HAGS

Inside HAGS: Telly Justice’s Joyfully Radical NYC Spot

"Run by Telly Justice and Camille Lindsley, the 18-seat HAGS in Manhattan’s East Village feels like a cuddle of a room — softly pink, banquette-lined, and decked in riotous floral displays studded with 3D-printed ice cream cones, a Michelin Young Chef Award and a black skull nestled in the petals, and even a labeled jar of fentanyl test strips in the bathroom beside a funhouse mirror. Wednesday through Saturday nights they serve an inventive, hyperseasonal, and almost completely gluten-free tasting menu that exists in joyous omnivore and plant-based forms (reflecting Justice’s roots in vegan cafés), paired with an eternally curious wine list emphasizing queer-owned brands and abundant nonalcoholic options; the vegan tasting menu includes smoked, locally made tempeh with marinated and roasted eggplant and crispy fig leaves. Sunday brunch operates on a pay-what-you-may sliding scale with the same lovingly plated menu — think a cornbread French toast with roasted-blueberry butter and vanilla crème anglaise, mushroom grits with preserved mushrooms, mushroom mousse, chestnut mushrooms, and truffles, seasonally rotating cinnamon rolls (tender, fluffy, sometimes strawberry hibiscus or even glittered vegan varieties), and a signature poached leeks dish wrapped with kohlrabi, cacao-nib chile crisp, red onion–fermented coconut soubise, nasturtiums, and confit egg yolk. I appreciate how hospitality is central here — hugs at the host stand, welcoming trans women and people who are newly out or financially insecure without asking why — and that they even share recipes (like the ramp pancake and huitlacoche puree) on a public Google Drive, an experiment in “building a pirate ship” that sails specifically for the people it’s for." - Kat Kinsman