CSIBS/BEST Reunion 2014

Spending most of the day in Central Park with CSIBS/BEST folks!

Breakfast:

Tea, honeydew
(Starting the day NYC-style! Reading The Goldfinch, a novel that takes place in NYC for the most part, and the NY Times while drinking tea and eating honeydew. What a great way to begin the day.)

Sample from a popcorn vendor at the East Village market, NYC, NY:

Popcorn

Brunch at Cafe Orlin, East Village, NYC, NY:

Pumpkin pancakes w/cinnamon yogurt (shared w/Jenny)
(Jenny chose the brunch location and it was a fabulous pick! These pancakes were fluffy and dense with the perfect amount of moisture. The pumpkin flavour was subtle, yet potent enough for detection along with the medley of fragant spices. We didn't add any of the syrup until all the yogurt sauce was gone; I really wish they had given us more of that because the cinnamon yogurt complemented the pancakes perfectly. Match made. Probably the most refreshing stack of pancakes I've ever had in my life.)

Goat cheese baguette w/salad (ate half)
(Not bad! The roasted veggies went really well with the goat cheese. It was a nice contrast to the sweeter pancakes.) 

Jenny's Middle Eastern Breakfast: two eggs w/Labne cheese, zaatar, Israeli salad & pita

Our brunch spread

 CSIBS/BEST Reunion Picnic in Central Park, NYC, NY:

Veggie sandwich, brownie
(Subway sandwiches and brownies. Classic picnic food.)

Veggie sandwich, assorted veggies, brownie

Snack:

Rest of the goat cheese sandwich from brunch
(Thanks to Kevin for taking this picture.)

 Drinks at Jack Demsey's, Midtown, NYC, NY:

Blue Moon w/orange wedge
(One of my favourite "lighter" beers.)

Some of the drinks and food.

Sip of Kevin's Guiness
(Very caramelly.)

Sample from a food stall in some street food festival, NYC, NY:

Piece of Kara's sweet corn arepa

Snack from Levain Bakery - Upper West Side, NYC, NY:

Chocolate chip walnut cookie
(Delicious! I've been craving this since I left NYC last summer. Quite possibly the best hunk of chocolate chip dough ever. Gooey, warm and comforting.)

The side view.

Piece of Kevin's chocolate pb cookie
(Also good, but I feel like this can get overwhelming. 

Snack from Yogurtland - Upper West Side, NYC, NY:

Frozen yogurt (tart, blueberry, cosmo, mango) w/strawberries, blueberries, walnuts & a sour gummy worm
(Why weren't there any good frozen yogurt places in NYC last summer?!)

Snack from Organic Avenue - Upper West Side, NYC, NY:

Mellow Love juice: romaine, celery, cucumber, spinach, parsley (drank half)
(Always gotta get some greens in.)

Snack at Five Guys - Upper West Side, NYC, NY:

Ate some of Gino & Kevin's fries
(First time at Five Guys! The fries weren't half bad, but I'm an In-n-Out fan.)