Healthy Mexican Blogger Dinner NYC with La Palapa and Gilt City

La Palapa and Gilt City treated a group of bloggers in NYC to a healthy Mexican blogger dinner, and I had the good fortune of attending. Woop!

Healthy Mexican Blogger Dinner NYC with La Palapa and Gilt City

La Palapa is located in the East Village in Manhattan.

Healthy Mexican Blogger Dinner NYC with La Palapa and Gilt City

They have some open air seating in the front when the weather is nice.

Healthy Mexican Blogger Dinner NYC with La Palapa and Gilt City

I arrived early, which was great because I got to catch up with Ashley. Shout out to her for planning this event for us!

Healthy Mexican Blogger Dinner NYC with La Palapa and Gilt City

{Group Shot: Me, Ashley, Diana, Theodora, Christine, Nicole, Katie, Alanna, Evann, Meaghan (not pictured), Arielle (not pictured), and La Palapa’s owner, Barbara}

Healthy Mexican Foods with La Palapa

Healthy Mexican Blogger Dinner NYC with La Palapa and Gilt City

We got to sit in the private room in the back. It was super cute and had fun decorations all around.

Healthy Mexican Blogger Dinner NYC with La Palapa and Gilt City

After we all gathered, Barbara introduced herself and gave us a little background on her and La Palapa.

She told us that the most important vitamin is “vitamin P” where ‘P’ is for pleasure. This idea goes into her food concepts as she explained her passion for showing Mexican food can be delicious and healthy. That she believes you can be healthy and have fun, which is what I believe too!

Healthy Mexican Blogger Dinner NYC with La Palapa and Gilt City

Here’s a close up of the menu.

Healthy Mexican Blogger Dinner NYC with La Palapa and Gilt City

We started with some fruity agua fresca. This was a welcome drink after walking around in the heat of a hot NYC day.

Healthy Mexican Blogger Dinner NYC with La Palapa and Gilt City

{Guacamole con Tomatillo de Milpa y Crudite Mexicano – guacamole with husk gooseberries and crudite}

This vibrant guacamole was super delicious. The tomatoes are small, wild tomatillos that traditionally grow on the edge of the corn fields. The chips that accompanied are made from real corn and are toasted with cumin. The guac also came with vegetable slices, like jicama, which is a great source of vitamin C.

Healthy Mexican Blogger Dinner NYC with La Palapa and Gilt City

The gazpacho was next. Barbara said it was like a small chopped salad with no added sugars. The sweetness comes from the fruit and orange juice.

Healthy Mexican Blogger Dinner NYC with La Palapa and Gilt City

{Gazpacho Moreliano – mango, jícama, pineapple with chile piquín}

Barbara explained that the gazpacho is typically topped with cheese, which we were offered. I definitely wanted to try it the traditional way, and I thought the flavors went really well together.

Healthy Mexican Blogger Dinner NYC with La Palapa and Gilt City

{Sangrita Verde y Tequila – tequila and fresh mint, cilantro jalapeño chaser}

We next got two shots: one of the sangrita verde, which reminded me a bit of green juice – plus a shot of tequila. They’re meant to be sipped one after the other.

Healthy Mexican Blogger Dinner NYC with La Palapa and Gilt City

We were next offered something different. Grasshoppers! A couple brave eaters at the table tried them. I really wanted to, but I couldn’t muster up the courage. Barbara suggested putting them on a chip with guacamole.

Healthy Mexican Blogger Dinner NYC with La Palapa and Gilt City

{Ceviche de Salmon – poached salmon ceviche}

The ceviche was Barbara’s unique take on the classic. She said she wanted to make a ceviche for everyone, which is why she used poached salmon. Since I’m not big on raw seafood, this is my kind of ceviche.

Healthy Mexican Blogger Dinner NYC with La Palapa and Gilt City

{Margarita de Nopal y Pina – Pineapple and nopal Margarita}

This unique and refreshing margarita is made with pineapple and a special ingredient: nopal aka cactus! They actually juice fresh cactus to make this drink. It’s really great in hot weather.

Healthy Mexican Blogger Dinner NYC with La Palapa and Gilt City

{Chalupas de masa verde – cacuts masa boats with three fillings, Rellenos: Huitlacoche, Canarios, Plátanos con mole negro}

Next, we got to try chalpuas with three fillings. These were also accompanied by three sauces. The masa boats were actually made with more fresh juiced nopal, which gave them the green tint and also added extra nutrition. We also got an optional dollop of sour cream, which added a tasty creaminess to all the flavors.

Healthy Mexican Blogger Dinner NYC with La Palapa and Gilt City

And then Barbara got excited and went off the menu and offered us taquitos with potato and cheese filling. I love taquitos, so I was pretty excited to try these. These were definitely a huge upgrade from the frozen ones I used to eat in college. I dipped mine in some of the sauce from the chalupas. Yum!

Healthy Mexican Blogger Dinner NYC with La Palapa and Gilt City

We had one last drink to try – a smoky margarita. It was really good, but I was already in love with the Margarita de Nopal y Pina. I’m definitely a fruity > smoky kind of gal.

Healthy Mexican Blogger Dinner NYC with La Palapa and Gilt City

{Tacos de Pescado al Achiote – fish tacos with achiote, Tacos de Calabacitas – Mexican squash tacos with mint}

As you can imagine, I was feeling pretty full by this point, but I really wanted to save some space for some of the last eats. These tacos were so good. I enjoyed the veggie taco, but the sauce on the fish taco was killer!

Healthy Mexican Blogger Dinner NYC with La Palapa and Gilt City

{Nieve de Jamaica – hibiscus sorbet}

I think we were all thankful to see a light dessert at the end. Or shall I say desserts with a ‘s’. The sorbet was delightfully refreshing.

Healthy Mexican Blogger Dinner NYC with La Palapa and Gilt City

{Guayabas al Azafrán – guavas with saffron}

And the guavas were really delicious too. They were soft, but still had a firmness that I really enjoyed.

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All in all, what a treat! I’m a big fan of Mexican food, so it was really fun to learn about how healthy it can be. We tried so many unique flavors and ingredients that I haven’t seen before at most Mexican restaurants. I’m not sure if it’s because they don’t offer them or I didn’t know to look for them. But, I know what to look for now. I was so impressed by Barbara’s attention to detail and loved hearing about all the careful thought she put into coming up with the various dishes.

Gilt City

Maybe it’s because I don’t live in NYC, but I hadn’t heard of Gilt City before this event. Ashley was telling me about all of the cool things they offer, like couples outings. After the event, I checked out their web site, and they have lots of offers for everything from fitness to food.

I’m thinking this Seventh Annual Saveur Summer Cookout deal is looking pretty good. Mmmmmmm. You can check out more outing ideas in their Get Out & About Featured Collection. I know I’ll be looking here for some fun things to do in NYC.

Have you used Gilt City before? What did you get?

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Thank you to La Palapa and Gilt City for treating us to such a fun and delicious evening in NYC! And thank you again to Ashley for organizing this for us!

Reader questions: Which of these eats would you most like to try? What’s your favorite Mexican food?

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