VegOut Dines at Arata!

So we’ve done Double Zero and Bar Verde. Let’s continue our Second Avenue food crawl through Matthew Kenney’s empire, shall we? This time we’re venturing to Japan – Kenney style. You know it’s going to be good and it’s going to be vegan. Win/win for us and animals!

If there proves to be a waitlist for this event I’ll make another reservation for four or six depending upon interest. They don’t do parties larger than six. Smaller parties create for more intimate conversation. So if we’re two tables ultimately, it’s all good!

All things Arata can be found here: http://www.matthewkenneycuisine.com/arata-nyc

VegOut Loves Ayurveda Cafe!

Ayurveda. What is it anyway? Deepak Chopra can unpack this for us. “Thousands of years before modern medicine provided scientific evidence for the mind-body connection, the sages of India developed Ayurveda, which continues to be one of the world’s most sophisticated and powerful mind-body health systems. More than a mere system of treating illness, Ayurveda is a science of life (Ayur = life, Veda = science or knowledge). It offers a body of wisdom designed to help people stay vibrant and healthy while realizing their full human potential.” Kinda hard to pass up, right?

More on Ayurveda can be found here (and links galore to learn more): https://chopra.com/articles/what-is-ayurveda

More on the Ayurveda Cafe is here: http://www.theayurvedacafe.com

Excellent information is found at both links.

In short, eat colorful, meditate, care less and travel more.

VegOut Loves the Ridgewood Reservoir (and Toad Style) and, uh Ridgewood!

We love the Ridgewood Reservoir (and you will too!) because it is one of New York City’s newest and most interesting and arresting parks. NYCH2O will be taking us on a guided tour of the reservoir. This is what they have to say:

“The Ridgewood Reservoir in Highland Park is a 50+ acre natural oasis that straddles the border of Brooklyn and Queens. Built in 1859 to supply the once independent City of Brooklyn with high quality water, it became obsolete with the addition of new reservoirs in the Catskills in the 1950’s and was decommissioned in the 1980’s. Since then, nature took its course in a perfect case study of ecological succession. A lush and dense forest has grown in its two outside basins while a freshwater pond with waterfowl sits in the middle basin.”

The tour will be comprehensive and teach us about the flora and fauna that reside in this beautiful park. We will also learn about how water was pumped up from Long Island (Valley Stream is aptly named) and then how gravity sent the water from the reservoir to Kings County (Brooklyn). This is the second highest elevation in Queens County (The highest is Maple Grove Cemetery in Kew Gardens.). We’ll see all the way to Jamaica Bay in one direction and Manhattan in the other.

Following our tour with NYCH2O we’ll head over to Ridgewood’s go to vegan eatery – Toad Style! We enjoyed lunch there recently and this place had the most effortlessly chic folks dining in we’ve seen in a long time. We can take away to nearby Saratoga Park a block and a half away should seating not allow. Then on to two vegan efforts for body and soul.

Our Plan:

Wear comfortable shoes as we are walking a lot. The terrain will be flat.

10:45am – meet at Vermont Place in the parking lot.

See map image below event description showing exact location of Vermont Place.

Googlemaps and MeetUp send you to Vermont Street. The MeetUp generated photo is incorrect.

11:00am – our tour commences with NYCH2O. The tour is free but you do need to rsvp here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ridgewood-reservoir-2018-community-tours-tickets-43104726397

12:30pm – we walk to Toad Style for lunch. Our walk will be approximately 45 minutes. Bring a snack to have on the tour if you think you’ll need that.

2:30pm – we’ll end our time together by experiencing two wonderful vegan enterprises nearby. Fanciful Fox is our go to for all things vegan body care. This mother/daughter LGBTQ owned business finally opened a bricks and mortar location and are we ever so grateful.

We’ll end our Ridgewood journey just over the border in Bushwick at Brooklyn Whiskers cafe, an all vegan eatery. Enjoy sweet or savory.

All things event related:

NYCH2O: http://www.nych2o.org
Ridgewood Reservoir: https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/highland-park/highlights/19651
Toad Style: http://www.toadstylebk.com
Fanciful Fox: https://fancifulfox.myshopify.com
Brooklyn Whiskers: http://www.brooklynwhiskersbakery.com/#home

So don’t be provincial. Pull out that metrocard and head over to Ridgewood. The Norwood Avenue stop will get you there and the Kosciuszko Street stop will whisk you away.

VegOut Goes Birdwatching Indoors & Out!

Details

Birds. They’ve always taken second place to mammals as valued sentient beings worthy of living life on their own terms (see end of description). Chicken McNuggets anyone? Did you earn a feather in your cap? Are you a bird brain?

We are at a historic crossroads – a century to be exact as to when respect to migratory birds was officially paid.

We’re talking about the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. Administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Migratory Bird Act prohibited the hunting, killing, trading, and shipping of migratory birds. It also regulated the nation’s commercial plume trade, which had decimated many American bird species to the point of near extinction.

Let’s let the New-York Historical Society say the rest: “To commemorate the centennial of this landmark legislation, Feathers: Fashion and the Fight for Wildlife delves into the history of the Act by examining the economic and social circumstances that inspired the early environmentalists and activists who lobbied for the precedent-setting legislation. New York was the center of the US feather trade, and the exhibition investigates how the act impacted the city’s feather importers, hat manufacturers, retailers, and fashion consumers. The spirited campaign is told through clothing and accessories, books, ephemera, photographs, and original watercolor models by John James Audubon for The Birds of America, accompanied by recorded bird songs from The Macaulay Library of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.”

A few years back, VegOut ventured to the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge – one of the main stopover areas for birds on the Atlantic Flyway. Birds are their own A380 when it comes to world travel. The only baggage you travel with as a bird is the detritus, flotsam and jetsam that humans have left in your path.

Our Plan:
2:00pm – we meet in the New-York Historical Society.
2:15pm – we pay our admission and head to the exhibit. There will also be time to take in the exhibit Collecting the Women’s Marches.
5:00pm – we exit, cross the street to Central Park and take in some birds as dusk starts it’s descent. We’ll walk toward the Adirondacks of the Park. Binoculars will be on hand.
6:00pm – we end our official bird watching. If the spirit moves us, we’ll head to a local vegan eatery for supper. We’ll decide at the time based upon our group size and appetite.
More about the Migratory Bird Treaty Act can be found here: https://www.fws.gov/birds/policies-and-regulations/laws-legislations/migratory-bird-treaty-act.php
All things New-York Historical Society: https://www.nyhistory.org (a true gem in New York City)

More on Collecting the Women’s Marches: https://www.nyhistory.org/exhibitions/collecting-women’s-marches
On Their Own Terms (One of the best animal rights and philosophy books ever written.): https://www.amazon.com/Their-Own-Terms-Liberation-Century/dp/1530341256
The Atlantic Flyway: http://www.audubon.org/atlantic-flyway

Accessibility: The nearest accessible station is 72nd Street for the 1, 2 and 3. Consult mta.info for buses to the NYHS. The NYHS and the restaurant venues in mind are all accessible.

Sign up thru MeetUp here: https://www.meetup.com/vegout-nyc/events/250431629/

Sicilian Stuffed Shells!

Really delicious . . .

Robin states: “In addition to being a terrific make-ahead dish, stuffed shells are great when company’s coming. Everyone loves pasta, and the shells look and feel more special than regular pasta and are much easier to serve than lasagna. The filling in this recipe contains the Sicilian trademark touch of raisins which lend slight sweetness to the dish. (You can leave them out if anyone in your crowd is raisin averse.) Serve with a crisp green salad.”

This recipe is from Robin Robertson’s quick-fix vegan.

A terrific book all around!

Soulful Creatures & Tommy Pico at the Brooklyn Museum!

Details here on MeetUp.

There have been findings of several million (several million!) animal mummies in ancient Egypt to this day. What must those burial sites look like?

The Brooklyn Museum states: “In the ancient burial ground at Saqqara, Egypt, one animal cemetery alone has yielded over four million individual ibis mummies. And the nearby dog cemetery contained over seven million mummies, with countless others found throughout Egypt. This unusual aspect of ancient Egyptian culture and religion—the mummification of animals—has remained largely a mystery. Soulful Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt explores the religious purpose of these mummies, how they were made, and why there are so many.

Drawn from our renowned collection, the exhibition features choice examples from among the many millions of mummies of birds, cats, dogs, snakes, and other animals preserved from at least thirty-one different cemeteries throughout Egypt. Animals were central to the ancient Egyptian worldview. Most animals had connections to a particular deity. After death, mummified animals’ souls could carry a message to a god.

Yet not all animal mummies are what they seem. Scientific investigation of the mummies reveals that the corruption in the animal cemeteries that some contemporaneous texts allege was all too real. CT scans displayed in the exhibition uncover the empty wrappings, double mummies, and misleading packaging among some of the mummies that the priests sold to worshippers.”

Watch the excellent video with the curators on the museum exhibit home page: https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/soulful_creatures_animal_mummies

After our post-Halloween event, we’ll head up to the fifth floor for the First Saturday Book Club: Tommy Pico.

Poet Tommy Pico reads from his latest collection, Nature Poem, about his experiences as an American Indian (NDN) writer grappling with colonial white stereotypes, manifest destiny, and his own identity as a young, queer, urban-dwelling poet.

Our Plan:

6:30pm we meet just off the lobby as described above.

6:45pm we head up to Soulful Creatures exhibition.

8:30pm we hear Tommy Pico read

There is no better place to people watch (New Yorkers, that is) in NYC than at the First Saturday of each month at the Brooklyn Museum. In between these events we can enjoy a beverage at the bars set up around the museum. Feel free to stay after 10pm to take in some more art or just hang out.

All things weekend subway service can be found here: www.mta.info.

Fall Foliage Day Trip!

Walkway Over the Hudson on October 22!

Do we really care about maple pecan pumpkin autumnal marketing hooha in all it’s many contrivances as brought to you by DuaneReade by Walgreens? No! We care about leaves. Foliage. Fall foliage to be exact. So that’s exactly what we’re focusing on!

We’re going to do this in a very “I’ve only got one day to get this season in” kinda way. In New York City, usually Spring and Autumn happen during the rinse or spin cycles, right? As Joan C would say, “we don’t find the time, we make the time” so that’s what this day is all about.

Our Plan:

We meet at the info booth in the center of Grand Central Terminal at 9:25am. Our MetroNorth train is at 9:43am. Check out mta.info to get your weekend subway/bus stars in alignment so that you can be at GCT at 9:25am. If you’re not, don’t sweat it, you know which train we’re taking so buy a ticket, get on board and message us through the MeetUp app. Round trip is $37.00. Try that with a ZipCar.

Depending upon your appetite, bring breakfast/brunch/or lunch to have on board.

When we disembark, we’ll walk to the Walkway and proceed on a 4.4 mile hike (flat terrain) that will take us across the Hudson on one bridge and back on another bridge. http://walkway.org/visit/walkway-loop-trail/

After our walk/hike, we can have an early supper in Poughkeepsie or get on MetroNorth to return. Let’s see how the rsvps shape up and go from there. We’ll have vegan options up our sleeves should we remain in Poughkeepsie or return to NYC.

There are bathrooms at either end.

Accessibility: MetroNorth is accessible. The Walkway is accessible. There is an elevator to the Walkway but they urge to call to check status. Check that out here:

http://walkway.org/visit/walkway-hours-elevator/

All things Walkway Over the Hudson can be found here: http://walkway.org

Here’s to the change of seasons!

rsvp here: https://www.meetup.com/vegout-nyc/events/244041231/