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.
Would you pay $60 for a loaf of bread?? You might think it’s a joke but a new Austrian bakery in Soho is seriously charging that much for a 3 pound loaf of specialty made rye sourdough. Not sure if I want to sing or cry…
The Place: I was hesitant to pick Restaurante Bom Pesqueiro for one of our meals in Ponta Delgada on the island of São Miguel in the Azores. It had great reviews, but it was in a run-down out-of-the-way shopping center along the pier. At the front section, it felt very touristy, but as we headed …
7.5 THE SPOT: As I descended the exclusive-feeling NYC location of Din Tai Fung, I felt like I was entering a typical Midtown steakhouse but rather than businessmen, young tourists fitted with iphones clung to the lobby seats waiting on a table. Din Tai Fung is not a local steakhouse, but a large chain of …
The Place: Renting a car and driving it around most of Europe is stressful. But as long as you manage to bring your rental car back in one piece, it can be very rewarding when you make it to your destination. Driving up from the charming fishing village of Câmara de Lobos into the mountains …
THE SPOT: This 24 hour iconic doughnut shop has been on my radar for many years – not quite since 1964 when they opened, but close. It recently expanded to a second location near NYU, but the spot on 14th Street has always felt like a local dive. And inside it does feel like a …
The Place: After a few days in Lisbon, we headed to the island of Madeira and enjoyed some more days exploring the city of Funchal. I was surprised at how alive and local this city was during the weekday. Obviously much smaller than Lisbon, but still bustling and lively on a smaller scale. Things did …
The Place: I love, love, love Lisbon. This summer was my fourth time in this amazing city. While most will compare its rolling hills, iconic bridge, and waterfront location to San Francisco, I also think it has a lot in common with New York. I love wandering the neighborhoods to people watch and see the …
The Place: There’s not just one, two, or even three Egyptian seafood restaurants in Astoria where you can literally select your own fresh fish to be cooked just for you. There are, as far as I know, four places like this. And they are all worth a visit. IBN Hamido Seafood might be the most …
The Place: You know you’ve hit a goldmine when you see locals lining up alongside tourists at a divey seafood spot. Locust Point Steamers felt legit and far enough away from the tourist section of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. We were here for the weekend and local steamed crabs were high on my must-eat list. Locust …
The Place: Most New Yorkers will never forget Ample Hills Creamery, which started as a reliable local ice cream shop that went through a roller coaster ride of a business venture. They still have a few locations without the original owners involved, but I won’t recount all the twists and turns but the latest is …
The Place: If you spent much time in the FiDi, you know there are all these random little nooks and crannies and many of them are home to secret gems of bakeries, sandwich shops, or coffee bars. It might not be the city’s most exciting food neighborhood, but it has some of the city’s most …
The Place: I already wrote about Guzzle (and their conjoined sister Sip) last week when I praised one of their unique cocktails. This highly regarded cocktail bar duo is very difficult to get into without advanced planning. So when I did strike jackpot and got a table, I ordered as much as I could within …
The Place: The long line during the day on the corner of Cornelia Street in the Village is for Arcane Estate, which was recently voted one of the best coffee shops in the world. Then when the evening approaches, another line forms a few doors down in front of Sip & Guzzle, which was recently …
The Place: I had to leave Astoria and come back before I could discover the wonder of Al-Sham Sweets. After moving away from Astoria for over a decade, I felt like the prodigal son returned home. I’m now happily leading tours of the neighborhood for Nice Guy Tours. And in training for it, I learned …
The Place: I try not to go in for viral foods or dishes that are trying to go viral, but I am as curious as the next NY eater. I actually really wanted some soft serve or fro yo or something on a recent sweltering day and of course, the line for frozen yogurt was …
The Place: It’s very easy to miss Lev NYC since it is dressed up with generic Sabrett umbrellas and doesn’t even seem to have a Google profile. I had stumbled across this somewhat decked out food cart on the northern edge of Soho (in front of the REI store) and felt so lucky to have …
The Place: Beto’s Carnitas & Guisados, which is a husband and wife owned business (they’re usually on premises and very friendly), looks like a cramped take-out spot but actually has a pretty sweet hidden eating area in the back. This place feels very much like a welcoming neighborhood mom-and-pop business. I truly wish I was …
The Place: I have such a strong connection to this particular storefront. It used to be my regular haunt for some amazing goat’s milk soft serve (way before the kids waiting in line for fro yo today called themselves New Yorkers). Then it transformed to a cool soup take out, then a charming Japanese gluten …
The Place: In the early days of my food adventuring around NYC, we discovered this great little ceviche and cocktail bar called Desnuda. It felt like a secret little spot that was doing something specific and great. It’s been closed for a long time now, unfortunately, but I have been hoping someday that something would …
THE SPOT: Traze is actually a bit difficult to find despite being just a few blocks from the 7 train in Long Island City. It does not have your typical storefront, but looks like it’s inside someone’s apartment. I don’t need much from a pizza spot and there is a small seating area and the …