TONY's 100 Best '11

Year Three: TONY’s Revenge

When Time Out New York’s latest 100 Best issue was released in October, I was both excited and slightly dismayed. The food choices look pretty great and it’s always fun to read an issue full of such lascivious food porn. But I noticed that this year more than ever they’re, encouraging readers to push their way through the entire list. They’ve even started a big promotion on Twitter with the hastag #100Best – a hashtag I’ve been all too familiar with for more than a year now.

And while the idea of eating and drinking my way through the list is something that’s hard to resist, it just doesn’t feel as special anymore. If everybody’s doing it, I’m just not as interested. That’s why I was never the cool kid at school.

I’ve been checking the Twitter feeds and searched for other blogs chronicling this expedition and aside from a few early persistance on Twitter, it doesn’t seem like many people are taking the challenge too seriously. And you know what? I’m not going to either.

But I’m still hungry and Time Out’s list is a great starting off point for finding specific dishes at many different types of restaurants across town. It definitely helps expand my restaurant and food knowledge, not to mention relieve the difficulty of deciding where to get dinner.

So for the third year in a row (and most likely the final), I will document my adventures eating every last dish on Time Out’s list. But if some place has closed or stopped serving the dish, I won’t feel like a complete failure. I’m not looking for fortune or fame this time, just some good food and I’m ready once again to shut up and… Eat This!

AboutBrian Hoffman

Brian Hoffman is a classically trained actor who is now a full-time tour guide, blogger, and food obsessive. He leads food and drink tours around New York City, which not only introduce tour-goers to delicious food, but gives them a historical context. He has written food articles for Gothamist and Midtown Lunch in addition to overseeing this blog and a few food video series, including Eat This, Locals Know, and Around the World in One City. His latest series is an international cooking show with his son which can be found on this site.