Summer in The City

Iced tea can save the world.

It's really hot in New York City right now. Pretty much the whole East Coast has been broiled into oblivion this week. A friend of mine in DC posted on Facebook that it was 89 degrees at 8 in the morning yesterday. GAH.

So yesterday, I decided that rather than try to wait this heat out, I was going to go with it like a car hitting black ice with no snow tires. Yes, I just went with the skid. That, my friends, is why we're tapping into the treasure chest of Betty's frozen treats I had scheduled for late July and August. There are two problems that go with frozen treats, though:

1. You need freezer space and various other tools, contraptions and players to be named later.
2. You have to be patient and just let things freeze.

So while we're waiting for our treats to become solid, I'm going to share with you some awesome things happening in the city this weekend and what we'll be eating. Shall we begin?

Sliders from the Vegan Street Food Inspired Tasting Menu Photo Credit : ieatgrass.com

Wildflower is happening this weekend and this weekend only! This is NYC's first vegan pop-up restaurant, and the latest project by green entrepreneur rock star and Chef Ayinde Howell of www.ieatgrass.com. Not only has Ayinde created a remarkable and creative menu, but he's got a great team that includes some "helping hands" like Scott Winegard from the Brooklyn dinner club Nasturtium.

If you're like us, you probably have seen "pop-up" restaurants before on Top Chef and The Food Network and been completely bewitched. See, pop-ups don't just provide chefs an opportunity to showcase his/her talents, but they provide food lovers a chance to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience they can discuss with other food lovers in a style that has in the past been reserved for die-hard sports and music enthusiasts. I think we've all been there - when someone tells you about the time that the guy on this team pretended to be a the Statue of Liberty and faked out this other guy, or the time that Phish played this song at this place and someone did a thing*. Well, pop-ups by their nature bring that element of excitement to dining because they are only open a short time - like a weekend - and therefore can't help but create a shared event or moment. Am I getting too sentimental?

It's probably because I'm so excited that we finally get to go to one! Like I said before: Wildflower is the first vegan pop-up to hit NYC. Like any event, you have to get a ticket to attend and make your reservation, and you can do that by clicking here.

Photo Credit : ieatgrass.com

If you're still not sold - you should check out the menu. This is fine dining with that whimsical edge you can't help but fall in love with. We'll be there Sunday for the Mexican hot chocolate waffles and mimosas! Hope to see you there!

If you do miss it though, there are plenty of other things happening in the city this weekend - actually every weekend! The always lovely and clever Jasmin Singer, who you might remember from her completely wonderful guest blog post on here but more likely from her kick-ass activism and super cool podcast/blog Our Hen House, has gotten together with VegNewsTV to create this adorable and informative video about how to enjoy NYC on a budget!

I have to admit we've only done like half the things in this video thus far, but we're working our way through it slowly but surely. I can tell you this though - if you're visiting NYC, you want to do everything on this video! It features one of my all-time favorite vegan restaurants, Curly's Vegetarian Lunch, our new favorite summertime haunt Lula's Sweet Apothecary**, and the extremely cool Tenement museum. But I won't ruin the video for you. You should see it for yourself and take notes! We'll be back later with Rosewater Lemonade Sorbet.




* OK I should have consulted with my co-worker and die hard Phish head Mike before writing this so I'd have some proper nouns to replace 'thing' with. I don't know much about Phish except that fans can tell you what shirt the bassist was wearing when he played a song on a certain Sunday 10 years ago. Although I find it impressive, I remain 'Phish ignorant'.

** We're going to be posting photos from our adventures to both Curly's, Lula's, and other great NYC vegan hot spots on our Facebook Fan Page : Vegan Foods = Joy today. So check that out!