My parents are quite the couple aren’t they?
I was so glad that they came to New York with us.
Before they left on Sunday we met up for brunch at Bobby Flay’s Bar Americain. Unfortunately, the A.C. was out in the restaurant and sweating through a meal in the 90 degree heat is about as unappetizing as it gets.
Instead, we made our way around the corner to The Redeye Grill. Not too shabby for a backup.
I wasn’t extremely hungry, but after eating mostly bread the previous day, I knew I wanted something more substantial. I wanted eggs. The appearance of eggs and Greek yogurt in my diet, the two non-vegan eats that my stomach can actually tolerate, have gone from infrequent to almost nonexistent over the past year. But lately, they’ve found their way back onto my plate.
I’m not hatin’. I ordered a cheeseless omelet with spinach and mushrooms with grilled veggies on the side, along with two mozzarella sticks fried hash brown things.
Kyle ate the fried goods off my plate, in addition to his own breakfast quesadilla.
After we said goodbye to my parental units, Kyle and I headed back uptown to watch soccer and work out, before meeting up with friends for drinks/dinner.
Guess who we ran into on the way!
My Upper West Side neighbor, Gena of Choosing Raw. How fun to jut happen upon this lovely lady! Our last encounter was an interesting one to say the least! I completely admire Gena’s strong female voice. Her eloquent writing style and thoughtful, inspirational, and informative posts make her easily one of my favorite bloggers – and I’m only sad that we didn’t get to hang out more in person back when I lived in NYC. Looks like she will have to explore all that Southern California has to offer in the raw vegan world when she comes to visit me! 😉
Anyways, after we parted ways, Kyle and I made our way to The Frying Pan, a Chelsea hot spot.
I’m on a boat!
There are several different areas to drink and dine, but all involve rolling with the motion of the ocean river.
It didn’t take me long to realize that drank + boat rocking = motion sickness. As you would expect, my stomach is very sensitive to such things, and it wasn’t long before I put a pause on the drinking to order some food.
Le burger de veg. What did you expect? Gourmet meals? Not so much. We were on a boat, not a yacht. To be honest, though, I was pretty pleased with my veggie burger. I didn’t take a picture of the patty’s inside, but it was good enough. FYI, how I judge a veggie burger is based on whether or not it is trying to pass itself off as meat or not. In my opinion, a veggie burger should be just that, a VEGGIE burger. Nuts, grain, and veggies are all good ingredients, and should be discernable; unlike processed faux meat. So there – now you know the hippie veggie burger standards.
After I had some food in my system, I got back to drinking, and was better able to tolerate the boat’s rocking.
One sangria, two sangria, three sangria…time to go home.
I had a great time seeing my New York friends again, though, and was a bit sad to go.
your parents are too cute!
no..you and Gena are!! I read this on her blog a few days ago that she just ran into you. Why oh why can’t I have the same luck?
🙂
Your parents are adorable 🙂
Gena us making her way around blogland, I keep seeing her “run into” other bloggers too! I wish I was in NYC, apparently it’s quite the popular place right now 🙂
looks like epic fun! i can’t wait to get to NYC already! got any restaurants that i just HAVE to go to? i’ve already got one lucky duck and babycakes on my list… 🙂
Is your “on a boat” title in reference to the classic SNL skit? That’s one of my husband and my favorite songs to parody….. love that skit! There’s nothing like blaring that song when you are actually on a boat… fun times 🙂
so fun! it’s always so hard to leave your friends, it’s the part i hate the most about going to ny.
i compeltely agree about the veggie burger— i always say that! i dont like veggie burgers that try to be meat!!!
love your dress in the photo with gina! totally cute. i’m a stripes kinda girl. i couldn’t agree with you more about the veggie burger thing either! i really like getting “chunks” of veggies in my burgers…like the kind by gardenburger! what’s your favorite kind to buy in the grocery store? since we have similar tastes, i’d like to try your fave! 🙂
I totally agree on the veggie burger business. Bring out the veggie if you wanna impress me!
YES! So glad someone caught on to that 🙂
I like Amy’s and Sunshine…sadly they are the most $$$ too 🙁
Oh man, now THERE’S an impossible question!! Ok so here’s a few definite places you have to try (in addition to One Lucky Duck and BabyCakes): *Blossom *is really good (they have two locations but I’m a frequenter of the UWS one) *’sNice* is amazing and a definite must (a new location just opened in SoHo, but I’ve only been to the W Village one) *Pure Food & Wine* (it’s the restaurant that One Lucky Duck is the takeaway for) After that, I could go on and on…feel free to check out the “Hot Spots” tab for more recs.
I {heart} your parents, they definitely are cute. And I {heart} you guys, too, so take CARE of yourself, we want you back safe and sound in LA!!
no worries – the new hot spot to “run into people” is so cal. wooohooooooooooo!
I like your standards for judging a veggie burger–totally agree!
nyc is a has been now that i’m gone (haha)…so cal is where it’s at now!! 😉
definitely agree bout the veggie burger!! I actually was thinking about this the other day..i like the veggie burgers that break apart and taste like grains rather than compact meat blech
ok so ive been meaning to ask u this and i keep forgetting and i only remember when im out to dinner! so im glad i remembered…i see that u eat the dinner rolls and bread platters at restaurants. Everytime im out at dinner im tempted and sometimes I will but most of the times i dont b/c i suspect they have milk in it. There are of course times when I cant resist the carbolicious aroma and dig in but only have a little bit. The same goes for sandwiches and veggie burger buns. (ex: the bread at Cosi contains milk) I was wondering if u know for sure that the bread is vegan or if u just choose to ignore it lol and b/c it doesnt bother ur stomach, u go for it?
thanksss!
-Lena
I am the same way – I love egg whites and Greek yog and they’re some of the only dairy items I can tolerate (and love!) which is partly why I am not completely vegan. Love that photo of you and Gena – gorg ladies!
Basically, I try to go for sourdough or a bread that I know doesn’t contain milk. Most don’t – wheat and sourdough rolls, sandwich breads, etc. – but there are some that do and to be honest, they don’t really irritate my GI system. I certainly avoid baked goods (like banana bread, buttermilk rolls, those kinds of obvious ones). The baskets of baked goods on breakfast platters are usually no-gos, but dinner breads are A-ok if you generally follow the aforementioned guidelines. Also, when you are buying breads, the ones with the “U” symbol are the kosher ones, which don’t have any dairy – just as an FYI. But bread isn’t one of the things that I sweat over in terms of veganism. There isn’t usually enough dairy in things to cause me any upset. Hope that helps!
Woman, I love and admire you like crazy. Seeing you in the street felt like a taste of home, too, even if I live here! Seriously, your humor and intelligence and good sense are a joy to me and to the rest of the blog world, and I look forward to continuing our friendship when I invade your life in LA for a weekend 🙂
So cool and random you running into a fellow blogger, and one that you’ve met and love. Especially while on vacation. Love that.
Honestly, if you were to allow one food in your vegan diet, please let it be eggs! Eggs are by far, my favorite food ever. perfect in every way. 🙂