NYC: Plant-based dinner at Le Botaniste

Last night, I had dinner at Le Botaniste, which is a 100% plant-based café. It’s self-service, but the café feels a lot more upscale than McDonald’s. It is beautifully decorated, and from the outside, it looks like an upscale restaurant.

I had two of their “Bites” which I think are meant as snacks or appetizers, but together, it was more than enough for dinner. The Young Coconut Ceviche was really nice, though I think the slice of bread in the bowl was a bit odd. I think a slice of fresh mango would have been a better companion. The big red Summer Roll was really ugly, but full of crispy vegetable and very tasty.

I almost forgot that I met with my friend Ehsan for coffee at Gregorys, but I didn’t take any photos, so I completely forgot about it. What is it they say? If it’s not on Instagram it didn’t happen:) Ehsan and I went to the same master’s program in Sweden. He is always working on so many interesting projects, and one of them is Mystery Tribune, which is a publication featuring crime novelists around the world.

The hotel I’m staying at offers free access to NYSC, which is a chain of gyms in New York City. It is great to have the opportunity to work out in a real gym, instead of the crammed “fitness rooms” that many hotels offer. NYSC is not as upscale as Equinox, but their facilities are nice. The gym I tried on 3^rd Avenue was really big, so even though I arrived just after 6pm, when everybody is doing their after-work work-out, I didn’t have to wait to get on a treadmill. Will go again today.

Le Botaniste, 666 3rd Avenue, New York