Trip to New York

Visiting New York and my friend Sara.
(Warning! Picture heavy at the end!)

 

As I said in my last post about Mordor, I was in New York City for a few days. My good friend Sara, whom I have mentioned several times on this blog, invited me to be a witness in her wedding. I was honored to go and see my friend (it had been over 2.5 years since we had last seen each other!) and witness her wedding.

 

While in New York, we ate. A LOT. And it was wonderful good food. Here are my reviews of the foods I got at several restaurants:

 

Peacefood Café:

 

I went to Peacefood Café twice on my trip. The first night, Sara and I walked there to meet Euntaek, her then fiancée, and his friend Christine. It is a fun, small, vegan restaurant on Amsterdam Ave at 82nd street. Sara and I both had the raw lasagna. I had the other Caesar salad and Sara had the quinoa salad. The lasagna was layers of beautiful flavored mushrooms, zucchini, and tomatoes with a kick of basil and nutty walnut cheese. The salad was crisp and light with just the right amount of dressing: enough to cover the leaves, but not enough that it would run or drip when eaten. The smoked tempeh tasted just like the turkey bacon I used to eat in high school and the croutons were delightfully crunchy. Euntaek had the Mushroom Panini and Christine had the Roasted Japanese Pumpkin Sandwich and they both seemed to like them a great deal. We all split a side of chickpea fries with a very rich dipping sauce.

The second trip was on Saturday morning. Sara, Euntaek, and I went around 10:30 and it wasn't nearly as packed as Thursday night. We all ordered the Scrambled Tofu with Home Fries, (which also came with lettuce that tasted super great paired with the tofu). The fries were seasoned with rosemary and salt and everything was served at a fantastic temperature. I also ordered a mango lassi that had the perfect combination of soy yogurt and cardamom that blended with the mango seamlessly. I hadn't had a mango lassi in years, and I was so excited to receive such a wonderful vegan one! Euntaek also drank a smoothie, but I don't remember which one (it was purple). Lastly we ordered cookies. I really wanted an oatmeal raisin cookie, but they were out, so I got the double chocolate cookie. It was a little dry for my tastes, but was wonderfully chocolaty.

In all, I would highly recommend this restaurant and I hope to go back and try more foods on their menu.

 

Blossom (in Chelsea):

 

Blossom is a vegan restaurant that we went to after Sara and Euntaek's wedding. The menu was varied and had many options I wanted to try, so it was hard to make a decision. Sara and I ended up sharing a spinach mushroom and pine nut ravioli in cashew cream and a BLT with fried tofu and tempeh bacon with a side green salad. The ravioli was a dream. Cheese is the one non-vegan thing I still get massive cravings for. The cashew cream on this ravioli was so thick and delectable that it satisfied any craving I'll probably have for at least a month. It came with four ravioli the size of my palm and a little cherry tomato on top. It was really spectacular. The BLT was good, but could have used more of the chipotle aioli because the bread was a little dry. The green salad was a pretty basic green salad, but nice. What really sold me on this place was the desert. I had the chocolate ganache that came with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of peanut butter sauce. It was heaven on a plate. This super filling desert was rich, dense, creamy, and cold; just what I wanted. The service was a little slow at times, but overall it was a fantastic experience.

 

Café Grumpy (W 20th Street):

 

This little coffee shop was super crowded when we headed there before we ventured on to lunch at Blossom. It was a little cramped for  five of us in the back room, but we managed to fit around a tiny table and have a nice chat. I didn't have any of the pastries because I didn't want to ruin my appetite for lunch, but I did have a white peach blossom tea which was lovely. The front room of the café had a lot of character with the exposed pipes and brick walls. The back room was a little more sterile with different styles of artwork arranged around the room.

 

Grom (On Broadway):

 

Grom is an Italian based gelato company. Pear Sorbet is probably one of the best sorbets I have ever tasted. I tend to get sorbets at all the restaurants I go to because they are usually the only vegan deserts that I can order. Not many places serve pear sorbet though, and this was one of the best sorbet's I've ever had. (The best was a blood orange sorbet I got at this awesome place in Freiburg, Germany.) I loved that the vegan options had a little (v) next to them, so I was able to easily choose the foods I could eat. It is very filling and satisfying. The small is perfect for a snack.

 

Hummus Place (On Amsterdam):

 

This was another great place to eat! I had the falafel sandwich. Euntaek and Sara had this really cool looking tomato egg cheese dish and we shared baba ganoush, hummus, and grapeleaves. Falafel is yummy! It was a great atmosphere even though it was a little crowded. 

 

We did do somethings besides eating. That included shopping!  We went shopping in Sephora and sara got and awesome lipstick/lip stain that was a beautiful bright red that went well with her skin tone. I didn't get anything because I'm trying to use up all the makeup I already own. I did however end up buying done henna and we put it in my hair.That was an adventure. It took several tries, but we finally got the right color. I really love it!  

 

We also went on a walk through central park and by the Met.

At the Met

Looking at the beautiful rainbow

It's the Bifrost!

Me in Central Park. Look at my new skinny jeans!

In Central Park

Sara and I love to be out in the sun!

Totally looking like a dancer in that fifth position

Yay! The Met again!

After the first application of Henna

After second application of henna

I love this new color

It even goes well with my glasses

close up of the color



We walked around town so much while we were there. I walked almost 10 miles on Friday! I was so glad that I had my fitbit so I was able to see how much I actually walked. I also lost a few pounds just from walking around so much. I can't imagine anyone being really overweight in NYC if you end up walking around as much as we did. I did end up having to go back home. (ugh, flying is not so fun... so cramped in those seats) but I'm super glad that I was able to see my friend and have a great trip!

Sara with her flowers

The buffalo tofu I got at La Guardia. It was super tasty but upset my tummy... curse you buffalo sauce of doom!