Cute. Dog. Overload

I talk about my dogs a fair bit because, well, they are awesome.

Clearly I think my dogs are the best thing since tofu tacos. However, sometimes I have to step aside and let other canine friends get some attention for their pure awesomeness.

Enter Mamma Biscuit. Here is the lowdown:

Lives in the best city in the world (check)

Has two daddies (check)

Eats a vegan diet (check)

Shares an undying love for Madonna (check)

Has an exquisite sense of fashion (check)

Rescued from a terrible life (check)

When vegan superstar Isa Moskowitz tweeted Mamma's blog I was in cute overload. Clearly, I have to share it with all of you…

Please share some love for Mamma Biscuit and her lovely daddies. She made a new Chubby Vegan fan and I hope you will join me in sharing her some love.

Desperately Seeking Mamma Biscuit

XOXO

Chubby Vegan

A couple more of my favorite pics, just because...

Pose... werk... *snaps*

Pearls make everything better...

Move over Anna Wintour!

I feel the same way girl...

¿Quien es?

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I Heart New York

I love New York.

I have made that clear here and here. From the first time I got off the train in Manhattan I knew there was something special about NY for me. I felt like Madonna when she arrived in New York and said, “take me to the middle of everything.”

Note: Most moments in my life can be directly correlated to a Madonna moment or song.

I jump at any chance I have to be in New York, which I really believe is the center of everything. Culture, art, food, scandal, love, live, and everything in between can be found in New York. GUSH

I was in New York last week for a brief work trip and had the chance to try out a couple vegan eateries. Here is the good, bad, and ugly… 

1. One Lucky Duck

I have posted about One Lucky Duck before when they had a promotion on Daily Gourmet, but I finally had the chance to visit. First off, it was my first time in Chelsea Market and it was so fun! One Lucky Duck is tucked away in a large room of vendors and is predominately raw with lots of delicious juices, smoothies, and raw yum-yums. I asked for a smoothie suggestion and was led to the simple banana, cashew milk, and cinnamon. Seems so boring, but was so delicious. It was the perfect treat for a humid NY day. Yum!

2. Caravan of Dreams

The name of this place makes me chuckle, so I had to visit… Let me start with the positive. The atmosphere in this place is amazing. It is SO cute and just has that perfect level of underground NY that made me feel like Andy Warhol at a 1974 café. I had the maple and tamari smoked tempeh, which was just lovely; a fusion of flavors that blended perfectly.

My travel partner got the red lentil and roasted cauliflower cakes. Sounds good, right? She took one bite and damn near spit it out. The cakes were spiced with curry, which she is NOT a fan of. Problem is the menu had NO mention of curry at all. We all know many people have a love / hate relationship with curry and it is a really strong flavor. Yet, they completely disregarded this and left no mention of it on the menu. My travel partner is a new vegetarian and I know how disappointed she was. Clearly, I was too. She ate around it, but I hate when people have to do that. So, if anyone from Caravan of Dreams reads this, I hope you will adjust your menu in the future. A simple change would lead to a world of difference.

Ice cream perfection after the jump…

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Daily Gourmet Goodies

Who doesn’t love a macaroon?

Hands? Anyone?

That’s what I thought!

Daily Gourmet is offering a super special offer on raw, organic, and vegan macaroons & cinnamon squares from One Lucky Duck.

 

One Lucky Duck is a raw empori-yum in New York specializing in organic, raw and mostly vegan products. The offer is for 12 Blonde Macaroons, one bag of 12 Chocolate Macaroons and one bag of 6 Cinnamon Squares for $35 w/ free shipping!

Where do I sign up? Well, visit Daily Gourmet before Wednesday night to get the deal.

Also, to my loving Chubby Vegan readers, I am giving away coupon codes for an extra $5 off. If you want one, just do one of the following things: 

• Like “Daily Gourmet” on the book of faces or sign up for the Daily Gourmet email
• Follow me on Twitter
• Or just ask nicely…

Once you do any of the following, leave a comment with your email and let me know or send me an email and I will get a code over to you asap!

I only have a certain amount of codes and the offer ends Wednesday so do it fast; you will be loving on some macaroons and cinnamon squares before you know it!

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New York: Day 2

Token NY Picture

As promised, day two of New York veg-stravaganza is even better than day 1!

Picture It…

New York…

A week ago...

A loving Chubby Vegan eats at an incredible vegan restaurant in the Upper West Side. He is floored by the incredible food that abounds. His co-worker say’s, “hey, that woman behind you looks familiar.”

He passes a super nonchalant glance and nearly faints.

It was GD Kyra Sedgewick; eating in the same restaurant as me! Holy smokes!

I am not a creepy celebrity stalker and I think it is rude to go up to someone in public just because they are famous… But as we left I carefully snapped this pic as evidence.

It’s not perfect but take my word for it, she was beautiful! Plus, her selection of lunch at a vegan restaurant makes her cool factor go up about 50,000 in my book.

Even if I didn’t get to see Kyra, (we are on a first name basis now) I would have been just as happy because I got to eat at Café Blossom. 

Day Two Vegan Stop: Café Blossom

Café Blossom was a recommendation from my new best friend at Red Bamboo. Like I thought, she didn’t let me down. Not only did I get to see Kyra, but I also got to try my first raw appetizer.

Kelly and I split the Autumn Spring Rolls which were sweet potato rolls with coconut noodles, jicama, carrot, red and yellow pepper, scallion, avocado, and an almond ginger dipping sauce. I have been a little leery about raw food but I have wanted to try a professionally made raw dish for a while. I am so happy I did!

I loved these. I thought the sweet potato would have been really grainy, but it was not at all. The flavors blended together really well, like a fresh roll at a Thai restaurant. Plus the dipping sauce was just amazing; I could have drank it like a shot.

I thought about it. ß Chubby

Kelly didn’t hate it but I don’t think she would be the first to board the raw only bus. I am looking forward to trying a raw dish again.

Follow me after the jump for the rest of my Café Blossom deliciousness!

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New York Vegan Tour: Day 1

New York, New York! A hell of a town!

I remember the first time I went to New York…  I was about 13 and my Aunt Dottie and my Mom took me on the Amtrak Northeast Direct from Boston to the Big Apple. The World Trade Center was still intact, The Rosie O’Donnell Show was filmed at Rockefeller Center, and the TRL studio was being built right next to the giant Antonio Sabato Jr. underwear billboard in Times Square. Those were the days…

I have had major love for New York for as long as I can remember.

I had the chance to head to my favorite city last week for work and got to sneak in a couple of fun vegan stops while I was there. My friend and co-worker Kelly gladly joined me on my culinary tour as we hit up two vegan restaurants and one amazing vegan bakery. I am separating the trip into two posts because it's too good to lump into one…

STOP 1: Red Bamboo

This was a recommendation by my Twitter doppelganger, Fat Gay Vegan. You know I love a recommendation so I was all about it.

Red Bamboo is a small restaurant adjacent to the behemoth NYU campus in Greenwich Village. Their menu is pretty extensive and has a little bit of everything. You can get everything from vegan fish and chips to vegan BBQ ribs. I mean, what?!?!

There is a fair amount of fried yum yums on the menu, so if you love a deep fryer you are in luck.

Kelly and I shared the tempura broccoli and sweet potato, which was a plate of hot and fried loveliness. Sweet potato is one of my absolute favorite vegetables on the planet, but when you fry it with a tempura batter its loveliness increases.

For our entrée we actually got the same thing, the vegan chicken Parmesan. I don’t really know if it was baked or fried, but I can tell you it was great. I tore through mine like I had never eaten in my life. In all reality it had been a long day and I was pretty hungry. There was nothing coming between me and that plate.

The sauce had just a perfect level of sweetness, which I love. It’s a good thing.

The best part about Red Bamboo was our server was just delightful. She was way cute and gave me about a million and one vegan recommendations for other places to try. If I had the time, I would have gladly gone to all of them! I love a good server; it just makes the experience even better.  I told her about my blog, so if you are reading this Angela, leave a comment. I think we should be friends. (stalker alert)

Read more about my New York Adventure, Day 1, after the jump…

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