one lucky duck- good, but insanely expensive

just a short and sweet mofo post/restaurant review today. while you're reading this, I'm heading to JFK airport and getting ready to leave the country!

While I was in New York City last April, my friend D. and I were walking around. It was a chilly day, so we decided to duck (no pun!) into a cozy little place to warm up. D. mentioned that she had seen a raw vegan place that she thought I might be interested in, One Lucky Duck. Well, I'd heard of them (Pure Food and Wine's little outpost), and I was intrigued.

So we ordered a pot of tea to share, and a piece of tiramisu to share. The bill came to over $23. That is stupid expensive! Good thing the tiramisu was good because... I'm never going back here again until a)I win the lottery b)I get a sugar daddy or c)I decide to quit paying my mortgage!

The next day I went back there and said I'd really liked their raw tiramisu, and I don't live near the restaurant, so would they be willing to share the recipe with me? The answer was "no, but you can buy our upcoming cookbook." PFFFFFT.

one lucky duck- good, but insanely expensive

I ♡ you, salad pizza!!

So the love affair with salad continues... now in pizza form! Long before I was a vegan, I was a fan of the salad pizza. Now I have grown to realize that it's not a universal thing, but a local feast only to be found in New York City, Long Island, and surronding areas.

What is it? Basically a vegan pizza lover's dream- a slice of pizza (with the crispy/chewy uniquely New York style crust) topped with... salad. That's it. Most salad pizza comes without cheese, but you can also ask them for a cheese-less slice. The slice you see above, from Brooklyn, has tomatoes, zucchini, red onions, and fresh basil. I've had slices with variations of toppings- sometimes even lettuce! What sets salad pizza apart is that the toppings are raw or only briefly heated. The combination of refreshing salad and comforting pizza is something that should not be missed. Make sure to seek one out (usually at local neighborhood pizzerias- the kind where you can buy by the slice) next time you're in the area!

I ♡ you, salad pizza!!

classic desserts, vegan twist

Ok, I'm almost done catching up to my June travels! I promised myself I'd have them all posted to the blog before the end of July, and I'm coming in right under the wire. We flew from the Virgin Islands to D.C. to stay with my mom for a few days before coming back to Syracuse. I took that opportunity to hop up to New York City for 1 day to take a class at the Natural Gourmet Institute. Inspired by Emilie's posts, I knew I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a class with Fran Costigan. Here's the description- mouth-watering, right??

# 79 Classically Elegant Vegan Cakes Deconstructed
hands-on

Are you already confident about vegan dessert basics and eager for your next challenge? Come spend the whole day with dessert wizard, Fran Costigan, who will take you through every stage of three complex and elegant desserts. In its original version, each of these beauties is loaded with cream, butter, eggs, and refined sugar. But, under Fran's expert guidance, you will give each one a glorious vegan makeover. As sumptuous and sensational as the originals, these updated classics are truly desserts to swoon for! You will de- and then re-construct: Opera Cake: Hazelnut Cake, Chocolate Espresso Filling, Dark Chocolate Ganache Filling, Hazelnut Cream & Coffee Syrup, Candied Hazelnuts, and Gold Leaf; Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (Black Forest Cherry Gateau): Chocolate Sponge Cake, Cherry Cream Filling, Shiny Cocoa Glaze, Poached Cherries in Optional Red Wine, and Cherry Granita; Mango-Coconut-Lime Torte: Mango Mousse Brûlée, Agave Candied Coconut, Coconut Sorbet, Lime Gelée, Mint Syrup, andCrunchy Wheat-Free Cookie Batons. (Some optional alcohol will be used.)

When I got to the class, I was so happy and relieved to see familiar faces. Danette (on the left), whom I'd met up with previously in NYC and who is an NGI veteran, and Summer (on the right), with whom I have some friends in common but had never met before. When I found out we would be in a team together, I knew this would be an awesome day.

What I enjoyed most, apart from Fran's expert instruction and getting to taste the sweet results, was just getting to work in a commercial kitchen environment. The convection ovens! The fast pace! The aprons! I was in foodie heaven all day. And here are photos from that day:

My group's assignment- a German black forest cake with cherry crème, chocolate-cherry ganache, topped with chocolate-covered cherries, truffles, and chocolate shavings.

Here is a different presentation we made with the cherry crème, using a vanilla cake, poached cherries, and one of the huge hits of the day, the fresh cherry granita. So good!

Here you see the delectable opera cake- hazelnut cake, espresso mousse, rich chocolate ganache, and gold-leaf dusted hazelnuts. This cake was beyond decadent!

Here is a refreshing presentation with mango mousse (extra intense mango flavor because of the use of dried mango), coconut sorbet, candied coconut, lime gelée, and mint syrup. Perfect summery flavors.

With the extra time we had, we used some leftover ganache to make truffles- here you see them in various flavors: coconut, hazelnut, cocoa, and clove-sugar. Yum.

On our lunch break, my team walked over to Bonobo's, a raw foods restaurant that I had not tried before. I got the salad sampler platter that you see above- filled with steamed kale and 7 different salads, each of which was SO delicious. It was fantastic to give my palate a break from all the sugar of our class, and to energize my body for a few more hours of baking! At Bonobo's, I also got to sample durian for the first time (in pudding form)- and guess what? I liked it!

I learned a lot about techniques and ingredients from this class- I look forward to taking more classes at the NGI! If anyone ever gives you grief about the possibility of being vegan, healthy, ecologically/ethically aware, and decadent, please show them these photos! So there you have the last of my June adventures. After getting home at the beginning of July, Daiku and I have been playing a catch-up game- not just working and teaching, but also trying to rent our house and get packed and ready for our move to England, which is only (gulp!) 6 weeks away! That explains the infrequency of my blogging, but I hope to catch up and visit all your blogs over the course of this week!

Restaurant Info:
Bonobo's Vegetarian
18 East 23rd Street
New York, NY 10010
212-505-1200
eatraw1@aol.com

classic desserts, vegan twist

memorial day in NYC: some snapshots

**warning** extremely picture-heavy post! (I'll keep my words and descriptions very brief)

Daiku and I got to spend Memorial Day Weekend in New York City. Here is what we did:

we marveled at super-expensive gas prices in the Bronx

I found myself stuck in midtown (horrors! I try to avoid ever being there...) during an appointment that Daiku had. Fortunately, there was the Turkish parade to keep me entertained.

here's the view from one of my favorite gallery buildings in town. I was lucky that even though it was a holiday weekend, some galleries were open. If you're ever stuck in mid-town Manhattan and want a respite from the tourists, business people, and ritzy stores, go to the gallery building at 24 west 57th street. Then, just ride the elevator to each floor, there are at least 1 or 2 art galleries on every (public) floor. One of my favorites, the Galerie St. Etienne (specializing in German Expressionist art among other things)is there.

stopped into Sacred Chow for some beet-apple-cucumber-ginger juice for me

and a meatball and vegan cheese hero for Daiku.

saw some cool graffiti

helped my friend Tony celebrate his 30th birthday with the help of some lychee martinis (yum!) - sorry no pictures of the camera-shy birthday boy!

saluted Lenin (he saluted back!)

tried some awesome raw nori snacks that our friend Dorota introduced us to (seriously addictive- I want to figure out how to make these at home!)

baked some chocolate-chocolate-peppermint birthday cupcakes (I promise to share the recipe for the chocolate-mint streusel soon!)

hung out in our old 'hood in Queens

where we found out our old block (the top apartment is where Daiku and I used to live) has been renamed after our then-landlord ("the king of Long Island City") (!!!)

went to Red Bamboo for a huge PPK meet-up in Brooklyn (including meeting Jess of Get Sconed! yay! pssst- she's the girl with the pink hair hiding behind the menu in the above photo...)

the only food I got to photograph before the sun went down were these collard green rolls and buffalo wings, unfortunately.

aaaaaaand, dressed Dorota's kitty Willis in this awesome skull cap that we found. He seems to like it, no?

The weekend was a blast, filled with friends old and new, celebrations, good food, cute cats, and a chance to visit 4 out of 5 NY boroughs. (I've never been to Staten Island). This was one of our first really good-weather weekends, and Daiku and I enjoyed walking, talking, and laughing a lot. I hope you enjoyed the photos!

memorial day in NYC: some snapshots

birthday brunch

Hello, and welcome to another installment of VeganMoFo! This month, I have been thinking a lot about food, vegan food in particular, and what makes a great meal. Veganism has come a long way. Not only do we have access to millions of recipes both on-line and through increasingly sophisticated cookbooks, but many of us are fortunate enough to live in places where veganism's presence is increasing, with restaurants rising up alongside it. Therefore, we have the luxury of sitting back and pondering just what it is that makes a great meal, without having to worry about getting our hands on food that we can eat!

As you might know, I live a very long-distance life. Most of my friends and family live 100's, if not 1000's of miles apart. Daiku and I are lucky if we see our parents more than once a year, let alone loved ones who live in, say, San Jose, Stockholm, Melbourne, Tehran, or St. Louis. Increasingly, I have come to the conclusion that a meal is vastly improved when you have good company to share it with. The most humble food, the most mundane situation, can be memorable if there is someone there experiencing it with you.

That being said, we were very lucky that, through sheer chance, our friend Sharon was going to be in town for her birthday. It was a very special birthday. I can't reveal her age, but let's just say that it is a very significant and round number and leave it at that! Sharon is a vegetarian pondering veganism, so our group decided to go to Counter, a fabulous haute veggie restaurant in the East Village for a celebratory brunch.

Here is what we had:

Sangria, made with organic vegan red wine. But I don't have to qualify it- it was just some good sangria!

Tony's root beer float. This isn't some wussy root-beer, it is a sasparilla-infused tonic that will seriously kick your ass. (Flashback time- I remember going on a field trip to an "old West" town back in the 5th grade, where they messed with my 10 year-old brain by telling us that sasparilla is a mixture of Coke and root beer. Now, almost 20 years later, I know that sasparilla is a root that gives real root beer its distinctive taste. However, I can't help it, I still mix Coke and root beer every chance I get - this horrifies some people, but I think it's a delicious drink!)

North African tofu scrambled platter: rice and peas, merguez sausage on skewers, spicy scrambled tofu, greens and toast.

Country breakfast platter: scrambled tofu, merguez sausage, mesclun mix, toast, and home fried potatoes.

Italian farmhouse panini- possibly my favorite dish at Counter: it is a flavorful mixture of walnut pâté, rosemary-infused aioli and tomato on a crusty ciabatta roll. I'm sorry that this dark and blurry photo does this wondrous dish no justice!

My French toast with bananas flambe, which I ordered as soon as I saw that it was the day's special. When I was served, I was a little shocked at the presentation- it was so monochromatic and... gloppy looking! When I tasted it, I was relieved- it tasted truly good. Still, since this is VeganMoFo, I'll get on my little soapbox... there is no excuse for bad presentation! Food has to look good! A lot of people might be thinking about veganism, on the fence about whether or not to take what for many is a culinary plunge. Well, I guarantee you, this French toast is not what is going to push anyone over to the vegan side. A lot of times, I am reminded that we vegans are not only cooking for vegans- we are cooking as a testament for the whole world, and our food better look appetizing! Especially if we are an expensive restaurant. (Wouldn't you be more likely to give vegan French toast a try if it looked like this? Or this?)

Finally, our waiter was nice enough to give us this basket of fresh-baked muffins (poppy seed, blueberry, and banana-walnut) instead of the biscotti that some of our platters came with. The muffins were great, but the best part of this was the trio of spreads that came with it: raspberry butter, sangria jelly, and hand-made nutella- YUM! The sangria jelly was a revelation, the nutella was, it goes without saying, awesome. Well, you can't go wrong, ever, with the chocolate/hazelnut combination, right?

Sharon, the birthday girl.

Here's a previous review I posted about Counter in February (includes a better panini photo!)

Restaurant Info:

Counter
105 First Ave (b/t 6th and 7th)
New York, NY 10003
212.982.5870

birthday brunch

sweet & quick

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VeganMoFo demands daily posts, but I'm a little tired tonight, so I will bring you something quick, yet sweet. Here is one of the many (perhaps too many) vegan cakes I ate last weekend, this one at the café in the East West bookstore. (5th avenue, off of 14th street).

The prettiest,

...yet thinnest slice of red velvet cake. Mmmm. Flamboyantly colored dessert, how I love thee.
.

sweet & quick

food blogging critical mass?

catnip in pumpkin containers at the Union Square green market

This episode of VeganMoFo is brought to you by the letters "B" & "C". Let me start at the beginning. As any regular readers of my blog know, I'm a devoted fan of produce, and a hopeless farmers market addict. I can't pass by a market without taking a peek, and the Union Square green market is no exception. It's one of the first markets I remember going to when I moved to New York City after graduation, got a job, and had to start cooking for myself.

I'd only ever seen tatsoi as individual leaves in a salad- how beautiful is it intact?

I used to work on 17th street, and so every morning I would come out of the Union Square subway station. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, this meant I would get to walk through the market on my way to work. I loved doing this. Depending on the season, I'd catch a whiff of hot apple cider or fresh berry pies, pine wreaths or herbs, delicious bread or heirloom tomatoes. I'd sample little tastes of this or that, and then spend all day at work plotting what I would buy on the way home from work. When I'd get out of work, much of the produce would be discounted as the market began to close down, and this is when I'd score $1 bags of apples, peppers, onions, or potatoes. This market is what allowed me to first try my hand at growing herbs at home (remember that summer when "infused teas" were all the rage? I bought lemong verbana with the sole aim of making infused tea with it). This is where I first (inadvertantly!) bought an $8 loaf of bread one Thanksgiving.

not parsnips, but yellow carrots

So this past weekend, during my trip to the city, it was only natural that I would go to the market, like a pilgrim drawn to the holy grail. And, as usual, I had my trusty little camera in my pocket, ready to grab as photographic inspiration struck.

macro detail of local concord grapes

But I noticed something odd, and more than a little discomfiting. Why had I never noticed this before? EVERYone at the market had cameras. We were all leaning in at uncomfortable angles, taking macro shots of the produce. The sellers looked at us wearily. We were fetishizing their produce and turning it into food porn instead of actually... buying and eating it!*

squash

Seriously, when did this happen? When did the whole world become food bloggers? When did we all start whipping out our cameras at farmers markets, supermarkets, picnics, restaurants, the dinner table? Is something horribly wrong?

and more squash. more varieties than one could take in

Do those other people have cooler blogs than me? Oh my gosh, do I read their blogs? Do they... read mine? Is food blogging so over? Is food porn the new laserdisc?

Dorota & brussels sprouts tree

Are my friends and family laughing at me behind my back?

Sharon and Bazu's inner 12-year-olds laugh at strange gourds

But... the produce is so beautiful and compelling, darnit. I'm just not ready to stop photographing it yet. And, neither are all those other fellow travelers, crowding the market, ducking furtively here and there, trying to capture the perfect shot, that perfect balance of food as sustenance and food as art.

the fattest, purplest carrots in the world

*I did buy some things:

will this garlic take over the world?

I mean, it's arguably the best in the world? Who could resist? (I will report on the veracity of this claim once I try the garlic out)

best juice EVER

And, the BEST thing ever. This "Tart Cherry Stomp" from Red Jacket Orchards. It's ironic that they are located in Geneva, NY, a town very close to me, but I had to go all the way to NYC to try their awesome juices. This tart cherry / apple blend maintains the pucker-inducing integrity of sour cherries, combined with the delicious flavor of apple cider. If you are anywhere near Union Square, you HAVE to find this juice and try it. My friend Tony described it, very accurately, as tasting like a mixture of apple cider and pomegranate juice- with a unique twist. Seriously. Try this stuff. You will not regret it.

So, this episode of VeganMoFo was brought to you by the letters "B"logger and "C"liché. Has this ever happened to any of you guys? Do you ever get food blogging/food porn angst? What do you think? Has food blogging reached critical mass? Is that a good thing?

food blogging critical mass?

PPK Caravan

On Friday night, Daiku and I hit vegan pay dirt- we got to have dinner with 20 fellow PPK-ers in New York! Since this is VeganMoFo, I will bring you mostly food photos in this post, but to get to see some of the gorgeous people we got to meet, you can see more photos here.

For dinner, we went to Caravan of Dreams, located in the East Village. I had never heard of the place, but Terry assured me that it had been around forever. The menu is full of intriguing dishes, including tons of raw food options. I'll give you some of the dishes we managed to photograph, along with grades.

Spinach-potato soup. B.

Indonesian salad. Not so Indonesian. Seriously, macadamia nuts? C-.

Tempeh Reuben. Sandwich: B+ . Pickles: F. Seriously. As a pickle lover, it saddens me to report that pickles this bad even exist.

Organic vegan beers in huge never-ending bottles? A+ !

Desserts were solid. But they were all decorated the same! And had a bit of a "health-food" flavor. B.

Getting a coffee that repeatedly formed an "orb of doom" after we'd spent the whole night talking about Japanese horror movies? Priceless.

Afterward, those of us who hadn't ordered dessert at Caravan of Dreams walked over to Atlas for some vegan soft serve and other assorted goodies.

Everything in the display case (brownies, cakes, cheesecakes, cupcakes) was vegan!

Chocolate-hazelnut cake with a gooey fudge-y middle layer. B+

The soft serve was vanilla, but you could play around with your flavor by choosing various mix-ins. I chose coconut. A-

The best part of the evening was meeting such wonderful and cool on-line friends, including Isa and Terry, vegan authors extraordinaire and all around cool persons. Here's the best part of VeganMoFo: vegan food, the good, the bad, and the weird, tastes better when you have awesome company to share it with. Other than blogging, the Post-Punk Kitchen forums are what have allowed me to keep my veganism -and my sanity- intact!

Check out the blogs of some of the people at the dinner:

Isa & Terry (The PPK blog)
Suzie (One Chubby Vegan)
Melisser (The Urban Housewife)
Jason and Laura (Supervegan)
Gwenlet (Eating Well and Eating Well)
(anyone I missed?)

Restaurant Info:

Caravan of Dreams (100% vegan, raw and gluten-free selections)
405 East 6th Street
(212) 254-1613

Atlas Café (vegan soft serve, crepes, and baked goods from Vegan Treats)
73 2nd Avenue
New York NY 10003
(212) 539-0966

More NYC food, still to come...

PPK Caravan