I don’t drink water. It doesn’t have any flavor. It isn’t fruit-colored and it doesn’t have tiny bubbles up all in it. Frankly, it would be better with a little bit of sugar in it. Or Aspartame. Now that’s delicious!

Okay, okay, I’m joking. I love water. And, being from New York City: I love our tap water. It’s tasty. I was actually drinking some when I ran into this on Gizmodo:

"You Swallow These Invisible Shrimp With Every Gulp of NYC Tap Water."

New York's water is delicious—and filled with tiny crustaceans called "copepods". (Making it possibly not kosher)

So. Like. Dude. If there’s little shrimpies in the water, does it mean that it’s not vegan?

Should I stick to Diet Wild Cherry Berry Dr. Pepper Max with a Hint of Lime from now on?

Do you know Puppets in South Park Slope? There's a lot to like about the place: a very vegan-friendly menu, full bar, back yard, late hours, and--most unusually for a veg restaurant--excellent music.

Seriously, live music at veggie restaurants tends to be pretty lousy, right? But Puppets puts the music first, while also providing real good eats. (And don't get me started on the chicken-finger-and-cobb-salad filled menus at typical jazz clubs!)

Anyways, Puppets is going through some tough economic times and they've declaring this weekend "Help Save Puppet's Jazz Bar Fundraiser." If you happen to see this post tonight and can make it over before 3am, go for it. Otherwise, head over on Saturday the 28th between 5pm and 3am (happy hour til 8! backyard til 11!) and have burger or hot dog or salad or guacamole (hell, read their whole menu yourself; it's short). And give them some money. They're waiving all cover charges during the fundraiser and instead just asking for you to give what you can.

Even if you're not a real jazzhead, I bet you'll have a good time. Let's do our part to keep this place open!

Puppets is located at 481 5th Avenue between 11th and 12th in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

I need chocolate chip cookies by the truck-full to live, medically speaking. But now I can't have just any chocolate chip cookie, thanks to this life-sucking gluten intolerance (life is so hard for little Sam!). And who wants those cheater gluten-free cookies held together with eggs that probably have salmonella, am I right?! So this post is for you, you vegan celiac troopers! Chocolate chip cookies in NYC, what what!

Babycakes
$1.50
Coconot oil, plus vanilla, plus a variety of g-f flours and flaxseed meal make for a complex, slightly nutty cookie. This guy's a crowd-pleaser, soft on the inside and crispy around the edges with small-to-medium chips, and he's of considerable size, too, about the same as an ice cream sandwich's chocolate chip cookie. You can make this cookie your very own for pretty cheap, or, to save some dough (ha!), bake it at home using the recipe from the Babycakes cookbook. Babycakes also sells a cookie sandwich that squishes their delicious icing between two of these cookies ($5). Eat it frozen, and: Ooooh yes. Height of indulgence.

Don't miss the last Vegan Drinks of the super humid months! Show up at 7pm on Thursday, August 26th, order a drink (or two or three) and meet some new friends!

As always Vegan Drinks NYC takes place at Angels & Kings Bar in the East Village. The drink specials are CHEAP: $2 off everything until 8pm and then it's $1 off draft beers and well drinks from 8pm to 9pm. Folks who don't drink alcohol are also quite welcome, but you do have to be 21 to get in.

We'll turn down the music around 8:15pm and encourage people to promote themselves, their groups and/or causes for 30 seconds. If you represent a veg*n or animal rights group, come prepared with your (very short!) spiel and literature.

Do you fancy yourself a decent photographer? Or, do you, at least, own a very nice camera capable of taking very good photos? If so, bring it with you on Thursday. Shoot a bunch of pictures. Upload them to our Flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/vegandrinks.

Check out our map of restaurants near Angels & Kings where you can grab a bite after the event. And if you haven't already, link up with Vegan Drinks on Facebook and MySpace.

Vegan Drinks is held from 7pm to 9pm at Angels & Kings, 500 East 11th Street (btw Ave A & Ave B), New York, NY 10009.

I’ve been quite the happy camper with all the news coming from the Blossom camp as of late. The prospects of both vegan fast food and a brand new vegan bistro have made every NYC vegan’s future just that much more brilliant.

Word around the campfire: To celebrate their grand opening, Blossom Du Jour is holding a “Indulgence: Sandwich and Dessert” Recipe contest. The prize? How about a 75 dollar gift certificate to Blossom Du Jour?

Huzzah!

Peep the details by visiting the event page on Blossom Du Jour’s Facebook page.

The other day I went all Pointer Sisters about Blossom’s new venture Blossom Du Jour. Today, I’m David at the dentist because I’m getting woozy from all the good New York City vegan news. Word on the street: Blossom co-owner Ronen Seri is opening V-Note, an organic wine bar and vegan bistro on September 10th. Here’s the juicy vegan details:

V-Note will offer an elaborate organic vegan menu featuring tapas, organic wine and beer. The restaurant will seat 45 guests with both window and bar seating. It will be open for lunch, dinner and offer a late night menu. It will be open until midnight and offer delivery.

Late night vegan dining in a tranquil, warmly lit lounge-y setting? Count me in. Some of the deliciousness that will be offered on the Tapas menu: Seitan Empanadas, Filo Pastry Triangles with pesto mushroom filling, grilled “cheese” triangles and Roasted Potatoes with warm mustard sauce. Count me in!

V-Note will be located at 1522 First Avenue between 79th and 80th street.

Two vegan ice cream parlors call the East Village home. Lula’s Sweet Apothecary and Stogo. The vegans I know are split down the center as to who puts out the superior product. I have actually never been to Stogo; I’m a Lula’s loyalist through and through.

Rebecca Marx of the Village Voice put the two in a head to head battle to determine just who rules the East Village Vegan Ice Cream Scene. I encourage you to read the piece; it’s both in-depth and informative!

For those of you who can’t be bothered with reading a few paragraphs of text or (like me) have blog-brain, here’s the results:

[S]togo has its strong points -- that bananas foster really is a thing of beauty -- icy texture, slightly misleading flavor descriptions, and a cone moratorium left us cold. So although Lula's Drumstick was a bit disappointing, the texture and flavors of its ice cream, as well as its generous portions and the choice to order a cone, allowed Lula's to take victory in this battle.

Score one for the Lula’s loyalists!

When news broke that Blossom was opening a Fast Food café in Chelsea, I couldn’t contain myself. I went from mild mannered and stoic to Tom Cruise on Oprah’s couch within a matter of minutes. When I found out that Blossom Restaurant and Cafe Blossom Co-founder Pamela Elizabeth’s aim was to pepper New York City with a slew vegan fast food cafes and kiosks, I went Double Rainbow. After all, Blossom is delicious!

Here’s the skinny straight from the press release:

The newest member of the Blossom family will be named Blossom Du Jour, and the mission statement is simple: to offer delicious, healthy, quality food to the masses at an affordable price. "Imagine seeing vegan fast food cafes all over like you see Chipotle or Hale and Hearty. Healthy food options are surprisingly limited, even here in New York City. There’s a need, and there’s definitely demand for food like this. We’d like to see if we can change the reputation of the phrase “fast food”,” says Elizabeth. “It's clearly time for a new day!”

Blossom Du Jour’s menu will include fresh juices, sandwiches, wraps, salads, raw, gluten- free and soy-free options, baked goods and soft serve ice cream. Delivery will be available from morning until evening, seven days a week.

Blossom Du Jour is set to open on September 22nd; the first location will be located in Chelsea at 174 Ninth Avenue (between W 20th and 21st street).

The Discerning Brute will host a biweekly vegan dinner part-ay at Second Stop Cafe in Williamsburg, featuring chefs you might have heard of making food you'll definitely want to eat. The party starts Friday, August 27, with a fabulous five-course menu from Lagusta Yearwood of Lagusta's Lucious, posted below for your hungry eyes to feast on.

"Featuring a rotating cast of chefs specializing in avant-garde, gourmet, sustainable fare, our series aims to challenge ordinary perceptions and preparations of fine food, expose visionary talent, and celebrate conscientious hedonism," Joshua Katcher wrote on The Discerning Brute.

Tickets are available here, at Brown Paper Tickets.

AMUSE BOUCHE: Baked scalloped local corn in cashew cream sauce.

STARTER: Yellow tomato aspic, red tomato aspic, green tomato aspic, and tomato essence aspic with yuzu juice, micro basil, aged cashew cheese, and smoked Hawaiian guava wood sea salt.

SALAD: Timbale of watermelon, heirloom tomatoes, and Chioggia beets with Kalamata olive vinaigrette and amaranth chiffonade.

ENTREE: “Eggplant and squash, inside and out:” Syrian-stuffed eggplant with deep-fried spaghetti squash garnish, heirloom tomato sauce, and eggplant caviar-stuffed fried squash blossoms.

DESSERT: Local stone fruit pudding parfait with coconut cream

DESSERT: Lemon-verbena pine nut cookie sandwiches with creamy fruit fillings

DESSERT: Chocolate truffles with olive oil ganache infused with Genovese basil, rolled in corn powder

I was excited to see Jack White of the White Stripes' side project Dead Weather perform in Prospect Park's Bandshell the other night. But I walked out scratching my head about a couple of things. First, what was the point of the three dead animal heads that his roadie dragged out on stage right before the band came on? Seriously, I know he's a rock star with Michigan roots but I didn't take that to mean he was anything like that other one.

Then, as I was bumping around a dark Port-O-Potty during the set, I heard Jack say "I bet you read Brooklyn Vegan too. Any other vegans in the crowd out there? Come on stage and we'll kill a cow together." And then it sounded like he mentioned something about bringing an Amish person on stage (again, I was temporarily confined in a small, stinky potty at the time). He continued on to say something about people eating only "salmon and avocado," which seemed to upset him so he blurted out "get the fuck out of here."

OK, so a couple of issues: What was the Amish thing about? And since when did vegans eat salmon? (Avocado, well yes, obviously). And finally, WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM JACK WHITE? What did I (or any other vegans in the audience for that matter) do exactly--other than purchase a ticket (with Ticketmaster fees, mind you) and support the Bandshell?