Happy Sunday friends! I took a quick trip to New York City this past week and wanted to share it with you. On Thursday I met up with a good friend that I took my teacher training with last fall. Each weekend we would explore various restaurants and just enjoy hanging out together. It's been six months since I've seen her last which is crazy! So as a celebration of finally reuniting we decided to do all of our favorite NYC things that we used to do and had the best time doing them!
We met up around lunchtime and headed straight for Sacred Chow. I can't tell you how much I love this place. I think about it more than a normal person probably should and always stalk #sacredchow on Instagram to drool over photos that people share. I got the Power Bowl with Grilled Nama Gori. (pictured above) The Grilled Nama Gori is ridiculous, in a good way! I don't like eating tofu from anywhere else because nothing compares to it. I always promise myself that I'm going to eat slowly to savor each bite but that never happens. I always end up taking the first bite and basically inhaling the rest because of how delicious it is. Oh and if you're there for brunch, the waffle is really great too. I've never had a gluten free waffle resemble a "real" waffle as well as Sacred Chow does!
Afterwards we walked around for a bit and stopped by juice press. I always tell myself to buy something new when I go there and that never ends up happening because I can't get over how good that Good Weed is. If you like tahini then you need to try this! It's very filling too, especially after I just had lunch and knew that I'd be taking a yoga class in an hour. But I drank the whole thing anyways because you can't waste something like this!
After we left juice press we went to Strala to take a class lead by Humberto. I met Humberto last year when I was doing my training and always wanted to make it to one of his classes. I never got the chance to do so until this week. It only took me 6 months! Haha. I was just really excited to be back at Strala to take a class. It's the only yoga studio that I really love and feel connected to which is kind of sad because I live 300 miles away. But it makes the experiences there really special and I appreciate it that much more. Anyways, we took Humberto's class which was so great!! I really loved everything about the class. The way that he leads is awesome and the overall energy that he brings into the room boosts your mood instantly. Smiles all around! I can't think of a better way to begin a class. He's constantly moving around the room to make sure that everyone's happy and feeling great. At times you'll want to dance to the music he plays instead of holding a Warrior II or Plank. But guess what, you can do both! I had so much fun in his class and definitely will be back for another one in the future! If you live in NYC or ever find yourself in NYC I definitely recommend checking out Humberto's class at Strala! You can also find more information on Humberto's classes on his website.
After we left Strala we went to my favorite place in the whole world, Pure Food and Wine. We first went to Pure Food last year a few weeks before our training started. It really was love at first bite and became a frequent dinner for us each weekend. We started off with the Beyond Kombucha Love Potion. It is so so good. I don't even know how to describe it so you should probably just get yourself there and try it for yourself. For the first course I got the Butterhead Lettuce with Red Radish and Chervil, english cucumber, edible flowers, and creamy dill dressing. I saw this on Pure Food's Instagram page a few weeks ago and knew instantly that I was trying this. I liked it! I really really enjoyed the dressing. It definitely made the whole dish and I felt like it was a perfect serving size for the first course. For the second course I got the Hen of the Woods Tacos al Pastor with smoked guacamole, hearts of palm, fresh corn, guajillo cream fresca, and pickled onions. I've had every dish of the second course menu and truly love them all. It's impossible to pick a bad second course item and I didn't have the the tacos for a while so I decided to go for them. Never a bad decision! Finally for dessert I had to go with the infamous Mint Sundae. I love love love the sundae so much. I was struggle to finish it all though because I was so full. But I wasn't letting any of it go to waste!
After our wonderful dinner we stopped by One Lucky Duck and Peacefood Cafe for some to-go items which you can find on Instagram if you missed them! Then we sadly headed home. Each time I visit NYC I come home feeling more connected to it. I have met some really great people and made some awesome friendships. I love it and think about it quite often once I arrive back home. Which is probably why it took me a few days to actually sit down and write this! But I wanted to document this to remember little details and I figured I'd share it with you guys just like old times. I'm already devising a plan to go back soon, so stay tuned for that. And some more awesome recipes too, of course!