The week before I moved, I decided to make the 3 hour trip out to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to visit the infamous Vegan Treats bakery, because I figured it might be the last chance I have for a while. If I let the east coast without seeing this place, I’m not sure I could live with it. I’ve really admired their pastries for a long time now; Their vegan cheesecakes are probably the most accurate one’s I’ve had so far. Anyways, when I got there, I was really impressed with the place. It was so cute, and If I ever have a bakery, I would be proud if it looked anything like this one. It was so random, too; it’s this little punk rock vegan paradise, tucked away in a small Pennsylvania town about an hour outside of philly.

That last shirt design was my favorite out of the 8(?) designs they had. Too bad they were out of stock, or else it would be mine! Still awesome, no?

Instead of cupcakes, they had these mini cake like pastries that went for $6 a pop. It was enough for 2-3 servings, though. I can put away some cheesecake, but I was only able to finish half of my brownie chunk cheesecake. They also have cookies, donuts(!), and soft serve. I picked up one of my favorites to-go: the raspberry cheesecake. If you’re ever near Bethlehem, PA, please do yourself a favor and visit Vegan Treats Bakery to see it in person (and send a boston cream filled donut my way while you’re at it)!

Since I just moved to Austin, Texas a month ago, that means that I am no longer within driving distance to Washington D.C. anymore. DC was one of my favorite places to escape to, when I got the chance. I didn’t take as many pictures of cool places as I should have, but I figured I’d highlight some of the ones I frequented.

Sticky Fingers Bakery: I used to go here as often as possible. They have THE BEST vegan chicken salad sandwhich I’ve ever had. I make my own version at home sometimes, but it never tastes quite as good. They have a lot of really good pre-made food items, like tempeh reubens, Tempeh BLTs, pastas, etc. My favorite of the baked goods are the cowvin cookies (like an oatmeal cream pie), and of course, the huge sticky buns. The cakes were too dry for me every time i tried them, but I did have some cupcakes that weren’t as dry once. I’ll stick to my cowvins, though. This is also where I would buy Teese from. and the fact that they stock virgil’s cream soda to drink is just the icing on the… cinnamon bunn?

Pangea Vegan Store: Pangea does most of it’s business online through mail order, but for those who live near DC, they have a small retail store in Rockville, Maryland. Pangea was best for when I wanted something really rare. This is where I found my first carton of mimic cream, and other goodies. I didn’t go very often, though, because I probably would have spent all my money there. It’s still really cool that there is a 100% vegan store near DC.

Ba Le is just a small vietnamese deli in Rockville, but it was the only place anywhere near where I lived (still about an hour away) that had Banh mi. Banh mi is a vietnamese deli sandwhich that normally is made with meat, but most delis have a vegetarian version made with tofu. It has pickled veggies on it, and generally comes with mayo (so you have to make sure to as for it without). I had my first banh mi experience when I lived in Houston, and I couldn’t find them anywhere near where I moved. The best part about banh mi is that they’re generally really cheap ($1-2 for a sandwich). Ba Le actually offers a buy 5 get 1 free deal, too…so take some home for later! The Banh mi chay (tofu banh mi) is definitely not as good here as Les Givrals in Houston, but it was good for a quick fix if I was in the area.

In September of 2008, Victor and I returned to New York City because I took a barista training course hosted by Intelligentsia Coffee. We also spent a little more time sight seeing, and doing the touristy thing, since we didn’t have time to do that last trip.

There we are in Times Square. Yuck, lots of advertisements.

Some espresso that I took home from my training course. The class was really awesome. I wish I had more time to practice, but we almost ran out of milk. The picture to the right is the Union Square farmers market. When we visited New york the first time, we drove around by car the whole time. This time, we only took the subway. It was really cool to be able to get anywhere in the city by the train. The Union Square Farmers market was right outside of the Union Square station, which made it easy to stop and grab some snacks.

We ate a few different places this time. one of the places was called sacred chow. It wasnt too expensive, but still provided a fancier dining experience. Don’t get me wrong, don’t go dressing up or anything, but it’s definitely not fast food. Everything is prepared nicely and presented well. It was really delicious.

After we were done eating, Victor pointed out that literally RIGHT across the street was the Peanut Butter & co sandwich shop! I love their dark chocolate peanut butter and the spicy peanut butter is Victor’s favorite. We just ate, so we didn’t order any sandwiches, but we did pick up some PB pretzels and some peanut squares. yum! The next day, we visited red bamboo. I’d heard a lot about this place, and the shop itself is gorgeous inside. The food was great, and I had a really good strawberry shake, too!

foodswings: Vegan fast food at it’s finest! this was Victor’s favorite place out of everywhere we’ve been, and I loved it too. From what i’ve read, it’s either you love it or hate it. We ordered cheese fries, various ‘drumsticks’ (hot/spicy, bbq, etc), and a shake. The cheese fries were decent. they’re good if you’re looking for something greasy to hit the spot. The drumsticks were AMAZING! I wish i could eat these everyday. I loved the BBQ ones. I garuntee you that when i revisit NYC, I’ll go to foodswings just for these. The shake was really good too. If I remember correctly, I ordered a crunchberry shake which was strawberry with captain crunch blended up in it. it was so good. you can view the foodswings menu here.

Oh, New York. I miss you already.

Now, onto the vegan food that we scoped out and devoured!

First, we visited ‘Snice in brooklyn, because it was really close to the craft fair. I got a tofu scramble wrap, which was one of my first times eating tofu scramble. The scramble was made with tofu, peppers, black beans and other good things, and it was HUGE and made really well, i thought. I’d definitely get it again. Vic got a philly cheesesteak, which we both thought was good, but the tofu scramble stole the spotlight.

Willie’s Dawgs: I had previously looked up most of these places before we left for the big city, but this place stood out to me because I think they have a cute concept. They just serve hot dogs (and yes, there is a vegan dog), and they are super into helping out animal shelters and dog rescues. We got there kind of late that night, because I had a random hot dog craving, but the two employees working were still super nice and even let us sit down and eat. I kept asking if it was ok, because I knew they were closing soon, and they kept telling me that it was no problem at all. They have excellent staff there. The hot dogs were great, too. We got chilli dogs with onions and they were probably some of the best tasting veggie dogs i’ve had to this day. mmm!

The next day, I visited the famous babycakes NYC. I was really stoked to go here because I’d heard good things, and I just really like pastries a lot. Everything about this shop is very cute and aesthetically pleasing (I mean, just LOOK at the cute photo on their website). It’s small inside, and kind of cluttered, but I still loved the actual shop. I also think their logo is really cute; cute enough that I bought a mug with the logo on it. BUT! sad to say, we ordered three types of cupcakes (carrot, vanilla, chocolate) and I didnt really like ANY of them. I appreciate the fact that they offer vegan and gluten free cupcakes, but they were so bland, I would never go back. Not only that, but the employees were kind of snooty, too. Probably the biggest let down of the trip. Maybe I’ll give them another try sometime.

We headed over to a different part of town to try some other stuff out. Another place that I found online before hand, that turned out to be really cool was bluestockings book store. There are tons of radical books and neat things to look at here. I didn’t spend too much time here, because it was late and they were out of all drinks (there is a little drink bar inside with coffee and tea), but it’s definitely a place I would reccomend for anyone who loves books to check out.

And very close to bluestockings is a place that I was told by several people to check out: Atlast cafe. I really liked the atmosphere, even though its kind of small. They have a lot of vegan treats pastries to choose from, and a pretty big menu with vegan items noted. I would make sure you really stress the fact that you want the VEGAN version of whatever you’re getting, because I’ve heard horror stories about vegans getting meat on accident (specifically with the moroccan chicken wrap, for some reason). In my experience, (writing this in retrospect, now that I’ve been to NYC twice), I’ve never had a problem. The staff have always been really nice to me, too. The vegan soy softserve isnt really anything to write home about, but it’s cool that it’s even offered, and it’s probably good if you need an ice cream fix and you’re in the area.

We didn’t spend too much time in NYC this time around, but it was a really fun trip. I hope to visit NYC more often.

Last june, Vic and I ventured to the big apple for my first time ever. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but I really ended up loving it. This post, I’m going to talk mostly about Renegade Craft Fair, which was my excuse for going to NYC, and some of my favorite things there.

the picture on the right are soy candles made by Mrs. Tattooed Geek. There are a variety of different smells, but my favorite was sugar skull (go figure), which smelled like cake batter, and sweet orange chili pepper which is amazing.

this was possibly my favorite thing at the fair. it was a postcard machine that someone made, and there was a girl inside with a microphone making robot sounds (“beep boop”, etc)… and when you inserted $2 and turned the dial on the machine, she would dispense a handmade postcard. it was really cute, and a great idea.

this booth stuck out as my most visually appealing set up. i love the pastel colors and all of the cute items for sale. that display case was handmade by them, too. check out something’s hiding in here.

this was my favorite and most unique item that I found. They are hanging lights made out of found tea cups. They were rather pricey for me to consider buying one (anything over $20 is pricey to me, though), but I was just really delighted at the idea. Read more about the TED lights here.

I really enjoyed the craft fair a lot, and I’m already considering trying to use it as an excuse to vacaction to NYC again next summer. :)