incredible appetizers, we moved on to the main course. A braised “beef” pide (Turkish flatbread pizza), and the grilled chick’n shish kabob. The “chicken” was delicate and meaty, perhaps better than some real chicken. Doused in a flavorful green sauce, this was the winner of the main course. The pide was quite delicious as well, with vegan cheese, vegan braised beef, and other toppings. However, we both kept going back for more of the chicken kabob. I also ordered a side of their cream of orzo, which lacked a bit of seasoning, but was otherwise good.
We didn’t manage to leave any room for dessert, though they all looked enticing. After two appetizers, two entrees, one side, and two cocktails, plus the pita chips, the total was $133 before tax and tip. While a bit on the expensive side, I found the entire meal to be well worth it. The only thing that surprised me on price was that the breads and chips were not included with dips.
Take it from me, a non-vegan, seafood-loving, private chef and recipe developer who has tried nearly all of the vegan spots in the city, you do not want to miss out on a meal at Anixi. I am already anticipating my return to try the cured salmon, and to indulge in the lemon cured tuna and taramasalata dip again.
A Q&A with Skyler Bouchard on Virtual Culinary School, Travel, and Losing 40,000 Followers.
By Emily Eggers
Skyler Bouchard started sharing her love for food and restaurants on social media over 10 years ago. While attending NYU, Skyler started the account @NYCDining, which has since transformed to @DiningWithSkyler with nearly 300,000 followers. Through global travel, a major content shift, live show hosting, and more, she’s had many ups and downs in the online culinary world, and she’s sharing it all with us.
“ I learned very difficultly that it's not fake it until you make it.
You really have to know stuff to do well in this space.”
EE: How would you describe who you are and what you do right now? Like what your job title is?
SB: So I would say I have two parts of my job. The main one is that I'm a recipe developer. I think this is a role that's kind of come up in the past like 15 years. I literally focus on developing recipes for home cooks. And then on the other side, I also am an on-air host. That's just something else I do in addition to developing recipes and it kind of intermingles together.
EE: I read your bio on your website…you were a squash player?
SB: I grew up traveling the world to play squash. I became an international player and through that I went to the Scottish Open, the British Open. I went to New Zealand and Canada. I actually discovered my love for food internationally and like my passion for traveling and eating. So, that kind of brought me to develop an interest in cuisine and traveling at such a young age.
EE: Were you always an adventurous eater or did you have to learn that as well?
SB: Honestly, I was always adventurous. I was the girl, when my friends would come hang out with me and I'd be like, let's play witches and throw some stuff in a blender and blend it up and eat it. So I was always eating weird things. My uncle's also in the business, so he would serve the whole family much more high-end meals, like bouillabaisse, beef wellington, lamb chops… at a young age. He wasn't just like giving a kid's menu to all the kids. He was like, you eat this. So yeah, I definitely dabbled, but my brother was the opposite. He was like chicken nuggets only.
EE: What is your favorite thing – this is a big question – what's your favorite thing you've ever eaten? Either at a restaurant or something that you've made?
SB: Oh my god. That is so difficult because I am such a moody person and everything I eat, it depends on my mood. And if I'm in the mood for it, it obviously tastes 10 times better. You know, you can get the best meal in the world, but if you're craving a slice of pizza, that's not gonna be the best meal in the world.
SB: I will say it wasn't one thing we had, but it was our wedding dinner. We eloped in New York and we went to this very high end restaurant called atera. It was fried chicken skin and it was paired with something else. It was so delicious. That whole meal just wowed me because it was just insane bites of creative, innovative food. And I know I'm not being very specific, but, okay, let me think about one thing. In Rome, the cacio e pepe obviously like, duh, like that's delicious. But if I had that here, it probably wouldn't be as good. That's also like an experience thing. Ooh. In Hong Kong, I remember having a Cantonese pork bun for the first time and that was like one of my favorite foods ever because it was savory, sweet, salty, fluffy, soft. Like, just beautiful. I actually went to Hong Kong through NYU food studies.
EE: I want to ask you a little about that. It’s so interesting to me. I'm really curious just about that whole trip that you did.
SB: It was life-changing. So I went in with a thesis about fast food. Like how pizza hut is considered high end in Hong Kong. But that whole experience was extremely eye-opening because number one, that's like ultimate culture shock in the best way. Like you're really experiencing flavors, ingredients, different lifestyles in terms of shopping for food. Just like a complete 180 to what we're used to here.
And you go to Europe and it's kind of similar, but like there, it's like you wake up at 4:00 AM to go to the fish market or the meat market, you go to the, like you get street food every day. So, it was very, very, very cool. And I also got to meet a lot of really cool people and learn about Cantonese cuisine, which is a beautiful fusion of flavors.
EE: What was your social media journey like? The recipe development side of it.
SB: It's been such a long journey. So, 2020 I made the switch just to recipes and I was very insecure about this switch. It was definitely coming out in my energy. I lost like 40,000 followers because people followed me for restaurant reviews in New York. I had already made a name change in 2017 from NYC Dining to Dining with Skyler. I knew this was a slow change and I was slowly getting there, but when I made that switch I lost so many people. So that was really tough.
I switched over to recipes, lost all those people, but I started becoming more confident. Like I could tell people were leaving because I wasn't confident in myself in what I was doing. And that shows and I started training myself, reading cookbooks, teaching myself every day, and practicing at home built my confidence and I started developing recipes with this new confidence and people started to see them. And I learned very difficult that it's not fake until you make it. You really have to know some stuff to do well in this space.
And since then it's kind of snowballed. There have been wins and losses. Like I see people just popping up overnight and just crushing it, which is amazing. It's actually very motivating and exciting for me. But there are days where I'm like, “why am I not at a million yet after 10 years?” When I started recipes, it was still photos and videos. No reels. Reels happened. That changed the game for me. And it's still my main focus just technically speaking.
EE: That's interesting you brought up confidence in teaching yourself and you are doing culinary school right now? Online right?
SB: So I actually enrolled in ICE to Go when I was in New York before the pandemic and then the pandemic hit and I was like, this is the cost of a down payment on a house. I gotta withdraw. We actually bought our house with that money, it was crazy. Then last year they reached out to me and they were like, “we just launched the online program. Do you wanna do it for a social media partnership?” And I was like, “yeah.” I, at that point I felt confident enough where I actually was very much on the fence, but then I was like, the universe is literally throwing this in my face. I'd be so dumb not to. I think it's actually perfect for anyone who wants to do recipe development because you learn how to create restaurant recipes with home kitchen equipment and do family size portions instead of working in a team in the school and delegating, which I think is great for working in restaurants.
So the process is like every week–I'm on pastry now–but I did culinary fundamentals 1, 2, 3, & 4. It's different proteins, different vegetables. You focus on them, you have your lectures, you watch live, you read, you have visual demonstrations. And you have to film yourself doing the whole thing like TimeLapse format. So they know you're not lying. Then you have to write a reflection on every taste profile. Like all the flavor elements, the process, take photos to show different stages of the cooking. And that's it. Not that you asked, but I'm in the middle of taking the photos of my flan and creme brulee right now. It was a good breakfast.
EE: What are you most proud of or your biggest accomplishment of your career?
SB: Ooh. There was one moment in 2022 that came so full circle for me. I was asked to be on the Today Show's American Cookie swap. And I mean, I'm from Delaware, like there's not many people in Delaware, but I was excited to do it. And I went on right after Christina Tosi who does Milk Bar and she was my idol growing up and I was on the Today Show podcast. Like, not with her in the same segment, but like after her. And I'm like, oh my God, this woman who I looked up to my whole career, my college career, my career, like I'm on TV with her. Like holy crap. And then other people I looked up to and just to be a part of that made me feel like, you know what? Like why do I doubt myself sometimes because I do deserve to be here. It was the one moment I really felt deserving of what I had.
EE: One final question. What advice would you give to someone looking to get into this field?
SB: Don't be intimidated by how oversaturated it is. It can be intimidating after you've already started or if you're, especially if you're just trying to start and don't get influenced by others' work and really focus on why you wanna wanna join this space.
And if, if it's because you're passionate about it and you would do it anyway, regardless of who's watching, then it's definitely the right fit.
If you're doing it just for numbers. I mean, sure you can try, but I feel like you need to really choose this path if it's something you love, regardless of who's looking or not.
NYU Application, Statement of Purpose
By Emily Eggers
Food is political. While it may not seem like what we consume on a daily basis to keep our bodies functioning could carry such a weight, it is inherently so. I argue anything which plays such an integral role in our daily lives and survival is inherently political. Air, water, healthcare, shelter, and so on. Food is of such importance that it impacts the need for healthcare as well as the quality of water and air due to pollution created through food manufacturing. However, unlike these facets of life, food is not taken as seriously as a human rights issue.
I grew up in Georgia and South Carolina as a picky eater without much interest in food beyond the taste. I never paid much mind when I was in the 6th grade to the fact that over 50% of my classmates and friends were on a free or reduced school lunch plan. I didn’t realize at the time the great fortune that was a peanut butter and jelly Uncrustable sandwich and some pretzels packed into an insulated lunch box. I remember seeing some kids in the cafeteria empty-handed, with no lunch box packed by their mom and with no money to buy school lunch. At the time I thought they just didn’t have an appetite.
In 10th grade, I remember being curious as to why some of my friends and classmates were always so hungry in second period, well before lunchtime. I was beginning to take note of the privilege it was to have a parent who made sure I ate before going to school.
When I left one small southern town for another, somehow even smaller, southern college town, I was never able to have the uniquely collegiate experience of a dining hall due to being a transfer student. Thus, I decided to learn how to cook. I taught myself how to cook basic proteins like fish, chicken, and steak, and I tested the waters by trying fun recipes like Mexican pozole, Vietnamese pho, and mastering the art of the perfect spaghetti carbonara. While I loved learning about cooking and, more so, about eating, I never considered anything related to food as a part of my career. It was just a passion, I told myself, and making a career out of it would ruin the passion. Plus, I had already decided I was going to go to law school.
I studied philosophy during my time at Clemson University. Initially, I just chose it because an article told me it would be a good major for law school, which was my ultimate goal. I ended up falling in love with the study of philosophy, and it entirely changed the lens through which I view nearly any problem or topic. The professors and the course material pushed me to challenge my own beliefs and to question everything I thought I knew.
After graduating early, I had a few months before enrolling in law school. But I began to question my own life a bit more. Why did I want to go to law school in the first place? I didn’t particularly have any great reason aside from desiring a consistent and steady income. I deferred my acceptance and sat on the question for another year. I left my legal assistant job and I took a job at a gourmet food store. I also started my plant-based food blog business on the side. Still craving something more, I took a serving job at a very unique, small, cocktail bar.
It was at the cocktail bar where I learned so much more about the typical person’s relationship with food. Being the liaison between a wealthy patron and their $20 pork belly steam buns can give you a sense of purpose. Accepting the praise for the food and drinks that you recommended and you served, but did not yourself make, awards a different sense of appreciation. While not every customer was kind, the ones that were had a way of making my day, in hopes that I made theirs.
Because the restaurant was such a small operation, I often hung out in the kitchen on slower nights and talked to the cooks. One had been to culinary school. One just learned from working in kitchens. One made fresh bread every day and brought it in to sell. One refused to cook outside of working hours. It became very clear to me that some people cooked because they loved it, and some people cooked just to keep themselves fed. Once again, I was made aware of the privilege it was to be able to cook for enjoyment.
Eventually, after seriously considering studying “food law,” I realized it was the food that I wanted to study, not the law. I was so much more interested in the philosophical and political discussions happening around food than the legal discussions. If admitted, I would love to learn more about this. I also realized that while the law may provide a stable and satisfactory income, it wouldn’t provide me time to do what I love. I opted not to enroll in law school and devoted my free time to really focusing on my plant-based food blog, which was at the crux of my passion.
Soon after, I discovered the Health Supportive Culinary Arts program at the Institute of Culinary Education. I enrolled, moved to NYC, and will complete the program this summer. Another topic I’m interested in researching is the cultural shift toward plant-based foods. For me, attending culinary school had always been a pipe dream until I found this program. As I am writing this, I am nearly halfway through the course and loving every piece of it. However, I still want to push my knowledge further.
One of my culinary instructors mentioned the NYU Food Studies Master's program, which immediately piqued my interest. Once I read more about the program, dug into the curriculum descriptions, and read some of the professor and alumni biographies, I knew this was the perfect next step for furthering my education. I am so excited to dive deeper into the idea of food as a political facet and the way it impacts each of us in our daily lives on the micro and macro scale.