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.
If I was on Family Feud and the question was “Name A Place with A Bouncer,” I imagine “pizza place” would not be among the top 5 answers on the board. I’d like to think I’d do well with “strip club” or “dive bar”. But if any of those 100 people surveyed had ever waited …
SADLY, FRANNY’S IS NOW CLOSED. A new day is upon us. Who would have thought a few years ago that you could walk into a pizza place and find out where every single ingredient came from and on what farm it was grown? And I’m not even talking about the required San Marzano tomatoes (which are …
When I get pizza, I want it to be made by people who know what they’re doing. I guess that’s obvious, but how many times have you gone into a generic NY pizza joint and the pizza is being cooked by Mexican line cooks or Bengali entrepreneurs? Nothing against those guys, but do you think …
Sometimes maybe I’m just wrong and the rest of the world is right. For instance, I never liked The Sixth Sense. I just didn’t think it was a good movie and I saw through all its smoke and mirrors. My eclectic tastes and smug opinions have often been controversial among my friends. So this is …
It’s weird to feel like you’re a tourist in your own city. However, for me, the experience is oddly exciting because those of us who live here tend to take the city for granted. I’ve always been one of the very few New Yorkers who actually enjoy walking through Times Square either right before Broadway …
If Ray’s is the McDonald’s of New York pizza, then Patsy’s is the Starbucks. They seem just as abundant but they’re a lot hipper and well-regarded. Okay, maybe there’s only seven locations, but it seems like I pass one more often than I don’t.They’ve become neighborhood staples that are known for their pasta and salads …
Nobody in New York seems to eat dinner before 7pm. It just doesn’t happen. If you eat dinner before 7, you haven’t gotten the memo. Or maybe you’re just old. Old people eat dinner early. Whenever I go visit my grandmother in Florida, dinner is at 5pm sharp. 5:00?? I just finished lunch, for Chrissake!! …
Which came first – the cheese or the tomato? The answer isn’t nearly as mysterious as the much publicized chicken and egg debate. The first pizzas in Naples were known as tomato pies and were really food for the poor people. Cheese didn’t become a popular pizza topping until later. When Genaro Lombardi (perhaps Geno …