For breakfast the next day, we took Mia to Champs in Willamsburg, Brooklyn. I had bragged and bragged about this place to her for months, and when we finally arrived, we had to wait half an hour for a table, but it was totally worth it. The menu is extensive and includes breakfast all day, which made me feel like I was at a Denny's...except I COULD ORDER ANYTHING I WANTED! Iced coffees with Bee Free Honey (made from apples!!), and the Vegan Slam, with sausage, tempeh bacon, tofu scramble, home fries, and toast, I was full and happy. I skipped desserts this first time, but their display case was full of amazing cakes, cupcakes, mini pumpkin pies, and gluten free cookie sandwiches. YUM.
For lunch, Mia and I walked around the Lower East side, and visited my favorite bakery, Babycakes!!! At first, we stopped in just for iced coffees, then walked across the block to Moo Shoes, and all vegan shoe store. Most of their shoes are high quality and high priced, but we were both able to find some Deals. I got baby pink flats with bright red hearts on the toe, and Mia got some dirty pink slip ons. I left some copies of our Summertime Gladness Zine there, next to their copies VegNews. We went back to Babycakes and ordered a Pumpkin Eclair and Mocha Brownie Cupcake. Since we didn't have an appetite for them yet, we carried them with us while we shopped all around the city....until we were at the H&M near Union Square (farmers market!!), and even though our desserts were melted and sticky, we shoved bites in our mouths and were super impressed with the messy pastries. The mocha brownie frosting was to die for.
We dropped off more zines at Bluestockings Feminist Bookstore, and had lunch at Wild Ginger, vegan thai, near Little Italy. Wild Ginger has multiple locations, and serve awesome lunch specials. We shared Mango Chikin with plum sauce, and Black Pepper Seitan, both served with steamed pumpkin, spring rolls, and miso soup. I never eat the fried tofu or spring rolls at regular Thai restaurants back home, so I indulged in knowing there was no animal products being fried at Wild Ginger. Reasonably priced with an authentic, calm, ambience, Wild Ginger is a staple in the vegan Thai food scene!!
We met up with Calum, and he took us to my favorite bar in all of NYC... Duffs!! It's the most metal bar evvvver, and have $1 PBRs 6-9 pm. The memorabilia amongst the walls is illuminated with red lights and makes you crazy to look at. I, of course, always say hi to the Wendy O Williams poster framed by the front door. She is one of my idols, was a macrobiotic chef, and she fronted The Plasmatics. I love the W.O.W. album she released that Gene Simmons produced!!! Check it out if you've never heard it...she was way ahead of her time. She killed herself years ago, but she lives on in my heart!!!!!!!!!! Rock n Roll Forever!!!
Lucky for us, Calum made us one of his famous vegan lasagnas for dinner and Zeta prepared an amazing side salad with fresh vinaigrette. Mia and I took an extensive look at all the crazy fruits and vegetables at the local grocer, Food Bazaar, and decided to contribute a fruit salad to dinner. We bought star fruit, guavas, organic kiwi, dinosaur plums, and fresh DRAGONFRUIT! These are all pretty rare for us to find/buy in San Antonio, so we indulged. The dragon fruit was not as sweet as I thought it would be...It was almost like a thicker banana texture with what looked like little chia seeds polka dotted in it. The lasagna was amazing, and Calum told me he mixed Daiya and Trader Joes cheeses for it. I have to say that it was so nice to sit down and have a home cooked meal with our friends!!! Super happy fun times!!!
The food looks absolutely delish! I've never heard of vegan honey before though -- that's a new one for me.
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