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.
Woo hoo! The list is complete. And while there were no whistles, bells, or even much excitement from my final list item, it feels good to have completed the mission and tasted the food. All the food. I was hoping to end this journey a week or so ago at Brooklyn Fare. But the ever …
The future of ice cream involves liquid nitrogen and choosing your own base and mix-in’s. Just like everything else, it’s all about choices and technology. And soon enough, I’m sure we’ll all be ordering our customized ice cream cone from our Iphones. There was a little shop called Lulu & Mooky’s in the Lower East …
There’s a whole underbelly of pizza experts in New York. I can pretend to be an aficionado, but when it comes down to it, I’m just a pizza snob who happens to have his own blog. And web series. Don’t forget the videos, people! So when Jason Feirman of I Dream of Pizza picked Sac’s …
SADLY, CIAO BELLA IS NOW CLOSED. THEIR GELATO AND SORBET ARE STILL AVAILABLE AT RETAIL STORES. Many years ago, I worked at a great little French bistro called Café Joul. In many ways, it was the place I first discovered quality dining in the city. I really developed a passion for the food there and the …
My intention was to make this dinner the grand finale, number 100, last list item, big party. Since the deal at Brooklyn Fare is an eight-course dinner for $135, it felt like a celebration. It was definitely much anticipated. Since I first got the list, I was intrigued by the premise here. This wasn’t just …
I want to say up front here that I accept all religions. I believe everybody should be able to practice whatever it is they believe (as long as nobody is being hurt in the process). However when religions become too organized or preachy, I tend to become a bit annoyed and uncomfortable. But I’m somewhat …
SADLY, GROM IS NOW CLOSED IN NEW YORK. OTHER LOCATIONS ARE SITLL OPEN AROUND THE WORLD. It seems like a quaint peaceful neighborhood, but NY foodies know that the West Village is a battleground. If there were to be food throwdowns (outside of Bobby Flay’s Food Network show), they would most likely happen on and …
After I didn’t get cast in The Bucket List (the food show I auditioned for previously), I had to get up off the ground, wipe the tears away, and push onwards and upwards. Before I had time to mourn, another food show posted a breakdown looking for a charismatic host who loved to travel and …
SADLY, THE GENERAL GREENE IS NOW CLOSED. All I’ve been hearing about since last summer (besides the Iphone 4) is the General Greene’s ice cream cart. It was built from local tools and parts by chef Nicholas Morgenstein. So of course, that was a brilliant marketing tool for the restaurant. And then the accolades for the …
Besides the Red Sox/Yankees rival, I don’t think New Yorkers have too many problems with Bostonites and vice versa. Okay, the baseball thing is a big deal, I get it. But judging from the number of Emack & Bolio shops around the city, I don’t think us Yanks have too many issues eating their ice …
This food adventure is getting expensive. Time Out likes to run the gamut. Some of their list items are a steal. The taro cakes were 75 cents a piece. Others, like the $26 Black Label Burger at Minetta Tavern, are definitely an investment. But none are so financially confusing as the Wakame Butter at Corton. …
The future of ice cream seems to have ended. Or just needs a publicist. Lulu & Mooky’s has always been an intriguing concept. It’s a little shop on the Lower East Side that makes liquid nitrogen ice cream. You pick your flavor and they freeze it for you on the spot with lots of smoke …
Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or a sewer hole), you know that one of the latest fads in the food world is selling food from a truck. New York has always had a history of street food vendors – in fact I give a tour about it with the company Urban Oyster (shameless …
There’s a very interesting phenomenon in this country concerning deli meats. It’s a slowly dwindling cuisine across America. You’d be amazed at how many kids in middle America don’t even know what a pastrami is. When I filmed the last episode of my webseries, Adam interviewed a high schooler who had never had pastrami before …
When you spot more than one celebrity at a place in the West Village, you know they are officially on the map. Well, that and because the smart map apps are pretty comprehensive nowadays. I had no trouble finding L’Arte del Gelato with my Iphone and the line out the door didn’t hurt. I got …
The blurb in Time Out about the Brisket Sandwich at David’s Brisket House ends with a warning: “Don’t forget the gravy.” Guess what? I forgot the f-ing gravy!!! I knew the sandwich tasted a little dry. I got up at one point to ask for more mustard. I don’t know why one of the friendly …
And without further ado, I give you episode three: Brian promises to wait until Adam returns from his summer job to film the next episode. But when he discovers that another food blogger is also making a video about NY’s best ice cream, the competition becomes too much. Also check out: nycfoodguy.com
SADLY, METRO CAFE IS NOW CLOSED. When I first saw Time Out’s list and read that one of the dishes was from Metro Cafe, I almost ripped up the issue right then and there. How could they possibly claim that one of those cheap, generic lunch chains in midtown had one of the best dishes of …
Paulie Gee is the man. Seriously. Paul Gianonne worked as an engineer but had a passion for pizza and dreamed of opening his own pizzeria one day. He became a presence on the NY pizza blogs and started inviting the pizza community over to his house in Jersey to try his homemade pizza. Brilliant idea. …
In anticipation of Episode 003, here are the first two Eat This NY webisodes. You know, it’s like when the season finale of a hit show airs and the network re-airs the previous few episodes. Except I don’t have any special pop-ups or anything like that. I’m going to let these speak for themselves. EPISODE …