LAX on Lark is unrecognizable. The bar and nightclub that anchored the northwest corner of Lark and State streets in Albany for eight years, closing during the lockdown, has emerged 12 months later as a classy, bucolic oasis that leans just as heavily on trailing plant installations as its plant-loving, vegan menu. Bar Vegan, as the name suggests, has made the same 180-degree shift seen in Manhattan at dining mecca Eleven Madison Park or locally at the Troy Beer Garden, where the rebrand put plants on the menu and a florist up front.
Though not vegans themselves, sibling restaurateurs Will and Mary Phan say steady customer demand for vegan plates at their restaurants Lark Street Poke Bar and The Loft @205, upstairs and accessible from inside Bar Vegan, set the idea in motion, along with a desire to rebrand after the lockdown canceled their sometimes chaotic late-night college crowd. The final inspiration came from a group dinner at Avant Garden, the celebrated modern vegan restaurant in Manhattan, where high-end cocktails and flavorful dishes checked the dietary preferences boxes of everyone in Phan’s crowd.
It seems Bar Vegan is on track to make bank. Even with staffing shortages that keep Mary front-of-house and Will on the kitchen line, ferrying plates and checking tables, the timing seems right. Post-pandemic interest in sustainable, planet-friendly, meat-free options is at an all-time high, as evidenced in the local openings of Take Two Cafe in Schenectady and fast-food takeouts Burrito Burrito in Troy, Wizard Burger in Albany and the short-lived pandemic pop-up Industry Eggplant, to name a few. But Phan wants more than vegan burgers to go. He envisioned relaxed, sit-down dining, shareable tapas, vegan wine and beer, even carefully sourced vegan spirits for creatively designed cocktails like Pueblo viejo blanco in the Wild Hibiscus or Frankly apple-ginger root vodka in a riff on a Moscow Mule.
We sit at a table beneath a mirror that doubles the botanical effect of trailing plants cascading from ceiling lattice, our position partly obscured by spiky foliage exploding from planters that divide the dining room from the bar. (The Phans partnered with MaryAnne Repecki of the Lark Street Flower Market to install and care for so many living things.) Delicate string lights shine on white subway tiles behind the concrete bar, and a chalkboard illustrated with liberated farm animals connects the rurban scene.
On the night we visited, there were only six tapas on the slim menu, and two specials that have since joined the permanent line-up, which now totals about a dozen. Many, like a spicy, gluten-free noodle bowl and potstickers filled with silky edamame puree, feel like plates you might find at The Loft upstairs, but the focus on animal-free means little overlap: There’s a separate fryer and grill for dairy-free vegan batters, and in recipes maple syrup replaces honey, soy sauce is gluten-free, and there’s no place for oyster sauce. We’re content to sip cocktails and graze on our spread: juicy, gossamer-crisp tofu in golden triangles laced with sweet chili, crushed peanuts and lime, those edamame potstickers in a red-curry moat, a tempura-battered sushi roll with roasted sweet potato contrasting with crunchy fried shallots and sesame seeds.
Zucchini fries are less about the soft wedge of zucchini inside and all about the fantastically crisp batter that lets us alternate soft, sweet and crunchy bites as we pick and choose across plates. These tapas are generous, if not ground-breaking: potato-corn fritters cool quickly to smooth, limp pancakes (a little more corn would deliver more fritter-like heft), and the vegan chili is mild and tomatoey. Phan said they plan to offer spice options across the menu; customer feedback suggests some would like the spicy noodle bowl to have more heat.
Bar Vegan’s customer base is still young, but older than LAX's college crowd, calmly sipping carefully vegan cocktails and wines. Some winemaking methods use animal products like egg whites, gelatin or casein from milk for “fining” to speed up the clarification process or smooth out tannins. Will Phan worked with his distributors to identify vegan wines, beer and distilled spirit producers for a 100 percent vegan drinks line. We note that most tables are sharing plates, perhaps a legacy of the food-with-drinks lockdown rule. A musician playing on a Friday night lends a civilized vibe. Even a table of guys in backward baseball hats and talking sports are splitting plates. Perhaps the noisier college crowd has just migrated across the river. A quick, late-evening stop at the vegan Troy Beer Garden proves Friday night can be environmentally conscientious and still come with a near impenetrable wall of sound.
As Post closes and The Larkin and McGuire’s sit empty on either side of the street, Bar Vegan is a happy rebrand for the block of Lark after Central and Washington converge. I was unprepared for the extent of the LAX transformation, but the prettily remodeled bar will have broad appeal, and you can always slip upstairs if someone in your party wants a steak.
Bar Vegan
Where: 205 Lark St., Albany
Hours: 4 p.m. to midnight Wednesday and Thursday, 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Live music: 8 to 11 p.m. Friday; Trivia, 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday
Price: Food, $7 to $14; desserts coming soon. Cocktails, $12 to $14; wine, $10 to $13; beer, $5 to $9
Info: 518-449-3532 and barveganonlark.com
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October 20, 2021 at 10:11PM
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Review: Bar Vegan a leafy, tasty retreat in Albany - Albany Times Union
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