Food trip in NYC: May 2016
At Avant Garden
New York City, energetic, powerful and inspiring city.
Every time I visited NYC in the past few years, I always encountered some new plant-based places.
We had some sad and shocking news about Pure food and wine lately. It was a great raw food restaurant with quality, tasty and beautiful nutritious food, but there are so many other places to discover and adore too.
My last visit to NYC was in April 2015. One of my friends from Japan asked me to meet up with her there. It was also the perfect opportunity to visit those new veggie places in the city that I had been eyeing.
Before leaving, I did some research to see if I could attend a workshop or conference on plant-based nutrition. I also wanted to visit a good yoga studio to fit in a couple of yoga classes, but it didn't work out this time. When I went to ABC carpet & home website, however, I found an interesting event called "Food as medicine - join us for a vegetable forward conversation..". I immediately purchased a ticket. Did you know they organize interesting events and workshops at their beautiful store? You must check them out!
"Food as medicine" event:
It was a great opportunity to hear about the plant-based diet from the perspective of a medical doctor and athletes. They shared stories and opinions based on their studies and own experiences. They all have different life styles, and transition experiences to a whole foods and plant-based diet.
Thomas Campbell, MD, co-founder & clinical director of the University of Rochester program for Nutrition in Medicine
Rip Esselstyn, New York Times Bestselling author of Plant Strong
Michelle McMacken, MD, internal medicine & plant-based nutritionist
Robert Ostfeld, MD, associate professor of Clinical Medicine at Albert Einstein College of medicine
Garth Davis, MD, star of the hit TLC show Big Medicine
They repeatedly emphasized that "Whole foods" and "Plant-based" are the key to well-being. There is no optimal diet for everyone. It depends on where you are, who you are and how you live.
Chew your calories : I don't remember who coined this phrase, but it makes total sense to me. Juicing is a great way to intake a big amount of vegetables, but if you drink it like water, how will your body process and digest it? Very interesting topic!
Soy : Soy does not cause breast cancer. If you are talking about estrogen, think about the amount of estrogen in dairy and animal products. Those conversations remind me that we should be more conscious to what we put in our mouths.
Protein myth : Lentils and legumes are great sources of proteins. They don't recommend protein powders, especially soy-based varieties. Whole foods are key!
There is so much research done on plant-based nutrition in North America. I look forward to learning more, and spreading the word on "whole and plant-based foods".
Here is what I discovered in NYC this trip:
On the first evening, we celebrated our meetup in NYC at Ippudo , a pretty popular Japanese noodle restaurant in Japan and New York City. It is not a plant-based restaurant at all. I chose this place because I had two non-veggie friends, and there were vegetarian and gluten-free options for me. I really enjoyed their Wasabi-shoyu ramen. I love wasabi. It reminded me of some fresh wasabi I had picked at my grandparent's place. My friend had a gluten-free dish of rice noodles and scarce toppings. It was not the best place for her, but we all enjoyed our time together.
While we were waiting to enter Ippudo (yes, always expect a line-up), we went to the Whole Foods market to get some water and breakfast. It is always fun to go there, since we don't have that store in Montreal yet. I also love small health food stores in NYC and Brooklyn. However, we only had two and a half days in NYC, so we decided to focus on Whole Foods instead.
On day 2, we started our day with plant-based, gluten-free porridge and grabbed a some good coffee in a nearby café. We went to Blossom du jour for a quick lunch. The place was vegan fast food, featuring burrito, salad, and bowls. The taste was ok, but the portions were pretty small. I wouldn't go back there, since there are so many other better options for vegan and gluten-free food in the city.
We were kind of sad after the lunch, so we went to Juice Press in Union square. It was a hit! My non-veggie friend had a raw salad and almond latte, and she loved it. I had an iced matcha latte with no ice. Every time I enter Juice Press and see the wide array of juices in their giant fridge, it makes me smile real big!
My favourite : Juice Press
After the "Food as medicine" event, we went to Peace Food Café. Since I don't eat out in restaurants much, so we ordered something we don't cook often. We had salad, chickpea fries (baked for gluten-free option) and squash with mushroom gravy. The food, service and ambience were all terrific. It is a casual restaurant with raw food menus, gluten-free options and good-looking dessert.
Next day, we went to High Line to walk all the way from W 34th to Chelsea market. It was gray and misty weather but we enjoyed the view of the west village from High Line.
A view from High line
We had a late lunch at Beyond Sushi at Chelsea market. They use black rice and vegetables to make the rice prettier, and pickles and mushrooms for the filling. We ordered three different sushis and shared. My favourite one was Mighty Mushroom. I've seen many vegan sushi on social media lately. It is fabulous that they make only plant-based sushi. There are three locations in NYC already.
Sushis at Beyond sushi
For dinner, we went to Avant Garden in East village. I was really looking for trying out this place! I made a reservation in advance since it's a tiny place and pretty popular. We ordered five dishes and shared. It all tasted great and was beautifully presented. Very inspiring combination of flavours! They was beautifully plated toast, but not available in gluten-free variety, so we didn't try. We do not have this kind of restaurant in Montreal yet.
The beautiful plates at Avant Garden
We walked to Erin McKenna's to grab some dessert and head to Brooklyn bridge. It was such a windy, cold and rainy evening. We had a great view of misty Manhattan from the bridge.
A view from Brooklyn bridge
Our last stop was Juice Press in Williamsburg. We ordered some salad and drinks before heading back to Montreal. My friends brought back some yummy snacks to Japan as well.
Lunch at Juice Press with my favourite keep cup!
I didn't have enough time to hit all the places I wanted to go this time: By Chloe, Rock'n raw, Quintessence, Semilia, Candle 79 and so on.
It was great spending time with my far away friends, whom I don't see often. I've also noticed that I am more conscious of what I eat and how I eat. If I were traveling alone in NYC, it would've been a totally different trip. But I fully enjoyed and embraced the terrific company and interactions.
I would love to hear if you have any favourite spot in NYC and Brooklyn!
Love & gratitude,
Maya
*Omake : bonus tips
These are the places where you MUST GO when you are in NYC.
You know this place! I love their minimalist style. One of my favourite is .... their mini tooth brush:)
Book store which carries magazines and books in Japanese, as well as some stationary. They also have a small café upstairs which sells bento boxes, Japanese bread and onigiris.