Wednesday Night Raw

Food is one of my favorite things about life, which is why New York is a great city for me. Everyday is a new opportunity to try something new, whether it's lunch from a different street-meat vendor or dinner from a country I'll never get to visit. Sadly, my entry-level ass doesn't have the funds to support the epicurean lifestyle I would love to have, but today I threw caution and my pocketbook to the wind and took a lunchtime adventure with my new co-worker and buddy, Emily.

Let me explain why lunch with a co-worker would be an adventure. Emily is a food expert, and has started to commit to a raw-foods lifestyle. This means our lunch options together are quite limited, as Taco Bell has not yet created a vegan-friendly menu. Pity.

I know what you're thinking. Raw foods? Nora, you have lost your mind and your sense of self. Don't get me wrong, I'm a carnivore to the core. Our ancestors didn't get us where we are today by gnawing on roots, progress was made because they strangled saber-toothed tigers with their bare hands and roasted the bloody meat over flames they tended day and night. They understood that having dominion over the earth meant that they had the right, nay, the duty, to eat other living creatures and enjoy it. Nothing makes me feel more connected to my caveman roots than tearing into a steak that was lovingly prepared by my Momma and doused in A-1.

But still, lunch at Bonobo is an experience to be had. Tons of fresh-faced hippie dudes and bitches are itching to hand you samples of crazy juices, cold soups, and super spreads. They want you to know how every ingedient is good for you and how it will make you feel. I got fake sushi, just veggies and walnut spread wrapped in seaweed and chased with the water of fresh young coconuts. An hour later I felt like I could wrestle a hippo to the ground and then whittle myself a kayak and paddle myself around Manhattan with my bare hands. Psychosomatic? Perhaps.

Fear not, though, tonight there is meat on the stove in Apartment 9. My stomach can rove all it wants, but it will always stay true to her first love. And her second love, which is peanut M&Ms. Ice cream is up there, too.