Whole Foods [Click the photo above to learn about Whole Foods Wellness Center]
270 Greenwich Street, Manhattan NY 10007
Went to my first food blogging meet-up ever last night, and let me just say: I.am.awkward.
It was hosted by Every Day Health at the Wellness Center at Whole Foods in Tribeca and started at 6. I get out of work at 5:30 so I was plotting my escape route all day. I was heavily debating between taking a cab or the subway. If I take a cab I’ll never learn the city, but the subway gives me anxiety. I’ll call my mom and see what she says, she says take a cab…I’ll take the subway. I’m a grown up! I can do it!
I hate when you walk out of a subway and you’re not sure whether to go right or left, and then you get run over by 20 people, and you know they’re just thinking, “she’s not from here.” I AM, I AM.
After asking 3 people if Greenwich Street was this way with a random flip of my hand, I finally made it to my destination (balling!).I met my homosexual best friend aka my fake boyfriend at the event. He also has his own blog (notabaker.com if you’re interested). He greeted me by rubbing his hairy cheek into my face, which gave my face rug burn. Now I will be meeting strangers with a beet red face (thanks).
My other friend was hosting the event (go Everyday Health), and was greeting everyone at the door. The first thing she asks me, “Do you have a card?”
Me: “No…”
My friend: “You should get a card.”
Me: “Shit, I gotta get a card”
Now that that’s taken care of, where is the food? I want to say my friend and I walked into the event room and were like “we’re here to f*ck shit up,” but it was NOT like that. First off, there was no place to put my coat, and I felt like the lights were burning a hole in my head, so perspiration was inevitable. I filled my plate with some food, and proceeded to judge (p.s. all the food was super healthy. Guilt free, what up).
“This dip is weird”
“Have you tried the sushi? Can I eat more of it, or is there too much on my plate?”
“The sushi is soooo good”
My gay best friend was of absolutely no help in calming my anxiety: “We should talk to people”
“Ok, lets talk to people”
We just stand there.
“Do you think that person wants to talk to us?”
“I think they do”
“I want more sushi. They just refilled the tray.”
“They did! Let’s get a plate and share. I don’t want to look like a fatty.”
“Get your own.” (RUDE, hint this was not me)
It did not help that my bff kept pinching my butt, because “it’s funny.” We’re in public, and you’re gay. People are going to think you’re my boyfriend, and I am a terrible girlfriend for cringing at your touch.
“Ooh, truffles” I grab one, and bite into it.
“No!” My friend yells, “you do NOT bite truffles! What kind of foodie are you?” I don’t know, a hungry one.
I eventually found my footing, but I was NOT ready to rave about my blog: “Oh, I just started it. It’s ok. What do you do?”
I soon realized everyone was just as awkward as me, and I think I stopped sweating a little bit. Then as I was picking my jacket off the floor (I had to get rid of it. I was way too hot, besides I saw someone else do it first) some attractive dude running the event started talking to me (my friend and I already had a heavy debate if he was gay or straight. He said straight. I said his skin was too glowy to be straight).
Anywho I had overheard his shtick while I was picking up more sushi, and I was about to settle into the same conversation everyone else had had with him. Off he went, “have you heard of Jillian Michael’s…” Straight, by the way.
Then he asked me what I did for a living, and I do television ad sales, which is whatever, but he kept using the word aggregate, and guess what? I don’t know what that word means, so I just kept awkwardly nodding, and saying “yeah, kinda.”
Suddenly, everyone was ushered into another room for a presentation, and I was able to escape the vocabulary quiz I was accidentally invited to take.
Overall, good food, learned a few things, and oh, yeah, I need a card.
Whole Foods Wellness Center (kale and balsamic on top of bread)
This looked SO good, and I wanted to love it, but it was sort of bland. It needed salt, but I am team kale so I understand where their head was at.
Whole Foods Wellness Center (vegetable sushi)
SO.GOOD. I’m not usually a fan of Whole Foods sushi, but this was made with something that made it sort of sweet and nutty, and I died for it. They put out soy sauce and a ginger dipping sauce. I practically licked the ginger sauce out of the bowl, but I didn’t because that would have been inapprops.
Whole Food Wellness Center (lentil dip and veggies)
The dip was meh, sorta watery, but the sushi came with a ginger dressing, and I dipped the veggies in that all.night.long
Arcane [Click the photo above to go to Arcane’s website]
111 Ave C (between 7th and 8th Street), New York, NY 10009
I don’t know why Thursday nights always seem like the best night to plan a dinner (with alcohol), but for some reason they do. Maybe it’s because I like to pretend I’m in college and convince myself my weekend has started (it didn’t. I have work. Surprise! You’re hung-over eating a bacon egg and cheese in your cubicle)
Anywho! I planned dinner with my cuz (that means cousin) to try Arcane, a French/Caribbean themed restaurant (maybe we’ll feel like we’re in St. Barth’s) on Ave C. She lives in Grammercy, and it was a good excuse to stay relatively nearby. The idea of dragging myself to the other side of town just seemed exhausting ($11 cab? What? I’ll just put it on my credit card and act like it never happened). I picked my cousin up on the way (splitting a cab is the best) and off we went!
We walk in, and we are greeted and seated. Drink menus are on the table so decisions have to be made immediately. Unfortunately the restaurant was pitch black with the exception of teensy weensy candles placed on each table, and a few lamps randomly placed throughout the restaurant (I feel like the electricians were like “Let’s just put it here. They can walk their table over to the light to see). I put the candle up to the menu trying to decipher the shapes on the white piece of paper (I felt like an explorer inside a cave trying to read stories from an indigenous people that were long extinct, but not really at all). It was actually pretty annoying.
I ordered a little number called the “Moulin rouge.” French theme I guess. It had some raspberry/lime thing happening I felt drawn to. My cousin on the other hand had a little bit more trouble deciding… to say the least.
“Fig juice? That sounds delicious, but I don’t like orange juice. Do you think I should ask them what they recommend? Will they get mad at me?”
The waitress unfortunately had a thick accent (I want to say French, but really what do I know?), and she was pretty much impossible to understand. My cousin panicked and picked some mango infused drink, and when the waitress walked away she whispers to me, “I really don’t want the mango in it…” Then that was not a good choice!
Time for the nitty gritty, ordering the meal. I had purposely worn tight jeans so I would not go insane at Arcane (judge away for that one).
“do you want to split appetizers?”
“Ok!”
“I want the papaya salad.”
“I want the shrimp, avocado, and hearts of palm salad”
(so we’re not really splitting. We’re pretty much ordering what we want, but yeah let’s say we’re splitting)
Main dish: we both end up ordering the tuna “From the Grill.” The waitress looks at my cousin and says something that neither of us can understand (and since it’s so dark it’s not like you can even attempt to read lips). My cousin starts laughing like a hyena and goes, “what?”
It’s still unintelligible.
My cousin is now getting uncomfortable and laughing even more, “I’m so sorry! What?”
It still sounds like Chinese to both of us. Now it’s just awkward to say, “what,” again and her next move is to just blindly guess what the waitress is saying, “how do I want my tuna cooked?”
The waitress nods. Thank G-d! We got it right!
“Rare please!” DONE. Mercury poisoning is not real (yes it is).
We also ordered sides…why not right?? Spinach, and a gratin (“we’ll share them,” we say confidently).
We were both really pleased with our salads. Mine was a little spicy, which I like, and my cousin dug for hearts of palm like a deep sea fisherman. Then the tuna comes, and so do another round of drinks. My cousin opted for my Moulin Rouge, and I ordered it again.
By the time dessert rolled around, I was already tipsy and my cousin was up to drink #3.
“Do you want dessert?” the waitress asks. WE CAN UNDERSTAND THAT.
“Yes! Chocolate cake” (what upp)
As we wait for the cake my cousin motions towards her vodka soda “Here have some of my drink!” She goes to hand me some, and she realizes the drink is empty. Nevermind…
With exception to the minimal lighting, the food was really good, and we were in a tropical setting (I mean we drank like we were) in the beginning of March. Go Arcane!
Arcane (Moulin Rouge cocktail)
YUM!
Arcane (mango infused cocktail)
Arcane (bread)
It was great! The oil on the side had garlic and peppers mixed in (YUM). Thank G-d I had those tight pants on otherwise I would have had trouble resisting the urge to eat all of it!
Arcane (papaya salad)
So good! I took a picture of the other salad, but the picture didn’t do it enough justice.
Arcane (gratin)
Crispy goodness with a little bacon. I ain’t mad.
Arcane (chocolate cake)
I started eating, and then realized I should probably take a picture, so a little corner is missing.
Arcane (tuna)
Look how gigantic it is! I also ate 1/4 of it before I took this picture!
Employees Only [Click the photo above to go to Employees Only’s website]
510 Hudson Street (between 10th and Christopher Street), New York, NY 10014
I was meeting a friend at 9pm for drinks in the West Village at Employees Only. I had never been there before, and it was raining so I was immediately fearful that I’d be 20 mins late because 1. I couldn’t get a cab and 2. What if I got lost??
Fear not I was able to grab a cab from a girl getting dropped off at my building, and the restaurant was SUPER easy to find. I also hate awkwardly waiting for people (I hate a lot of things), so I was happy my friend was already there casually waiting in the front by the bar.
Checked coat and we sat (and then we ate). Unforgivable reference…if you haven’t seen it…it’s funny…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dJu1Jj7VTw
First things first. Lets get a drink, it’s 9pm for G-d’s sakes. They had a section called Fancy Drinks which immediately tickled my fancy (I’m sorry I’m not sorry). I like drinks with a little kick, so I asked the waitress what she recommended she said the “Lazy Lover” so I just went with that. The drink was super good, and I gobbled it right up. I ended up ordering three of them, so I was a wittle drunk. Woops.
Then the question of the night came, “are you hungry? We should order stuff.” WHHHHAT. I JUST HAD SALMON TERIYAKI WITH BROWN RICE BEFORE THIS. Oy ok if you insist! So me being the wild eater, I wanted to try the bone marrow (I can’t believe he ok’d this. Most people would have been like, “lets get chicken fingers.”). It wasn’t the best, but I was also full so it’s hard to judge food when you’re not hungry. Feel me? They usually serve bone marrow IN the bone, but this was in a puffy pastry (Employees Only thinking outside the box)
At around drink #2, the next question of the night came, “should we get another dish?” OK!
We went for the cheese plate. NOT the best cheese plate in town. This cheese platter came with tortilla like bread (I like crostinis, but what are you gonna do?). I also like when they give you fruity jellies (do you know what im talking about at all?) on the side, but this restaurant only gave a side of nuts to mix with the cheeses. This obviously didn’t stop me from eating. Alcohol and cheese/carbs were in front of me…I was a goner.
I paired our cheese plate with random conversation one thinks of when they’re a few drinks in:
“Would you ever be a stand-up comedian?”
“No.”
…
“Want to see twenty pictures of my dog on my phone? She’s SO cute.”
“Sure” (you’re going to show me anyway).
My Lazy Lover drink had made me super giddy and enthusiastic, and I gave my friend a kiss on the cheek AND a hug good-bye as if I’d never see them again (alcohol does that!). I would totes go to Employees Only again. It was a cute bar with great drinks, but I think I’d eat before again too.
Employees Only (menu)
It does not say Employees Only on the outside of the restaurant. It just has this symbol (ok fine it’s an “E” and an “O”), and the address number.
Employees Only (Fancy Drink Menu)
I just love that it says Fancy Drinks, so I got fancy with editing the picture (please keep reading my blog after reading that joke). The menu was not blue. I’m fancy huh? (I’M SO SORRY. PLEASE KEEP READING MY BLOG.)
Employees Only (bone marrow poppers)
You have to admit they look good for something called bone marrow poppers. The waitress said they were meant to be eaten in one bite, but I felt like I had an oversized sushi roll in my mouth when I did that.
Employees Only (cheese platter).
See what I mean with the tortilla like bread? And the random nuts? I nibbled on the cheese like a little mouse.
Grand Central Market [Click the photo above to go to Grand Central Market’s website]
105 E 42nd St (between De Pew Pl & Park Ave), New York, NY 10017
I was really on a mission today during my lunch break. I had shidizzle to do. Well, really I just had to use an Amex giftcard before I forgot about it, and then I lost money on it (why do they do that?), so off I went with two coworkers to the nearest Sephora. Picked up some Benefit cosmetics, had to replenish my stash, and we were done (I know what I want, and I get it). On the way back, we passed by a Modell’s (gotta go to Mo’s), so we slipped right in there. My friend gave into the LINsanity craze and purchased a Lin t-shirt for her little brother. I on the other hand balled out and bought a Carmelo Anthony jersey (over $90…what the eff? I already used my Amex money). I will finally be attending a game, and I like to be prepared.
“It’s a jersey. You’ll have it forever,” my other friend pipes in (he’s a guy by the way. Can you tell?)
“Or until he gets traded…” too late now.
My bag is now stuffed with Sephora make-up and a Knick’s jersey, but I have yet to get lunch. Where shall we go?
We were right by Grand Central, so off to Grand Central Market we went. A market, grand central, lunch time, it won’t be crowded (yes it will!)…I should have had a smaller bag so people would have to try harder to bump into me (but then where would I put my new goodies?). This market has everything: salad, fruit, prepared meals, fresh fish, CHEESE.
“I know if I wander for too long I will end up getting a mac ‘n cheese soufflé (because I have done that) so I’m just going to get this,” and I order a small seaweed salad and a steamed shrimp spring roll (made with that gooey rice stuff so it’s not super dough-y..is that a word? It is now).
My friend completely tuned me out as she stared at all the food (sort of like me in Eataly), and proceeded to have a panic attack over her meal.
“Oh my G-d look! It’s mac n’ cheese. Yum!” (does she ignore me???) “Will I like this quinoa?”
“Do you like mint?”
“No”
“Then don’t get the quinoa* with mint.”
She ended up getting another quinoa, and a shrimp spring roll as well. Just as we were about to hightail it out of there, Miss Mac ‘n Cheese screams, “There’s grapes!”
I roll my eyes, and am about to make a sarcastic comment when I spot cut-up mango. “Add this!” I scream, as she goes to get rung up (snack for later of course. I get very cranky at around 3:30pm, and I try to avoid that with a fruit pick me up).
Back to the office we went to enjoy our meal. The seaweed salad was standard, and the shrimp roll had great crunch. There was purple cabbage in it that gave it a little something. Grand Central Market is a good stop for (in my mind) quality dishes when you’re running around. It would not be a spot I’d run to (only when you’re running around?? Does that make sense??). Is it 3:30 yet for my mango?
*Quinoa:grain with an extremely high amount of protein. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa
Grand Central Market (seaweed salad doesn’t photograph well through glass, and the rolls, they’re sorta pretty)
Grand Central Market (I looked but didn’t touch)
Grand Central Market
Shopsins [Click the photo above to go to Shopsins website]
120 Essex Street, New York, NY 10002
If you’re in the mood for a big brunch go to Shopsins on the LES! It is inside a supermarket, doesn’t take reservations, and only takes parties of 3 or less, and kitchen closes at 3 (oh AND closed on sundays, go on a saturday). Even with all those limitations it’s worth it!
Their specialty is Blisters on my Sisters (die for their name), but I went for ham & cheese grits and french toast grilled cheese with poached eggs.
I didn’t die for the grilled cheese, but the grits were perfect! It’s definitely worth the cals.
We waited on line for a while, bc there are maybe 8 tables, but the menu is so extensive I spent the entire time debating about what i wanted to eat..
I got to catch up with my friend and drank an iced coffee while we waited to be seated.
Shopsins
Meet the owner of Shopsins, Kenny Shopsin! He is what you would call a character. When I was in search of a restroom (i drank a lot of iced coffee) he handed me 2 keys and said “they’re real ass holes here. They make you go upstairs.”
I asked which key was for the upstairs and his response was “the one that’s not for downstairs.”
Im in love. Im in love, and I don’t care who knows it!
Shopsins: 120 Essex Street, New York, NY 10002
My friend got the pancakes with eggs stuffed imbetween the pancakes. she clearly liked them.
Shopsins
I cannot help myself! Here are the ham & cheese grits!
GirlyFoodie 