Moo Shoes in New York, New York

While in New York, Ben and I stopped by Moo Shoes. I was planning on buying a pair of shoes while we were there, but when we got there I couldn't find anything that I really loved. But, as we were looking around the store, a small collection of Matt and Nat bags caught my eye. It was a bit over budget, but less than I would pay online, so I splurged and bought one! It's so nice, and I am seriously in love. Ben wasn't so sure at first, but now he likes it nearly as much as I do. Check out the pictures...

Oh, and store kitty! Moo Shoes has 3 store kitties. So cute!

Confisco Grille in Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida

When I researched online, everything I found said that there were no vegan options in Universal Studio's Islands of Adventure. So, Ben and I kind of went in blindly hoping that we would at least be able to find some fruit juice and a granola bar or something. Around dinner time, we looked around the main restaurant part of the park and checked out the menus of a few restaurants. We stopped at Confisco Grille, which looked promising, as it had a few menu items we thought could be veganized. We walked in and the hostess found the head chef for us, who was very knowledgeable and able to answer all of our questions without hesitation. We quickly figured out that the pizza minus cheese and the spaghetti with a few substitutions was vegan. So we went with a pizza with extra veggies to split and it was a perfect dinner. So much for no vegan options in the park! I'm pretty sure there were a few other restaurants that had options, too.

Rating: 3/5

Hard Rock Cafe in Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida

Our first stop on our cruise was in Port Canaveral, Florida. We took a bus directly from the port to Universal Studios. We wanted to grab lunch before going in to the park, but there were no veg friendly restaurants that we knew of within walking distance. There was a Hard Rock Cafe near the entrance of the park, and I thought they might have some vegan options so we took a chance and went in. After talking with the waiter and the chef we determined that the grilled veggie sandwich and the veggie leggie on the ciabatta instead of the regular bun were vegan (w/o mayo and cheese, of course). Our waiter was really awesome and was very specific about everything. Unfortunately when our order came out, Ben's burger had mayo on it (a mistake from the kitchen), but our waiter brought us a new one promptly and even removed Ben's whole meal from our check!

We had a great experience (Hard Rock Cafes are always awesome). I believe those two menu items are the only ones that can be made vegan, but they were a decent meal in a pinch.

Rating: 3/5

Juice Generation in New York, New York

A great chain cafe with TONS of vegan options, including smoothies (a HUGE selection!), soup/bread, baked goods, packaged goods, and pre-made refrigerated sandwiches and meals. They also have many raw options. Everything we had was delicious and the staff was very friendly and eager to please.

Rating: 5/5

Honeymoon Vacation

Well, we are finally back from our loooong honeymoon vacation and have tons of pictures to show off! I don't want to have to list all of the things we did, so if you are really curious you can read this enormous blog post that I wrote before we left, or you could just look through the pictures.



Overall, the trip was fun. It's not Ben and my favorite trip of all time, but we did do a lot of new things and we enjoyed being together.

Highlights are our day at Universal Studios, the time we spent on a secluded beach we found on Great Stirrup Cay, the time we spent in the on-board spa, getting to use an underwater camera for the first time (and laugh at all the pictures we took!), and all of the amazing food we ate in New York. We marked two items off the vegan bucket list (on the right side of this blog)--eating at Candle 79 and splurging on a Matt and Nat bag.

The things we didn't like are really all centered around the cruise itself. Though we did things to make it enjoyable (like go to the spa, the shore excursions, etc), we found it overall to be boring and not really 'our thing.'

First off, the food was pretty bad. I had originally found NCL on PETA's list of top vegetarian/vegan cruises, so felt pretty safe assuming they could take care of us and we wouldn't starve. And, though we didn't starve, the food was in no way enjoyable. By the last two days on the cruise Ben and I would hold off on eating as long as we could just because the food was so bad. I think we ate literally fifty PB&Js during the week we were on the ship because it was the most palatable thing we could find. The crew on the cruise was very helpful and would try to help us find things we could eat, but it was a huge hassle. No one knew what was in anything in the buffet, so every time we wanted to eat something we had to find the head chef (which would usually take 10+ minutes) just to find out something had milk or butter or something in it and then have to start all over again. For our meals, we could also meet with the Maitre'D of the main restaurant and make a menu for ourselves, but who wants to have to come up with dishes based on the limited vegan supplies the cruise kitchen had on their vacation? That also didn't really work because we had to tell them exactly when we would be by for the meal so they knew when to make it, which sucked. To top it all off, everything we ate on the cruise tasted EXACTLY THE SAME. Like it was all cooked in the same flavorless goop. We had Indian food, Mexican food, Pizza, an asian stir fry, etc., and it all tasted THE SAME. Ick. The one good thing we ate on the cruise was sushi from the sushi bar on board. The sushi was actually really, really good and they had a yummy seaweed salad with ginger dressing to accompany it.



Second, the on-board activities were lame. Most of what there was to do on board was eat, drink, socialize, and go to dance parties. There was also a pool (yuck) and gambling and stuff, but honestly nothing Ben and I wanted to do. This cruise really taught me the importance of picking a ship with on-board activities that you actually like to do! :)

In the end, the cruise itself was an experiment to see if Ben and I even like cruises. And we have decided that if we ever go on a cruise again it will have to be a holistic vegan cruise (check em out here).

Our time in New York was much more enjoyable than on the cruise. For starters, our hotel room in New York felt like a mansion compared to the cramped quarters of our cruise ship room. The food was infinitely better, and we were able to do what we wanted when we wanted (such a luxury!). One thing that Ben and I always find funny when we visit iconic cities is how normal they are. When people talk about places like New York, London, Paris, etc. they make it sound like the city is gilded and you walk around with your eyes nearly bugging out of your head. That being said, we did enjoy the many fabulous vegan restaurants in New York, the MET, and the two plays we saw. We didn't like the insane crowds, the rainy weather, and how dirty everything was. I do think we will go back--I want to visit a few more restaurants and museums!

Anyway, that's our trip. I know I talked about a lot of negative things, but the trip was an experiment, and we did actually enjoy ourselves :) Below are a list of restaurants we visited and links to our reviews:

Juice Generation
Moo Shoes (ok, I know, not a restaurant...)
Otarian
Pure Food and Wine
Gobo
Candle 79
Zen Palate
Babycakes NYC
Hard Rock Cafe Universal Studios
Confisco Grille (inside Universal Studios)

Finally Home!

Well, we are finally home from our looong honeymoon vacation to Florida, the Bahamas, and New York City. TONS of pictures and restaurant reviews are to come! We went to what is now our #1 restaurant of all time, Pure Food and Wine, and I am dying to tell you all about it. First, I have to get caught up with Facebook pictures and then I am going to blog away!

Organic Manic in Salt Lake City, Utah

UPDATE: Carl Freeland, the owner of Organic Manic, has responded to this review. I have now posted a response to his response here.

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Last weekend Ben and I decided that we needed a day out. So, we ran up to Salt Lake and went shopping, ran errands, and had lunch at one of the newest restaurants in SLC, Organic Manic. Organic Manic is a raw vegan buffet in the same complex as Cali's Natural Foods. New restaurants always get me excited, so needless to say I was super stoked to go in and see what they had to offer.

Organic Manic seems to be a one-woman show, with a very nice woman who runs the register and (I think?) cooks all the food. The deco is minimal and the vibe is new-age and casual/homey.

The food is priced by weight and is set up in cold plates in a buffet. There were also a few hot soups that were sold by size. Ben and I grabbed a container of Italian veggie soup (above), and two plates of whatever looked good. One thing that I found strange is that there was a ton of food, none if it really went with anything. It was just a bunch of random fruits, nuts, legumes, and veggies with no rhyme or reason. I picked out a few things that I thought went together, including a salad with dressing (above), 'burgers' with a cheesy sauce and onion rings (above), and pizza (below). However, the fixings for these things were all spread out and I just kind of made them up after I really scrutinized what there was. There were also a few pre-made things too, and I got one of each. This included the date bites (above), the sushi (below), and the lasagna (below).

It was unnerving because there was lots of food, but it felt like there was nothing to eat. Kind of like when you know you have a pantry of food but you don't know what to DO with all of it.

As far as quality goes, Ben and I were both really happy with the soup. We also really liked the pizza and burgers that I created and the sushi (though it was a bit wilty). Everything else was just...so-so. Especially the fresh stuff. The salad was very wilty and the dressing was watery. The lasagna was borderline tasteless and the date bites were a bit plain.

So, the verdict isn't great. Honestly, I think the concept is fantastic. Raw vegan food that you can buy in a quantity to match your appetite and get a bunch of different things. It's great because you aren't committing $20 to a plate of one type of food at a place like Omar's. But the problem is the food. I don't get why it's all just random veggies and picked asparagus and sprouted beans but nothing to put it on! Why not have a buffet of pre-made foods like the sushi or have a pizza and burger station where there are a bunch of toppings to choose from but it makes sense?? Also, why was there only ONE pre-made dessert? How hard is it to make a coconut or avocado pudding and have people serve themselves up?

Anyway, I can see Organic Manic doing well if they step up their game. Like I said, I love the concept but the food just isn't there. Overall, I would give it a 3/5.

Vote for Vertical Diner in the Libby Awards!

Peta2 has nominated SLC's Vertical Diner for the 2011 Libby Awards! Step right over here to vote and support a local Utah restaurant.

If you haven't been to Vertical, you need NEED to go! They are the perfect place for vegan comfort and southern food--check out their Facebook to see a few more pictures of their food.

Whole Foods is Now Carrying City Cakes' Products!

Salt Lake valley Whole Foods stores are now carrying City Cakes' products! Ben and I bought a scone and a muffin the other day when we were there to support. I was AMAZED at how fresh they were! The scone was so fluffy and perfect and the muffin was dense and lovely--just like they had just been baked. So definitely grab some goodies next time you are up there and support Whole Foods carrying more local, vegan products!