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.
The Place: The smell once you walk into Justin’s Salt Bread lets you know you’re in the right place. Somewhere between a coffee shop, a bakery, and a communal gathering space, the vibe is comfortable and trendy. You probably won’t find a seat, but you’re here for the namesake specialty and maybe one of their …
I’ve walked by Oh! Dumplings countless times in Cobble Hill but only recently had the chance to stop in. It’s not much more than a take-out operation and the Chinese menu goes well beyond dumplings. But since I am on a constant search for the city’s best, I stuck with the most typical. I chose …
The Place: 46 is not the number the kids were going crazy for last year (that was 6-7), but maybe it should have been. This unassuming little shop (46 Mott) is almost like a Chinese bodega selling homemade Cantonese pastries, snacks, and frozen food. It’s a great place to stop by to look around and …
The Place: I’ve mostly missed the pop-up phenomenon that started during COVID as I no longer have the time and patience to handle insane wait times and special instructions. However, I was very happy to experience Amanda’s Good Morning Café, which seems to have turned into a sort of permanent pop-up. Certain mornings of the …
THE SPOT: One Girl Cookies has been one of my favorite Brooklyn neighborhood spots for years and years occupying a sleepy side street in Cobble Hill and beloved by the community. When visiting this mom and pop (husband and wife, actually) business on my own or with tour groups, I mostly focus on their solid …
The Place: I am not generally a fan or frequent visitor of Midtown steakhouses. I worked at one for many years and I think I’ve had my fill of artery-clogging overindulgence. Plus, most are very corporate, absurdly expensive, and more about the location than the food itself. I figured I’d make an exception with Cuerno …
NY’ers know to eat the world, you just have to hop aboard the international express, also known as the wild 7 Train… If you want to be hard core and travel the globe in Queens, join me for an epic international food tour through Jackson Heights and Elmhurst – we eat everything from Peruvian food …
THE PLACE: Most of the coffee shops along Steinway Street in Astoria have puffs of sweet hookah smoke wafting out of the doorway. Mokafé and a few other new Middle Eastern shops (including one up the street with a very similar name) focus more on the drinks and pastries than the flavored tobacco. My friend, …
THE PLACE: Even though I had read about and bookmarked Fonty’s, it felt like a real undiscovered hidden gem when I accidentally wandered by one day in the maze-like streets of the West Village. Inside there are lots of tempting food products (mostly Indian or Indian-inspired and influenced) with colorful designs and intriguing flavors. The …
THE PLACE: Claud is a cozy upscale wine bar owned by a team that has since opened up some other well-regarded sister restaurants all around it. Upstairs is Penny (the seafood haven) and a few blocks north is the brand new Stars, which is a more intimate space with a greater focus on the wine. …
THE SPOT: The newest location of local favorite Breads has opened along the waterfront in Brooklyn Bridge Park recently. Hugging the border between touristy Dumbo and local Brooklyn Heights, this new stand is a welcome addition to breakfast and lunch eaters from both demographics. In addition to their famous pastries, babkas, and sandwiches, they are …
THE PLACE: I miss the Brooklyn of my era when food and drink artisans were working to bring farm-to-table food production back to the borough. It became a bit of a parody with the hipster baker or brewer. But Brooklyn Granary is not something to laugh at. They are doing some really exciting things by …
THE PLACE: I knew Nounou Noodles was new but I didn’t realize it was “new new”. The waiter told me they opened just a few weeks ago. When I came for a weekday lunch, it was just me and one other table, but I could envision this place filling up for the evenings. It’s a …
THE PLACE: We were thrilled to get a reservation at Lola’s, one of the somewhat under-the-radar restaurants that made its way onto NY Times’ Top 100 Restaurant list of last year. It’s not as buzzy as others, but for those in the know, it’s pretty popular. We sat at the chef’s counter and it reminded …
The Place: If it weren’t for the blackboard on the sidewalk or the intoxicating smells seeping out the door, you’d think Yanni’s Coffee was just a neighborhood third wave coffee shop. And you’d be right. I especially love how this is the one and only location. Yanni’s does not look to be trying to conquer …
I really should learn my lesson and not be sucked in by the newest gimmick in the food world. It almost always sets me up for disappointment. But Moonrise Bagels, which is the hottest new bagel opening in the city and has garnered the predictable long lines and social media hysteria, is something I had …
The Place: In many ways, BKK Thai feels like a Midtown restaurant, but I found it to be a lot more ambitious than what this neighborhood implies. It’s sleek and narrow with a modern, funky vibe. It very much feels like the after-theater restaurants in and around Hell’s Kitchen. Some of these places have good …
The Place: Depending upon which entrance of Essex Market you use, you might walk by Rebel Cheese after Formaggio Essex and think this food hall has two cheese shops. You wouldn’t be wrong exactly, but Rebel Cheese is quite different from other cheese shops. It’s in a prime spot of the recently relocated Essex Market …
The Place: Last year, Long Island City gained an exciting Asian food hall not so dissimilar to the ones you can find further out in Queens in Flushing, which are, of course, not so dissimilar to the ones you can find in Shanghai. On my visit to the LIC Food Hall on a cold weekday …
The Place: I was thrilled to hear that one of my absolute favorite Chinese restaurants in the city has expanded to Midtown. Lin & Daughters’ newest location is cornered into that strange little walkway between 26th and 27th Street. I have always thought of this as a little hub for fast casual offerings for nearby …