Sacred Chow: NYC

Very Berry Smoothie ( $8.25)

Tempeh Reuben ($12)

So today for lunch me and the mom headed down to West Village to one of my favorites Sacred Chow. This is such a cute little college type vegan health place ( 20% discount if you bring in a student I.D.) Haven't been feeling my best so today before our amazing lunch I started off with the Very Berry Smoothie ($8.25) bananas, strawberries, and blueberries with your choice of soymilk, apple juice or coconut milk (GF) I opted for the apple juice. Let me say I know most of you are thinking $8.25 for a smoothie really?! At first glance you may think it is expensive, but i'll remind you that all of the ingredients are Organic, vegan, and sugar free. I'll also put in this note that the smoothie is nice and thick so you can easily split it, which is what we did ( so really you can cut the price in half) and at Sacred Chow everything comes in BIG portions. After this creamy amazing smoothie we decided to split the Tempeh Reuben ( $12) with chow slaw, and pickles. This sandwich was one of the most amazing things i've ever tasted here in ny. This sandwich came with roasted tempeh, sauerkraut, caramelized onions, and a russian dressing which was to die for! The coleslaw was small but flavorful so it sufficed for the meal, with a couple of lovely crunchy pickles:) We also split the Power Bowl- You can order this with multiple choices of protein, a grain, and a veggie. Today we got the soba noodles, with BBQ seitan, and broccoli. This bowl was perfect and HUGE bowl of food but left me feeling light and healthy ( like all of their food actually). I would definitely recommend trying both of these dishes if you ever hit the west village for some sacred chow. Really anything you order here you will love:) Alrighty kiddos eat healthy and keep it clean:)

Power Bowl: ($10)

Peace, Love, and Vegan Food,

Kris



Sacred Chow:
227 Sullivan Street
212.337.0863
http://sacredchow.com/

Quantum Leap : NYC

West Village 

Satay ($4.95) 

Vegan Grill Burger ($7.50)

So today was a fabulous food day ( not to mention the weather was significantly better here in NY). We headed down to the West Village to Quantum Leap, just about a block away from Sacred Chow. This place gave great portions for great prices. We started of with an appetizer today the "Satey"($4.95)- Skewers of bite size pieces of seitan ( a wheat protein) in a peanut satay sauce. These were delicious you get 2 skewers over a small bed of salad a great start for a delicious meal:) We decided to split today. First we ordered the "Vegans Grill Burger"($7.50)- Soy-based patty topped with grilled onions, peppers, and mushrooms, served with a lovely side salad. This burger was soft and had great flavors, filling but not to much. Really great! Then we headed on a little trip to Mexico for the " Taco Ole'"( $10.50) - three vegan soft corn tacos: soy chorizo, veggie, chik'n, and seitan steak tacos. Served with refried black beans, guacamole, and tofu sour cream  ( don't knock it til you've tried it;)) a spectacular mexican healthy dish. The flavors were fabulous, and getting 3 different proteins to try made it that much better! The best thing about this place is that the prices were cheap but the food was so much bigger than the price! A great place in the west village to dine for a great healthy meal! Eat clean people:)

Taco Ole' ($10.50)

Peace, Love, and Vegan Food,

Kris


Quantum Leap
226 Thompson Street
212.677.8050
http://www.quantumleaprestaurant.com/

11:30 a.m. -......?

Josies: UWS NYC

Vegan Denver Scramble ($12.75)

Organic Oatmeal ($8.75)

Today we brunched before church on the Upper West not to far from home. Josies on Amsterdam Ave. This place serves organic food with a few vegan options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner...The setting inside is large for a restaurant in Manhattan, a nice calming environment. They start of coming around giving out Spelt bread with cinnamon which was pretty delicious they give you an applesauce as a topping, a good starter. Got a herbal tea to to sip on BUT these not so big glasses of tea will set you back $5 and no refills, so keep that in mind when ordering.  We ordered two things, one being the Vegan Denver Style Scramble($12.75)- organic scrambled tofu sauteed with bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms, vegan breakfast sausage, and a toasted whole grain english muffin with strawberry spread. This was a pretty delicious light brunch. Came out sizzling hot.. I loved the vegan sausage and muffin with the spread. We also ordered the Organic Oatmeal- sweetened with maple syrup and topped with sliced bananas, blueberries, dried cranberries, and toasted almonds($8.75) This bowl of oatmeal was everything you would want a bowl of oatmeal to be. Sweet, gooey and delicious, with a bit of crunch from the almonds. I would love to say that everything about this place was fantastic.. BUT the experience with our server today wasn't  the best. A bit of an attitude honestly which is fine because Im there for the food, that being said the food I ordered ( the scramble) I ordered with out mushrooms and it came smothered in mushrooms when I had them take it back to return it took longer to make then the original time it was ordered.. which was quite irritating. Then we were offered "some more tea, seeing that I had to wait for my order" ( which to me sounds like a refill because we had to wait) Little did we know until the check arrived we had been charged an extra $5 for another tea. So the food was delicious just know what your getting into when you go for lunch/brunch/dinner. Alrighty Eat good peeps:)

Strawberry Spread

Peace, Love, and Vegan Food,

Kris

Josie's West:
300 Amsterdam Avenue (74th st)
212.769.1212
http://www.josiesnyc.com/

Sacred Chow/Whole Earth Bakery: NYC

Breakfast Sandwich ( $12.75)

Chocolate Crisp ( $4.00)

So this post is a little late off but lets go ahead and do it. Let me say if your looking for a great place for a weekend brunch in NYC head on over to Sacred Chow on Sullivan Street ( west 4 area).  Today for brunch I ordered the Breakfast Sandwich($12.75)- which was phenomenal! A soft soy buttermilk biscuit filled with tofu scramble & tempeh strips served with fresh fruit ( or a garden salad or steamed greans. for Gluten Free you can get a corn tortilla) Im not sure what words to use to describe this.. All I can tell you is to try it yourself - you wont be sorry. Everything was fresh, hot and delicious:)

Chocolate Blondie ( $4.00)

After this scrumptious brunch I had to head over to Whole Earth Bakery and Kitchen on St. Marks Place not to far by subway. This place is all vegan/organic/no sugar... I ordered 3 different things and tasted each ( I had to try this and put it up against Babycakes- can you even do that?!)  First I tried the Chocolate Chewy - which basically can be summed up as a Chocolate Blondie ($4.00)- It was my favorite of the 3 ordered ( doesn't touch Babycakes just let me say that) It's so hot in the city that by the time I got to a starbucks to enjoy the treats the chocolate had melted but that made it gooey and yum:)  Let me not that is one thing there really is no place to sit in this place, and no a.c. so I would take it to go. Second on the list was the Chocoalte Crispy($4). Pretty much a Chocolate Rice Crispy snack (vegan of course sans the sugar. ) It was alright a little bland.. Third was something a little more ordinary the Oatmeal Raisin Cookie($2.75) which once again was good nothing mouth watering. All in all I most likely came in pretty biased since Im a lover of Chef Brookes in Fort Myers and Babycakes here in NYC. That being said these little goodies weren't  quite as flavorful as I would have liked them to be, but still a light decadent dessert on a hot day.. Thats all for now. Eat good, green and healthy:)

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie ( $2.75)

Peace, Love, and Vegan Food,

Kris

Sacred Chow:
227 Sullivan Street
212.337.0863
11 a.m. - 10 p.m.
http://sacredchow.com/

Whole Earth Bakery and Kitchen:
130 Saint Marks Place ( 8th St.)
212.677.7597
info@wholeearthbakery.com
http://www.wholeearthbakery.com/

Candle Cafe: NYC

Smoked Tempeh & Grilled Veggie Sandwhich with Potatoe Salad.($14)

ah Candle Cafe is one of my favorites here in New York. Sister restaurant to Candle 79 just a few blocks away. They change there menu for the different seasons and recently added the Smoked Tempeh and Grilled Veggie Sandwhich ( $14) which was on my plate for today. This was absolutely incredible. Grilled tempeh, zucchini, roasted red pepper, arugula, and sundried tomato pesto on mixed grain bread served with basil aioli and potato salad ( woo all in one sentence!) A thick sandwhich with the freshest veggies to bite into with the creamy aioli to let it melt in your mouth. Amazing - If you ever go there order this- you wont be sorry! The potato salad was also yumo thick soft potatoes with some chopped veggies that made it crunchy. All in all a fantastic meal at Candle. You never let me down:)

Peace, Love, and Vegan Food,

Kris

Candle Cafe:

1307 3rd Ave (74/75)

(212) 472-0970

11:30 a.m.- 10:30 p.m. 

http://candlecafe.com/

Cafe Blossom: NYC

So life has brought me back to the big apple for a bit.. who knows exactly how long...eventually plan on heading back out to LA but a couple of great internship opportunities have come up here so I'll be doing that along with school and OF COURSE blogging about some amazing vegan food. I plan on doing more of NYC and lots of the east coast since those trains are so handy:) enough blabbing I'll go ahead and give you what you want. that delicious food review right? ;)

My mom is up here which is always so much more fun ( someone to enjoy a good meal with and we split) . Today was a Cafe Blossom day. right on Columbus Ave. on the upper west not far from the new apartment. but let me say with this heat it seemed MUCH further honestly, has NYC ever been so hot??!

We started of with two nice cooling ginseng teas- which quickly took the body temps. down thank God.

Sweet Potato Autumn Rolls ( $11)

Red Quinoa Salad ($12)

TOFU BLT ($13)

Then we ordered the Autumn Sweet Potato Rolls($11) as an appetizer - this is a raw and gluten free appetizer if that tickles your fancy;) These little rolls were filled with coconut noodles, jicama, carrot, red and yellow pepper, scallion, avocado, served along with an almond ginger dipping sauce. These were nice and refreshing but I can't say that I would order them again. They serve better almost as a palate cleanser maybe between a course if you will. They were not bad by any means it was just as if I was eating cut up veggies with not to much spice. Kudos to Cafe Blossom for offering a Raw and Gluten Free dish though:) Then we split the Tofu BLT($13) which was simply delicious. A big sandwich ( so you can split and feel content after your meal) but also light. A big piece of grilled tofu, tempeh bacon, lettuce, tomato, and a basil mayo. All of the sandwiches come with either french fries, sweet potato fries, or a house salad. You can substitute for steamed or sauteed greens ($2) which is just what we did - love the greens:) This was great just what we needed on a hot day.. Im not sure the exact kind of bread it is served on but its fantastic! Im also a big fan of vegan sauces and different aiolis. This tomato basil mayo was light and creamy and delicious ( side note: My favorite vegan sauce is the Tempeh Reuben Sauce at Chef Brookes in Fort Myers- I would drink that really. ). We also split the Red Quinoa Salad ($12) this was served with red quinoa, black beans, julienne peppers, watercress, toasted seeds, mango guacamole, and a lemon vinaigrette. This was a cooling salad ( which once again works perfect for a hot summer day in the city) light and fluffy quinoa but a little crunch with the seeds and beans. Very light and another great GF option. All in all a delicious lunch at Cafe Blossom. If your ever hanging around the upper west side I'd recommend stopping in for a quick healthy lunch or maybe a smoothie to cool down:).

Peace, Love, and Vegan Food,

Kris

Cafe Blossom
466 Columbus Avenue
New York NY.
212-875-2600
http://www.blossomnyc.com/

Chef Brookes Natural Cafe.: Before you read just look at the picture and enjoy its beauty:)

Today and everyday since I've been in Fort Myers for a visit I've gone to my favorite cafe:) Had some amazing food and great desserts of course. Today Chef Brooke out did herself ( once again) . She made me a special Goodbye for now cake.. As if the picture doesn't say enough I'll tell you what it consisted of. Vegan of course.. Pineapple, Raspberry, Goji Berries, topped off with a vegan Chocolate Sauce.. I think this cake was the most amazing thing I've ever put in my mouth- but I wouldn't put it past Chef Brooke to surprise my mouth again next time I visit. This simply melts in your mouth but has a little chew with the pineapple and then the gooey raspberries and chocolate. absolutely perfect. I have to be honest I've tasted some amazing vegan food in many different places and nothing compares to this cake of perfection. Chef Brooke puts so much work and love into everything she bakes and cooks. One of the most kind hearted people I know and Im glad to call her a friend. The fact that her food is amazing makes it all that much better. :)


Peace, Love, and Vegan Food,
Kris




Chef Brookes Natural Cafe
1850 Boy Scout Drive
Ft Myers Fl.
(239) 332-2433




Visit her Website: chefbrookeonline.com