NYC Day 2 – Terri + Blossom with Some Sailors

Today was supposed to be a day of catching up on blog posts which turned into a day of running errands and sitting on hold to correct billing errors. All is good though. No defaulting or late fees assessed. Phew!

Terri – 100% Vegan

60 West 23rd Street
New York, NY 10010

While out in the city we were able to hit up a juice bar and sandwich shop located on W 23rd St between 5th and 6th Avenues. Terri is a 100% Vegan and Kosher establishment which also aims to remain as organic as possible. They also feature juice cleanse programs on top of the storefront offerings.

Over the course of our stay in NYC we tried all but one of the four over-the-counter juices.

LIVE LONG AND GREEN – cucumber, spinach, apple, lemon, ginger
LADY IN RED – beet, pineapple, carrot, orange
THE PERFECT PEAR – pear, cucumber, spinach, celery *they’re all good but this was our favorite!
ABC – apple, beet, carrot (the one we didn’t get around to)

For lunch today, Kristin had a juice and the Thanksgiving sandwich (tofurky, cranberry sauce, vegenaise, celery, crushed walnuts).

Kristin: As you may know by now, I love freshly pressed juice and Terri has some of the best. I’d definitely go again if for nothing more than some fresh juice. As far as the sandwich, it came as advertised but I just wish it was overflowing with those ingredients. On another note, we were told by several people that Terri also has THE best ‘butterfinger’ smoothies in the city. We never had a chance to go back to test this theory but certainly plan to the next time we’re in NYC!

I went for the Buffalo “Chicken” sandwich (“chicken”, buffalo sauce, vegenaise, lettuce, tomato, onion, celery), which would be a regular of mine if I lived and the area and was on the go. I’d say the sauce could be thicker and spicier but this did the trick and had enough kick.

Terri is a pretty solid on the go establishment though they do have a few bar style seats if you aren’t on the move and just want to sit down for a simple vegan lunch.

Blossom – 100% Vegan

187 9th Avenue
New York‎ NY‎ 10011

Blossom at Night with a few Days

After our afternoon excursion and a return to The Yolk (the nickname of our friend’s apt in Brooklyn) for a rest, it was time to head out into the night toward 9th Ave between W 21st and W 22nd to meet our new friends, Amanda and Ryan Day of the blog, Two Dogs and a Sailboat, at Blossom, one of NYC’s more well known vegan restaurants.

Having been travel-blogging vegans, Amanda and Ryan Day reached out to share an evening with kindred spirits. At this point Kristin and I are still novices with the whole experience. This trip, although sharing many attributes with my time on the road with bands, has a few unique traits. meeting complete strangers on the road with a band is to be expected. You never know who you’re going to meet and you can always run to your bandmates in the corner if the person weirds you out. So far this trip we have yet to meet anyone to scare us off. Everyone who has reached out has been a joy to meet.

Hearing stories of the Day’s journeys, both towards plant-based diets and their sailing adventures, were uplifting and encouraging. I’d like to say cheers to Amanda for taking the first step and also for encouraging Ryan to take his first step. Cheers to Ryan for following through. Ryan works in the financial sector and is bucking stereotypes by being a vegan to boot. How many vegans are in that office!? One. And he holds the line. (and he also jumps overboard to rescue overboard sea pups!) I am a musician so it is far more common to run into vegans where I do my thing. My enthusiasm at seeing this couple shine should be expected.

I feel like Kristin and I were at Blossom with the right crew tonight! We all had similar tastes and our guides were more than happy to steer us in the direction of great picks. Up first were the Cape Cod Cakes (hiziki seaweed, tofu, vegan tartar sauce). As a born and raised New Englander, I was quite anxious to get to the bottom of this appetizer. So good. No disappointment zone.

(we apologize for the photo quality. we’re still working out our low lighting techniques ;-))

We also had the Seitan Empanadas (saffron aioli, guacamole of avocado and hearts of palm) and Parsnip Cappalletti (savory whipped parsnip and crushed potato ravioli, shiitakes, truffle oil).

I had the Seitan Marsala Special. It seems as though the trend in NYC is to have the best Seitan Entree in the city. Many of our stops have prominently featured a Seitan entree and let me tell you who wins. The diner wins. They are all so good. This one knocked my socks off. The rest of the table went for the Seitan Scallopini. Blossom. Thank you!

And what meal between traveling vegans would be complete without a romp through the dessert menu?

Chocolate Ganache (Kristin’s absolute favorite so far).

Kristin: Oh Ethan, wait I MUST jump in here! Okay, okay folks. THIS mighty, little dish packed a punch that I was not prepared for. My dinner was phenomenal on its own but ending the evening with this gem. Oh heavens. Yes. In my taste bud’s eyes Blossom has perfected chocolate ganache. It was exquisitely creamy, life changing-ly chocolaty, and I-need-a-moment-to-myself-lety luscious. If you dine at Blossom and you do not get this dish, we can no longer be friends. ;) Back to you, E!

Strawberry Cheesecake. Bawng!

And I went with the special pudding featuring layers of Banana’s Foster and Chocolate with fresh fruit on the bottom.

This was a wonderfully peaceful conclusion to a hectic day. Thanks to the Days and Blossom!