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.
It seems like I’ve been doing this for so long that I’ve covered all the old time spots, but that is so far from true. While I’ve been to El Castillo de Jagua, the Dominican gem in the heart of the Lower East Side, I’ve never written about it on these pages. I think I …
If only AbuQir was open back when I lived in Astoria, I would have given them all my money. I used to live in this residential part of Queens for many years and I frequented both seafood markets and Egyptian restaurants around this street, but at that time (as far as I know), no business …
Perhaps Central Asian food is the next big thing? After Farida, Tengri Tagh is the second restaurant from this region in Manhattan that I’m showcasing this year. This food has been prevalent in parts of Queens and deep in southern Brooklyn, but the fact that you can now find it in both major business districts …
I am a sucker for sampler plates. I used to love Pu Pu Platters as a kid. And if a brewery doesn’t have a flight option, I’m at a loss for what to do. So it was a no brainer for me to order the colorful Lucky Six Soup Dumplings at Shanghai You Garden, a …
I’m very excited to start another search for another iconic New York dish. This one has always been in the back of my mind, but now that I have a seven-year old who loves when I bring him home cookies, it’s a no brainer. I’ll officially announce my search for the best black and white …
SADLY, ZILLIONS PIZZA IS NOW CLOSED. I almost skipped over Zillions Pizza. While the old movie marquee and neon sign is rather inviting, the neighborhood it’s located in is not. Sandwiched right between Cannabis stores and behind Port Authority, this is not the most appetizing of blocks. But I was trying to grab a quick …
Trying to find some really good food on Coney Island is tough. You’re mostly here for the kitsch and crappy fast food. I somehow managed to track down some decent tacos and ice cream recently, but more often than not, you’re going to want to eat at Nathan’s. If you’re a first timer to Coney …
I have been doing this food blog thing for a long time. I remember first visiting Roberta’s when it was still an under-the-radar pizza restaurant in an up-and-coming Brooklyn neighborhood. Now anybody who knows anything about the New York food world, knows about Roberta’s. In many ways, Roberta’s has peaked and cooled down when it …
SADLY, BAD HABIT IS NOW CLOSED. Kids can always smell out an ice cream shop. The first time I visited Caleta, I was amazed at how many kids tried to drag their parents into the shop from the street. The things is, this doesn’t look like an ice cream shop. When they first opened, the ice …
Make something crazy and wacky and odds are I will try it. I read about the unusual fruit coffees at Not As Bitter and thought “I would definitely try those.” It must have been somewhere in the back of my subconscious, because I just randomly wandered down East 10th Street. Durian coffee was not part …
My search for the best beer in New York continues…. At first this Five Boroughs beer caught my eye because of the design and then the name (which sort of hinted at a very strange combination), and then finally the low ABV. I love big IPA’s, but in my older age, I can’t drink too …
Kanyakumari is a gem of a restaurant that does not seem to get as much hype as some others this past year. My guess is they don’t have an influential publicist? Too bad I’m not so influential because I think this place is great. It’s a modern, high-end Indian restaurant that focuses on different regions …
Bagels are changing (evolving?) in New York City. Perhaps it started with Black Seed’s introduction of Montreal-style bagels to the city. Things have gotten darker, smaller, and crunchier since then. They’ve also somehow turned into a trendy Instagram sensation. The bagel – crazy! No doubt that started with the colorful rainbow bagels, but now, it …
Aside from the obvious tropical location miles from the actual rainforest, La Estación could easily fit in New York City. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if one day they open a location in New York. The owners are New York Puerto Ricans (or Nuyoricans) who opened a barbecue restaurant in Puerto Rico almost two …
So I’ll admit up front that not every perfect variable was in place for my critique of Ogliastro Pizza Bar. I was dining with my gluten-free wife and my seven-year old son. So the pizzas may have been ordered slightly different than I would have if I was dining alone. We stopped by after a …
We knew there were fancy fine dining restaurants throughout San Juan. It’s an under-rated food city, but to be honest, most of them didn’t really appeal to me. We were also traveling with our seven year old who couldn’t care less about elevated cuisine. So we knew fancy dinners were not going to be the …
We took a family trip down to Puerto Rico recently and found great eats. I’ll be writing about some of them over the next few weeks, but the one I present today is not one I expected to write about. Or even like. Piña Coladas were invented in San Juan many years ago and have …
Am I in a bagel shop or an ice cream shop? That is the question that came up recently at Bagel Pub. It smells and feels like bagels and at the end of the day, I’ll be walking out with a breakfast or lunch sandwich and not a cone. But the colorful display of cream …
My search for the best ice cream in New York continues …. There is another Little Italy developing along Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village. This was once a very Italian neighborhood and now young Italian food entrepreneurs are returning with Instagram-friendly shops. Pamina Dolci e Gelato is as Italian as it gets. It’s right next …
If only I could dedicate more blog posts to Central Asian food. If there were as many Uzbeki or Kazakh restaurants around NYC as there are Thai restaurants, you just might see more posts like this. Farida used to exist a few blocks away from Port Authority and I picked up dinner of kebabs once …