***When you arrive, ask to be seated with the Meetup group. Come any time between 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm, stay as long as you want. It's Friday night! Everyone pays for their own meal. ***

***Watch Chef Guy on Shark Tank, Sunday October 21 at 9 pm on ABC,
Which "shark" will invest in Beyond Sushi?***

Since the opening of their first vegan sushi restaurant 6 years ago, Beyond Sushi has been gradually expanding to varying parts of the city. Of their 6 locations, the 37th Street location (b/w 6th and 7th Avenue) is by far the largest space with 75 seats and the only location serving beer, wine, cocktails and sake by the glass.

For those of you who have never heard of Beyond Sushi, Chef Guy Vaknin came up with the idea for his vegan sushi twist while he was the Executive Chef at his father’s kosher catering company, Esprit Events. Focusing on creative ways to operate the catering company’s Sushi station, in a kosher world where you can’t mix fish and meat, Chef Guy came up with the idea of incorporating healthy fruit, vegetable, and whole grain based ingredients. Over a period of several years and after seeing a demand for healthy vegan food in the New York Market, the idea grew from there and the foundation for Beyond Sushi (The Green Roll) was born. Esprit Events is also where Guy met his wife, Tali, who together own the Beyond Sushi brand and where Tali Vaknin, with extensive experience in public relations and event planning, initiated their catering division.

Chef Vaknin was not a vegetarian or vegan prior to opening the restaurant, but according to a Q&A on his website “I was ignorant about this ‘vegan’ industry. I sat down and learned. What am I doing? I like to watch documentaries. That’s one of my hobbies. And I’ve seen all the documentaries about veganism – Forks Over Knives, Earthlings, etc. I felt like it was something I should try. It felt great. It changed my life completely. It became part of my lifestyle. Now I am fully vegan”.

After 5 pm at their 37th Street location, an exclusive dinner menu is offered including shared plates and snacks along with their creative sushi rolls. View the menu: https://beyondsushi.com/uploads/1538676405567-44881538676405567-4488.pdf

Discover their Autumn specials. Their sushi special includes coffee-roasted kabocha squash, avocado and baby arugula wrapped in black rice topped with burnt eggplant and yuzu coconut sauce.

Or a salad bowl special with farro, roasted broccoli florets, avocado, pickled shiitake caps, coffee-roasted kabocha squash, roasted pumpkin seeds and black garlic powder served with a yuzu coconut vinaigrette dressing.

And finally a dumplings special packed with baby arugula, kabocha squash and burnt eggplant topped with lemon panko, micro arugula and black garlic powder and a yuzu coconut sauce.

Food this healthy and delicious usually comes with a heavy price tag, but Chef Vaknin has a different philosophy, “If you can afford a burrito across the street, you can come here.”

So come and experience the 37th Street location for yourself and don't forget to watch Chef Guy and Beyond Sushi on Shark Tank, Sunday October 21st at 9 pm on ABC.

- Stefan

***When you arrive, ask to be seated with the Meetup group. Come any time between 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm, stay as long as you want. Everyone pays for their own meal.***

Subway Directions:

• 1, 2, 3 line to 34th St or 42nd St (7th Ave)

• N, Q, R, B, D, M,or F to 34 St (Broadway)

• A, C, or E line to 34th St (8th Ave)

• 7 line to 42nd Street

Photos courtesy of Beyond Sushi