Adventures in New York

It's been more than two months since my latest trip to NYC, but unfortunately it's taken me this long to get this post up! While unfortunate that it's taken me this long, it's lovely to reminisce of such a lovely visit to my favourite city with my favourite person!

After visiting NYC twice a year in 2011 and 2012, I was itching to go by fall 2013. Corbin had never really had a proper visit to New York, so we decided to go together in November. There was a bunch of things happening around that time that I wanted to go to and so many restaurants that I wanted to visited and Corbin told me to go ahead and plan the itinerary - so fun! Here are some of the highlights from our time there.

Amazing Meals

The food in New York is always a highlight for me. I love adding to my list of incredible Ashley-friendly restaurants and visiting  all of my favourites. This trip certainly did not disappoint!! On our first day we stopped at two of my very favourites: Sun in Bloom and Pure Food and Wine. We had a wonderful brunch at Sun in Bloom as soon as we arrived and it was totally worth the jaunt to Brooklyn!

Amazing sweet potato soup, breakfast burritos and scrambled tofu were gobbled up and enjoyed immensely. Our dinner at Pure that night was beyond words; everything was phenomenal and worth the 2 year wait since I had last eaten there.

Everything at Pure was unbelievably delicious from the kale salad and raw cheese plate to our tamales and Pure's signature zucchini and heirloom tomato lasagna and our epic desserts along with sangria. It was such a special, memorable meal and Corbin's first experience with gourmet raw food. Writing about it makes me want to hop on a plane and go eat there right now... Other amazing meals included more trips to Brooklyn for Buttermilk Channel

and two visits to Champs (yes, it was that good!)

as well as a lovely breakfast at Peacefood Cafe on our last day. New York was good to our tummies and so easily Ashley (and Corbin!) friendly.

Wonderful Treats

The treats that we had in New York deserve their own description - they were so good!! We ended up making two visits to Babycakes because we couldn't get enough!

Round one included a pumpkin eclair, cookie sandwich, churro and samoa donut. Round two had another cookie sandwich, a scrumptious scone and a pumpkin chip loaf that Corbin was adamant about getting (he said it was delicious!) I think it would be really difficult to pick a favourite from all the treats we sampled as everything was so delicious! Babycakes is just heavenly, but probably good that it's far away from my daily existence so I can only go there for treats when I'm in the city! The other noteworthy treat that we had was at Chloe's Soft Serve Fruit.

It is an awesome alternative to froyo or ice cream that is made with fresh frozen fruit and therefore has no dairy or gluten and is crazy delicious!! So many flavor options and toppings make for a really awesome and allergen friendly dessert. It's been on my list for awhile, and I will definitely be going back again and again!!

Incredible Theatre

I always feel inspired by the calibre of theatre and performers in NYC and this trip was no exception. There were some really cool shows happening while we were there and we really enjoyed everything we saw. Part of the reason we went to NYC over that weekend was because Jason Robert Brown was doing a concert at 54 Below. JRB is one of my very favourite musical theatre composers and it was wonderful to finally see him in concert and get to meet him (briefly!) after the show.

He played songs from so many of my favourite shows (The Last Five Years! Songs for a New World!) as well as some from shows that are on their way to Broadway (or should be!) He had an amazing group of singers with him and a stellar band; it was a great night. We also got to see Bernadette Peters in A Bed and A Chair which was really awesome.

She is such a talent and I loved Wynton Marsalis' arrangements of Sondheim with a full jazz orchestra and the rest of the cast including Cyrille Aimée, Jeremy Jordan and. Norm Lewis. I also made my third visit to The McKittrick Hotel for Sleep No More and it still continues to be the most captivating piece of theatre I've ever experienced. It was Corbin's first time and it was really cool to discuss our different experiences and approaches to the show. The ambiance at the McKittrick before and after the show was incredible and we just loved the jazz bands playing throughout. Before we left Toronto, I received a Facebook invite from Drew Gasparini for an industry reading of his show Crazy Just Like Me starring some phenomenal performers (Alex Brightman! Jason Gotay! Andrew Kober!) and was ultra stoked to realize that it was happening while we were there. Both Corbin and I adored this show. It was funny and smart with such a talented cast and great music. It's already won some awards from various festivals it has been a part of and I can't wait to see where it goes. I felt so blessed to see so much great theatre while we were there and certainly felt inspired to up the ante in my own work!

Adventures and Magical Moments

Corbin and I are pretty good at having a lot of fun together and New York was just an even bigger playground for us! We had the best time exploring the city and discovering things together. We visited with some lovely friends including the always delightful Sheryl (complete with her NYC Marathon medal!!)

We ventured to a New York Islanders game,

experienced the MOMA (for free!), walked along the Highline, navigated the NYC Metro and discovered all sorts of cute art

made all sorts of new friends and frolicked in Central Park (complete with a photo shoot - thanks Corbin!). 

I often feel that extraordinary things happen when I'm in New York and this trip with Corbin proved this theory to be true once again. All sorts of really neat, magical things kept happening to us in the city. We found parking everywhere (super close to wherever we were going). We were upgraded to the dining room at 54 Below and got to sit DIRECTLY IN FRONT of Jason Robert Brown. We experienced the city at the top of an incredible rooftop in Washington Heights. When we walked into Peacefood Cafe one of our very favourite songs was playing. Simply wonderful.

All of these things + the amazing adventures, theatre, treats and meals culminated into an unforgettable trip with my love and I can't wait for us to travel more and head back to NYC together for more fun!! 

Dear Irene,

Thanks for trying to ruin my plans, but you’ve failed.

Thank you to everyone who has messaged, emailed, tweeted or facebooked me. Yes, I was here throughout the storm, but I’m a-ok. Irene definitely put a bit of a change in my plans, but I’m having a ball. I’m writing this blog post as I sit in the garden at Pure and couldn’t be happier.There will be many posts about my NYC experience, and I’ll be updating my NYC restaurant spreadsheet when I’m back, but for now let’s start on Thursday with my arrival, before Irene showed up.

Thursday was my first ever experience with Porter, and I have to say that it was brilliant from the start. I loved the fact that I didn’t have to travel up to Pearson, and that I had a beautiful view of the water and the city skyline. The complimentary snacks and wifi were pretty sweet too. My roommates had recommended the Carlton Arms hotel to me and upon arrival it absolutely felt like home. I will post more pictures of all the common areas, but for anyone who has ever visited my apartment, you’ll understand why this felt like home. I chose a room on the 4th floor and loved how feminine and pretty it felt and thought the extra flights of stairs would be a good idea… 

I immediately headed over to One Lucky Duck for lunchy I opted for the taco salad. There were no seats when I arrived, but managed to grab one just before my food was ready. The salad was delish with the guac and sour cream being my favourite parts.

My afternoon happened on a whim and I was delighted by everything that I discovered. I HAD to go to babycakes and was not disappointed. That, my friends, is a gluten free vegan samoa donut. Caramel, coconut, and chocolate. Apparently it’s a Girl Scout cookie flavour? I’ll call it heaven. There’s been a lot of vegan donuts floating around in Toronto,but not many gluten free ones. I was never a huge donut eater, but this was like a party in my mouth that I never wanted to end. I also grabbed a vanilla cupcake to go. Holy amaze-balls.

I stopped at Moo Shoes, which is an awesome vegan shoe store and picked up some fab brown boots for $30. Perfect for fall and I can’t wait to wear them.

Next stop was Harney & Sons for some tea goodness! I had promised my tea club gals some of the amazing cinnamon “sparkle” tea and wanted something delicious and new to try as well. Emeric (Harney) was so helpful once again and I can’t wait to share details of the amazing teas I purchased.After shopping and wandering I tried my luck at the Mormon lottery again and failed. I then tried to win the RENT lottery and failed at that too. Luckily they had “lottery loser” tickets and got to see the new Off-Broadway production.

I was sandwiched between two other people who were singing all the words so I felt right at home. I also cried. A lot. I’ve come to really enjoy RENT and the exploration of the relationships within it. The new production has some stellar performances, amazing set/lighting and the music sounded awesome. Was really excited to see Will Van Dyke leading the band, as I was recently listening to his tunes as potential choices for the next Ashleyx2 cabaret (in the fall!)

I took a cab home, smiling all the way, excited for the days ahead! I can’t wait to continue sharing my NYC adventures with all of you…

Pure Food And Wine

I almost started writing this post at 3am

I was like a little kid at Christmas last night. I woke up probably 4 times in the night, but woke up this morning feeling rested and excited and didn’t bat an eyelash at hopping out of bed at 6am.

Why you ask?

Well, my plane takes off for NYC at 8:45!! I couldn’t be happier about my second trip to the Big Apple and my vacation couldn’t be better timed. The one thing I haven’t written about from my last trip is my trip to Pure Food and Wine.

Pure was at the top of my list of places I wanted to eat at in NYC. Sarma is quite the celebrity in the raw food world, and I wanted to experience what I had seen on so many people’s blogs over and over again. It’s a fine dining raw food restaurant that has a location in New York, along with 2 takeaways. Sarma has penned two books (one alongside her ex, Matthew Kenney) with amazing recipes and photos.

I had scoured the menu before arriving but was thrown of course when our server told us about the specials and had to change my mind! I started off with a selection of nut cheeses and raw crackersThey were all so good! My favourite was the dill cheese, but the others were amazing too. Paired with the crispy crackers, they were an absolute hit.

My main is what threw me off, as I had to opt for the special when I heard about “Moroccan stuffed squash blossoms”. Having never eaten a squash blossom before, it sounded like quite the experience

My camera had already died at this point, so this was taken on a mobile camera, but let me tell you it was amazing. I’m usually a sweet kinda gal, and the dessert will always win my heart, but I think that this was actually my favourite part of the meal. The squash blossoms were kick ass and the green beans on the side were delicious. I challenge anyone who questions raw, vegan or gluten free cuisine to go to Pure and still walk away feeling sceptical.

Dessert didn’t disappoint. After seeing it on many blogs, I had to get the Indian spiced ice cream trio.

Holy yum.

It was like a party of chocolate and spices in my mouth. My favourite was the cone, which I believe was flavoured with cardamom. It was amazing!!

Our server was knowledgeable and friendly, we had delicious organic red wine, and I even got to briefly meet Sarma when we stopped in at One Lucky Duck to pick me up a salad and a juice for the flight home. I’m staying in the east part of the city on this trip and my hotel is just a 10 minute walk from Pure… so you can bet that there will be more pictures and tales of this awesome restaurant when I’m back.

If you wanna hear about my NYC adventures in real time, be sure to follow me on Twitter… otherwise I will be blogging about everything when I’m back on Tuesday!

Have a wonderful weekend. I’m off to squeal all the way to the airport…

xo