Unique New York

 Mmm I’m sitting on my bed eating a vegan blackberry muffin that Tristin and I just made, while listening to my honorary little brother’s fabulous new mashup mixtape thingy on SoundCloud (yay, David!). And in the midst of all this excitement, I’m reminiscing on my recent trip to New York, counting down the months til I can move there. So this trip was essentially a foodie adventure in that – I kid you not – all I did was eat eat eat.  Let me break it down for you…

Looking out over Union Square

 Tuesday night- Dos Toros: Basic Burrito with Guac. This burrito rivaled the size of Chipotle’s which I never ever finish but Sara gave me fair warning that there would be no trace of this burrito except in my full belly. She was right – as usual.

Wednesday: Sara started us off right with a shared scrambled egg with spinach, onion, sundried tomatoes, and goat cheese. Then we walked to City Bakery and got coffees, a pretzel croissant, and a raspberry bran muffin. She went to class and I watched a few episodes of Sex and the City at her apartment to pass the time and get excited for the upcoming week. I met her at ‘Wichcraft, a sandwich place (sandwich- ‘wich…get it??), and got a roasted eggplant sandwich with chickpeas, watercress and balsamic vinaigrette on toasted ciabatta bread. This sandwich was so different and one of the yummiest things I’d had in a while. I want to figure out how to make it at home. After lunch we walked through Dean and Deluca, which was basically food torture, then to the Met. After night yoga at Yoga To The People, we walked a few blocks to S’mac.  S’mac is a little restaurant that serves mac and cheese. We got a Spanish one with manchego cheese, fennel, and onion, and a Mediterranean one with spinach, goat cheese, tomatoes and kalamata olives. We were so pleased that the fennel flavor was mild because we’re not exactly part of the fennel fan club. THEN (!) I happened to have run into my childhood best friend within my first 5 minutes at Sara’s apartment so I met up with Tammy for dessert Wednesday night. We went to Spot, a dessert bar, and got some crazy good tapas style desserts. They were a yuzu Eskimo, a chocolate truffle cake with green tea ice cream, and a white miso cake with passionfruit sauce.

Raspberry Bran Muffin, Soy Au Lait, Pretzel Croissant.

The most wonderful food creation to date.

Warm eggplant and chickpea sandwich.

Cookie sandwich!

Yuzu Eskimo

Truffle Cake with Green Tea Ice Cream

White Miso Cake with Passion Fruit Ice Cream.

 I’m actually a little bit embarrassed after writing all of that out. Too much food!! (wait what?)

Thursday: We made Challah French toast Thursday morning with a gorgeous loaf of challah we bought at the green market in Union Square. We also made a berry sauce with blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries reduced down with a little sugar and orange juice. Sara went to class and I watched more Sex and the City. After class we went to John’s Pizzeria of Bleecker Street (Ohhhh my GOD) and had the best pizza of our entire lives. We shared a 14 inch pizza with cheese and basil and ate the entire thing. Yep three slices each for two little ladies… and we didn’t think twice about it. We’re a big deal. Since it was about 5 pm when we had the pizza, we decided to have a late (and semi-healthy dinner) at an Indian Restaurant called the Royal Bangladesh. We shared a Vegetable Kurma which is mixed veggies in a really mild yogurt sauce, and coconut samosas. It was good, nothing too special but I’d like to look up some recipes for the yogurt sauce.

Challah French Toast.

The pizza I wish I could have at any given time.

Friday: We skipped breakfast because we woke up a little late, and I met up with my Uncle and good family friend Jason at Artichoke’s Pizza. They are famous for something quite the opposite of a classic new York pizza: a thick crusted pizza topped with artichoke dip. You could tell by looking at it in its creamy fatty glory that it is not at the top of the healthy food chain. We got a wedge of it which was a quarter of a normal pizza and cut into teeny slices. We also shared a salad that had a super delicious dressing and a bunch of veggies on it. In the late afternoon Sara’s and my friend Michael came into the city so we all went to a Venezuelan restaurant called Caracas Arepa Bar that made fantastic arepas! I had one with guayanes cheese, avocaco, and fried plantains which was exactly like the one I get at Coupa Café at home. Sara and I also shared one with black beans, sautéed peppers and onions, and some kind of cheese. Oh! And a coconut milkshake thing! After dinner we walked down the street to Butter Lane which is an adorable and homey little cupcake shop. They only make 3 types of cupcake and you can choose between about 15 different frostings. I got banana cake with chocolate hazelnut frosting and Sara got chocolate cake with espresso frosting.

Arepa with Black Beans, Cheese, Peppers and Onions.

Arepa with Fried Plantains, Guayanes Cheese, and Avo.

Banana Cupcake with Choc. Hazelnut Frosting!!

Butter Lane's fantastic variety.

Saturday: The three of us had brunch at Essex, a really cool restaurant with tons of natural light and tall ceilings. I ordered a salmon scramble with onions that came with a toasted bialy and a mixed green salad. It was simple, relatively light, and just what I was looking for. We spent the day doing various things around the city and did a lot of walking! It was so nice out that day, a perfect little Saturday. We took a collective nap in the afternoon and geared up for a delicious Chinese dinner down the street at a restaurant called the Cottage. I had sweet and sour prawns with broccoli and brown rice. I could go for another plate of that right now. Strangely we skipped dessert…

Salmon Scramble, Salad, Bialy, Potatoes.

Sweet and Sour Prawns with Broccoli.

Sunday: The day of rest. That’s fitting actually, because we went to this adorable Latin restaurant with tons of opened windows for brunch. It’s called Esperanto which is some variation of the verb “to wait” in Spanish. I had huevos rancheros (sadly with no avo) and coffee. This brunch was so relaxed and gave me the chance to reflect on my wonderful spring break. Before leaving town, Sara and I walked back to City Bakery so I could grab a pretzel croissant for the plane. I’m so glad I did that, it was a very long plane ride. 

Take me back, please!