Currently viewing the tag: "Brooklyn"
Healthy Nibbles, on Flatbush & Prospect Place, is a cute conter sandwich and juice spot that’s kind of awkwardly connected to a frame shop.
I ordered their I Have Peace, or their vegan curry chicken sandwich made of tofu, vegan mayo, raisins & curry with shredded carrots & mixed greens on toasted breaded. It was a tasty sammy and I appreciated its yummy simplicity.
This curried tofu rocked my world and made my fingers yellow.
They also have housemade vegan baked goodies. Since I was with cold, I forgoed the excess sugary treat. Next time.
Also on Flatbush, Vegetarian Palate is one of them fake meat meccas.
Deep-fried wontons with coconut filling.
Tarot steak. All hail the starch!
Brooklyn Crepe & Juice, on 5th avenue in Park Slope, has vegan crepes. And they’re real, real good.
You can create your own from their vegetable spread… and they also have the vegan cheese stuff.
The days of hippy vegan hair care (and long-winded, text-heavy dogma on their labels–I’m talking to you Dr. Bronner!) is long gone. Many salon-quality product lines do vegan right. So after swearing off dry shampoo sprays and their scary butane, Jonathan came to the rescue with their Green Rootine. Jonathan is a vegan hair care line with a great selection of products to combat drab locks. This powder and brush applicator does wonders in between washes. 
And my new shampoo, Pureology, is another leap for vegan hair care standards. As a oily-haired Italian, I’ve dealt with far too gentle vegan shampoos for too long. Pureology has the luxuriousness without the animal-derived gross stuff. 
Ok, this isn’t for your hair but I kind of love this Brooklyn-based salsa line, The Brooklyn Salsa Company. So far Queens in my favorite. It’s coconut milk-based tropical curry salsa. Mmmm. They don’t drop the v-bomb but I’ll forgive them that. As long as they don’t sell themselves to Frito-Lay after moderate success. 
As I try new vegan items, I’ll be sure to keep you posted. It is pretty amazing… the extent of vegan markets these days. I just signed up for Vegan Cuts’ Snack Box, a subscription delivery service for new vegan items that is pretty cheap! Can’t wait for my first delivery.
It’s going so fast. I am trying to savor each day, but that seems to make them fly by even faster. Here are some images I’d like to hold on to.
I become obsessed with the Electrician‘s butterfly bush as the the summer rolls on. Monarchs start fluttering around dancing in the air like a child is erratically pulling them with a string. There are a few, then there are many. Here is a rare Swallowtail eating some tasty nectar.
Mr. Blue Sky. The view from my hammock.
All my favorite fruits are in-season. A sweet, juicy retreat before the dense, starchy Autumn.
Splitting time between Long Island and my apartment in Brooklyn, I get the best of both. They both reinforce each other’s better qualities.
The maritime motif of the Nautical Mile, a few blocks from The Electrican‘s house.
I have the time to play tourist. The Grand Central ceiling is one of my favorite city-isms.
And I eat. A lot. Some people lose weight in the summer and bulk up in the winter. I do the reverse. Here are some treats I picked up from Champs Family Bakery to fuel Ladies Night.
And at the end of a long day in the sweltering NYC heat, there’s time to cuddle up with my special buddy Frankenstein. 
I ❤ summer!
Asiadog is a fantastic little hot dog shop on the Soho-Little Italy border serving up Asian fusion on a bun. And they have veggie options, as most Asian cuisines do! Veggie dogs topped with some delicious goodies honoring the diversity of New York City’s Asian cuisines… Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Thai. I’m salivating just thinking about it. Yes, Asian on hot dogs–it’s Asian fusion-fusion. FYI, Asiadog started as a pop-up and continues to hit Brooklyn Flea culinary hot spots (Williamsburg, Brooklyn’s Saturday foodie fair Smorgasburg and DUMBO’s Flea Food) as well as the Summerstage in Central Park.
The helpful counter-person confirmed the veg dogs were vegan and then clarified which of the toppings were v-bomb friendly. Little did he know I had been reading their store menu in advance… drooling. I chose 2 dogs (for $8): The Vihn, their Vietnamese dog topped like a traditional banh mi–a ton of pickled daikon and carrot, cucumber, jalapeno and lots of fresh cilantro. The bun was smeared with veggie pate. And Mash with sweet and spicy ketchup, jalapeno mustard and CRUSHED POTATO CHIPS. Sorry, I had to yell that. Both dogs were so, so good. Clearly Asiadog uses super fresh ingredients. They transform a relatively unexciting hot dog into something unique and absolutely scrumptious.
I barely had a second to take pictures as I devoured these so quickly. I wanted to capture that crushed potato chip on the Mash, so I managed to put it down for 3 seconds. I miss it dearly.
Other vegan options include the Ito, a dog topped with Japanese curry and kimchi apples. That’ll be my next one. I will be back, Asiadog!
I am a Fairway devotee. A Red Hook Fairway devotee. But since the new store in Douglaston, Queens is a little bit larger, I wanted to check out the space. I doorbusted on a weekday morning so I can savor each aisle. Each intricate aisle.
The store was definitely large, but it didn’t seem so. Maybe it was the height of the ceilings that made me feel like Red Hook had more cubic space. The layout was friendly, with organic and natural products facing their processed counter-parts in the alcoved aisles.
Why do people love Fairway? It’s a combination of lower prices and selection in my book. Case in point, these India Tree sprinkles, at Whole Foods for $6, are $3.99. They also have vanilla beans for $3.99, too. And that’s the other part of the love, the selection. Instead of going one place for some things and another place for the rest, they’ve got everything.
They’ve got all the meat analogs for easy pick-up. And, once again, the price is right. When my local natural food convenience store (::cough::Khim’s ::cough::Sunac) exploits the market, charging $6.99 (no joke) for Tofurky, Fairway has lower prices and great sales.
Apparently dairy-free ice cream is a novelty! Hmph.
Though the new Fairway is great, it feels different than the Red Hook location. I remain a Red Hook Fairway devotee. It helps that Red Hook has the infamous olive oil tasting station… which Douglaston did not have up and running at the time of my visit.
I don’t work on my birthday. It’s kind of a rule. I usually flee town, hitting the road for vegan eats and roadside attractions. But times are tight. With cash flow low, I planned to spend the day in my city, New York City, enjoying the sights on my own clock and armed with my camera. I woke up bright and early with the bright Autumn sun and headed for the Williamsburg Bridge. On the crisp, clear morning, I walked the bridge to get to Manhattan to start my adventure. I planned to do NYC things away from my usual paths: getting a knish at the landmark Yonah Schimmel on the Lower East Side and riding the dingey J-line at Bowery to check out, finally, Occupy Wall Street.
But first, a vegan chocolate chip scone from Whole Foods. This is a treat I give myself often. And this day, my birthday, was definitely an occasion to partake in treats.
Yonah Schimmel has been around since 1910. That’s over 100 years folks! As I sat on the creeky table, surrounded by photos from the past century, I thought of all the people who did the same. There are notebooks on the tables for guests to put their thoughts. Praises from loyal customers–those who travel from out of state for their nostalgic knish fix; those whose parents ate there when they were young immigrants; those, like me, who want a taste of warm potato and a bite of the Big Apple how it once was–excitedly mark up the pages.
I ordered the sweet potato knish, which they nuked and brought to my table. It was delicious. Delicious like only a huge portion of potato can be. The sweet potato knish is one of many vegan choices at Yonah Schimmel.
After about a month, I finally had time to see what’s been happening at Zucotti Park downtown. It was a bit like walking through a small civilization. It was quite mind-blowing. (from left to right) There was a huge pile of donated linens and coats for the protesters. Many sensible signs of protest. Posted guidelines for participants. A weekly schedule including feeding times, meetings and protests.
The Occupy Wall Street Library. Photocopied literature.
As Local 638 entered the park, their deep voices belting out a powerful Union song, chills ran down my back. Their mighty presence caused onlookers to applause. The community was complete with a place of worship, food centers and many tarp living quarters.
They even had a sewage system set up. Volunteers sweeping up garbage. A silkscreen station (As well as an “art gallery.”)
Protesters were surrounded by press and curious vistors, like me, walking through the shared space. I heard thoughtful conversations and felt a communal spirit I’ve never experienced outside the confines of my more idealistic epochs (I began making an antiestablisment zine in high school and was immersed in a slew of youth subculture movements in my young adulthood). Besides this, however, I also witnessed judgmental jeers directed at passing tourists by a more vocal sign-holder and patronization from another jaded man. Both snapped me back into reality.
From Wall Street, I went uptown for lunch. Peacefood Cafe. And went for a 13$ sandwich, regrettably. I think I will not soon go to Peacefood again. It was an irksome experience. It’s overpriced and the ambiance, sounding like a bustling cafeteria with waiters carrying out personal conversations from different points of the space with little regard for customers, a bit lacking. Plus, they don’t let you order at the counter, which is confusing given its prominence.
After a long day in New York City, it was time to head to Long Island… to continue celebrating my birthday. But no longer with the inconsiderate street dwellers in the urban sprawl. Till next time NYC…
I don’t find myself above 14th street on the east side very often. Besides the senior I visit, there is no reason to be. I also dislike the 4/5/6 train. I dislike the screech of it entering stations; I dislike its path… how it’s always at an arctic temperature of -12 degrees. I try to avoid it, even taking snail-like crosstown buses to reach more plentiful and comfortable subway lines. But on a gorgeous summer day I decided I’d try the East River Ferry. From the midtown terminal at the FDR, I hopped on a ferry at 4:29 and arrived awed and sufficiently windblown in North Williamsburg at 4:45. That’s right: 15 minutes from midtown east in Manhattan to my home across the East River. I found my new favorite way of getting around New York City.
The views were magnificent. Spy the U.N. building and the Queensboro Bridge (which is apparently now the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, named after the Mayor of New York City during the entirety of my childhood). There were only about 7 or 8 passengers who made the voyage across the river with me after I stepped off the free NY Waterways bus–a couple of savvy commuters, a family, some tourists, some hipsters.
The northbound East River Ferry first stops in Long Island City, where those high-rises are peeking out. It’s such a quick ride. No reason to head to the hot and sticky tunnels with the masses when you can travel by boat. Given the development of the waterfront areas in in Queens and Brooklyn, it won’t be long before all those fresh-faced high-risers get their Applebee’s and Olive Gardens just like back home. So jump on the boat before it’s too late!
I love being near the water, on the water and in the water. I could never live inland. People say you’re either Beatles or Elvis, crunchy peanut butter or creamy, but you’re also either pool or beach. Natural water, unpredictable, enveloping, furious, infused with life… or concrete and chemicals. Easy choice.
Good bye, East Side. I’m heading across the river.
My Empire state.
The Williamsburg Bridge.
Second stop is Greenpoint. Notice the crane there too. Uh-oh.
My vessels drops me to an unfamiliar part of Brooklyn: the Williamsburg waterfront. The ferry continues to South Williamsburg, then D.U.M.B.O. and ont Wall Street, back in Manhattan. The Friday Loop, however, continues to Brooklyn’s lower harbor in the gorgeous Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Look at it! It’s unrecognizable. Insert token story of how different the Williamsburg used to be in 1993 or 1994 when speaker used to cut school to thrift shop at Domesy’s.
Ah New York, I feel like this post is all over the place. What started as an excited report of the ferry grew rant-like. I’m enthused still with you, still, but worried too. You see New York, I’m getting more resistant to change–because like the rest of the world–your change is for quicker, simpler, trashier and profit-tier. Those shiny, new highrises look awkward on you. You’re old, rooted in rebellion, strife, seediness, an energy unmatched. Now, not so much. It used to be that you could avoid Times Square and, in essence, avoid homogeneity and its take-over. But it’s creeped in. And it is wearing neon green Ray-Bans.
Vegan Reporting By Location
