Discovery this week at Whole Foods Minneapolis & River North , Chicago : Upton's Vegan Ashram Bowl & Vegan BBQ Bowl.
The best thing about most SPG hotels I stay in is that they are almost always conveniently located near a Whole Foods Market.
When you travel as much as I do , eating at restaurants starts getting old.
Read more about this very cool & tasty, only in the Mid-West available for now , vegan resource @ The Laziest Vegans .
It has been a while since I've had lunch at Mauro's Cafe , esconced in the still cool Fred Segal Melrose complex.
While in NYC earlier this week, I met up with an ex-NY'er friend who is now living in Amsterdam. Since she was staying in the Village , & another friend was coming from the Upper West Side & I was still in Midtown , the best bet as a geographical compromise was EATALY , 5th Ave. & 28th.
I can depend on the Le Pizza & Le Verdure areas of EATALY for vegetarian dishes. The pizzaiolo must hve been in a bad mood that evening as the Margherita we ordered was the soggiest specimen.
If we were all not famished , it would have been sent back. The arugula pizza wrap hybrid was decent.
So for lunch today . I wasn't expecting much from Mauro's. But they had this new Grilled Vegetables & Quinoa plate on the menu. It was very good. The quinoa was warm & the grilled vegetables were extremely firm & fresh.
Quinoa & kale are the new flavorites ; but they have to be treated well in order to coax out their flavor.
This is the South Indian Thali at Saravana Bhavan Lexington that did me in last Thursday evening.
I usually have the Business Thali which is 2/3 the size of the South Indian thali. As I had not had lunch due to a heavy meeting schedule , it was an act of supreme indulgence that caused me to order this for dinner.
As always , SB did not disappoint ; with the incredible flavors of the sambar , dahi & pickles just partying in my palate. Once they all managed to settle in my stomach , I felt I was about ready to burst. As my teacher described it , " You always go overboard. "
So full was I that my next plan of attack , the " Crack Shake" at Shake Shack Madison Park became an " I'll see you next time ".
My trip into NYC from DC the previous evening proved to be the supreme yogic test as my flights from Dulles & DCA were both cancelled consecutively due to the NYC storms. My prayers to the Deities got me into La Guardia finally at 10 AM. Which was pretty late for me to endeavor to attend Eddie's Mysore class at AYNY the following morning.
Another " I'll catch you next time " will be the AM Mysore classes at Flow Yoga near Logan Circle , a couple of blocks from the hotel I was staying in.
" Nothing endures but change " : Heraclitus
I stayed at the Public Chicago last week , a new concept as conceived by hotelier ian Schrager. He has been on my radar for quite a while , from his early days as a nightclub impresario at Studio 54 ( which I was too young to experience ).
However , I have stayed & partied at several of his seminal hotels ; Morgans , the Paramount ,the Royalton , the Mondrian , the list goes on.
So the Public is a new " personalized & service oriented " property. Which suits my present incarnation perfectly. No fuss & hype , just comfort & convenience.
It is most relaxed early in the morning for breakfast at the Library. The party hordes do start descending at 5 PM in order to start drinking at the Library or the transformed iconic Pump Room. These have been isolated to the 2 flanking wings of the lobby , so the disco inferno atmosphere that usually greets you at the lobby of any W Hotel is avoided.
The Pump Room was the place to see & be seen back in the day. And its original , albeit more senior Gold Coast Chicago crowd was quite in evidence early Monday evening when we had dinner there.
I was wondering what was going through their minds as they took in the new sparse look of the Pump Room , devoid of the gold plaster that used to reign there. How they liked Chef Jean-Georges " farm to table " centric menu.
Seeing the smiles on their faces & hearing their polite laughter , it did feel that they were embracing the change.
" O son of Bharata , as the sun alone
illuminates all this universe , so does the living
entity , one within the body , illuminate the
entire body by consciousness. "
Bhagavad Gita : Chapter 13 , Verse 34
Basking in the illumination & magnificence of Miami's blue skies on an early morning jaunt on the boardwalk from 44th to 20th St.
Starting at the iconic Fontainebleau Hotel , past Soho Beach House , and looping back up again after a pit stop at the Setai.
Feeling alive in this happy place called Maya-mi. Wicking away the sweat & cooling down from the 93 degree humidity with the best avocado soy milk smoothie on the Beach.
It is a tradition now for me to take a photo of my business thali at Saravanaa Bhavan & SMS it to my teacher , Jorgen C.
Was around 3 years ago that he clued me into this bastion of Southern Indian vegetarian " comfort food ".
I try to schedule my flight into JFK late in the afternoon on a Sunday so I have enough time to check in to the hotel & either hop on the subway , or take a leisurely walk to SB on 26th & Lex .
My walk last Sunday was particularly delightful as I saw all the cherry trees in bloom on the median strip in Park Avenue. Glorious spring weather.
The puri that you see above has to be eaten immediately with the incredible yoghurt , rasam & pickles.
La Condesa is my new " happy happy " spot in Austin. An addition to the shortlist which consists of the Hotel San Jose , the Ashtanga Austin YogaShala & the Thai Market Cafe' which we stumbled upon after a meeting next door ; with " farang " cooks to boot.
My definition of a " happy happy " spot is a place to take associates or clients to dinner with enough options for vegetarians like myself , a cool ambiance & a groovy local crowd ( in the event that conversation turns boring ).
La Condesa fits the bill as the chef used to work at La Esquina in Soho NYC , right around the corner from where I was staying last winter.
With its modernist vibe & old school Michael Jackson , Earth , Wind & Fire soundtrack , it put me in party mode without having to succumb to one of their top shelf tequilas or margaritas. The chips and guacamole , chile relleno with quinoa , sauteeed spinach & spicy Boca Negra are fantastic. Modern Mexican Cuisine as inspired by the Condesa District in Mexico City. Pricey but worth it.
If anyone tells you Guerros on So. Congress is the place for Mexican food in Austin , you are better off eating the overly salty chips at Chipotle.
I am heading to San Diego this week & am intending to practice with Manju Jois on Thursday morning.
Saravana Bhavan is another Indian gift to the West. Its chain of Southern Indian Vegetarian Restos stretches in a mala of 60 + locations starting in India , Asia , the Middle East , NYC & recently Paris.
My teacher , Jorgen C. , had told me about the NYC location in Curry Hill. It has now become a "must-visit " on every trip I make to the city.
Having lunch there every Sunday after attending AM Mysore at AYNY, then walking back downtown to my flat in Soho became a regular drill during the past winter.
Here's a picture taken from my teacher's recent trip to India during lunch at Saravana Bhavan Delhi. Dosas , idlis , uthapam , sambar , poori & thalis.
The right side of the menu has images of Balaji AKA Sri Venkateswara.
Some of the people I have been following on Tumblr are Ashtangis Michael.P.Carter , 99 % Practice , 1 % Theory & Bhakti Yogi Metro/Sea.
They are a great resource for inspiration & imagery.
Michael is an Ashtanga teacher in Kingston , Ontario . I had to post his image & thoughts on the South Indian thali from Udupi Palace. It was making me crave for Saravanaa Bhavan NYC's " Business Thali ".
" One of my favorite things to eat after practicing and teaching all morning is a South Indian thali. It's way more food than I can eat , especially after eating iddly & vadda too ! This is a thali from my favorite Indian restaurant outside of India : The Udupi Palace. If you have one near you , GO THERE ! "
I've been to The Udupi Palace in the Mission , SFO & it did not disappoint.