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’m counting down the 100 best dishes I tasted in 2017… SADLY, SAMESA IS NOW CLOSED. Leave it to hipster chefs to put an interesting spin on the bar snacks we know too well as chicken wings. Here they fry them and season them with a dry rub of za’atar spice. It gives it a distinct …
I’m counting down the 100 best dishes I tasted in 2017… Translating to “little potato pan”, you can get a good sense of what these loaded skillets consist of. On their own, they are the best hash browns you’ll ever had with a generous portion of bacon and onions. It comes topped with your choice …
I’m counting down the 100 best dishes I tasted in 2017… I thought the concept at Pig Bleecker was pretty ingenious. As far as I know, it’s the first restaurant to take components and techniques from American BBQ and incorporating them into other more refined dishes. Some dishes worked better than others, but by far …
I’m counting down the 100 best dishes I tasted in 2017… I’ve often sang the praises of the yeast bombs made by Dough – always slathered with a perfectly balanced flavored glaze (blood orange is king). But this year was the first time I had tried one of their stuffed doughnuts. and I don’t think I’ll …
Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City SADLY, FIFTY IS NOW CLOSED. When I talk about falafel, I usually say if I was forced into becoming a vegetarian, this is the food I would eat all the time. But I realize that is a …
I’ve been to Lisbon more than any other city in Europe. I have truly been seduced by the beauty, the food, and the people of this great historic capital. But it wasn’t until I took the Experience Lisbon Walk that I really got under the skin of this city. My guide Sofia from Lisbon Urban …
My search for the best pizza in New York continues…. The students at Fordham University in the Bronx are luckier than most college kids. Not only are they steps away from the most densely populated authentic Italian food mecca in NYC (Arthur Avenue), but they also get to have Pugsley as their local pizza joint. …
Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City My least favorite time to go food shopping are the days leading up to the holidays – most notably the week of Thanksgiving. Food markets are a zoo with long lines and shops running out of …
My search for the best beer in New York continues…. Maybe you’ve heard of this little Broadway show Hamilton. And maybe you’ve heard it’s impossible to get tickets. Well maybe the second best thing is to drink a beer made by Gun Hill Brewing with help from the cast of the musical. It makes sense that …
Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City As I talked to the friendly guy behind the counter at Golda (perhaps the owner of this breezy Bed-Stuy café), he asked if I lived in the neighborhood. When I told him that I lived quite a …
Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City I generally don’t go in for gimmicks – and there are a lot of them in the food world. Granted, I’d be happy to try them but I usually see through them as gimmicks. I was …
My search for the best pickles in New York continues…. SADLY, BRINE & DINE IS NOW CLOSED. I stumbled upon Brooklyn Brine was I was exploring the huge manufacturing and food facility known as Industry City. I had been out here years ago to make a video on Robicelli’s Cupcakes but that was back when these …
Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City SADLY, SHERMAN’S IS NOW CLOSED. Years ago, a modest little food truck called Souvlaki GR was all the rage. It won the Vendy Award (two years in a row) and we started including them regularly on our …
Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City I meet a lot of Australians – probably more than most Americans. One of the things about Australians is that they travel a lot and on almost every tour I lead, I find there are at least …
My search for the best pizza in New York continues…. When giving tours, I almost always get asked where to get the best pizza. And as you can imagine, I have a long answer for that. But many of the tourists I meet are actually looking for the best pizza in Midtown, which is a …
Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City Every week in New York, there are a slew of great local restaurants that are forced to close due to rising rents, changes in the food world, etc. With all these unfortunate changes, it’s sometimes a relief …
Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City SADLY, EL ATORADERO BROOKLYN IS NOW CLOSED. There are certain restaurants that I try so hard to get to, but it takes longer than I hoped. The Brooklyn iteration of El Atoradero (which I visited up in …
Somewhere back in my lineage, some of my ancestors came to New York from Hungary. Unfortunately, their stories and where they came from in the country has been lost to time. But when I visited Budapest last summer, I certainly felt a strong connection to the energy and the history of the city. I can’t imagine …
My search for the best dumplings in New York continues…. SADLY, CHINA BLUE IS NOW CLOSED. A friend of mine who lives in Pittsburgh recently asked me if I had ever had soup dumplings. He saw them featured on a television show and thought they sounded very interesting. Have I ever had soup dumplings?? I told him …
Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City I’ve always found it amusing that breakfast and dessert are often interchangeable. What you eat as the final bite of the night is also acceptable as the first thing you eat in the morning. So even though …