The Plant-Based City Guide to New York

Visiting New York and want to explore the best vegan and vegetarian cafés, clean beauty stores and fitness options on offer?

We’ve done the research for you to save you time so you can head straight for them and keep your glow in the city that never sleeps.

EAT

With new plant based cafés and juice bars opening every month it can be hard to keep up, so here’s our trusted favourites to tick off your foodie list:


AbcV

AbcV’s Georges Vongerichten was the first top chef to create a vegetarian restaurant in Manhattan in his desire to inspire a “plant-based intelligence”. It’s one of the most super-stylish Glowcations we’ve ever visited. The exquisite menu is green haute cuisine although not everything is vegan. Plant-based, non-GMO, sustainable and organic where possible make it one of your top Glowcations to try out while in the city.

38 East 19th Street, New York 10003
212.475.5829

The Butcher’s Daughter

Rumour has it that Gwyneth Paltrow is a visitor and we can see why. Created by former Time Out Food & Drink writer, Heather Tierney, this hybrid juice bar and vegetarian hotspot is making its mark as a go to destination in the Big Apple. The 100% vegetarian, mostly vegan and GF menu changes daily. It’s decor is a cool vintage twist on traditional butcher’s shops and the staff are some of the friendliest we have ever come across. We had heard the lines can get long at the weekend so we went early on a Saturday morning and as we strolled past the local kerbside Farmers’ Market we were delighted to find plenty of tables in the sunshine. Saturday plant-based brunch had never tasted so fine!

581 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
917-388-2132

There’s also branches in Nolita and Willamsburg in Brooklyn

ByCHLOE.

ByCHLOE. was born in New York. If you haven’t heard of it then don’t walk but run there now! It’s the vegan fast food hotspot which has taken New York and now London by storm. We visited Bleecker Street on a scorcher of an August day and loved the hanging chairs swinging from open doorways. We sat with busy office workers grabbing a vegan lunch at a communal table running through the middle. Our favourite is sweet potato fries dipped in beetroot ketchup combo with a signature Guac burger, but then the mac ‘n cheese is pretty special too!

185 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012
212-290-8000

There are other branches in Flatiron, SoHo, MidTown, The Seaport District and Williamsburg.

SHOP

Here’s our pick of the best:

CAP Beauty

“It’s a very well curated store and I always find new things when I’m in there” said By.Chloe’s Sam Wasser when she shared this West Village one stop shop with us. Let’s face it, most of our must-have clean beauty brands have come out of the US- Tata Harper, Drunk Elephant and goop to name but a few. But who has the time to run from shop to shop tracking them down on a time-poor weekend city break? So hello one stop clean beauty store! And it also has a spa if you have time for a treatment.

238 West 10 Street, New York, NY 10014
212-227-1088

Credo Beauty

We first discovered Credo in San Francisco and fell in love so much with their clever edit of clean beauty that we also paid a visit to their LA branch. In NY, the staff are equally super knowledgable and Credo’s shelves are stacked with an impressive selection of safe, non-toxic beauty products. The in-house salon also does facials, waxes and make-overs.

9 Prince Street, New York, NY 10012

There’s a second store in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg

Union Square Green Market

New York was at the forefront of the Farmers’ Market movement. The Union Square Green Market is a regular for our Glowstar international model Fabienne Dobbe. It’s open four days (Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays 8am-6pm) a week for fresh vegetables, fruits, award-winning cheeses, home-made bread and jams.

E 17th St & Union Square W, New York, NY 10003

GLOW

New York is home to many fitness trends and it’s the perfect city to get moving in. Here’s are some of our favourites.

The High Line

If you are craving a dose of nature in the middle of on the world’s busiest cities then look up and head for a walk onto the High Line. It’s  elevated public park carefully and cleverly crafted out of a historic freight railway line. There are water features, wildflowers, sculptures, loungers and views everywhere. It threads from Gansevoort St to 34th St for 1.45 miles. Access at various points along the route.

The best classes

New York leads the way with innovative work outs. Our Glowstar Fabienne Dobbe told us about  Switch which offers live DJ’s at their Switch Playground class. Get your dose of HIT with class packs available in a range from 1 to 20. If dancing it out is more your thing, then check out 305 Fitness for their cardio party sessions with a live DJ, light show and a high energy vibe. For more traditional exercise options Chelsea Piers offers over 20 sports and day passports.

Central Park

This 840 acre rectangle of green in central Manhattan is NYC’s open air gym. Joggers can find the best routes on NYRR’s  website;  there’s also dedicated climbing rocks,  rowing boat hire at the Loeb Boathouse in Summer and and hiring skates at New York’s most stunning ice rink, The Wollman, in the Winter.

 

SPA

New Yorkers love a spa and if your feet are sore from walking the blocks then take off the afternoon and dive into one of these

Shibui Spa

Sam Wasser also tipped us off about Shibui Spa. A haven at the Greenwich Hotel in Tribeca which is home to a beautiful indoor pool and relaxation area (free if you book a spa appointment) It’s all based around a 250 year old Japanese farmhouse roof. Chill…

377 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10013
212.941.8900

Bamford Haybarn Spa

This oasis in No 1 Hotel, Brooklyn is devoted to nurturing the mind, body and spirit. Created by Carole Bamford,  Haybarn uses the amazing natural, organic Bamford range of products.  The spa offers facials and massages plus yoga, pilate and meditation.

60 Furman St., Brooklyn Heights,Brooklyn
347.696.2530

Great Jones Spa

This stunning, and popular, subterranean water lounge features a series of pools and a three-and-a-half-story waterfall. As well as unwinding, it’s also a great place for people watching. There’s a chakra light steam room and a river rock sauna, plus a selection of spa treatments using plant- or marine-based products.

29 Great Jones St, New York, NY 10012,
212-505-3185

SLEEP

Citizen M, The Bowery – style on a budget

This 20 storey, 300 room hotel is minimal cool epitomised. Think low slung sofas, huge windows, anti- jet lag black out blinds and high pressure rain showers. There’s free movies and WiFi and a large 24 hour communal area with snacks during the day and cocktails at night.

189 Bowery, New York, NY 10002,
212-372-7274

The Arlo, Soho – upgrade

This uber cool, functional base is perfect for the urban explorer. The rooms, like many in New York, are small, but pack an ingeniously designed punch and have incredibly comfy beds. The Arlo has cool art in the communal areas and a roof top bar named no 1 in NYC by Bazaar.

231 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10013
212.342.7000

Soho House – splurge

A luxury haven of cool and calm with a warm and super friendly welcome. The rooms are as dreamy as you would expect of the Soho House team- huge beds, the whitest and freshest of sheets, high ceilings, roll-top baths at the end of the beds and all the Cowshed products you could desire. Located in the Meatpacking district, so an easy wander up to Chelsea market for some plant-food adventures.

29-35 9th Ave, New York, NY 10014

212-627-9800

 

goop’s Megan O’Neil’s New York City Top 5 cafés

Gwyneth Paltrow launched goop in 2008 from her kitchen table as a homespun weekly newsletter with her unbiased travel tips, wellness insights and health-centric recipes. Roll forward ten years and goop has arrived in London with a pop-up lifestyle store in Notting Hill’s Westbourne Grove. To celebrate we asked New York City resident Megan O’Neil, goop’s senior beauty editor for her favourite cafés in her home city. There’s nothing she doesn’t know about wellness in New York City.

abcV

abcV makes me insanely happy.

It’s light and airy inside, the vibe is polished yet breezy and they set the tables with the most beautiful plates and rustic linen napkins and dainty teacups. I one day want to be a woman who sets her table so exquisitely! And the food is beyond.

Contrarian carnivores love it as much as plant people. I die for the green chickpea hummus (so creamy and luscious) with fresh pitta, the turmeric cauliflower steak and the market carrots with nut butter.  I was skeptical when I spotted it on the menu because that doesn’t sound that great, but it’s spectacular.  The mushroom walnut Bolognese literally tastes like a decadently rich meaty pasta situation. Also, the adaptogenic cocktails are perfect when you need a 4pm pick me up or you’re meeting a work person for “drinks” and don’t want to drink because maybe you did enough of that over the weekend. I get an almond milk latte there every single morning. It’s frothy, soothing, energising, but a considerable part of the appeal is starting my day in such a lovely place.

The Butcher’s Daughter

I love the abundance of plants they have in there, and I love the food. The banana walnut pancakes and the coconut-date-almond butter smoothie are my jam. It’s called 7 Minutes in Heaven on the menu, and, yes, it’s worth the $10. They serve water in a pretty carafe full of fresh mint leaves. Eating at the Nolita location on a sunny day is just bliss. And everyone who works there is so friendly, you just kind of want to hang there all day.

Juice Press

I bring my lunch from home most days, but when I don’t I always go to Juice Press.

Their split pea soup is rich and cosy and perfectly seasoned. It tastes homemade! There is NOTHING bad in it! It’s just so impressive that the only ingredients are water, split peas, zucchini, onion, carrot, celery, olive oil, jalapeno, garlic, thyme, lemon juice, pepper, garlic, and bay leaf. I cut and pasted that from the web site because I want to recreate it at home for fall! Their cashew milk oatmeal is also fantastic, it tastes like creamy dessert.

by Chloe.

Someone sent me one of their cakes—vanilla with vanilla frosting—on Valentine’s Day. I closed my eyes and was moaning as I ate it in the office. And then I learned it was gluten free!!

It’s plush and decadent, it tastes like the absolute opposite of “gluten free.”

And it’s festively multi-tiered. Just looking at it makes me happy.

Cook Space

If you love to eat, love to cook, don’t love to cook, love a beautiful Brooklyn-y design aesthetic then you’ll be obsessed with Cook Space. It’s this beautiful kitchen loft space—literally my dream kitchen—that offers cooking classes for every kind of food and skill you can imagine.

There’s an awesome vegetarian food class, and then there’s everything else under the sun: pizza, pasta making, Jewish comfort food, knife skills, Vietnamese street food.

It’s the best thing to do with friends or your mom or brother or husband, and you can even rent out the whole space for a night. My husband, brother, and I just signed up for the pizza class. You sit down at the end to eat the meal you’ve all made, and you don’t really have to even clean up—they do that! They mix you a dynamite cocktail to sip on during class and music is always wafting in the background. The whole thing is very atmospheric.

New York City
New York City

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flatiron: AbcV, NYC’s super chic veggie hotspot

Georges Vongerichten of AbcV is the first top chef to create a vegetarian restaurant in Manhattan.

It’s green haute cuisine in a super-cool space. Plant-based, non-GMO, sustainable and organic where possible – what’s not to love?

His fashionable, shareable plates prove that food that’s good for you (and the planet) can be just as flavour-packed as any served in NYC’s most competitive fine dining restaurants.

The setting

Based in Flatiron’s ABC Carpet and Home Store, the space is as glamorous as the food.

It features an open kitchen, a bustling bar with seating and take out options, plus there’s a dining room with reservable seats.

The decor is all white with pops of neon colour plus dramatic chandeliers hang overhead adding urban glamour. We sat in the table in the window watching New York go by.

The little things

We loved the decor. The lighting was fresh and stylish. And we were fascinated by their juicing machines.

The fresh juice test

We tried two juices: the Greenglow organic pressed juice, a zingy mix of spinach, kale, green apple, citrus and the Root Reboot a spicy combo of beetroot, carrots, ginger, lemon, orange.

However, AbcV is also famous for its signature superfood smoothies.

At $12 a pop, they’re not cheap but they are packed with nutrients. We tried to the yogurt, berry, and bee pollen power trio, designed to give your immune system a boost.

What else?

You can also take-away the food, juices and smoothies.

What we ate

We went for the gluten free almond pancakes, with banana,  whipped cream and a mini jug of maple syrup on the side.

Delicious!

Then we tried the filling sunny side up eggs with a side of market vegetables, herbs and pickled chilli.


The bill

Pancakes $18
Sunny side up eggs, $15
Organic pressed juices $13


What made us glow

The location, the decor and the food.

It’s a must visit when you are in New York followed by a walk along the beautiful High Line.