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 you grew up in this country sometime during the last forty years, odds are you have a childhood memory of eating Chinese food. But the Chinese food we consumed (most likely Cantonese) probably was more Americanized than we realized – egg fu young, pupu platters, and chow mein. And at the end of those …
There are these little cafeteria-type ethnic restaurants all throughout midtown. They’re one step up from those scary steam tables at the corner deli. But some of them turn out really delicious food. However. it’s a little daunting to try to figure out which are worth stopping in to and which are a week away from …
SADLY, BIG GAY ICE CREAM TRUCK IS NOW CLOSED. We all know ice cream makes you gay. And when I say gay, I mean happy. Skippingly, exuberantly happy. And, in the case of a brilliant ice cream truck downtown, we might have to use both definitions of the word gay. Now, of course, enjoying treats …
SADLY, LULA’S SWEET APOTHECARY IS NOW CLOSED. I almost missed Lula’s Sweet Apothecary when I first walked by it. It’s in a very strange location for an old timey ice cream parlor. It’s far east in the Village on a grungy street that’s crowded with dirty dive bars, hipster restaurants and alternative boutique shops. And Lula’s …
SADLY, A VOCE IS NOW CLOSED. The Uptown incarnation of A Voce opened late last year to lots of fanfare and good reviews. Since then, its buzz has seemed to fizzle and simmer. You don’t hear much about it anymore, sitting up there in the Time Warner Building with its beautiful views of Central Park. But …
SADLY, CONES IS NOW CLOSED. For the longest time I thought Cones was an Italian owned gelateria. The signs on the walls even call the stuff gelato. And the mouthfeel of the frozen treats are definitely more dense and richer than your typical ice cream. But just because this stuff is made like gelato doesn’t …
I think I can live in this city forever and still discover new nooks, crannies, and hidden neighborhoods in the sky. Tudor City is exactly that. I came to Convivio last year (when I was attempting to consume all of TONY’s 2008 list items) and was amazed to discover this three block stretch of beautiful …
Ice cream at a steakhouse is usually forgettable. It’s often consumed after a gut-busting meal and it’s possibly more painful to gobble up the dessert than it is pleasurable. But even still, the ice cream is rarely more than the usual vanilla or chocolate. And it’s almost never homemade. Quality Meats has never played by …
SADLY, GOLDEN MALL IS NOW CLOSED. Ah, the Golden Mall! It’s a food adventure in itself. For those more timid eaters or the ones with a fear of the 7 train, let me tell you about it. The Golden Mall is in Flushing, Queens (the other Chinatown) and it’s more a basement crammed with food …
SADLY, BROOKLYN ICE CREAM FACTORY IS NOW CLOSED. There is no doubt that, exterior wise, Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory is the most aesthetically pleasing of all the ice cream shops in the city. It’s on the Brooklyn Waterfront in DUMBO, just down the block from Grimaldi’s Pizza. And based on the lines here (I waited 20 …
A few months ago, I was contacted to audition for an upcoming cable food show called The Bucket List. It was all about food you got to try before you die. The instructions were to follow the script and pick a favorite restaurant that I thought was worthy of this distinction. No question that the …
SADLY, XIE XIE IS NOW CLOSED. A cool thing about living in one of the food capitals of the country is that if there’s a famous chef on Top Chef or a restaurant documented on the Food Network, there’s a good chance we can hop a train and go taste the food. And isn’t that what …
I’ve spent the last nine months searching for authentic New York food. In case you’re just joining me now, I’ve done pizza, corned beef/pastrami, and now ice cream. So what about that other quintessential NY dish – the cheap turkey and swiss sandwiches from the corner deli? When I first moved to the city this …
SADLY, SCREME GELATO BAR IS NOW CLOSED. There’s been a lot of controversy lately in the food blog and media world revolving around free food. There’s no mystery here: it’s one of my favorite things. But stemming from an article in the Times about food writer Josh Ozersky’s wedding that was catered by some big …
I sort of think the foodie movement has gone a little too far when chefs have hot dogs inspired by and named after them. What’s next – a Tom Colicchio action figure? PDT, the secret bar behind scuzzy East Village hot dog staple Crif Dogs, offers exclusive hot dogs (all cooked at Crif Dogs but …
SADLY, GUERILLA ICE CREAM IS NOW CLOSED. Everybody’s gotta have a gimmick, right? It’s certainly true when it comes to ice cream. Sure, you could make simple flavors and hark back to the old ice cream shops of the 5o’s. But isn’t it fun when you flamboyantly dress up your Mr. Softee truck (Big Gay Ice …
Now here’s a great example of how New York is so diverse. We were seeking out another list item and were brought to Ninth Avenue International Foods. It’s a Greek-owned food store. The cashier is of Hispanic descent, they sell everything from Israeli cous cous to Italian meats, and everybody was gathered around a TV …
I’ll never forget on one of my first visits to New York touring NBC Studios and then walking through a strange underground mall. I remember high-end shops, fast moving foot traffic, and food courts. It was an exciting hybrid of New York urban life and my shopping mall rich South Florida adolescent. When I first …
People love to tell me what I should tackle on my next food journey. There are so many options in New York. But the one that seems to get recommended the most often are hot dogs. It’s clearly a New York dish and I suppose I’ll have to get to them eventually. But I’ll admit, …
When I received the egg sandwich from Bark Hot Dogs, I couldn’t help but think of all those early morning fast food breakfasts I had on family road trips. This thing looks like it could have come from a McDonald’s microwave. Did Time Out really send me to taste this? But knowing that this casual …