Hey guys! My sunburn kicked in full force this afternoon, and I could barely move, let alone go to the gym. 
Two days in a row without the gym is unheard of for me, so I’m a little bummed. Although I feel that I’m at a place with my lifestyle where two days sans gym doesn’t equal ‘falling off the wagon’ or a huge failure on my part. I’m secure enough in myself and my dedication to my health that I know two days don’t define me. I hope I’m feeling better tomorrow - I’m definitely ready to be back in the workout groove!
Peter slept the day away, with an early early early morning flight and no sleep last night. So I cleaned the apartment and caught up on magazines - definitely a restful holiday. At some point in the afternoon I went out and got some snacks for us. I had a Luna bar:
And then a bit later I had a whole wheat tortilla with a tbsp almond butter:
Snacks were 450 calories, 57g carbs, 20g fat, and 19g protein.
For Peter’s welcome back dinner, we went to a reader-recommended restaurant, Quintessence. Many thanks to Margherita for the thoughtful recommendation! (Hi Margherita!) Quintessence is located in the east village in a tiny little space on a tiny little street. Very sweet. To start, P and I split the chip and dip platter:
This was ’spicy tomato-cilantro salsa, dairy-free sour cream and guacamole served with home-made corn chips and flax crackers’. The crackers were good, and the guacamole was great! For an entree, I had the Scallion Roll:
I had two of the four rolls. These were ‘light yet satisfying nori rolls filled with scalion creme cheese, avocado, bell pepper, cucumber, caramelized onion, tomato and sprouts.’ These were really tasty - I’m going to have the other two rolls for lunch tomorrow. And for dessert, P and I split the dessert platter:
From top left, clockwise: Chocolate Pecan Pudding Cake, Coconut Banana Creme Pie, Chia Seed Pudding, and Lemon Yam Cake. They all sounded delicious, but both P and I were really disappointed - none of them were that good! The best one was the Lemon Yam Cake, and even that wasn’t great. P was so disappointed that he stopped for a Cookies and Cream milkshake on the way home (which I stole a few sips from). 
I’m estimating dinner at 600 calories. Well, I’ve certainly had a restful holiday - I hope you have too! Night!
I get the same way you are feeling when I miss my workouts. I actually get a little grouchy because I hate when I have to miss the gym for something dumb. It’s fine if you have something more important to do or something actually fun to do. I think today might be one of those days for me considering I fell down while walking to the river yesterday and hurt my knee and foot. I want to make sure it heals properly before hitting the gym, but it’s going to be hard to stay away.
DEFINITELY get some aloe vera to treat your painful sunburn - it works wonders.
Ahh, sorry that the desserts at Quintessence weren’t that great :0( They sure do look good!! :0)
Okay, so I’ve always wanted to go to this place but I was totally turned off by the whole subway flasher thing (do you remember that? the owner got arrested for flashing people and it was this huge story in the daily news…of course because they eat that sort of thing up). Anyway. Now I’ll try it because it does look pretty good, especially those scallion wraps.
Eatingbirdfood, Missing the gym for stupid reasons is the worst. Especially when you WANT to go but physically can’t. Ugh. Hope your knee and foot feel better!
VeggieGirl - Got the aloe vera right here!
Arielle - I don’t remember that! But that makes totally sense, considering there were three Quintessences and now there is only one. To be honest, go to Pure Food and Wine instead - their desserts are to die for!
I totally disagree about Quintessence desserts. I am a local here and an avid raw food fan. With out a doubt, the word in the community is if you want a tasty dessert, go to Quintessence. The Chea Pudding is to die for. Creamy sweet milky much like a Tapioca pudding it is awesome. The Tiramisu is simply divine and I have been in there a million times hearing people rave about the Pecan Chocolate Pudding cake. It’s drenched in their Cashew Hot Chocolate and topped with that amazing Coconut Vanilla Ice Cream. I don’t know what you and P were expecting but the food and deserts at Quintessence are by far the best Raw Food has to offer and I have been to them all.
Check out their site at
http://www.raw-q.com and the chef has his own site which I am addicted to
http://www.rawchefdan.com
Thanks for your comment, Bill - always good to have another perspective.
Yes, if you want to pay about 100 dollars per person for a dinner, go to Pure Food & Wine. But if you still want to have gourmet raw food at an affordable price, Quintessence is the place. The chef is really talented and desserts are to die for. I honestly prefer them to the ones at Pure Food and Wine. I’m afraid if the other two restaurants in town didn’t make it is because we are not as many as we would like to think.
Don forget to leave room for dessert! My favorites are Coconut-Banana Creme Pie, Goji Berries Parfait and Caramel Pecans Ice cream topped with Vanilla Creme. In the appetizers I love the Stuffed Endive, Mini Pizzette and Sun-dried Tomato Basil Roulade. I could leave in their soups, particularly the Green Garden and the Peter’s Pot. In the pizzas, the Italian one really taste like a conventional pepperoni pizza.
If you go for lunch (very affordable), try the Chef’s Club Sandwich and the and Sun-dried Tomato Basil Fettucine. And if you go for Brunch, the Fofu Florentine are amazing.
Mercedes - Thanks for your opinion! Hope you keep reading and commenting.
Quintessence is a beautiful quaint romantic little hide away. The ambiance is outstanding and the service is always attentive and enthusiastic. Its a family style restaurant. The employees really care about supporting the movement and love working there because they know that each thing they sell benefits the higher good via what it supports, organic farming and earth awareness. We vote with our dollar, everywhere we put it is giving power to what we believe in. From having worked there for 6 years, I know the integrity that the owners pour into their creation and they have invested their dollars to create a company that is hugely effecting our planet from supporting all organic farming to standing for peoples health and awareness. Every time I go back to NYC I am eager to go there and vote with my dollar, not only because they are all family to me, but because I am supportive of the movement and what it stands for.
Quintessence is definitely the best raw food restaurant anywhere. It is better than pure food and wine. I find pure food and wine’s ambience quite snobbish and the food is overpriced. Their dessert believe or not is probably fattening, especially their classic Sundae. Quintessence, on the other hand is affordable and the dessert is heavenly. My favorite is definitely the chia seed pudding and the banana cream pie. Quintessence is probably the only place that you can go back to repeatedly and still enjoy it every time.
Cole and Tina - Thanks for your input!
Quintessence-lovers - I enjoy many vegan foods and restaurants so I think I knew what to expect..but it just wasn’t up to par with the other vegan/organic restaurants I’ve been to. I’m sorry I didn’t feel the same way as you guys do, maybe I was just there on an off-night.
I have been to many raw raw restaurants on the east coast and the west coast. There is a reason why Quintessance is the longest running, most successful raw restaurant in the country…it’s because the food is excellent. Not only is it good for you healthwise but it is presented well. The reason Quintessance went from three locations to one is because the other two places the rent went through the roof…you know what rent is in manhattan…I agree Quintessance provides a cornocupia of raw foods for even the discerning pallet and at an affordable price. Thank you Quintessance and keep up the good work.
Those wraps look delicious!! What type of “wrapping” is it? Tortilla?
Iwilltransform, seeweed wraps! Same thing they use on sushi.
- Kate