NYC Part 2

If you follow me on the ‘gram then you know I’m currently in Europe but! Let’s take a step back in time to when I was in NYC, eating all the vegan food…

When I left off in Part One, we had just finished dinner at Candle Cafe West… 

*SUNDAY*

We I slept in a little bit on Sunday morning, but once I finally dragged myself out of that luxuriously soft bed (Marriott Marquis Times Square, y’all!) we headed straight to Central Park for some sunshine and fresh air. Well, frigid air, actually, but that was okay as long as we were in the sun. I don’t generally eat breakfast and just went with coffee, which was good because I needed the pep and the warmth!

Turns out we weren’t the only ones who decided to bundle up and hit the park…

There was some sort of Greyhound meetup and OMG where those doggos adorable in their little outfits! There were big greyhounds, and little Italian greyhounds, but they were all precious. 

When we had had enough walking, I opened the Happy Cow app to see what was nearby for lunchies. We were near the Alice in Wonderland statue, for you locals. One of the closest possibilities was… Candle Cafe East! Sure, we had just eaten at their spot on the UWS the night before but who cares? Not us! So off we went.

I had the Seitan & Mushroom Burger which was literally smothered in mushrooms, mozzarella cashew cheese, onion rings, pickles, tomato, lettuce and sriracha aioli, with truffle fries on the side! It was SO GOOD! And my mom doesn’t like mushrooms so I didn’t have to share a single bite! #MushroomsFTW

Mom chose the Cajun Seitan Sandwich, which was a cajun crusted seitan cutlet with avocado and kale on a rosemary focaccia with fries and a chili aioli. 

She liked, but didn’t love, it. As you can see from the picture, the sandwich was mostly bread. 

After lunch we took a nice walk through the UES admiring the architecture, then made our way back to the hotel so I could finally show up at my conference for a few hours. Work, work, work, blah, blah, blah… but then it was time for dinner! 

We decided on Franchia Vegan Cafe because… well, isn’t it obvious? It was a lovely walk (I love to walk, and mom was a trooper keeping up with me) and we arrived hungry and thirsty. So, of course, we ordered a whole bottle of wine 😉 

We also started out with the Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls, filled with peppers, mango, mint, basil, red cabbage and tofu in rice wrap served with peanut sauce: 

They were light and crisp and flavorful, and that peanut sauce was just amazing- rich and just a tiny bit of heat. 

We each chose an entree but shared. I had the Spicy Franchia Noodles, stir fried with peanuts, dried chili, mushrooms and assorted veggies. Very good! And of course, I got all the mushrooms, haha!

Mom chose the Crispy Korean Chili Tofu, which was pan fried tofu with garlic and Korean chili sauce topped with oats, served with cucumber and tomato. The flavor was fantastic but it wasn’t actually crispy, so she was disappointed. That was probably the main reason she ordered it. 

The inside of Franchia was beautiful, very cozy and well designed. It was a very nice, comfortable place to have dinner but… I wasn’t blown away by the food. We realized after that we hadn’t ordered anything we couldn’t really get at any Asian restaurant- tofu and noodles are pretty easy to come by. Perhaps we should’ve gone with some of their vegan meat options. Oh well, next time! 

*Monday*

Monday was a full day of conferencing. Breakfast potatoes are my weakness, so I took my little “vegan” meal card and enjoyed this plate of crispy potatoes, fresh fruit and granola. Although, clearly, what I enjoyed most was the teeny tiny bottle of Tabasco! 

Lunch was also served by the hotel, and it was pasta with beans and squash mixed in, all in a spicy red sauce. Nothing fancy, but it was tasty!

The conference organizers put on a massive reception that evening with open bars and tons of food. Most of it wasn’t vegan, but there was enough bread and veggies and fruit to leave me full. Mostly red wine, if we’re being honest. We also got to meet with Glinda and Elphaba! 

This was especially fun because we had tickets for the next evening to see Wicked on Broadway! 

*Tuesday*

The day started off with even more fried taters and fresh fruit with granola. The conference breakfast of champions, right?

Lunch was really good- a roasted cauliflower steak with succotash and baby carrots. The garnish on the cauliflower was sweet… a hint of cherry maybe?

Dinner was very rushed because we had a show to get too! We opted for just drinks and a snack in the hotel bar, since we were so close to the theater already. 

My favorite drink of the entire trip: a Maple Old Fashioned, with with some kind of maple whiskey.

Also, some simply amazing hummus raisins and pine nuts and scallions and battered, deep-fried cauliflower on top! I wish I had more details, but it doesn’t seem to be listed on their menu online…

Then it was off to the show. Wicked was amazing, of course! I had seen it once like 12 years ago in Denver, and Mom hadn’t seen it. We both loved it, as I knew we would. 

It was our last night which was sad. We walked back to the hotel very slowly, through Times Square. We actually just stood there for maybe 10 minutes, looking up. The snow had started to fall and it was just beautiful and perfect. 

Also, I got to pet a horse. A police horse!

Then it was off to bed for a VERY early morning. To beat the rapidly approaching blizzard we had moved our flights up to 6:30am. We were one of the very last flights to get out of La Guardia before they closed down the whole airport, so it was worth it!

New York was so much fun- can’t wait to visit again soon!