New York: A culinary recap

 At the end of every day on these long class trips I feel like I've lived through a week and am at a loss to sum up everything I've seen. Gluten-free survival is always a big part of my day, though. While all my classmates are looking forward to a platter of assorted sandwiches, I'm just praying there won't be any croutons or mysterious gravies. So I decided to chronicle New York by documenting every salad lunch. Stroke of genius or dorky idea? Whatever, I had fun doing it, and I happily did not starve or have to resort to sandwich meat and potato chips. . 

Day 1, Tuesday: Sotheby's auction house 11th floor cafe. Spinach with chicken, asparagus, roasted beets, and mushrooms tossed in lemon herb vinaigrette. Pretty tasty, though not as lemony as I hoped. We had several Devil Wears Prada moments when 80 lb. girls dressed in black cut ahead of us in line.

Day 2, Wednesday, Metropolitan Museum of Art American Wing curatorial conference room: Spinach salad of candied walnuts, sauteed pears, dried cranberries, blue cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette. Classmate L gave me her salad tomato. The Met's staff were very nice, and a few are alumni of my MA program. The silver curator caught me sneaking my one blurry salad photo,  but I don't think she thought I was too much of a weirdo. 

 

Day 3, Friday, Brooklyn Museum Cafe: Lemon tarragon chicken breast on arugula with tomatoes and manchego cheese. Tarragon was faint, but the grill marks tasted real. We sat on fun lime green chairs and learned about the museum's new extended evening hours. I also ate my last remaining sprinkle doughnut from Babycakes, a vegan gluten free bakery around the corner from the Tenement Museum. Both are awesome places to visit.

Day 4, Friday, the Appraisers Association of America: Grilled chicken, bell peppers, carrots, and tomatoes on romaine with balsamic vinaigrette. Not too exciting, but it still hit the spot. While we ate, three chatty, confident, successful New York women told us how the appraisal business works. Not unlike antiques dealers, they have customers as long as there are deaths, divorces, and debts.  

Day 5, Saturday, Cilantro restaurant on E. 71st: Tequila lime shrimp enchiladas with green chile sauce, rice and beans. Ok, I fell off the salad wagon. But watching that Sotheby's auction made me hungry!
This lunch was so good, and fortified me for two afternoon antique shows.