Lagusta's Luscious

I have several posts coming this week from the Vegan Shop Up on Saturday. Big Mac sliders, mac and cheese, English cream eggs + macarons...

It was my first time trying Lagusta's Luscious chocolates and I was blown away by the creamy, salty goodness. 

First, a Smoky Corn on the Cob bar with sage, sea salt, pepper, and paprika. This is really such a flavorful bar, the sea salt really pops. 

And second, the English Cream Egg. The filling is great, but the chocolate is so so good. It's what really stood out to me. And the portion size is much more appropriate (when compare to the Cadbury egg). 

I loved these treats so much, I will definitely be ordering more chocolates soon. I'm dying to try the caramels. 

Candle Cafe West Follow Up

Candle Cafe West recently had a special that was pretty extraordinary.

Chipotle Encrusted Tofu with quinoa, black beans, sautéed greens, and guacamole. 

I also followed this up with a Pumpkin Chai Smoothie for dessert. Great combination, and perfect to take to go for the walk home. 

Sun in Bloom

Sun in Bloom just opened a location in Tribeca and luckily it's fairly close to my office. 

My good friend Kate has done some amazing photos/styling for them so I was very eager to finally try all of the amazing treats I've seen. 

I had their BLT with oven roasted tomatoes, almond mayo, greens, and shitake bacon on spelt bread. Very tasty. 

And I couldn't leave without a cupcake...peanut butter chocolate was calling my name. It was divine. 

Red Farm . UWS

I finally tried Red Farm a few weeks ago, and I cannot get enough of it. 

They have two locations in the city, luckily one is not far from my neighborhood. 

The Crunchy Vegetable + Peanut Dumplings are probably the best dumplings I've had. I crave them almost daily.

They are delicious, and since crunchy is my favorite texture, they're right up my alley. 

The Vegetable Fried Rice can be veganized without the egg - and ask for hot sauce on the side. Their hot sauce is incredible. 

They also have some awesome specials, and there's almost always a vegetarian/vegan option. Recently, I had brussel sprouts, string beans, peppers and onions in a black bean sauce. It rocked. 

They really do have some great dishes, and everything is so flavorful and complex. 

Clinton Hall

This past weekend, we met some friends at Clinton Hall in the Financial District. 

I was very pleasantly surprised to find a potato salad on their menu that does not involve mayo. It's vinegar based with lots of green onions. They also have a great cucumber salad with dill and sauerkraut. Truth be told, I thought all soft pretzels were vegan. I now realize some people do add butter and/or eggs. Eek. Next time I'm there, I will definitely confirm either way. (Yes, I know better than to assume, but I've had so many vegan soft pretzels, that it just didn't occur to me at the time).

Pretty solid veggie options for a beer hall. 

The Butcher's Daughter . Follow Up

I recently stopped in The Butcher's Daughter for a juice and realized they offer vegan, gluten free muffins, scones and cookies. 

I couldn't resist the pink Strawberry Muffin. 

It had the perfect amount of sweetness. Being gluten free, it does have a different texture than most muffins, but I really enjoyed it. 

And...they're all sweetened with agave or dates. 

Pressed Juicery

A few weeks ago, Heath and I did a 3 day juice cleanse from Pressed Juicery.

We did our first 3 day cleanse last year with Blueprint. 

I really enjoy the process, but you have to be mentally prepared for it. I feel like this year I was not as prepared as last year. The juices are similar between the two companies - two green juices, two citruses, one beet and one almond milk. 

I'm not sure I would do another 3 day, but rather just incorporate more juices into my everyday routine. 

However, I really loved the taste of all of the Pressed juices. 

The Modern Bar Room

Last weekend, Heath and I had dinner at The Modern at MOMA.

You can either eat in the Dining Room or the more casual Bar Room. We opted for the latter. 

I did email them before making the reservation to ask if they could accommodate a vegan diet. Luckily, they were happy to do so. 

I started with a lovely drink made with lychee puree and seltzer. 

Then it was onto Wild Mushroom Soup topped with chives. This was the perfect soup for me because I really enjoy the taste of mushrooms, just not always the texture. 

I also had the Red Endive and Arugula Salad with red kuri pumpkin and honey crisp apples. Arugula is my favorite lettuce, so I'm always happy with any kind of arugula salad. 

And for my entree, they made me a custom Winter Vegetable dish, which consisted of oyster mushrooms that were seared and in the shape of scallops, hen of the woods mushrooms (I didn't partake in these because of my previously mentioned texture issue), carrots, brussel sprouts, parsnips and spinach with a vinaigrette and all the little bits on the bottom of the roasting pan. It was all so flavorful and insanely delicious. 

And to finish, Citrus Carpaccio with a sorbet that I believe was passion fruit. It was such a nice, light, perfect end to the meal. 

They were so accommodating about my dietary requests. It's really the little things - like brining you a side of olive oil to go with the bread. (They serve butter with their mini baguettes). It is so so very appreciated. 

Dirt Candy

Last week, my favorite Chicago vegan blogger was in the city and we finally made it to Dirt Candy. 

We were both DC virgins, and had been looking forward to it for quite some time. The restaurant is tiny, so they fill up pretty quickly. If you're prepared to eat dinner at 5.30, you'll be much more likely to get a table. The first thing they ask when you sit down is if you're vegan. I love this, because sometimes vegetarian restaurants aren't super accommodating for vegans (strange, but it does happen). Luckily, Dirt Candy can make almost anything on their menu vegan without sacrificing flavor nor texture.

We started with the Jalapeño Hugh Puppies with Maple Butter. You seriously can't go wrong with deep fried goodness dipped in sweet butter. I'm still thinking of all the things I could eat with maple butter.

For appetizers, we shared the Mushrooms - portobello mousse, truffled toast with pear and fennel compote...

And the Potato - warm potato salad, crispy Japanese yams, grilled sweet potato, olives, bitter greens and apples. Both were delicious and complex. I'm pretty picky about mushrooms, but I really loved everything in the Mushroom dish.

For entrees, we went for the Beets - salt roasted with Thai green curry, beet gnocchi and whipped coconut galangal cream...

And the Corn - stone ground grits, corn cream, pickled shiitakes, huitlacoche and tempura watercress. Again, both very filling and full of flavor. I like beets, but I don't love them. This was interesting but I definitely preferred the corn. I did really enjoy the coconut cream alongside the beets.

For dessert, it was the Ice Cream Nanaimo Bar with sweet pea, mint and chocolate. Mint chocolate with a hint of something else, very intriguing.

And the Popcorn Pudding with salted caramel corn. The caramel corn was delicious.

I love the trend of taking one ingredient and showing how many iterations you can have in one dish. It really highlights the magic of vegetables. 

Sivory . DR

Last month, the husband and I went to the Dominican Republic for vacation. 

We stayed at the Sivory Boutique Hotel, which was about 40 minutes from town (Punta Cana) and a $120 cab ride, so needless to say, we didn't venture out very much. 

But that was fine with us, we were looking for an uber-relaxing spot where we could just chill out and read a book on the beach. 

I don't have pictures of all of my eats, because of the choice of mood lighting in some restaurants in particular, but I will make sure to note all of my positive experiences. 

First, at our resort, I started most mornings with granola, soy milk and sliced bananas. 

Followed by a walk on the beach...

For lunch, I loved their Grilled Vegetable Stack, ordered without the cheese. Normally in a veggie stack, you have the usual - eggplant, onion, peppers, zucchini. This stack also included tomato, white potato and sweet potato.

A side of crispy plantain chips is always a good snack. 

By the pool, hummus with crispy beet chips, olives and tortillas was my go-to. 

Along with fresh coconut water. 

They have an Asian restaurant on site that has an amazing veggie stir fry. And if you let them know your dietary restrictions ahead of time, they're happy to accommodate. 

Next door, at the Zoetry hotel, they have three restaurants with great veggie options. Just let them know ahead of time. Also, a very strange thing we encountered was many hotels are not prepared to serve customers who are not guests of the hotel. So...again, ahead of time, talk to reception and you'll have no problem. You normally just have to pre-pay. 

It's definitely a more rustic beach experience than Turks + Caicos, our normal beach destination, but it was a very pleasant change.