My Vegan Mondays

I’ve been trying to each a lot of raw food these past few days since I got sick. More often than not, comfort food has won out (I'm looking at you, Ben & Jerry). But today was a pretty exemplary day, if I do say so myself.

Morning

Coffee with soy milk

Apple

Banana

Afternoon

Montana salad at Jivamukti: black beans, avocado, quinoa, tomatoes, carrots and greens

Pretzels

Red grapes

Green juice (kale, celery, cucumber, lemon juice and banana)

Evening

Split pea soup and crackers

The week in food

There were no extravagant meals this week. No new restaurant explorations. Instead, I worked long hours and managed to get sick enough to sabotage my vacation on Martha's Vineyard. Hrmph.

Thank goodness there were at least some bright spots on the food front...

Let's start with Levain. Is there anything better than one of their 6-ounce divinely decadent monsters? Not much...

... Except my new favorite brunch spot, Homemade. Savory (a truffle egg scramble with home fries and a slab of walnut toast),

or sweet (brioche french toast with sweet sautéed apples), it's the best.

Cocktails on the patio of Maison Premiere - so wonderful and civilized.

And veggie sushi!

New, in my hood, Beyond Sushi. I think this one is going to be a healthy addiction...

Beach time

The dunes of Martha's Vineyard are calling. I'm lucky enough to return to the beautiful island with my fun friends this weekend. So I'll be offline, gorging, reading, swimming, dancing... doing what nearly 40-year-olds (!) always do. Right??

As brilliant as this summer has been, I miss writing more. I miss having time to read and connect in the blogosphere.  I miss Paris daily. I'm hoping to get back to it all in due time. Until then, amusez-vous mes amis. Be well and always happy.

The week in food

It was another delicious, albeit unhealthy, week of eating. Nicoletta pizza (living up to the hype), blueberry pancakes, stuffed clams, an avocado and Swiss melt, a whole lot of dried pineapple...

Plus, cheese boards and grilled cheese from the new Murray's Cheese Bar (killer menu, but also killer decibel levels)...

... creamy homemade Connecticut peach ice cream...

... and a good old Blizzard from DQ.

 And, the the best of all...

...generous, perfectly dressed lobster salad between two buttery halves of a toasted hot dog roll.

Sometimes you read something that just stays with you...

"It wasn't until Paris that something shifted. Paris was the beginning. Paris was everything."

—Gilad from Alexander Maksik's incredible book You Deserve Nothing

My Vegan Mondays

Some of the best vegetarian meals I ate this past week: busiate pasta and light, billowy fried polenta at Alimentari e Vineria; fresh tomato salad, the vegetarian dish (buttery corn kernels, beans, polenta, topped with a fried egg) and heavenly devil’s food cake at Lot 2; asparagus and goat cheese scramble with the softest, most garlicky home fries and a giant slab of walnut bread at Homemade. But today, no dairy...

Morning

Coffee with soy milk

Cranberry juice

Oatmeal

Afternoon

Smoked tempeh wrap

Banana

Apple

Evening

Kale salad

Lots of dried pineapple

I love, love summer

This sign from Homemade in Red Hook pretty much says it all. It's been a great week. 

From the beauty of hiking in the Colorado Rockies...

... to the fun and pleasure of staying at the Stanley Hotel...

 From heavenly food and a Sofia and Thomas sighting at Alimentari e Vineria...

 ... to one of my best friend's most charming wedding...

 ... (which included a day reconnecting with old friends.)

 From a morning of digging in the dirt at the beyond-cool Added Value community farm in Red Hook...

 ... and then walking around the inspiring neighborhood and indulging in one of the best brunches in the city...

 

The Olympics, foreign movies, urban strolls, dancing to 80s music, smooching on street corners,  reading great books, cracking up at Milo, rooftop drinks... there's nothing better than summer.

They're everywhere, those Francophiles...