The holistic Divya’s Kitchen coming to the Bhakti Center on 1st Avenue

You may have noticed the paper on the doors at the Bhakti Center's dining space... here's more about what's going on here at 25 First Ave. between First Street and Second Street... via the EVG inbox...

Nearly 3 years ago, a small group of devotees came together to reignite the first floor at the Bhakti Center by launching a new cafe and gift shop ... It’s been rewarding and satisfying on a personal level to see the developments of the first floor over the past few years. This coming Fall, another exciting opportunity has presented itself ...

Many of you know Purusha Sukta and Divyambhara as the co-founders of Bhagavat-Life, an educational non-profit dedicated to teaching and sharing healthy, nourishing, conscious cuisine with the world. Beyond that, they are beloved community members and friends at The Bhakti Center who have been operating on our 5th floor for several years. The Bhakti Center has made a collective decision to partner with Bhagavat Life to bring the quality and experience of our cafe to a even higher level.

The new operation will function under the name Divya’s Kitchen. In addition to being a holistic, tasty, mindful cafe offering food that nourishes and uplifts each guest, it will also be the first authentic Ayurvedic cafe in NYC, and perhaps even the country. There will be items available for grab-and-go, as well as sit-down dining services.

The Center's yoga classes and other workshops are not impacted by the cafe's closure. The new cafe is expected to be open later this month.

The the Bhakti Center café returns today

[EVG file photo]

From the EVG inbox…

After much hard work, we are pleased to announce that the Bhakti Center café is reopening [today] as “Taste of Bhakti.” In tandem with the new Bhakti Boutique gift shop, Taste of Bhakti will occupy the first floor space, supporting the Bhakti Center with wonderful prasadam, a welcoming space for visitors, and a steady source of income for the Bhakti Center.

The café will open [today] in honor of the Bhakti Center’s celebration of the Appearance Day of Lord Nrsimhadev, serving light snacks and drinks from 11 AM with a free prasadam feast at 9 PM as part of the festival. The café will also serve a full meal (for sale) on Saturday, May 17 during the Six-Hour Kirtan. Otherwise, the café will continue hours of 11 AM – 5 PM with light snacks and drinks until the full opening on May 22nd with dinner hours of 5-10 PM Tuesday through Saturday and Sunday brunch 11 AM – 3 PM. The café is closed Mondays.

A few more highlights:
The café will served standard items every day of the week with rotating specials: Italian on Tuesdays, Indian on Wednesdays, Mediterranean on Fridays, and Thai on Sundays.

The gift shop has beads, books, clothing, jewelry, instruments, incense, music, temple worship items and home décor, and will be open Monday from 2 PM to 8 PM, Tuesday through Saturday 10 AM to 10 PM and Sunday from 10 AM to 3:30 PM.

The Bhakti Center is at 25 First Ave. between East First Street and East Second Street.

Bhakti Center vegetarian buffet on hiatus through March

The Bhakti Center launched the Bhakti Buffet last October at 26 First Ave.

However, the cafe is closed for the time being… per an e-newsletter item from the Bhakti Center…

Our Bhakti Buffet has been off to a great start, nourishing body and soul through the Fall and Winter. As the Spring approaches, we are looking forward to an exciting season of increased services and offerings. Our chefs and host team are working to provide you with expanded hours, developing menus, and enhanced dining experiences.

To make this happen, we will need to close our doors for a few short weeks to facilitate a few renovations and upgrades to our operations. Beginning Monday February 24th and through the month of March, the Bhakti Buffet will be closed; we will re-open the first week of April. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause any of you and we deeply hope that you can share the excitement with us as we patiently await the coming Spring and look to re-open in April.

And they are not the only folks patiently awaiting the coming Spring.

Hare Krishna cultural center introducing vegetarian buffet starting tonight

The Bhakti Center is launching the Bhakti Buffet starting tonight at the Hare Krishna cultural center at 26 First Ave.

Per the Center's website:

The Bhakti Buffet serves the guests of the Bhakti Center and is open to the public. The buffet is run by Chaitanya Kapadia, Krsangi Chander, and Mathura Rico, all of whom were born and raised in the bhakti tradition and see their service as a labor of love. Following the standards of bhakti-yoga, all preparations are pure vegetarian/vegan and are prepared following immaculate standards of cleanliness while bearing a bhava or mood of devotion. In other words, the food is cooked with love.

The menus include traditional Indian dishes as well as international favorites that are both delicious and healthy. The prices are affordable and the portions are hearty.

Generally the buffet will include…
1 special entree
2 vegetable dishes
1 or 2 rice dishes
1 soup
2 salads
1 drink

PRICING
$12 – the entire buffet
$8 – any three items
$6 – soup and salad
$3 – dollars any single item

"The concept is to provide healthy, fresh, wholesome vegetarian food at a very reasonable cost," the Center's program director David Ramella told Serena Solomon at DNAinfo, who first reported on the opening on Monday.

The Center ran a cafe here for two years, but closed it in 2011.

The cafe is open Thursday and Friday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.