A few weeks ago I ventured out to New York and spent less than 72 hours trying to explore the city that never sleeps. I was lucky enough to be able to see my high school friend Eric while I was there and also mega lucky to meet the famous super women of them all Dr. Taz.
This was a total spur of the moment trip, if you know me, I am nothing like that. I like to plan things months in advance to get my list of everything I would want to do and see. Oh and eat HELLO- I am a foodie after all.
I literally left on Tuesday morning arrived around 3:30 pm and left Thursday at 6:00 am. I know talk about not enough time to adventure.
When I arrived on Tuesday I knew I wanted to get my nails + get a good latte. Chillhouse has been exploiting all over Instagram for their killer nail art, and great lattes. I tried the beet latte and also grabbed an iced matcha to go. I was gonna need a little extra energy boost after being up since 4 am.
From there I walked to where the event for Dr. Taz was being held. My main reason for this impromptu trip to NY. It was amazing, they had great food, there were so many other influencers and people there, I had a great time. PLUS I was able to sit down with hers truly for a few minutes and chit chat about life, food, mental illness and more.
It was pretty amazing.
I did cut my evening short, I went back to my airbnb around nine. The next morning I woke up early to do some yoga in my airbnb before getting ready to leave and meet my high school friend, Eric. I took the train from where I was staying in Queens to Manhattan where we were gonna meet for a late breakfast at De Maria.
Since we were literally planning on eating our way through NY, we shared bites here and there, everywhere. I ordered the Banana bread with flaxseed, coconut and ginger. YUM! It was gluten free and totally good. I loved that it wasn’t overly sweet. I also ordered the chili turmeric bone broth and Eric got the tiger bowl which was insane.
We caught up there for a while before taking off to out new destination.
Being the tea and coffee freak that I am I was BEYOND thrilled to check out El Rey for some pretty good cold brew and iced tea. Our plan was to walk / eat our way through the city and end up in Brooklyn to catch the sunset on the bridge, right before our last stop of the eating our way through NY tour.
While Eric was the one that really enjoyed the cold brew I did steal sips here and there from him. It was smooth and perfect for the sunny day ahead of us. I had the Iced Black tea, perfect to enjoy on one of the last days of summer.
We took our drinks to go and continued to venture around the streets.
The hustle and bustle of the city is perfect for my hamster wheel brain. I felt like finally everyone was going at my speed.
We were searching for doughnuts when we came across a place sent directly from my spiritual friends in the universe, The Alchemist’s Kitchen.
The vibe there is totally me. I could have spent the entire day here BTW. The tonic bar was truly made for me and all the botanical remedies they had. I will say I spent a good chunk of change here. I ordered the matcha milkshake, brain tonic and grabbed a few other things. It was awesome. We chilled here while enjoying the beauty and atmosphere of the place.
A few streets down I had the best doughnut of my life. I’m not kidding. I mean. This doughnut left me completely speechless. It wasn’t vegan or gluten free or paleo. It is made with real, wholesome ingredients and totally worth it. This was my BIG splurge since everything else did stick to how I normally eat.
The doughnut project is killing the sweet savory doughnut game. Like PBJ 2.0 filled with peanut butter whip + house made blackberry jam and blackberry glaze. A doughnut with ricotta whip and beet glaze and the everything which is glazed with a sweet cream cheese and topped with you guessed it everything seasoning. They have the savory sweet concept DOWN..!
I left with a bronx in hand.
A simple glaze of italian olive oil and black pepper.
….SAY WHAT..!?
Soon the drizzle started and the temperature dropped slightly. We headed to our next stop where we would take a break from the rain and enjoy something hot.
Heading into popular joint in the paleo cumminity Spring Bone Kitchen I was beyond excited to try a little of everything while there. As sad as it makes me I was a little let down with the anticipated Rachel’s Lamb + Tabouleh bowl. It was a little on the bland side for me, could of used more salt, I felt like everything was just there, and while the concept itself was pretty cool, nothing popped with flavor. While I was a little sad about this, the grass fed burger was AMAZEBALLS. We got it with the paleo bun which was crazy insane and some guac + bacon. OH yes. We also grabbed a few other things to munch on. I told you, we were eating our way through New York. Then to take with us on our slightly rainy walk, the hippie in me couldn’t resist to try both the cacao reishi tea and the vanilla chaga tea. I was pushing Eric full front into my medicinal shroom ways.
You guys know my love for medicinal shrooms, if it’s on the menu chances are I’m gonna get it.
After eating our main lunch we headed to Pressed Juicery to get our freeze on.
While I am sorry to say I did not get a picture. I will lay in the details on my thoughts and both of our orders.
We are both lactose intolerant so it was a major WIN in both of our books. I personally have been dying to try. I was not disappointed or let down. This was BEYOND yum.
My order //I went with the greens, some cacao nut freeze drizzle and some almond butter. Cause you know the chocolate girl me wants chocolate all day LONGG.
Erica’s order // he went with the cacao and vanilla freeze swirl + cacao nut freeze drizzle and berries.
From there we took off to the Brooklyn bridge to catch the sunset which turned out to not be what I thought it was gonna be since well the sun was not gonna set on that side with a nice view. It was still an incredible sight and since we had our reservations at the famous, new plant based eatery Modern love. It was perfect.
It took us a little over an hour and half walking to get to the bridge. It was an unbelievable sight. I loved watching how the dark sky was illuminated by all the city lights.
We continued down to Brooklyn hoping we would make it on time to the crafty, not so basic, basic unicorn latte. Sadly we literally made it right on time for our dinner reservations. I guess the unicorn latte will have to wait until next time.
Dinner was INCREDIBLE.!
We literally ate our bodies worth of food.
Since we had been eating all day, we decided to stick to a few appetizers and dessert.
The winner that night was the five spice cauliflower wings OH MY gosh. The truffled poutine was also delicious. The arancini and caprese salad were also very tasty. We ended the night with a warm brownie and ice cream and the incredible like send this my way every day pumpkin praline cheesecake.
I am still dreaming of the cheesecake.
I have to admit I am loving that restaurant are now offering booze free options. I tried the kombucha and orange cream soda. BOTH were way tasty!. Both made in house.
SCOREEEE!
We left with our bellies full.
On our way trying to decide what we were gonna do next, it was nice being able to enjoy the night sky and the cool end of summer breeze.
We ended up under the Brooklyn bridge were we found the cutest outside cafe with the most precious garden.
While it was closed it was still such a sight.
I loved being able to get the most incredible shots of the brooklyn bridge at night time.
Around three am, we called it quits and I said by to one of my oldest friends from home and took an uber back to my airbnb.
While I definitely felt like I needed an entire month to explore the city and eat everything on my list, it was a wonderful trip, where I was able to catch up with an old friend, explore on my own sort of and and also meet an incredible people.
EATS:
De Maria // really good all day cafe.
The Alchemist’s Kitchen // great vibe, place to grab a quick snack and some tasty drinks + tonics
Springbone Kitchen // great paleo menu, awesome burger and fries.
Modern Love // all plant based menu, a lot of gluten free options. dessert is a must.
Oca // a brazilian inspired restaurant with a lot of the things I learned to love when I lived in brazil. a lot of gluten free options, great side salads, and everything is organic.
Hu Kitchen // I am obsessed with their chocolate and had to make a stop here when I first arrived to grab some things to take with me on my flight back. I got a few paleo bagels that I have in my freezer, and a breakfast burrito I heated up right before I left to eat at my layover in Dallas.
SWEETS:
The doughnut project // best doughnuts of my life, not gluten free or paleo but truly worth every bite.
SIPS:
El Rey // great cold brew, iced tea and the have a pretty solid menu.
The Good Sort // great lattes, funky, totally the new millennial spot.
The End Brooklyn // while I didn’t make it down here, everyone has raved about this place and it is on the top of my list next visit.
Alright guys this is my first eats guide to the city that never sleeps.! Hope to be making a trip back some time soon! Feel free to leave any recommendations below in the comment section or join in on the fun and tag your pictures on Instagram with the new #followourpassiontravels or #followourpassionstyle
