Friday, April 3, 2015

New York City! (Part 2)

Continuing on - our February NYC trip:
  It's so difficult to cram everything into such a short trip that I made a probably unwise choice to take off for a new place very late that night (in the cold). It took longer than I had planned to find our way there, part walking/part subway/part taxi. My daughter fell asleep in the taxi, and I should have just turned around and called it a night. But I had been following the progress of the newer and bigger Dirt Candy (with owner/chef Amanda Cohen) on instagram for months and was so excited that it was opening the week of our trip. I didn't get a better photo of the exterior or interior of the restaurant, but it's all very pretty.
 
 After our arduous journey to Dirt Candy, we walked in to the hostess apologetically telling us that they stop seating people at...about 15 minutes before we got there - maybe 10:15 or so. However, the owner came over and let us in which was fabulous and so appreciated.
 
 One menu item I'd always heard about that I knew I wanted to try were the jalapeno hushpuppies with maple butter. They were good. SO spicy that I had to start picking out some of the peppers. They were still so fresh inside that they were on fire.

 We shared the Broccoli Dogs. I love the concept of Dirt Candy, which is making delicious meals using vegetables, without relying on fake meat products. The "bun" was probably (?) gluten free - it seemed to be.

 The "dogs" were the broccoli stalks, and it was all covered in broccoli kraut and a mustard sauce. Overall, it was good and a fun concept. The "chips" were crispy salt and vinegar broccoli rabe.

 


 We chose the Onion Chocolate Tart (with smoked almond ice cream) at the suggestion of the table next to ours. This might have been our favorite dining experience had it not been so late for my girl. We had great conversations with people on both sides of us. I don't know if that's how it always is there! It was interesting ordering a dessert with onion. I think the other dessert choice contained celery. Overall, I was impressed with the innovation of Dirt Candy and hope they do great!

 I'm including this photo because she was so exhausted by the time we made it back to our room. I told her to just get in bed, and I would do everything - brush her teeth, get her in her pj's, etc. I pulled at her coat, and it popped off the hood, and then we had a good laugh.
 
I also promised her I would tuck in Sadie and Samantha.


The next morning:
Hi, Brooke Shields and Today Show hosts!

We went up to the Top of the Rock, something I'd never done.


 If you ever go to FAO Schwartz, you need to be there right when they open. That's what we had done last time, which Sis was too young to remember. The employees line up and cheer when you enter, which is very fun and cheerful.

My sweet girl was in sweet heaven. I think she was more impressed with the candy than the toys...

which inspired our next destination: Dylan's Candy Bar on the Upper East Side.

 I had heard they had candy from Premium Chocolatiers, which we've enjoyed ordering before. It took awhile to find it because this place is so big. I even asked a couple of employees who didn't think they carried it. I actually had to call PC from Dylan's who confirmed it was definitely there, so I insisted to an employee we must find it. (It was in the allergy/specialty section.) We ended up spending way too much money on Peanot Cups, NoNo's, and No Whey bars, etc.

 She also filled a bag with as much candy as we could deem "probably vegan" from the walls of scoopable candy. (My guess is she probably still has about 3/4 of this in her room. I think she loves the idea of candy more than she actually loves candy. Or it's that she wants to save it because if she eats it, it will be gone quicker. My boys would have eaten the whole bag by the next day but not her.)

 We really like the NoNo's. The company started making them with a marshmallow filling. But then they switched over to the chocolate filling, which the kids had tried at Christmas. I'm not a marshmallow person (like she totally is), but these were GOOD. Maybe even better than the new chocolate version, and I'm usually a chocolate purist.

Side note: there is no information on the website about whether the ingredients in their products are genetically modified/organic or fair trade, etc. I emailed the company and was told "they are not certified in either but try to comply with both."

We continued walking up the street to my first love.

And I ordered one of my favorite foods of all time, the Cajun Seitan Sandwich. I was a little embarrassed when I looked back at how many pictures of these I have on my blog. And I've referred to it as a "utopian metaphor" between my husband and me.

These have showed up a few times, too: citrus herb marinated seitan skewers.

Sis got to enjoy cheese sticks for the second time this trip. So good.

To be continued!

8 comments:

  1. Man, you are making me miss New York like crazy! I wanted to go to Dirt Candy on our last trip, but we got there just after their old location closed and before the new one opened. Everything you got looks incredible, and that was so nice that they seated you, despite it being past their final seating time.

    I didn't realize their was still a location of FAO in NYC. I went to the old one that used to be in Times Square many years ago, but once it closed (and others in their chain did too) I thought they were completely gone. That's so fun that they do a red carpet entry in the morning.

    The seitan at Candle Cafe is amazing. I think that Cajun seitan sandwich is what my husband ordered, and I had such huge order envy! I took one bite and immediately knew that I'd ordered wrong. (A salad… What was I thinking???) :)

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    1. (I mean "there" not "their" in the second paragraph. Apparently I was typing too fast…)

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  2. What an amazing trip you and your beautiful daughter had! I've heard so much about Dirt Candy but have never been there. Your choices look so delicious and I'm glad that the owner was kind enough to seat you.

    You lucked out with a PERFECT day for your trip to the top of the rock! Look at that blue sky! I"m sure your daughter was in heaven at FAO Schwartz and Dylan's :)

    That seitan sandwich looks INCREDIBLE! That is definitely something I would love to try! I can't believe I live in such close proximity to the city and haven't tried any of these places!

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  3. Part II!!! Well worth the effort of posting. You were a Mom on a worthy mission. Wish I had your energy.

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  4. I wish I could go on a trip with you! I'd let you do all the planning (:D) and I would just try to keep up and not fall asleep in the cab. I feel stuffed and out of breath from part two, but am looking forward to part three. BTW, are there only 24 hours in your day or do you have more?

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  5. Wow, your posts are always so fabulous, full of trips. You are a lucky girl!

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  6. what fun! I was in NYC for almost two weeks last fall and we did a LOT of vegan eating -- but we didn't make it to Dirt Candy. I thought it might be too weird for my husband. I love that your adventurous daughter was up for desert with onions in it though!

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