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NYC Recap: Part 3

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Saturday morning started out bright and early with a trip to Prospect Park-Brooklyn for the NYRR Jingle Jog 6k. Once we arrived at the starting point I found a place to watch and Neil headed off to his corral with the 6,000+ other runners.

Neil with the teal shorts #3212

Neil finished the race in around 35 minutes which was wonderful for his first race back since his head injury, I’m so proud of him!

After the race we were both hungry so we headed back to Manhattan to our apartment to shower and get ready for the day. By the time we were ready it was 11am so we headed out for brunch at Caravan of Dreams. When we arrived we were the only people there and ended up having a nice and quiet meal just the two of us.
After looking over the menu Neil and I decided to go with a brunch option which is served with a house salad, choice of fresh orange juice or sangria (or virgin sangria) and coffee or tea.

Decaf for me and regular for him.  Wonderful coffee. 

Virgin Sangria for me and regular for him. (I shared some of my berries since the regular was lacking). 

Salad for both of us.  The salad had a ginger-sesame dressing on it that Neil loved but I just wasn’t a huge fan of; I’m not much for ginger unless it’s in a smoothie of cooked up in a stirfry.
For my entree I had the Polenta Platter which came with Tomato, ali-oli, sautéed greens & vegetables, black beans.  My food was absolutely delicious! The greens were nice and garlicky and the polenta was lightly griddled and delicious.

Neil had the Scrambled Tofu with red cabbage, carrots, cauliflower & onions and whole wheat sourdough toast. Neil received a huge plate of food and he loved it.  I stole a bite and it was really tasty.

After brunch we walked around and did a little shopping, eventually finding ourselves back at Chelsea Market.  Neil had wanted to do some Christmas shopping when we were there on Thursday but our trip was cut short so that we could meet up with a friend for drinks (non-alcoholic for me).  Just as expected Chelsea Market was packed (I recommend going during the week).  We parted ways and both went off to do some Christmas shopping.

Once finished shopping we headed back to the apartment to have a snack, relax a bit and find a spot for dinner. We wanted to eat somewhere within a few blocks of the apartment and after doing a little research via the internet we decided to try Pala Pizza which had great reviews from omnivores and vegans.

When you first walk in Pala Pizza is really nice, dimly lit with candles on every table and it is cozy and romantic.  We were seated and after looking over the vegan menu ordered our we drinks and food.  We decided to go with the Crostini tomato, zucchini, daiya cheese and soy beschemel on gluten free bread, Insalate contadino mixed spring salad, cherry tomatoes and the Pizze arrabiata fresh cherry tomatoes, hot pepper, garlic.

Insalate and Crostini

Pizze arrabiata

So how was it? Awful.  This was by far one of the worst meals that we have ever had in NYC.  The salad was nothing special just greens and tomatoes with balsamic dressing.  The crostini was well not a crostini.  It was a piece of bread on top of salad greens with over cooked veggies, vegan cheese and an overwhelming amount of bechamel.  When I read crostini I think of a nice piece of grilled bread topped with a topping of some sort and you can easily pick it up to eat.  The crostini at Pala was a bland, over sauced mess. As for the pizza it was also super bland. The description says that there are hot peppers and garlic along with the tomatoes (as there should be in an arribiata) but neither Neil nor I could taste either of those.  It basically was as piece of flatbread with tomatoes on it, nothing spicy about it.  We finally enhanced the pizza slightly by adding oregano (which is the weird bunch of old dried flower looking thing that they leave on the table with no explanation-we tried it because others around us were).  To top it all off the service was lacking as well.  I would never return and I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone. 

We didn’t end up finishing the pizza because it just wasn’t  good but at least it left room for us to head to Stogo for some vegan ice cream.

Normally I would have just ordered a small but I was still so hungry after our horrible dinner and we had bought a deal online for two regular sized ice creams, which was just the size I wanted.  After tasting a few flavors I decided to avoid the soy (after that soy bechamel mess) and went with two coconut milk based ice creams, the green tea and strawberry.  Neil decided to go with one of our favorites the salted caramel and paired it with pumpkin pie (it really tasted like pumpkin pie).  Both of us devoured our ice creams within minutes because it was so delicious. Now Stogo is one of my favorite spots in NYC so go there!

Before heading to the city Neil found an online deal for 2-for-1 regular size ice cream at Stogo and  decided to buy one.  I really recommend you take advantage of all the online deals because it can really make your trip a little more budget friendly and you can experiences places you might not go to otherwise.  When we did our DC trip last year I found a ton of great deals on Groupon and LivingSocial which made our trip super inexpensive.

Stayed tuned for my final NYC Recap!

NYC Recap: Part 2

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Day two in NYC started bright and early with bagels and coffee at Think Coffee which specials in fairtrade organic coffee. They also have a small food menu which includes vegan items like the tasty bagels with tofu spread that we both ordered.

A big mug of tasty regular coffee for him

A small cup of decaf coffee for me (I liked it but Neil said it wasn't as tasty as his regular though)

After our coffee and bagel date we walked back to the apartment to get ready and decide what we wanted to do for the day.  Our first stop was Bryant Park to visit the Real Simple and other pop up shops where we sampled some free apple cider, window shopped and watched the ice skaters.  

For lunch we decided to head uptown to Candle Cafe  one of our favorite vegan restaurants in the city.  We lucked out and arrived at 12:30pm right before the lunch rush which started shortly after. After reviewing the menu Neil and I both made the difficult decision on what to order, there were just too many good options!

Neil decided to go with the special Jamaican Wrap which was filled with jerk tofu, green, yellow rice, sweet potato and a few other tasty goods. Neil loved his wrap and it was packed full of healthy, tasty goodness.

I decided to go with the Good Meal plate which is a choice of four sides and two sauces; I went with the veggies of the day, broccoli, brown rice and grilled tempeh for my sides and for my sauces I chose the toasted cumin and spicy peanut. This was one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time, so filling and healthy.  I could have bathed in the cumin sauce it was divine.  The spicy peanut was good but if I had known how good the cumin sauce was I would have ordered two.

After our giant meal we walked a few blocks to the New York Road Racers office to pick up our race bibs and shirts. Yes, WE picked them up even though I didn’t run I had signed up and decided I might as well get my shirt since we had to go pick up Neil’s anyways.

After we picked up the race items Neil and I took a stroll through Central Park. It was beautiful out and the perfect day for a walk but we both were tired so we cut our walk short and took the subway back downtown to our apartment to relax before dinner.

By dinner time we were both still feeling tired out and decided to just pick up some take out to bring back to the apartment and relax since Neil had his race in the morning. We picked up beer (for Neil) at GOOD BEER NYC a great beer shop in the East Village that has beer from all over the world and it even serves up a vegan sausage.

proof

We didn’t get sausages but we did head over to Organic Grill which was just around the corner from our apartment to pick up veggie burgers. Once we had our burgers we headed back to the apartment to relax and watch Terriers on Netflix- if you have Netflix watch this show it was so good! The burgers were good, nothing special but they tasted good.

We ended our night with chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies from Birdbath Bakery that we had picked up while we were out. Honestly the best vegan cookie I have ever had in my entire life. If you live in NYC or the next time you travel there add this to your “must do/eat” list.

Well that is Day Two! Stay tuned for Part 3 tomorrow!
You can check our Part 1 here.

NYC Recap: Part One

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Neil and I flew to NYC on Thursday morning for a four day excursion. We arrived and headed to the East Village to our home for the weekend, an apartment we rented via Airbnb, the apartment was in a great location and although it was tiny we had a great stay.

We picked up our keys, dropped off our bags and  headed out to find lunch (we were starving at this point).  We debated a few places and ultimately decided to Taïm a vegetarian falafel spot that I have had on my list of “must visits” for years now.  

photo from Taim website

After perusing the menu Neil and I would have loved to order (almost) everying on the menu however we made the difficult decision and both decided to go with the Falafel Sandwich on whole wheat pita. I chose to go with the traditional green falafel and Neil went with the harissa falafel.

Falafel Sandwich: choose one falafel flavor, with hummus, israeli salad, pickled cabbage and tahini sauce

To go with our falafel we shared a mint lemonade which was so tasty and even had a fresh mint leaf in it.

Mint Lemonade

Since Taïm is a tiny spot that has a few bar spots we decided to take our sandwiches to go and found a nice little park bench to sit on and enjoy our falafel.  Now on to what you really want to know- how did they taste? They were AMAZING! Hands down best falafel sandwich I have ever had and I’ve had a lot of falafel. There was a wonderful balance of flavors and textures and the tahini sauce was to die for.  Another thing that I loved about the sandwich was that they put two balls of falafel at the bottom and three on top, this is great because when you get to the bottom you still have tasty falafel to enjoy.

After filling up on falafel we walked over to Chelsea Market  to do a little window shopping and grab a treat from One Lucky Duck.

After our short visit to Chelsea Market we met up with my BFF for a drink and spent a few hours socializing before making our way to Brick Lane Curry House for dinner.

Source

At first glance there are only 3 labeled vegan options on the menu but once seated we spoke with a server and they informed us of the many curry options that were vegan as well as the tandoori roti. We ordered the tandoori roti, chana masala, and a vegetable curry dish which came with basmati rice. Everything was absolutely delicious! I didn’t take any photos because it was so dimly lit that my photos would have been awful. It is hard to find Indian food in Vermont and it is always a treat to find a really great Indian restaurant when on vacation.

We ended our night early and decided to just relax at the apartment where I promptly fell asleep by 9pm.

Stay tuned for parts 2, 3 and 4.

What are you favorite places to eat in NYC?

Ready to say “Good-Bye to October!”

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…and “Hello November!” I have am anxiously waiting and preparing for November first to come.  For me the start of a new month means a start of new possibilities and November is going to be a crazy one filled with new adventures in my personal, blog and business life.  I wish I could reveal everything right now but I am going to resist the urge and leave a little mystery until everything is more secure but trust me it’s exciting.  Don’t worry though I’m not going to leave everything a mystery here is what is going on with each part:

Personal

Neil and I are finally taking a mini vacation to Philadelphia over Thanksgiving! We have been in need of a vacation for months now and unfortunately it seems nothing has worked out.  We were supposed to go to Vida Vegan Con in August but then something (I can’t discuss here) prevented us from doing that.  Then we planned to go to Philadelphia for a long weekend in August with our friends and then Irene decided she wanted to rain on our parade. Next my trip to NYC for an IIN conference was cut short because Neil went and fell of his bike and bumped his head.  Also a result of Neil’s injury (which he has now recovered from- wahoo!) caused us to rethink our Disney World Half Marathon due to the fact he lost over a month of running time.  So now we are taking the time to get away and enjoy a new city and each others company.

We also are doing a mini trip to NYC in December to meet up with our friends who we haven’t seen in years. This is my favorite kind of trip because we are flying down (thank you JetBlue for cheap flights) and we are renting an apartment via airbnb.com.  It makes the trip so much less stressful when you don’t have to drive and stay in a hotel (which is 3x as much in NYC). I tweeted earlier today about doing a meet up in sometime between Dec 8-11, if you want to join our little meet up e-mail me lindsay@cookveganlover.com

Looking forward to these tasty treats

 

Running: I have been keeping up with running and even signed up for a half marathon in February! Neil is also going to be running this half.  It isn’t Disney but the good news is that we will be able to run our second half at Disney because we were (luckily) able to defer our registrations to another race.  We chose to do the Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon next September/October (the date hasn’t been released yet) which I think will be more fun because it will be warmer and at night.

Also if you are in NYC and want to come out and run with us or cheer us on we are running the NYRR Jingle Bell Jog while we are on vacation in NYC on December 10th.  We are so excited for this race!

Blog

I am planning a face lift for the blog. I am not loving the color and the layout and it just needs to be rejuvenated.   I am also looking to add some new features which will be revealed as they finish up.  In addition to visual improvements I am working to improve my photos, recipes and blog posts.  Instead of just posting to post I have been scheduling time in my day/week to actually sit down and blog.  I hope that this improves my blog and my writing.  I love my blog but I know I need to make improvements to it.

Health Coaching

Nicole Culver and I have created a 5 Session Teleclass Series that we will be putting on all month.  This series will be covering topics like sugar cravings, eating for energy, meal planning, eating out, exercise, self care and more. After each session participants receive handouts, an email with major points from session, recipes and bonus materials including a food shopping guide.  This series starts soon so if you are interested in participating you can sign up until 5pm EST on November 1st. 

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I am also offering a free teleclass on December 5, 2011 from 7:30pm-8pm EST that will discuss the top ways sugar is negatively affecting your health and happiness, tips to eat foods you enjoy and not deprive yourself, and ways your lifestyle affects your cravings. In addition you will also receive tips and suggestions on how to use natural sweeteners in your upcoming holiday baking.

Lastly, in January I will be rolling out a special CVL plant based health coaching program that you will find right here on the blog.  I am in the process of developing the entire program and more details will be coming out over the next month.  That being said I would love to hear what you would like to see in a program.

Other Events:
  • Hunger Mountain Coop’s 18th Annual Food and Wellness Expo
    • November 5, 2011
    • Location: Montpelier City Hall Time: 11:00 AM
    • Enjoy free samples of local and organic foods, free consultations with wellness practitioners and free massages! Bring a food item for the VT Foodbank and receive a $5 OFF coupon to The Coop!

 

 

You Had Me At Cornbread

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This past Saturday we finally made it to Angelica Kitchen, a restaurant that has been on my “To Try” list for years. We met up with my girlfriend Cate for lunch at noon which was perfect timing because the place filled up quickly and within 20 minutes there was a long waiting list. It took a while or us to make a decision as to what we wanted to get because there are so many really yummy sounding dishes on the menu.

To start the Hubz and I ordered the Angelica Cornbread, a wheat free cornbread that I have heard raving reviews about on a number of blogs. Now this is not your traditionally fluffy cornbread, it is dense and filled with whole grains. It is really delicious and worth the raving about. We also ordered a side of the miso tahini spread to go with it; it was good but the cornbread would have been fine on it’s own.

For my main dish I decided to go with the special of the day which was tofu with a chickpea miso sauce, veggies, quinoa pilaf and an Asian guacamole. I thought that the dish was really good and I loved the Asian guacamole; then again I love anything with avocado. Although the dish was really tasty and made with high quality ingredients I have to say at $16 the dish was a little pricey for what I got but oh well it was still delicious and (almost) worth it.

The Hubz went with the Thai Me Up entree which is An All Raw Entree – delicate strands of daikon radish, butternut squash & carrot, on a bed of garlic-lemon marinated kale, dressed with Thai tahini sauce. This dish was absolutely incredible and I am so jealous that I didn’t get it. We both really loved the noodles and the sauce but the star was the garlic-lemon marinated kale; it was incredible. This is a dish that I would recommend you order whether as the entree or the smaller appetizer version.

Cate ordered the Warm Roasted Vegetable Salad A seasonal selection of roasted vegetables tossed with arugula
in a balsamic vinaigrette and garnished with garlic crostini spread with creamy hummus. I only tried a small bite of one of the veggies which was really tasty so I can’t really tell you overall how the dish was but lets just say there wasn’t anything left when Cate was done. Cate also got a soy chai tea which she raved about and went back for seconds.

Overall this has easily become one of my favorite restaurants in NYC; I think that the price can be a little high for everyday eating but it is a great spot to visit when you are in the city. I am ready to head back and try everything else on the menu.

Go Nuts Dough Nuts!

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The first time I ever went to Babycakes NYC I was disappointed by the cupcakes, finding them dry and just not as exciting as I had hoped they would be.  Since then I haven’t had much of an interest in visiting Babycakes until I heard about their donuts.  Since  you don’t come across vegan donuts everyday the Hubz and I decided since we were already in the neighbourhood that we would stop in and try a few.

After much debate and a little help from the girl behind the counter we decided on the french toast and the salted caramel along with one their heart shaped chocolate covered coconut mound.  Immediately after we walked out the door we decided to dive right in and started with the french toast donut.  The donut was out of this world! It tasted just like french toast! It was warm and mapley and caramely and oh so good.  Next we tried the salted caramel which was also super sticky and delicious.  We both agreed though that the french toast was the better of the two.

We held out on the chocolate coconut mound until the next day after a three hour trip to Ikea.  It was the perfect treat after a crazy shopping trip.  It honestly tasted just like a Mounds Bar but better. Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo, oh well.

All in all Babycakes redeemed themselves and we will be back!

Teany Brunch

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On Saturday morning after a rocky start at the hotel we finally got to the train in Stamford and headed into the city for the day. We debated over just getting bagels for breakfast but then decided that we wanted to find a nice place to sit down and enjoy the morning together. We headed to the Lower East Side and decided to give Teany a try since they have a weekend brunch. We arrived and headed into the restaurant which was surprisingly “teany” but luckily there was only one other group there so it wasn’t so crowded. We took a look over the brunch menu and I was disappointed that the vegan options were really limited; I guess I assumed that since Moby is vegan and one of the owners that there would be a number of vegan options- but there weren’t compared to the vegetarian. I also was surprised that there was no real kitchen but rather just a small counter and a microwave and toaster.
Although apprehensive we decided to just enjoy ourselves and the nice window seat that we had acquired. We started with morning cocktails, hey it’s brunch! as well as a small pot of tea each (both included in the brunch). For our meals I ordered the Vegan BLT and Neil got the Tofu Scramble and “steak” both with greens.
Overall I thought that the meal was meh, just okay. I mean it was Fakin’ Bacon on really good bread with tomato and vegan mayo and Neil’s was warm tofu with heated up packaged seitan steak. I thought that although a nice spot I couldn’t imagine trying to go there when it was busy, you would basically be sitting on top of other people. As for the cost you are basically paying for nice tea and a drink with the brunch, the meal was pretty lame but at least it tasted fine. Needless to say we won’t return except for maybe a quick tea to go.