New York day 4 and 5
We were up early on day 4 for an almost 3 hour boat trip that sailed completely around Manhattan, looking at bridges and buildings. It was run by the Architecture Institute of New York. It was quite wonderful to see everything from a different perspective, and the architect on the boat was knowledgeable about both the history and construction of the buildings.
Afterwards we grabbed a quick early lunch at Blossom du Jour (good sandwiches, another Philly ‘cheese steak’ and a ‘chicken’, avocado and pesto, but Champs Diner still win hands down).
We then headed down to Battery Park to the Skyscraper Museum (mildly interesting but not great) then to Moo Shoes near Chinatown to check out the vegan shoes and smooch with the resident cats, before heading home and frocking up to dine out at Candle 79.
Dinner was good, though somewhat marred by a loud guy at the next table who generally behaved like a jerk and, among other crimes of behaviour, ordered for his girlfriend without consulting her, which gobsmacked me. What century are we in?
We are cornmeal poppers and a raw coconut Pad Thai salad for starters followed by seitan piccata and a Moroccan chickpea cake. We shared tastes, and I have to say I was completely envious for not having ordered the Pad Thai salad to have all to myself. Food envy is a dreadful thing.
Dessert was cannoli, shared.
The photos are bad as the light is so dim.
Several days of too much eating, heat, humidity and pounding the footpaths of NYC left us tired and with blistered feet, so we opted for a lie in instead of breakfast. Strange I know. I’m not usually inclined to relegate food to second place.
Around 11, we headed for an early lunch to Beyond Sushi. It may be hard to believe, but the sushi we ate were so sensational they are a candidate for the best meal of the trip. Made fresh in front of you, using different types of rice, they are works of art, bursting with flavour and taste utterly fabulous. They are a far cry from the ready made sushi we normally get.
Later that evening we attended an incredible concert celebrating 200 years of American song. The venue was the historic Federal Hall in Wall St, where George Washington was inaugurated. It is a small, intimate, resonant space and we were there with an audience of probably 60 people to hear four very talented singers and an equally brilliant pianist perform works ranging from the Star-Spangled Banner to music by George Gershwin, Bob Dylan and Cole Porter.
On the way home we stopped at Benny’s Burritos in the East village for some late night vegan nachos and beer. Somewhere in between we fitted in a trip to Lula’s Sweet Apothecary, another vegan ice cream place. I’m not sure when that was. I do remember it was delicious though.
Lula’s Sweet Apothecary
516 E 6th St,
New York, NY
(646) 481-5852
www.lulassweetapothecary.com
Candle 79
154 E 79th St,
New York, NY
(212) 537-7179
www.candle79.com
Blossom du Jour
259 W 23rd St
New York, NY
Also other locations.
blossomdujour.com
Benny’s Burritos
93 Avenue A,
New York, NY
(212) 254-2054
Beyond Sushi
229 E. 14th Street
New York, NY
beyondsushinyc.com
Oh my, I am so sad I didn’t make it to Beyond Sushi on my recent NYC trip! That looks amazing! I did have some pretty fantastic vegan sushi at a place in LA called Shojin though. I can never get enough!
You will have to go back 🙂
Oh my GOODNESS, I don’t know which of your adventures to be most envious of! All those places we hear so much about in the NY vegan blogs and podcasts! And a fantastic concert too… My cousin’s in NY at the moment too, but there’s no way she’ll be checking out vegan places. 🙁
Your cousin’s loss I’d say. The food is mostly brilliant and honestly most non vegans would love it without even thinking about the fact that it was vegan.
Beyond Sushi is one of my 2 absolute favorite places to eat in NYC along with Lan Cafe. So glad you go to go there!
I was completely blown away by Beyond Sushi. Will have to save Lan Cafe for another trip.
I am still in shock about the guy ordering for his lady companion! Everything sounds super delicious
That was only one of his crimes!