Food Adventuring Around NYC
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.
I love Rocco’s – I really do. They are a truly authentic, beloved Italian pasticceria in the middle of touristy Greenwich Village. Years ago I wrote about their stellar cannoli, and I still bring tour groups here regularly. Along with their rainbow cookies, pignolis, and napoleons, I also would get a regular glimpse of their …
There are certain ingredients that come up very often on this blog. Mushrooms are impossible for me to resist and I almost always include a dish from all of my Thai meals in the city. But this is the first time where sweet potatoes have played the starring role two weeks in a row. Last …
PICKLE CULTURE IS ONLY AVAILABLE AT THE COLUMBUS CIRCLE HOLIDAY MARKET THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2024. I didn’t realize pickles were such a holiday market thing, but we now have at least our second pickle stand at the local Holiday Markets around the city. Years ago, I discovered Pickle Me Pete in Bryant Park and upon …
It seems like the UrbanSpace Holiday Markets, which have always featured somewhat gimmicky food vendors, has turned into a full-on Tik Tok frenzy. Lines have gotten insane and one dumpling vendor even turned me away when I ordered saying a certain dish was only available for “Influencers.” To be honest, I am not as interested …
I had the great fortune of visiting the Czech Republic (officially now known as Czechia) when making a series of promotional videos for the tour company I worked with. Since the company was international, we had amazing partners all over the world and I connected with many of the ones in Europe. One of those …
I have been mourning the closure of my absolute favorite food business in New York City: Chikalicious. The Japanese dessert bar (whose praises I have sang endless times on this blog) closed this past summer because chef Chika) was retiring. I’m happy they closed on their own terms and that there is still a Japanese …
Many consider the best part of Thanksgiving to be the side dishes, which is why I don’t understand why they are often as boring and bland as the turkey itself. Creamed green beans? Gelatinous cranberries? If only we turn to the dips of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine for our Thanksgivings, Novembers would be a …
Thanks to inflation and the crazy prices at high-end sushi restaurants, my omakase days are mostly behind me. Which is so sad because it is by far my favorite food experience. High quality sushi made by a master and with surprises just can’t be beat. But since most non-gimmicky omakase meals are hundreds of dollars …
What do you think of when you hear about an ice cream shop called Marvel? At first, I assumed this was a shop where you “marvel” at the amazing soft serve ice cream. Or maybe it’s a cheap ploy to get comic book fans here. But then it dawned on me, when pronounced with the …
As the weather has slowly started to get a bit chilly, it’s finally officially ramen season. I say officially because, of course, ramen is in season all year long. It’s sort of funny that now that the weather has cooled and I finally found my way to the Chelsea favorite Jun-Men, I ordered a noodle …
Somehow along the way, mushrooms became my absolute favorite food. Their earthy woodsy umami flavors won me over and at this point, if a restaurant has fungi on the menu, I’m ordering it. But it becomes much more difficult for me when everything on the menu is a mushroom. That is both the curse and …
Leave it to a kid on the verge of a meltdown to work their magic. I brought my nieces to check out the weird and wild cakes at AnnTremet, which is an adorable little bakery on a crooked street between Chelsea and the West Village. I thought they would be happy with any one of …
Have I just gotten old or was Thyme Bar just weird? Opened in 2020, this is one of the newer speakeasies (opened shortly before COVID) that became very popular in the city since the pandemic. It sits below a pastry shop on 23rd Street in an historic cellar. Thyme Bar is a little less hidden …
It’s not uncommon to ask yourself: Is this a deli, coffee shop, or bagel joint? In many cases in New York, the answer is all three. Bagels & Schmear certainly is, however the name it proclaims out front indicates that bagels should be the thing taken most seriously here. That’s why I was here. In …
A few months ago I got a quick slice from Vito’s Slices & Ices and was not overly impressed. It was fine, but nothing more than typical New York pizza. Great if you’re from elsewhere, but if you’re from here, you know there are better options. I didn’t get to try the other side of …
Not only is Mama’s Too in the West Village the second location of this highly praised pizzeria (the first is far up on the Upper West Side), but it’s also the second over-hyped pizzeria to open its second location right here in the West Village. That’s a lot of seconds! And it only took a …
When I visit an ice cream shop, I want to try all the flavors. I expect that. But when I stop at a taco joint, I don’t expect to want to try all the cuts of pork. But Carnitas Ramirez is not your typical taco joint. The owners of Taqueria Ramirez opened this small house …
My wife who is gluten free, almost gave up gluten free bagels for good after breaking a tooth on one of them. This was during the early days of COVID and the possibility of seeing a dentist was terrifying. Don’t worry, it all turned out ok with her and her tooth. But she has been …
I hope Ras Plant Based succeeds on Bleecker Street, but I am cynical. It seems to me that this block of Bleecker between Sixth Avenue and LaGuardia is one of the most difficult streets to keep a small food business going. I can’t tell you how much turnover I have seen in the years that …
Orwashers is an institution in upper Manhattan. The bakery was opened on the Upper East Side back in 1916 by a Hungarian family. That was just a few years after Glaser’s opened in the same neighborhood and the black and white cookie was supposedly invented. So while Orwashers has changed ownership and probably wasn’t selling …