I’ve been staying at my mom’s little exposed brick studio on the Upper East Side which means a tiny dormitory fridge that opens the wrong way and a Holly Hobby stove wherein your butt is touching the counter behind you when you try to cook. All of this translates to very little cooking and lots of dining out. And since I’m a visitor in your fair city it also means that I’m often not footing the bill. And that means Candle 79 twice a day. Just kidding. Kind of. But when you have to share a futon with your mom don’t you kind of deserve it?

Candle 79, Mustard Something Tempeh, Wild Mushrooms, Horseradish Potato Puree, etc

 It’s stupid to get the hummus at a fancy restaurant, but I can’t resist the smoky hummus at Candle 79. You can’t beat smearing roasted garlic on grilled flatbread. Color me stupid.

This is Candle Cafe, not Candle 79. And it took every ounce of willpower not to order the Cajun Seitan Sandwich. Instead I went the wholesome 80s healthfood route with the make your own plate option. Grilled tempeh, buckwheat soba, aduki beans and steamed greens with two sauces. It hit the spot. (PS I actually took my friend out on this one, so I’m not THAT much of a cheapskate.)

This was Hangawi. I’d never been because for some reason, removing your shoes in a restaurant seems so high maintenance. I love their sister spot, Franchia, but the food here was pretty lackluster. I even heeded my friend’s advice and made sure to order only items with the spicy icon. This was the Spicy Mongolian Hot Pot. Neither spicy nor Mongolian nor…well it was in a hot pot.

My agent took this pic, and I like the pic. I didn’t like that the Pear Delight (or something) was nothing but a sliced Asian Pear. No joke! It was 7 bucks, and sliced in a really cool way, but not a 7 dollar way.  I would definitely return to Hangawi for the beautiful atmosphere, but I’ll order the surefire avocado bibimbap.

This was the surprise hit of my trip. From Gobo (the uptown locale), Grilled Oyster Mushrooms and Asparagus. Perfectly seasoned and charred. I’m all over it. 

The Benedict at Counter. A creamy sauce over a mushroom sauce over scrambled tofu over an English muffin. Not too shabby! (But mine is better.)

Chocolate Hazelnut ice cream at Stogo. Oh, and hot fudge sauce! The hand model is one Terry Hope Romero. The ice cream is simply sublime.

The stogo case, they’re great about letting you have tastes!

And of course some cheap eats at Food Swings. This is my MO: Steal some of my friend Amy’s hot wings and mac, order a chicken caesar for myself. No one gets hurt. And yay for Food Swings new ownership - a bathroom and non-disposable plates! PS Amy update your goddam blog! 

But it hasn’t been all mooching.  We also gave away some cookies and bookies at Book Expo America.

Terry, me, cookies and brunch. My infamous stupid photo kissy face!

Terry kissing Cookies

We met Fran Costigan! How cute is she!

And I gave back at the Moo Shoes Vegan Brunch launch party.

 Lots of minimuffins ready to for the grabbing hands

Sausages on toothpicks what what

Herbivore shirts, books and pumps

The Discerning Brute discerns a muffin

I’ve still got a little over a week here. This weekend I’ll be slinging BBQ seitan at the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary Jamboree, so be there if you can. Other than that I look forward to reading in Central Park and wandering aimlessly around the city.

In case you somehow missed this, come have a sausage and a pink grapeefruit mimosa on us tonight.

I’ve mentioned that I’m a little obsessed with my Amazon stats. Right now Veganomicon is the #2 Vegetarian Cookbook fighting tooth and nail with Mark Bittman’s “How To Cover Vegetables In Cheese”. But hovering above both of us is a book called “Hiding Vegetables In Kids’ Food”. And on the overall cookbook list, that book is in fierce competition with Jessica Seinfeld’s book of the same name.

I think the more telling story, though, is the surprising new gastrobiography from James Frey, “A Side Of Deception: How My Mother Snuck Stuff Into My Food And Scarred Me For Life.” A touching semi-memoir about how dishonesty at the dinner table can lead to life-long fractures that may never be mended. I am definitely going to check it out.

Click for larger image

Click for larger image

Oh, and I think I’ve figured out a way to get your kids to eat vegetables. Stop feeding them McDonald’s and Lunchables the other 90 percent of the time. Okay, so now you don’t need those other two books, just get Veganomicon.