NYC 2: Cafe Blossom

Top right: Delicious black-eyed pea cakes; Bottom right: Mushroom Phyllo Pastry

We were recently back East for a wedding, and had one night in NYC. This pass-through was even less time than my last trip to the Big Apple, but still enough time for a (vegan!) dinner night out with friends and a run in Central Park! Two of my must-dos when vising the city now.

After my other trip, I was hoping to go to Candle 79 again, since it was one of my best dining experiences EVER. Seriously, out of this world, whether you are vegan or not. But, I was coming in off an evening flight, and my husband reminded me I'd probably be pretty tired since I'm now entering my 3rd trimester (!)- he was right. Plus, I did want to try out somewhere new- NYC is just such an amazing food mecca. So, we picked somewhere more convenient to where we were staying - Cafe Blossom on Carmine in the West Village. I had been to the Cafe Blossom on the Upper West side my last trip, but each of the Blossom locations has a different menu and vibe, so it was still a completely different experience, which I was excited to try out! Read on for my take on Blossom...

Spain Eats

I have been shamefully absent in the food-blogging world for a while now... busy with work, life, and some traveling too. I was lucky enough to have a conference in the beautiful Basque region of Spain, in a beach side town called San Sebastian. Afterwords, I did some traveling with my sister, to Barcelona and Seville, and then stopped in to the UK, where she lives. It was an amazing trip; Spain is a beautiful country!!

My favorite food item on the trip? It's a toss up between these beautiful white asparagus, which were all over the place in San Sebastian, and..... mango sorbet. Hey, I'm predictable. Gelatarias were all over the place, and when it comes to mango, I'm a sucker. But, Fruitarias - fruit & veg stands, like the one below, were also a great find. As for the rest, well.... I can't exactly say Spain was a mecca of vegetarian- let alone vegan- options. It was a challenge. Read on for more, as well as a few completely food-unrelated Spain pics.

24 hours in NYC, Vegan Style

Cafe Blossom's Raw Beet "Ravioli"

What do you get when you have a vegan who spent the past 4 days in a small town with very limited vegan options, and then put her in New York City for 24 hours?? A LOT of good eats, that's what. I'm being completely honest when I say that my first stop after landing at JFK was Lula's Sweet Apothecary to try vegan soft serve, and it wasn't even remotely on my way to my crashpad for the night. What can I say, a girl's gotta eat ;-)