New York City; food, friends, & fun! Part 2.

The 2nd half of my New York City trip was much like the 1st half; delicious food & meeting up with friends! NYC has quite the vegan community & it was great to get to see people who are a part of it! On a sunny, but brisk Saturday morning I headed out to Brooklyn to meet friends Terry, Jason, & Deb for brunch at the mostly vegan spot Boneshakers. We quickly found out that brunch is Sundays only, but luckily there were plenty of great "knuckle sandwiches", salads, & house-made baked goods available! We started out with a coffee cake muffin with sticky raisins & pecans that seemed a bit wholesome, but was pretty good. Next, I opted for the Rebel Cruiser sandwich, which was an awesome giant kaiser roll filled with BBQ seitan & coleslaw. While it wasn't french toast, it certainly hit the spot! Next, we shared a tasty slice of S'mores Cheesecake that was rich & chocolatey, with melted marshmallows on top! yum.

Sunday, was another day for friends & so I met for brunch with my good friend and former roommate Eliana, and Evan, at Peacefood Cafe. Trekking to the Upper West Side was a bit of a trip with the Sunday train schedule, but it turned out to be worthwhile. We all started by sharing a giant doughy Cinnamon Roll covered in frosting, it wasn't gooey inside, more bready, but still quite nice. I had read Peacefood's menu in advance & found myself fixated on the Roasted Japanese Pumpkin Sandwich. Japanese pumpkin, caramelized onions, walnuts, vegan goat cheese, and seasonal greens on spelt rye bread; it ended up being a bit too healthy tasting for me with the dry whole grain bread, although it still was good. Evan opted for the Mediterranean Oven Dried Seasonal Vegetable Panini with cashew cheese & basil spinach pesto, & without a doubt, I would get that next time! For dessert, I ordered the Strawberry Shortcake which was a hearty, yet fluffy biscuit filled with whipped cream & strawberries. We also had a Cheesecake that was not to our liking, but the owner graciously replaced it with a very delicious raw Key Lime Pie that was tangy, with a nutty crust. Peacefood Cafe is a beautiful place for seasonal food that will make your belly happy, check it out!

On Monday, I met Alyssa for a meal at Sacred Chow, which I almost walked right past, but luckily noticed before I got too far down Sullivan Street. I was thrilled to find out they were serving brunch on a weekday, so I went all out & ordered the Banana Bread French Toast. Oh. my. WORD. A giant slab of grilled banana pound cake, in a pool of blueberry sauce, topped in fresh fruit hit the table, & my jaw dropped! I ate every single morsel of this dish & loved every minute of it. Seriously, I think about it once in awhile & decided I HAVE to recreate the recipe! Alyssa opted for Mama's Soy Meatball Hero, which she also enjoyed! Sacred Chow, I will be back!

A relatively new spot on the NYC vegan scene is Cocoa V, a chocolate & wine cafe in Chelsea. I spent some time in the chocolate shop & ended up with a fair amount of the house-made, fair trade, organic confections, some of which were a gift for Hannah's birthday. I tried a roasted edamame lime cayenne salt cluster, the banana chip honey, vanilla caramel, & orange passionfruit caramel. While for Hannah I bought, a coffee caramel, almond butter bonbon, pecan praline, & also the orange passionfruit caramel. The chocolate here is very dark, a bit too dark for me, but the orange passionfruit caramel was phenomenal & the sweet center paired perfectly with the dark chocolate. They also bake goodies in house, so I also took away a Snickerdoodle & a Coffee Cake square that were quite good. I'd like to return & try the fondue, which looked incredible, especially with the Dandies Marshmallows they serve up. Cocoa V is not inexpensive, so be prepared to drop quite a bit of cash, even on chocolates. This is a great spot for a special occasions though!

Later that night, I met up with the lovely Michelle from MyZoetrope at Lan Cafe. Despite calling the day before & them assuring me they'd be open.. they weren't. So, we hopped in a cab & headed uptown to Candle Cafe. I just had to start with my favorite dish, the citrus herb marinated Seitan Chimichurri! Oh my, I could eat these daily. Next, I went gluten crazy & got the Porcini Crusted Seitan, with was atop a bed of mashed potatoes & gravy, greens, &  green beans. I believe I've had the same dish at Candle 79 & as always, it was excellent. We finished with some Tangerine sorbet, but unfortunately, it tasted strange, so we opted not to finish it & instead thought about our delicious dinners.

My last day in New York City came too soon & I couldn't go without meeting up with more friends! Ms. Hannah Kaminsky herself turned 21 & was kind enough to celebrate by joining myself, Eliana, & Nicole from Another One Bites the Crust for lunch at The Organic Grill! While Hannah & Nicole opted for wraps, & Eliana went with a special of the day, I like to pick my own dishes, so I made a sampler for myself with an order or grilled seitan, mashed sweet potatoes, steamed kale, & jalapeno cornbread. The cornbread was too dry for my taste, but everything else was nice & we all loved the sweet potato mash! Like last time, I think The Organic Grill is a solid option in NYC.

Of course, one day left means one last trip to Lula's Sweet Apothecary, with Alyssa & Evan! Yes, I am a huge fan of Lula's! I was lucky enough to get to try all the freshly made flavors, which seemed to be perfectly tailored to my tastes. I opted for a sundae with Cracker Jack & Chocolate Toffee Crunch ice cream, marshmallow topping, whipped cream, & a cherry. Have I mentioned I love Toffee? I really, really do. I can't think of a better final sundae for my trip!

For dinner, I headed to Pala Pizza on the Lower East Side, again with the awesome Terry, Jason, & Deb! I had been hearing Pala has a good sized vegan menu, as well as many gluten free options, & a dedicated fryer, it turns out it's true! We ordered 3 types of pizza off the menu; a potato zucchini pizza, a field roast sausage & cherry tomato pizza, & a mushroom parsley, all which had generous amounts of Daiya cheese on them. While the crust was nice, I wasn't bowled over by the pizza in general. Surprisingly, I liked the one with Field Roast & cherry tomatoes best, which is not what I would typically order. I did really like that they had dried oregano on the table, that you could pluck from & sprinkle on to your food. The service was also lacking, especially when we were asked if we could leave our table so others could be seated right after we had just finished paying the check. I would give Pala another shot, it's just not high on my "must eat" list.

For my final NYC experience, I had to hit up Atlas Cafe, after all it was Vegan Treats delivery day! While Deb took some doughnuts for the road, Jason & I crammed in to the tiny cafe & chatted over a giant Cinnamon Roll & a Boston Cream Doughnut. While I like my cinnamon rolls fluffier, the gooey frosting on top was pretty tasty. Also, I'm spoiled when it come to doughnuts, so I liked the Boston Cream, but it didn't blow me away. That being said, I still think Tuesday Atlas trips are a must when visiting NYC!

Apparently, I enjoyed NYC so much, I never wanted to leave. The next day, I missed my flight! Luckily, I was able to get on standby & make it home a few hours later than scheduled. Can you blame me for wanting to stay?! I love New York City!