"Restaurant" Review: Central Park Picnic

Memorial Day weekend has always been my official start of summer. My friends, most of whom get “summer hours,” and I made Friday happy hours in the park a regular thing last year. It was one of my favorite parts of the summer (second only to my wedding and honeymoon, haha). Well, today marked the first Central Park picnic. We each bring our own snacks and stuff. I thought I’d review our spread this week instead of the usual restaurant.

It’s nice that there’s a Whole Foods right at the park. I biked down and stopped at WF to grab some snacks. My go-to strategy for these BYO picnics is:

  • bring as many fruit/veggie-laden foods. You never know what else will be there
  • bring a nice big bottle of… water. Haha, Pellegrino is my pick. It’s a little more special than tap
  • a deck of cards lends itself to endless possibilities
  • sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen

This was an excellent kick-off. Enjoy some of my pics below. Happy summer!

Restaurant Review: Raw Soul

I’ve been on a recent vegetarian/vegan restaurant kick lately. Raw Soul is a raw vegan joint on 145th Street in Harlem. It’s a fairly small space – very warm and friendly atmosphere. We ordered at the counter (I got the pesto pizza, husbo got the lasagna and we split a lemonade). My pesto pizza was out-of-this world. The raw crust was light and crunchy. The pesto was very flavorful, yet not too oily, and the veggie toppings were piled on high. While I did not try the lasagna, husbo gave a great review. I’m looking forward to heading back there to try the rest of the menu! 

In addition to a lovely restaurant, Raw Soul also offers educational classes on raw food preparation, Chef course, meal delivery, and wellness literature. If you are in NYC, Raw Soul is worth a trip to Harlem. 

If you’ve never eaten at a vegan restaurant, I recommend trying. My favorite part is that I feel satisfied and light when I leave – not sleepy, stuffed, and heavy (as in many other restaurants). I find that the food in vegan restaurants is always super fresh (not questionable as in other spots sometimes) and I get to sample things that I don’t necessarily have the time or know-how to prepare myself.