Over the last couple of months, I’ve been traveling to NYC for my day job. While I do I have to work while I am up there, I try to make the most of my time away from home and experience as much as possible, even if it means returning emails and working on presentations late into the night! If you have read my travel tips and see how I prepare for a work trip, I will tell you now – I didn’t do much preparation before going to NYC.  You see…New Yorkers are spoiled. They have easy access to wholesome, organic and nutritious foods all over the place and in every neighborhood! Before leaving for NYC, the most I do is make breakfast or a snack for the plane ride, throw a lemon and an apple in my bag and then that’s about it! Many of my tips for eating outside the home are not even necessary!

On my way into work the other day, I had about 45 mins before my first business meeting. I was traveling from the airport, so I asked the driver to take me straight to “17th and Irving Avenue” near Union Square. One Lucky Duck is the take out version of the larger raw vegan restaurant called Pure Food and Wine that is right around the corner. They have enormous amazing salads, fresh pressed juices, and a dessert selection with no refined sugar that will make your head spin. I’ve gotten the sesame salad a few times now and I’m obsessed with it. I’ll be deconstructing it soon to share with you in Recipe Rendezvous. It’s got cabbage, jicama, beets, carrots, sesame seeds, this ridiculous asian spiced cashew crumble and amazing wasabi sauce.

For dinner that night I headed over to Angelica Kitchen– It’s a very famous vegetarian establishment in NYC. The food is so alive with energy and FAST to come out of the kitchen. They have this huge community table you can sit at if you are alone and can meet other people. I wish more places would have these types of tables… You never know who you are going to meet! I was very lucky that night. A lady sat down across from me named Maria. She looked at my dish and asked “Is that the special”?

Well we got to talking and it was only natural for us to talk food. This amazing lady I had just met had been diagnosed with a terrible type of cancer and decided she should take control of her health and start eating a plant based whole foods diet. Maria used to be a corporate exec and after her diagnosis found a new surprising career in singing. She has an incredible story you can read here. Everyone at Angelica knows Maria, she even introduced me to the manager of the restaurant after dinner. We had a lively conversation about all the chemicals in foods and how they make people sick, while walking to the Union Square Whole Foods Market. At Whole Foods, I purchased these corn nuts for my husband. We had these in Barcelona last year and I wanted to surprise him. These little nuts are crazy addictive if you haven’t tried them. They make a great bar snack.

The next morning after working out I headed directly across the street from my hotel, The Westin in Time Square, to this little organic juice bar and cafe called Green Symphony – I felt like I was at home – I had fresh kale, celery, cucumber and lemon juice, along with some organic greek yogurt.

After having work meetings all morning, on my way out of town, I had a few minutes to grab lunch and catch up with my friend Lana. We met at Gust Organics– the first officially certified organic restaurant in NYC. If you are a meat eater, this is a great place to go, because they had plenty of grass fed beef and other organically raised meat on the menu. I loved my green juice appetizer drink which they made without spinach (I’m allergic!) at my request!

After lunch, I quickly hailed a cab and booked it to the airport.  I arrived at home, feeling like I had been eating from own kitchen all week 🙂

Next up on “Eating through the Big Apple Part 2” – A short turn around trip leads to hanging out with my brother from another mother…