Here are some photos from a recent mini trip to NYC, aka "vegan Mecca." I really need to get up to that happening city more often. Every visit my boyfriend and I eat until we burst. This post features our Upper West Side eats, spots not far from our budget hotel. Chinatown pics will appear tomorrow.
Blossom Du Jour
We first stopped at this outpost of Blossom, located at 165 Amsterdam Avenue near West 67th. This vegan takeaway spot was tiny (only 3 stools) but the sandwiches were extra large. Above are the Midtown Melt and the Skyscraper Burger. They both were excellent, with vegan cheese, mayo, and other special sauces. The veggie burger was stacked so high, it was hard to eat. (Yes, that is an onion ring in that stack.) We washed these down with Blossom's own brand of cold pressed juice. "Pretty in Pink" (which seems to be the go-to name for most beet juice concoctions) was a perfectly balanced blend of beet, pineapple, and apple; not too earthy.
This was only my second time to Peacefood Cafe. What an oasis of good humor and calm! The large, sunny cafe is located at 460 Amsterdam Avenue at 82nd Street. We started our lunch with big salads (above), a constant travel hankering. On the left is the Asian Greens Salad with marinated and baked tempeh. On the right is the fluffy quinoa salad with an out-of-this-world creamy lime mustard vinaigrette, under all that avocado.
My boyfriend also got the fried seitan medallion panini (above) that wowed him last visit. I had a bland yet comforting special kale and lentil soup (below). And we split an acai smoothie, which was milkshake thick and packed with berries. This giant lunch fueled a long day of art & culture tourism and made us feel healthy on the road. Maybe for our next visit we can save room for dessert from Peacefood's tantalizing bakery display cases.
