NYC Adventure - Part 2

Friday afternoon I met up with my friend Sylvia, my host and tour guide for the weekend.  We hustled over to the Guggenheim to check out the James Turrell exhibit.   I had recently been to one of his exhibits at the LACMA in Los Angeles, so I was excited to see what he had in store for NYC.  I don't think you were supposed to take pictures, but no one stopped us so...

These pictures are all in the same room by the way.  For those of you who are not familiar with this JT, he plays with the concept of light and perception.  This was the main room in the museum - most of the pictures are taken looking up at the ceiling, which was illuminated with colored light.   The color of the light changed every few minutes or so.  The exhibit was great, but the one part that you had to wait in line for was so not worth the wait.  Regardless, the line gave Sylvia and me plenty of time to catch up, gossip, and figure out what we wanted to do for dinner.

We decided to check out Cafe Blossom, which just happened to be a fine vegan restaurant I had read about, which just happened to be directly under Sylvia's apartment.  Talk about meant to be!  We had a romantic candlelit dinner of pizza, beet carpaccio, quinoa with grilled veggies, and a giant Asian-inspired salad.  And wine.  And vegan ice cream.  (HUGE SCORE for NYC:  Vegan ice cream!) Needless, we were stuffed!  After a beer at a nearby bar, we called it an early night. 

My hot date - check out that GIANT PIZZA

Mixed greens with marinated tofu, kimchi, and cashews

VEGAN ICE CREAM - nom nom nom

Saturday began with a morning yoga class (again at Yoga to the People).  I then introduced Sylvia to my new found love - Organic Avenue.  We tasted a few juice and smoothie samples, and both settled on the Green Love juice.  YUM!  Couldn't have been a more ideal weekend morning in my book!

All smiles for GREEN LOVE

We showered, dressed, and ate our left over pizza for lunch.  We then set off to explore some more of NYC - specifically The High Line and Chelsea Market.

The High Line is a public park built on an elevated freight train line on the West Side of Manhattan (we hopped on it at one end in the Meatpacking District).  There are benches where you can sit and people watch, or just take in the interesting views of the city;  food carts where you can grab a bite to eat; and stretches of walkways with flowers and other greenery.  It is a truly beautiful place amidst the hubbub of the city. I know I mentioned this in Part 1, but I love when there is plenty of green space in a city!

Roof top bar next to the High Line

Benches for relaxing

Us with a view of the city beneath the park

We descended back to the street level and headed over to the Chelsea Market, an indoor market built in the former National Biscuit Company complex.  The market is home to a number of food vendors, as well as some retail stores (such as Anthropologie) and pop up shops.  There was a sample sale going on when we visited - checking this out felt like an authentic New York experience!  High fashion on the cheap?  Yes, please!   We also stopped in the 'Artists and Fleas' section of the market, which features more local, up-and-coming artists and vendors. We both saw so many things we liked, but resisted buying anything.

Inside the Chelsea Market

Walking and shopping made us hungry for a snack - lucky for us there is a One Lucky Duck location within the Chelsea Market!  #cantgetenough  I got a Goji High smoothie and Sylvia got a kale salad from another nearby vendor.  We then made our way back home for a rest before dinner.

We had plans to meet up with my friend Emily and her boyfriend for dinner that night.  I was BEYOND excited because everyone had agreed to check out Beyond Sushi - a vegan sushi joint I had read about and was so excited to try!  This place is sort of a whole in the wall - just a counter where you pay and they make the sushi and three small tables where you can sit.  I was a little nervous bringing three non-veg people here, but it turns out I had nothing to worry about - every single thing we got was absolutely phenomenal.  We tried four of the sushi rolls (pictured below, left to right - the Mighty Mushroom, Spicy Mang, Pickle Me, and Green Machine) and two of the rice paper wraps (Spicy Shroom and Sweet Angel).  By no means were these rolls "just" vegetables - they all had interesting preparations and combinations of fruits and vegetables, complimented by delicious sauces.  I only wished my stomach were larger so I could have enjoyed more! SCORE for NYC - Vegan sushi that is worlds better than any conventional roll.

Plant powered rolls!

Sweet Angel - Buckwheat noodles, sweet potato, asparagus, and sprouts with spicy siracha sauce

We left pleasantly stuffed (this was becoming a recurring theme) and bar hopped a bit before calling it a night.  Sunday morning we were up early again, ready to explore more - Brooklyn, specifically the Williamsburg Flea.  We grabbed some iced coffee and hoped on the subway.  SCORE for NYC - Amazing public transportation.  A few minutes later, we arrived in the aforementioned hipster mecca.

From the subway, we wandered down a few streets before we made it to the flea market, which was just getting started.  The flea market had tons to offer: vintage clothes and shoes, screen print t-shirts, old and new jewelry, furniture, art, the list goes on... The best part was these goods were unique and reasonably priced.  Score for NYC - Flea markets. We shopped around for a bit, both of us finding some fun jewelry to add to our collections.  We also grabbed some snacks to hold us over until we could eat a solid lunch.

Williamsburg Flea

Frozen chocolate covered mango

AWESOME SLIDERS SOLD HERE

Beet slider with eggplant bacon, cheeze, spicy ketchup, and guac

Before too long we were starting to fry in the hot summer sun, so we got back on the subway to head home.  On the way, we stopped at Peacefood Cafe for a quick bite to eat.  We both ordered the same salad (Asian inspired with marinated tempeh) which hit the spot.  I also picked up some treats for my train ride home - a vegan sun dried tomato and ricotta croissant and a gluten free banana ginger muffin.  Both of these baked goods were there's-no-way-this-is-vegan good.  I don't normally like croissants, but the salty 'ricotta' and sweet tomato paired perfectly with the buttery croissant.  And the banana ginger muffin... basically my idea of a perfect muffin: moist, dense, and slightly sweet.  Score for NYC - the magician bakers at Peacefood cafe (please teach me your secrets).

And then it was time for me to go... While I was sad to see such an awesome weekend end, I was happy that this visit had taught me that NYC doesn't have to be loud, scary, or expensive.   On the contrary, I learned first hand that NYC is filled with great art and architecture, wonderful food, and funky culture you just don't find anywhere else.  So as my train pulled away from the station, I found myself thinking  See you again soon New York...