Eating in NYC

Whenever I find myself in NYC I'm torn between the option of revisiting all my favorite old restaurants, and trying something new. This trip I decided that I was going to attempt to eat somewhere new everyday, and try to find some new favorites.

By accident while wandering around the East Village(favorite neighbourhood, hands down!), I stumbled across Stogo. Their mantra is 'We are passionate about offering the healthies, most delectable frozen dessert on the planet using only the finest premium organic dairy-free ingredients, with no refined sugars, animal products, gluten, or artificial flavorings.' Totally up my ally!! It was pretty grey and cloudy that day, but I think any day is a good ice cream day. I tried their Vanilla Chocolate Chip(they make all of their flavors from scratch!), and it did not disappoint! Mildy sweet with a hint of coconut, and an amazing melt in your mouth texture. The texture of dairy ice cream is one that I usually find hard to replicate, but this one could have fooled anyone. You can also get them to sandwich a scoop between two cookies, it's pretty much heaven.

An old favorite that I had to visit was Pure Food and Wine. I first visited One Lucky Duck for some Thai Salad Wraps, then finished up at Pure Food and Wine for Sangria and a Blueberry Crumble with Maple Ice Cream. I adore raw food for the way you can feel like you're indulging, but everything is good for you. The feeling of lightness and energy after a meal isn't in your head, I've realized. I just don't experience that ever from eating cooked food! The Salad Wraps were wonderful, mildly spicy and tangy and creamy goodness. I could have drank a vat of the sangria. The Blueberry Crumble was that perfect mix of gooey warm fruit and melting ice cream, it was truly a perfect meal. I followed it up with a walk home through Times Square, I always think the best way to see NYC is on foot.

I've heard the praises sung of Candle 79 over and over, so I decided to pay a visit to their sister restaurant, Candle Cafe on the Upper West Side. It was a lovely balmy evening so I decided to take my order to go, and have a picnic in Central Park. I ordered the Tofu Club Sandwich, it was probably the best sandwich I've ever had ever. Crispy toasted bread, a huge hunk of perfectly seasoned tofu, avocado, tomato, and watercress, with vegan mayo. Sitting on a bench watching the sun set over the reservoir  and it kind of hit me how happy I am that I can eat food like a normal person and enjoy it. Central Park is one of my favorite haunts, so it was a perfect place to recreate that memory. I know that peacefulness is not the first word that comes to most people's minds when they think of NYC, but it's how I felt for most of the trip. This weird, innate sense of peace that all was right in the universe.

Nuba and Kits Beach

Yesterday I did my second Health History for school, which is basically a practice session where you have the client fill out a form about their health history, and you get to know them through reading through it. I love learning about other people and what they eat, so it's been fun trying them out. I was a bit nervous at first(meeting people over skype for the first time is a bit strange!), but I'm slowly getting the hang of it I think.

After spending most of yesterday inside working on some retouching and skypeing, I decided I needed to head outdoors to make the most of the beautiful weather! I've been reading Steve Jobs' bio(he's such an intriguing man). He was definitely eccentric and could be hard to work with, but he had no shame about it and was a complete visionary. I love a quote from him, referring to when someone asked him if he did market research when he was making the Mac, and he said: 'Did Alexander Graham Bell do market research when he invented the telephone?'. He knew how to make what people needed even before they needed it. So inspiring! So I took that to Kits Beach and soaked up some sun and sea. I really miss living by the ocean, the lake in Toronto is great but there's just something about being surrounded by mountains and trees here, and the air is so much cleaner.

Afterwards I had a dinner date with Alex and Michelle, and I suggested Nuba since they have a ton of variety for vegans and omnis alike. It's a really cute Lebanese chain of restaurants in Vancouver, and this was the first time I'd been there for dinner. Their lunch menu has some really awesome pita wraps, so I was excited to see what the dinner menu was like. I ordered the Vegan Meswhi(they mark all their vegan dishes, so it made life a lot easier!), which was veggie shishkabobs coating in Za'atar seasoning piled on top of hummus and tabbouleh. It didn't disappoint!! The free pita bread that came with it wasn't bad either. Their hummus is some of the best I've had, creamy and tangy with just the right consistency.  I think I prefer the lunch menu though, as it's a bit more affordable!

I really love when a restaurant makes it easy for vegans and omni's to enjoy a meal together without either one compromising or going hungry. I love trying to veg restaurants(obviously), but it can be a bit awkward feeling like I'm coercing my dining partners into something they don't really eat. While I think omni's could definitely be a bit more open to trying new dining experiences, sometimes you just want to keep it simple! Nuba does a perfect job of straddling the divide between these two, in an extremely delicious way, and I love them for it.

Here's their website if you want to take a peek:www.nuba.ca/. It's a definite must try if you're ever in Vancouver!

Dining out seems to always serve as a reminder of how far I've come in recovery, since most of my life whenever I ate out I would stick to salads with nothing on them. I still adore salads, and I still like getting dressing on the side because I like to control the amount that goes on, but now it's in terms of taste preference, rather than fear that a little olive oil will make me a blimp. It's much more relaxing now, and since I rarely eat out I don't mind indulging a little when I do. It's more of a treat, and it's all part of trying to learn balance in eating which I've never seemed to possess. Guilty thoughts occasionally creep in, but I've gotten much better at controlling them, and not letting them get the best of me. Same with the exercise balance, if I don't feel like working out everyday, I let myself rest. When my muscles are sore, I let them have a break. It's so much more relaxing than feeling like I need to punish my body everyday, and always feel guilty about it.