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.
Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City I’m not a fan of sequels in general, but I certainly wouldn’t dream of watching a follow-up to a film before viewing the original. Could you imagine how confused one would be by Electric Boogaloo without …
My search for the best falafel in New York continues…. As I continue to do the research, the truth sets in. This falafel search could take me eons. Neighborhoods in the far out reaches of Queens and Brooklyn are home to many Middle Eastern families and that means there are a wide array of restaurants …
Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City Food should be delicious and filling, no doubt, but I get most excited when food is playful and surprising. And if a dish can be all those things at once, then it’s something I’ll be thinking …
Who knew I had a future career in the music industry? I’ve finally dropped my first music video where I take a little inspiration from Jay-Z and Alicia Keys by proclaiming New York City as the greatest food city in the world. I teamed up with the lovely ladies from MVPleez for a musical culinary …
My search for the best falafel in New York continues…. SADLY, HOOMOOS ASLI IS NOW CLOSED. Unless you’re from a Middle Eastern country, you shouldn’t pronounce the word for chickpea puree as “hoomoos” with the long “oo” sound. In this country, we say “hummus.” But the Israeli-Yemeni café, Hoomoos Asli, on the border of Soho and Nolita …
Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City I’ve been hopelessly in love with Wafels & Dinges since we first started working with the truck on our food cart tours 4 years ago. My exclamations to tour attendees that this truck will change your …
SADLY, NEAPOLITAN EXPRESS IS NOW CLOSED. My understanding of Neapolitan pizza is that it must contain San Marzano tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella cheese, type 00 wheat flour, must be rolled by hand, and must be baked in a wood-fired oven. These come from the long set of rules established by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana. Sounds …
SADLY, HYBIRD IS NOW CLOSED. Fried chicken drumsticks. Dumplings. Cupcakes. Slushies. What a strange collection of dishes on one menu. A perfect name for this fast food joint nestled inside Chelsea Market would be “Hybrid”. And that’s what I had been calling Questlove’s ode to things he loves to eat. But then somebody pointed out …
My search for the best beer in New York continues…. Breweries are opening up so quickly in the New York City area that it is almost impossible to keep track. And they’re not just confined to the hip areas of Brooklyn anymore. Singlecut Beersmiths popped up last year, seemingly out of the blue, and started …
Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City Exectuive chefs come and go all the time at restaurants in this city. Even at places with an established and consistent reputation like The Harrison. The Tribeca restaurant is owned by Chef Jimmy Bradley, but over the …
My search for the best falafel in New York continues…. New York City is the city that never sleeps, but certain neighborhoods are definitely more nocturnal than others. Williamsburg, Brooklyn is one of those neighborhoods that’s up all night. Back in the day, it’s where I would meet up with my friends starting at 10 …
Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City Walking around Bay Ridge, Brooklyn really got me nostalgic for when I used to live in Queens. The streets are lined with independently owned shops and an intoxicating smell of spices emenating from ethnic restaurants and cafés. …
My search for the best ice cream in New York continues …. SADLY, JE & JO IS NOW CLOSED. There’s a tiny shop called Je & Jo that serves really interesting homemade organic ice cream. I have no idea how I knew it was there since it is nestled deep into west Hell’s Kitchen almost at …
Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City On the website for his upscale Mexican restaurant Empellón Cocina, Chef Alex Stupak claims his food is “informed by authenticity, but not limited by it.” The former pastry chef grew up in Massachusetts, worked at Wd-50, …
My search for the best falafel in New York continues…. SADLY, AZURI CAFE IS NOW CLOSED. Most people who are familiar with Azuri Café, know about the legend who runs the place. If Domenico DeMarco (from DiFara) is NY’s true pizza legend, then Ezra Cohen is no doubt the same for falafel. The Israeli chef is …
Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City It’s very rare that I donate two posts in one week to the same food establishment. But I was so impressed by the sour cream walnut apple pie at Little Pie Company when I filmed the …
To celebrate America’s birthday on the 4th of July, I don’t want anything to get in my way of being as patriotic as possible. And that means eating apple pie and nothing but apple pie. Special Thanks: littlepiecompany.com midtownlunch.com ultraclay.com
SADLY, ALLEVA DAIRY IS NOW CLOSED. As a general rule, New Yorkers don’t go to Little Italy. And if we do, we’re certainly not doing it for Italian food. As Chinatown spread north, most of the Italians who lived in this area migrated to other parts of the city. According to the NY Times, only 5% …
My search for the best falafel in New York continues…. I bring groups by Moshe’s Falafel every Friday during the food cart tours I lead for Turnstile Tours. But we don’t sample the falafel at this cart, instead I point out the uniquely designed structure itself. The actual cart is a brilliant piece of customization. …
Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City There’s no question that the star of the show at Shabu-Tatsu is the DIY shabu shabu, yakiniku, and sukiyaki dishes. Imagine fondue meets Korean BBQ and you have this interactive Japanese meal. Shabu shabu (which translates …