Vegan In Upstate NY! New Paltz, Woodstock and a Lake George Wedding

I spent the past weekend with Bear travelling all over New York. A cousin was having a wedding in Lake George at Fort William Henry, so we decided to make a big adventure out of it.

The first stop we made was in New Paltz, where Bear went to school for a semester, way back in the day. I was amazed at what a cute town it was. The first stop we made, Lagusta's Luscious of course! The vegan chocolate shop is a must visit if you're in the area. The cute little shop is packed full of candy that is tasty and cruelty free. Our favorite? The Pig Out chocolate bar, which is the shop's take on the chocolate with bacon trend, only with smoked mushrooms and yuba. It's smokey and salty and sweet.

We then went on the Karma Road, a New Paltz cafe with a ton of vegan soups, sandwiches and smoothies to choose from. I got a vegan "blt" on multigrain bread, which came with a scoop or kale coleslaw. My sandwich was great but the shop was a bit crowded and chaotic.

Then it was on to Lake George! The town was a bit crazy and full of tourists this time of year, so we headed up to Glen Falls for lunch. We went to Raul's Mexican grill, where we had some great mushroom burritos with a spicy mole sauce. Also, the meal came with a massive serving of home made guacamole and chips for free.

The wedding was gorgeous, and as a bonus, the bride and groom made sure bear and I had plenty of tasty vegan food, even though the regular menu was more surf n turf. We got risotto, hummus, salad and a gorgeous veggie entree. And plenty of good drinks. The specialty cocktail of the evening was a blueberry mojito, pretty and tasty.

This cocktail was a amazing, fresh berries and mint make for great mojitos, which is just right for a Summer wedding. The toast was really warm and crunchy and all the toppings were fresh and good. 

They had a risotto bar! The chef was able to make two vegan risottos with veggie stock, roasted garlic, spinach and peppers. It was really good, the roasted garlic gave it a ton of flavor.

Our special entree was a phyllo dough pastry filled with spinach and mushrooms, served over rice with a tomato sauce. Really great effort on the part of the chef.

I also got a really interesting surprise at our table. I'm getting married soon, so this was my place card!

After the wedding it was time to head back home. This time we made a pit stop in Woodstock! We took a tour of the Woodstock Animal Sanctuary, which was really nice. As a vegan it was really nice to see all these heathy and happy animals that have been saved form the animal agriculture industry. We got to hang out with goats and sheep and cows and chickens and turkeys and ducks and cats and goats and rabbits and pigs. I had a lot of fun petting all the animals.

Bear had to scold some chickens who weren't sharing their food like good birds.

Then it was a late lunch at the Garden Cafe, which came recommended by the sanctuary. There was an honest to god drum circle going on outside the cafe, with a bunch of aging hippies dancing around. Dinner and a show? I got a baked tofu dish with a cashew cream sauce, and a peach crisp with soy ice cream for dessert. I love a good vegan desert.

The whole trip was amazing, and what made it even more fun was listening to some great podcasts on the drive. We caught up on Nightvale pretty early on in the trip and then started listening to a vegan podcast, Our Hen House. It's a fun show, and the hosts talk about a lot of interesting current events that relate to veganism and animal rights.

Overall it was a great trip and I was amazed at how much good food we got. I know people often say being vegan sounds hard, but this trip proved you can find a lot of great options if you look.

Vegan Anywhere- Zen Palate, Midtown Manhattan

Bear and I had a weekend in the city with some friends and decided we had to make the most of the trip by going to a great vegan restaurant. Since we were in Times Square for the Marvel Agents of SHIELD STATION exhibit, we decided to go to Zen Palate which is nearby. 

We started the meal with veggie spring rolls with fresh basil, which were really fresh and tasty. I adore spring rolls, they're really cute and I loved the fresh herbs inside.

Then, dumplings! The veggies dumplings come steamed or pan friend, like we chose. They were just the right amount of crispy on the outside and the inside was warm and flavorful, you barely needed any sauce to dip them in.

For my main course, I went with the shepard's pie croquettes. It came with veggies, and some more spring rolls. The croquettes were stuffed with diced vegetables and faux ham, which was really tasty. They came with a thicker, somewhat sweet, dipping sauce which offset the saltiness of the fake pork really well. They were also perfectly cooked which can be a big problem with croquettes.

Bear went with the Moo Shu Fantasia, with green cabbage, soy ham and shredded vegetables. The portions were pretty big and he said the sauce was delicious. I tried a bite of his dish and loved how much flavor they had gotten into the vegetable filling.

Dessert was tofu cheesecake with a blueberry topping. It was amazing, creamy and rich and the crust was flavorful and the sauce was perfect. I love cheesecake so whenever I see a vegan version of it I have to order it. Bear and I shared this piece because the rest of the meal had already been so filling.

Final Scores-
Food- 5/5
Cost- 4.5/5
Service- 4.5/5

Bonus City Shots- 

Peach bubble tea from Vivi!

Wandering around Chinatown, drinking all the fruity beverages.

Bear and I are very romantic and stuff

Vegan Anywhere- 3 Brothers Pizza, Long Island New York

I LOVE 3 BROTHERS PIZZA. There, I said it. If you don't wanna see me go on and on about how awesome this place is, I'm sorry, come back soon for a new topic. But really, everyone needs to know about this place. Vegetarians, vegans, omnivores, gluten free eaters, just go whoever you are!
The best part of this place is the fact they have two menus. one for omnivores and one for vegans/vegetarians. That means everyone can find something that suits them (so long as they like pizza/pasta/burgers/wings/mozzarella sticks/carrot cake/so so so much more). As a vegan, this is a huge deal. It means that vegans can have a place where there are many options for them as for their non vegans friends and family.

Vegan pizza that's good is not easy to come by in most places. For many vegans all that is available is frozen stuff or home made, and while both are good, there's nothing like real pizza or calzones.
Using this review as an excuse to over indulge, Bear and I got a full spread and spent a nice time in the restaurant desperately trying to eat it all.
For a starter we got the mozzarella sticks, which were great. They were warm and the cheese inside was nice and gooey and the sauce it came with had a nice taste.

the seasoning on these was perfect

For our entrees we decided to get a tempeh bacon and seitan cheese burger to share, and a small (12in) pizza with "the works", onions, mushrooms, peppers, faux pepperoni, and faux sausage and a ton of ooey gooey daiya cheese. We only made it through half of the pizza, but it made a great dinner later on at home, it reheated nicely in the toaster oven. Both items were great. The cheeseburger could have used a bit more bacon, but other than that no complaints.

OMG PIZZA

even vegans like bacon cheese burgers now and then

The pizza was great as well. In fact, 3 Brothers has won several awards for it's vegan pizza, and it's easy to see why. There are a ton of pizza options form vegetables to fake meats and they come in different combos or even a build your own option where you can pick everything from the crust to the sauce to what goes on top. I don't eat a lot of faux meat products, but they work well on top of the pizza, and I would even say the vegan pepperoni is better than the real stuff because it's much less greasy.

Bear is an awe of this burger

The desserts at 3 Brothers are also great, and the options change all the time. Last time we visited we had an amazing piece of carrot cake, this time we got something called the Raspberry Bomb, a chocolate cake with raspberry mousse and a chocolate shell. It was sweet, but not overly saccharine, and decadent and not as heavy as it seems. However, sharing is a good idea since the entree sizes are pretty generous.

this piece of cake was huuuuge

contemplating cake

Visit the site for hours, directions and both menus

Final Scores-
Food- 5/5
Cost- 4/5
Service- 4.5/5