Vegan Mofo Post #7: Birthday Dinner At Modern Love Brooklyn

The birthday girl heads off to Modern Love Brooklyn after an uplifting time in Harlem.

Yesterday was a good day.
Sunny, amiable New York City weather charmed and seduced from borough to borough. I dallied in Greenwich Village for breakfast and thrift shopping. I visited my favorite art haven, Studio Museum Harlem in Harlem, finding solitude in the paintings of Amy Sherald from the dynamic Fictions exhibition and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye's pastel sketches of Harlem, an unexpected treat in a curated body of works about Harlem and Jacob Lawrence.

Posing with Amy Sherald's work at Studio Museum Harlem. New dress and usual Jean-Michel Basquiat artwork tote (Adam, my attentive waiter at MLB knew it was his work).

Prior to attending The New Yorker Festival (where Ava DuVernay waved at me from the crowd, yes I'd like to think she did), I made reservations for one at Modern Love Brooklyn, a chic all-vegan eatery, specializing in ritzy fine dining with an emphasis on plant-based comfort food. In between drinking water (my usual drink of choice) and watching people enjoy iced cocktails, giant mock pork chops with pink applesauce and giant sandwiches, I delighted in my special "treat yo' self" meal at this popular hot spot owned/created by vegan cookbook author Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

Sleek and elegant menu.

Classy interior.

Seared Brussels Sprouts with garlic aioli, sorrel, and pine nuts-- off the charts incredible. I love that the lemony smell of sorrel affectionately enters the nostrils before the silver fork digs in for the first wondrous bite.

This is a whimsical plate. The bottom layers have layers of wickedly smooth red pepper cashew mac n cheese, blackened cauliflower, sauteed kale, tomato vinaigrette, and spicy pecans with triangular pecan-cornmeal encrusted tofu gracefully topping. Hands down one of the most eloquent, creative vegan mac n cheese dishes ever eaten in a restaurant thus far.

Simply exquisite.

Thank you Adam for taking my photo with this marvelous pumpkin praline cheesecake topped with coconut whipped cream and complemented spice blend.

This is an amazing dessert to end the meal--sweet and creamy, chilled to perfection, lots of complex textures and warm notes, very generous slice.

Vegan Mofo Post #3: Artisadough Doughnuts

Beautiful doughnuts. 

Today, I'm sharing a spectacular treat-- doughnuts!

I visited New York City a few weeks ago to attend the 21st Annual Urbanworld Film Festival. Prior to attending, I had a scrumptious breakfast in Brooklyn (my love Champs Diner). Afterward, due to the word of mouth, I came to Chicky's General Store to acquire Artisa Dough, a black owned doughnut company ran by Chef Shalom otherwise known as The Meditative Chef. His sophisticatedly crafted, uniquely conceived doughnuts contain no sugar, purely sweetened by plant-based nature. This charming quote on the site:

"Artisadough is plant-based art on a plate and our gift to you."

Now I didn't have the best customer service experience at Chicky's, and doubt that I'll return soon, but Chef Shalom's doughnuts are worth remembering. I had walked to the C Train station with two grease dripping bags, these sweets sweating in the intense, unexpected heat. So thus, they lost their original beautiful appearance, a little of the taste, but not their yummy potential.

The Pumpkin Chai Spice Latte doughnut, which I hungrily devoured during the film premiere of sci-fi, urban fantasy Brown Girl Begins, was absolutely delicious. I thought it genuinely mimicked the overall cake doughnut appearance and flavor, filled with tis the season sweetness, that distinctive pumpkin taste my tastebuds love and cherish. In the darkness, I mourned the loss, wishing to have bought only this doughnut, as opposed to wanting to try everything, but that's the vegan way-- giving all vegan treats an equal chance.

Unfortunately, the frosting of this Pink Lemonade donut melted away in the bag.  Still good and yeast-y.  Although, I think most of the Pink Lemonade flavor was supposed to be in the frosting. 

Mexican Chocolate Doughnut.

The creative, out of this orbit Purple Haze (very, very delicious) had Thai blue flowers and Madagascar vanilla-- definitely my second favorite. The flowers provided amazing flavor (that of which I didn't expect).

Two doughnuts melting onto one another. I learned not to carry around doughnuts in the heat. As you have witnessed, none of the doughnuts really looked like they came from the store. 

Price wise, Artisa Dough is a bit more expensive than Dun-Well Doughnuts, fairing a bit on the Cinnamon Snail side. They're $4.50 each at Chicky's and from Artisa Dough's site an online order of half-dozen is $35 (three flavor picks), and a full dozen is $60 (six flavor picks). For the future, I can see myself splurging on one or two doughnuts at a time, especially Pumpkin Chai Spice Latte and Purple Haze and sharing these joys with my friends.

Taji Magazine Vol. 10 Launch Party in Brooklyn

Taji Mag is a magazine dedicated to African culture and fashion.

Last Wednesday evening, I exited off the Brooklyn bound train and headed to Sehiii Gallery for Taji Mag's Volume 10 launch party. I have always wanted to attend one of their functions and being off on Wednesdays made it all the more convenient to finally show support.
In the dimly lit gallery space, smelling of divinely scented candles, a young loc'ed DJ named Cornelio pumped out vibrant music that reverberated off walls and into excited ear drums. Lovely fashionable clothed and hair styled people sat around small round tables chatting with each other. Up front, a quiet girl sat alone drawing with pens and markers in a fat sketchbook. Others grooved to the beats, while seated, their rhythmic bodies begging for more.

Past Taji Mag covers hang on the brick wall, some are featured cover models and others are digital artworks.

Before the features and open mics started, the host had the audience stand in a wide, intimate circle and introduce ourselves to strangers. It was a rather nice way to remove nervous edges, to find a friend among low lights and chill music.

To catch Akinyemi, a main feature, one had to be faster than a cheetah. As he rapped his rhymes over boom boom rustic beats reminiscent of old fashioned hip hop, he moved so swiftly, that my camera only caught flashing essences of his energetic tenacity. He had that afro box hair cut and a rainbow sports jacket, speaking about realness in the mic.

Nosuh Foster's booming, powerful, thought provoking poetry brought the atmosphere to whole new heights. He had a finesse that was charming yet refined and intelligent. Plus when he smiled, showing pearly white teeth, the world looked brand new, promising as he spoke of being happy to be alive, alive past 25.

Rapper in camouflage Lyle Omolayo who spoke about roots roots roots.

Nay Marie is the creator/founder of Taji Mag. She is also a New York based photographer, vegan (yay!), and uniquely stylish.

Future painting inspiration.

The open mic segment started off with this cool rapper.

Caught in mid-spit.

This man crooned old school R&B beautifully. He sang Shai's "If I Ever Love Again." Women hollered like crazy. Yes. That we did. *swoons*

Another cool rapper, celebrating hip hop over slick beats, making the crowd wild.

On the left is the latest model winner for Taji Magazine Volume 11. She is Queen Bosa Bosa on Instagram. Her page is beautiful moments of gorgeous shots and dancing to African beats.

Segments introduced vendors selling their wares including cupcakes. When Lo of Sweets on the Lo gave a rundown of her cupcakes, saving the vegan option for last, it was definitely one of the huge surprises of the evening. Her site has a galore of vegan options including Aphrodisiac (a chocolate cupcake with raspberry buttercream), Hallelujah (a lemon blueberry cupcake with blueberry buttercream), and a drool worthy Taye Diggs Deluxe (chocolate caramel cupcake with caramel buttercream).

I had to try the Go Nanaz! cupcake-- a banana cupcake with cinnamon buttercream. The cake was moist with yummy authentic banana flavor and the sweet, lusciously whipped frosting tasted divine. Overall, quite the scrumptious treat whilst listening to music and poetry.

One of several photographers capturing this marvelous event.

I meet the delightful Awesum and her partner in crime. Their act started off quite humorously. He strums his guitar, reciting a humble soliloquy about poverty and survival. She is in the audience, laughing and smiling over his pain. I see a few confused faces in the audience. For a moment, I too am a little shocked. Suddenly,  still smiling rather infectiously, she begins humming like a vibrant bee finding the sweetest nectar and singing. She gets up out of her seat and saunters over to him, harmonizing. The duet is fresh and funky containing all the classical ingredients of soulful love and affectionate tenderness. After their song, someone had stood and clapped, boasting, "best of the night!"

Miss Blue, a twenty-year-old songstress from New Jersey took the audience away with her rendition of Alicia Keys' "No One."

In the gallery, many items whispered pleasant secrets. These fabrics were especially attention getting-- bantu knot profiled woman whose yellowed face arrests a teal circle repeatedly. The other is black and white with lovers kissing. They're both beautiful depictions. I have rarely seen such images on cloth, having always seen bold, colorful patterns. 

Close ups.

Many connotations came from this Africa continent shaped piece. It has an elegant design yet also a figurative quality. The ebony black against patterned zig zags and squares appears to be a cropped body, a piece of action that might have escaped a Kerry James Marshall work.

Other African continent shaped compositions continue along the wall sharing various stories of romantic love and self love, bold colors and stylized figures gifted gratifying dignity, grace, and beauty.

Giant wooden floor drum and smaller sculptures on white pedestal surrounded by plant life.

I not only have a gorgeous magazine to stare at forever and forever (and with future drawing inspirations along the way), I also won one of the raffles-- a beauty set from The Celestine Collection (Green Tea Body Souffle and body oil). I am super excited to review the products soon.

Inside the magazine are mesmerizing photographs of beautiful brown/ebony models (some discovered on Instagram), romantic advice, vegan recipes, and selected black owned businesses. I was happy to find this ad/article about Fruiggie, an eco friendly arts and crafts company that is fruit, vegetable, and plant based. They sell vegan paint, crayons, play dough, organic aprons, coloring books, and more. 

Tiffany Mack's 9oclockteeparty is a funky take on eyewear, featuring bedazzled sparkles on uniquely designed frames. 

Physical copies of Taji Mag's Volume 10 is $10 and digital print is $3. You can also purchase past issues, coffee/tea mugs, purses/totes, and even a photo session here.

A huge thanks to one of the photographers who caught me in action and shared this on the Taji Mag FB page. Behind me in giant pink Africa earrings with big poufy hair is a sweet woman named Babette-- whom I met and introduced myself to in the circle.

The party was killer fun. I wouldn't mind taking another escape from Philly back up to NYC for more vibing music, poetry, and art. There might be another vegan delight or two to sample.

Vegan Crepes & Scones

For a friend's birthday, it seemed like a good idea to give Little Choc Apothecary a second chance. My intuition said "yes."

First of all, they now have a brand spanking new renovated upstairs. Varied jars of colorful spices and natural herbs line the back wall in beautifully organized display.

Toasting to the birthday girl with an iced chocolate orange shake and banana almond smoothie.

Pizza Crepe meets Room For Mushroom (with added homemade cashew cheese).

Bits of the interior action. This is a fulfilling amount.

So filled, the crepe oozed out bursting goodness on the other side.

Cinnamon raisin almond scone and complimentary hot tea-- which was extremely flavorful with lovely floral notes. My friend chose apricot jam. I selected raspberry.

Take a look at the creamy, luxurious raspberry jam and the thick clotted cream.

The vanilla flavor was a strong complement to sweet chewy raisins and spicy cinnamon component.

Magic number 7 to end a wonderful meal. The staff was friendly, courteous, and sweet this time around. Plus I received a 10% coupon on my next visit. I cannot wait to bring another pal!

After brunch, we did bump into Ghostbuster Leslie Jones outside of Madame Tussand's. I bet she would have loved Little Choc Apothecary too!