The New York Diet

Supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio Prefers Her Eggs in Benedict Form

Alessandra digs in on the set of a Victoria's Secret shoot.
Alessandra digs in on the set of a Victoria’s Secret shoot. Photo: Melissa Hom

The fashion world let out a collective cheer when Victoria’s Secret model Alessandra Ambrosio showed up on the Fashion Week runways of Paris and Milan, but a recent cover shoot with a plus-size model drew critical attention to her eating habits. “I’ve always eaten whatever I wanted,” says Ambrosio, 28. “I don’t eat a lot, but I have a little bit of everything. Some people just think about food all the time because they don’t eat. They get so anxious.” She’s trying to pass that healthy attitude on to her 18-month-old daughter: “I try to give her a little of whatever I eat. If I eat eggs, she eats eggs. The other day we were eating pizza and we taught her how to say it. That’s one word she knows really well now.” Find out exactly what Ambrosio had a little bit of in this week’s New York Diet.

Friday, March 12
I had eggs with bacon, an English muffin, and coffee. My fiancé cooked it for me. He does the eggs — I really don’t know how to do eggs, only fried. My favorite way is eggs Benedict, but at home I just do scrambled.

After that it was lunch. I had Japanese — miso soup, salad, you know those little bento boxes. I had a spicy-tuna roll, a California roll, a little salad, soup. It was delivery from Mishima; it’s the one I always order from near my house. I trust them. If I’ve been to the place, I like it, I trust it, then I can order delivery.

In the afternoon I had some nuts, and then candy.

That night I went on a flight, so I had airplane food: bread, salad, asparagus, salmon, fish, rice, vegetables, a little cheesecake slice, a glass of wine. It’s all small courses. I was going to Brazil. I was shooting the next day and coming back to New York — it was, like, less than twelve hours in Brazil.

Saturday, March 13
At the hotel, I had a coffee and then cheese bread. Then I had a little cheese-and-ham sandwich, a little scrambled eggs and bacon, a little bit of carrot cake.

I was shooting, and I had a guava between shots. For lunch I had filet mignon with salad.

For dinner, I had a fish — it’s called moqueca, it’s very Brazilian. It’s fish with vegetables and then this oil from the north of Brazil called dende oil; the flavor is very good. When I was on the plane, I had some yuca soup, bread, coconut water, and chocolate before sleeping.

Sunday, March 14
I had an English muffin and a coffee. Then I went for brunch at around three in the afternoon — I had a Bloody Mary, eggs Benedict, a little bit of pancake, and a cappuccino. We were at the Standard Grill; it was really good, actually. I’ve had dinner there before, but I kind of prefer the brunch. It’s nicer during the day. It’s a beautiful room.

I came back home and I had some pickles. Later I had some miso soup and salad from the same Japanese place as Wednesday. Then I went to the theater — we saw Alice in Wonderland in Imax 3-D, it was pretty good — and I had a popcorn and a little Coca-Cola. I don’t really drink sodas, but when I have popcorn or pizza I need a little. It’s the perfect combination.

Monday, March 15
I had coffee and an English muffin sandwich with ham and cheese at home.

For lunch I was at home, too: I had rice, beans, salad, and a chicken breast. The nanny made it for me — she cooks for my daughter and I had some. In the afternoon I had two chocolate-chip cookies and a green-tea latte.

In the nighttime, I had a dinner at my house, so I went and bought cheese, olives, salami, caviar — all those things. I had some lobster ravioli and a little tiramisu. We bought it ready-made, it was one of those things you just warm it up. To drink I had some wine.

Tuesday, March 16
I had one cappuccino, but I didn’t really have breakfast because I woke up late.

For lunch, I had a lamb tagine with couscous and a mint tea at Café Mogador. I love that place for brunch, but it was actually the first time I tried lunch there. I usually just go for the eggs Benedict, but people told me the tagine and couscous is amazing, so I wanted to try it. And then I had two packs of seaweed — you pick them up at Japanese grocery stores, just pure dry seaweed. I love it; it’s a good snack, it’s really healthy. I also had a cookie. After that I had a little eggs with salami.

At night, I went to a Japanese-barbecue restaurant called Gyu-Kaku. I had kalbi soup, which I love — it’s so spicy. I had some barbecue: filet mignon, all different kinds of meat, mushrooms, sweet potato, and one s’more for dessert. We had some sake.

Wednesday, March 17
I had some salami-and-cheese sandwich and some coffee. I shared a banana with my daughter, but she only had like two little bites, so maybe that doesn’t count as sharing.

For lunch I had some rice, beans, and ground meat with vegetables — just a little bit, a little plate.

After, I went to Nyonya, a Malaysian place, and I had some beef with noodles and a whole roti canai, which is this bread with curry sauce. That’s one of my favorite plates in the city. And then later I got home and I had some chicken and vegetable soup.

Supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio Prefers Her Eggs in Benedict Form