As I am sitting here tip tap typing on my laptop I have the Gamecock football season about to kick off on my television, a glass of wine next to me, and a whole new adventure in life ahead of me. The last couple of week have been life changing…literally. My husband and I have made the decision to move to Chattanooga, Tennessee! We are following job opportunities and I am just so excited to explore this wonderful new city! I have stalked the shit out of it online and I must say, I am impressed. It looks like a blast. Local food, farmers market, breweries, vineyard, mountains, caverns, a big river for water sports…the list goes on. It may be a little slow on the blog until we get moved and settled in, but don’t for one second think I have abandoned you!!
Now that I’ve told you the big news I want to tell you all about my trip to New York! By “tell you about my trip”, I really mean “tell you about everything I devoured”. I have been dreaming about all the food I consumed while we were there! I mean, really though, it was SO good. So, let’s go! Oh, but first here are a few pictures from around and about the city!
When my mom and I first arrived in Manhattan we were ravenous! We could not check into our hotel so we left our luggage and strolled on down the street to Village Natural. It is basement level and when you walk in it has this cozy, naturalistic vibe. I ordered the classic vegan burger since they said it was their most popular. I’m not going to lie, I was a bit disappointed. The patty turned to mush and needed a bit of salt. Don’t get me wrong, the burger was alright, it’s just that the menu had loads of vegan options and I chose this item based on the fact it assured me it was the vegan item to order. My side salad, on the other hand, was phenomenal. I ordered it with their tahini dressing and I am determined to replicate it now. Delicious! My mom ordered the black bean burger with guacamole and soy bacon and a side salad with ginger dressing….now THAT was a hot ticket item. I took a bite and immediately knew I should have ordered that instead, haha. I should mention, now is as good a time as ever, that my mom is a hard core omnivore. She is always open to trying new foods, but she is often weird about textures and anything too “out there”. She LOVED her burger. Overall, Village Natural for the win!
Down the street from our hotel was this precious little gem called Terri. Terri became my favorite place we ate at. We ate there for breakfast one morning and it was so good that I went back the next morning and bought not only another breakfast sandwich but a sadnwich for my lunch later that day. My mom ordered a “bacon, egg and cheese” sandwich while I ordered the “sausage, egg and cheese”. When I went back the next day I was too hungover to actually know which sandwich I ordered…I’m thinking I got something different but who knows. The non-breakfast sandwich I went back and ordered (to haul around NY aaaaaallll day) was called the “Thanksgiving”. I personally feel this requires no explanation, but for you…I will give a description. Tofurky slices, vegenaise, cranberry sauce, walnuts, lettuce, and maybe some type of dressing, all on a toasted focaccia bread. Hot dayum! <–what I have to say about all of Terri’s food. Oh, I also snagged some vegan jerky and a peanut butter and jelly cupcake from them too!
The other restaurant that I cannot forget to mention is VLife. They are a tiny little drop-in spot where you squeeze in to take your order and then freak out when it arrives because it is so damn good. I got a wrap, cannot remember what it was called….but it had french fries in it. FRENCH FRIES. It was loaded with a soy protein doused in a creamy spicy sauce, the french fries, lettuce, and tomato, to my memory’s knowledge. If we were there even one more day I would have had to go back and get something else on the menu. This wrap was off the chainnnn. Also, it had some thought provoking quotes on the walls, check a few of them out below.
We ate and we ate and we ate. I tried to take photos of it all but I was distracted, and let’s be real, drunk…for a some of it. The only other place that I was really bummed I didn’t snag a photo was Monster Sushi. They had a small vegan menu and I ordered a couple sushi rolls. The one worth noting was the tempura fried sweet potato roll. HOLY HELL. I didn’t remember to take a picture until I had one piece left on a soy sauce doused plate….so…just picture it in your head. It was orange in the middle with white rice surrounding it….damn delicious too.
I hope you enjoyed this post! It is different than anything I have ever put on here but I really enjoy traveling and wanted to share the food experiences I had this go around! Until next time 🙂
Jack Stone says
Always look forward to your blogs after you travel; you NEVER disappoint, including this latest trip to NYC. You made me feel like I was there!