Chronicles from New York Part 1 – Subway rides and (Vegetarian) Food spots
12:21:00 AM |
| In my nomad mode, catching the train from Brooklyn to the Upper West Side |
Good evening Sweetlings,
As promised, here are my tales from New York where I had meetings, whose outcomes i will be sharing in the near future, and a speaking gig that was in line with the UN General Assembly (UNGA) meeting, that was organized by the MOTH which focused on the global voices of women and girl and had UN under-secretary as the special guest. This trip has been a mix of so many things from encounters with NYPD - no I wasn't arrested to a near sleep over at the hospital among so many other things...I stop with the spoilers and open my New York journal to you (PS; my video - Chronicles from New York will be up on my YouTube channel so subscribe to get notified when I post it)
As promised, here are my tales from New York where I had meetings, whose outcomes i will be sharing in the near future, and a speaking gig that was in line with the UN General Assembly (UNGA) meeting, that was organized by the MOTH which focused on the global voices of women and girl and had UN under-secretary as the special guest. This trip has been a mix of so many things from encounters with NYPD - no I wasn't arrested to a near sleep over at the hospital among so many other things...I stop with the spoilers and open my New York journal to you (PS; my video - Chronicles from New York will be up on my YouTube channel so subscribe to get notified when I post it)
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| In the subway with Lian (this is off peak subway time...this picture wouldn't be possible during rush hour) |
The Subway 🚊
My flight from Nairobi got to New York (via Amsterdam) around midday. Lian (from 'local and very affordable things to do in Nairobi with a tourist' post) picked me from the airport. I took a shower and it was time to go to work (I know…no rest). Since I had taken Lian through a matatu ride experience when he was in Nairobi, he introduced me to the New York ‘sorta kinda’ equivalent. He got me a Metrocard for future trips and took me through the ropes of how to go back and forth using subways and I am proud to report all my solo trips in New York have been via the subway...i love how straightforward it is unlike our matatus where you need to know the routes and bus stops or keep asking for directions...but they got nothing on the matatu culture.
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| Binging on vegan ice cream...yeeees vegan ice cream... with my best people from NYC - Lian and Jamie aka the CitiesRise gang |
Where to eat in New York (ok where I ate)
As much as it is easier to get vegan/vegetarian meals in New York, I had good, bad and ugly food stories...let's channel the positive and look at my best food joints...before I start, New York is sooooo damn expensive;
1. Roberta’s Pizza 🍕
1. Roberta’s Pizza 🍕
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| Menu board at Roberta's Pizza |
After my day 1 in the office, Lian showed me around Brooklyn then took me to Roberta’s Pizza (because Pizza is a New York thing to do) It is a pretty chillled spot and their mushroom pizza is amaaaazing...I later googled the spot and learnt, true story that Beyonce and the Clintons have had pizza there...oopsie, don't have a picture of the pizza but have a camera swipe of the place which I took when we were waiting for our pizza (watch out for my Chronicles from New York YouTube video)
2. Bunna Cafe
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| Me thinking, look at all the greens on this platter...can we eat already? |
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| Let's just say the band at the back was taking me beyond as Richard and Jamie were deep in conversation |
Bunna Cafe had a band playing, not sure if it is an everyday thing or a Wednesday only gig, but the music was really good…and the food was even more amazing. We had a platter of Injeera which had kales with avocado, mushrooms (yes i ate way too much mushrooms) and other nice things…i loved the kales with avocado and mushrooms part of it.
3. Superiority Burger
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| This place is so tiny, it fits the number of people you can count which includes staff |
The day after our NYPD experience, Jamie (who also works with CitiesRise) and a self appointed New York Ambassador decided to give us ‘an evening around New York tour’ and it was so so worth it. I will share the food spot here then everything else in the part 2 post...So we went to Superiority Burger which is like a shoe box restaurant, really tiny but sells the meanest veggie burgers.
Because of sitting space issues, we went to a near by park to drown our burgers.
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| You have to experience this burger to understand how awesome it is |
Because of sitting space issues, we went to a near by park to drown our burgers.
4. Van Leeuwen ice cream
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| Jamie in her crown of awesomeness |
Theeeeeeen in her amazing ambassadorial status, Jamie took us to a vegan ice cream place, who does that… the ice cream was out of this world
…that ice cream is the best thing I have had all year, hands down…someone give Jamie full ambassador status, she passed the test.
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| The menu...I had to have two scoops |
…that ice cream is the best thing I have had all year, hands down…someone give Jamie full ambassador status, she passed the test.
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| Can you read the story behind the ice cream...skip over to the vegan part |
Whole Foods
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| Having soup and some rice, French beans and veggie meatballs from Whole Foods |
After an amazing week with the CitiesRise gang, I crossed over to the upper west side for my MOTH/UNGA engagements. I stayed at the Hotel Beacon which has a kitchenette and on the first night, I opted to do my own meal because cooking is therapeutic for me. I bought stuff from the store across my hotel and made myself some veggie hot dogs and salad, post and video here - spoiler, I used mushrooms...just had to throw this here because we are speaking a lot about mushrooms in this post.
On my second day, I discovered Whole foods and I fell in love...I also loved the walk (almost 15 blocks away) and the food variety (much more on the video)
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| Tofu, mixed veggies and more veggie meatballs with my Kombucha drink - all from Whole Foods |
On my second day, I discovered Whole foods and I fell in love...I also loved the walk (almost 15 blocks away) and the food variety (much more on the video)
Kombucha
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| Because one Kombucha is never enough |
In Nigeria, my favorite drinks (non alcoholic because I aint about that life no more) were zobo, origin zero and chapman. In case you missed my first attempt at Zobo in Nigeria, here is a video (plus you get to see me dancing). In New York, Kombucha was my official go to drink, I think I have drunk all flavors and brands they sell at Whole Foods. I loved it so much, I had to track and bookmark a guy who recently started making it In Nairobi.
Food trucks
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| Last New York meal, counted all my coins and got a falafel sandwich |
I tried the falafel platter from one of the food truck next to my hotel and it was amazing. On my last day, I took all my coins to deposit at a food track and got a falafel sandwich.
Part 2 and Youtube video coming up soon...subscribe to this blog and my YouTube Channel to get alerts when new posts are up.
Update
So the day after doing this post I go meet with P in Karen and don't bother with the menu. Theeeeen as when we were leaving, I see Booch, which is the brand name I saw when googling (that's a real verb) Kombucha in Nairobi, on the chalk board...Y'all I left P talking to herself and went to the kitchen to ask if Booch is the Kombucha brand to which they answered in the affirmative. Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting Booch, Kenya's very own Kombucha ...the bottle makes it look like cough medicine...the taste is so so (I might be comparing it the US brands or the flavor) will comment on it in a later post after another try.
Part 2 and Youtube video coming up soon...subscribe to this blog and my YouTube Channel to get alerts when new posts are up.
Update
So the day after doing this post I go meet with P in Karen and don't bother with the menu. Theeeeen as when we were leaving, I see Booch, which is the brand name I saw when googling (that's a real verb) Kombucha in Nairobi, on the chalk board...Y'all I left P talking to herself and went to the kitchen to ask if Booch is the Kombucha brand to which they answered in the affirmative. Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting Booch, Kenya's very own Kombucha ...the bottle makes it look like cough medicine...the taste is so so (I might be comparing it the US brands or the flavor) will comment on it in a later post after another try.
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