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.
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 …
SADLY, DENNY’S DELIGHT IS NOW CLOSED. I find myself on Coney Island so rarely (in fact, I’ve only been three times in the nine years I’ve lived in New York) that I feel I need to take full advantage of the journey and explore and taste as much as I can. No, I didn’t ride the …
SADLY, BLUE MARBLE IS NOW CLOSED. I really really wanted to like Blue Marble. Really I did. It’s co-owned by Alexis Miesen and Jennifer Dundas, two friends who had a dream of making ice cream. Dundas is a working New York stage actress and we have mutual friends, so I had a particular interest in …
Somebody in the food department at Time Out New York must really love pain. I mean, mouth-numbing, overwhelming spicy pain. So many of the list items are spicy dishes. Sliced Fish with Chili Sauce, Cumin Lamb, and now the Mary’s Place Cocktail. The cocktail’s name doesn’t warn imbibers that they will basically be destroying their …
SADLY, CO. IS NOW CLOSED. I have been to Co. or Company three times now. And what’s so funny about that is, I don’t love it. There are so many restaurants in the city for me to try, so why do I repeat one of the more mediocre ones? It’s all part of the job, my …
One thing I don’t think about when it comes to Mexican food is lamb. I think of tacos in many different flavors: chicken, pork, beef, beans, fish, vegetables. Even the occasional cactus. But I’ve never even seen lamb on the menu at Mexican restaurants (or maybe I haven’t paid close enough attention). And I do …
For all you meat fans out there (you can skip this post if you’re a vegan, vegetarian, or pescatarian), there is an exciting event taking place this weekend. The Big Apple BBQ gets a lot of press in June, but on Sunday, July 11, the first public Meatopia will take place on Governor’s Island. It …
For all intents and purposes, my pizza journey is over. Of course I couldn’t make it to every single pizzeria in the city and spots continue to open up every week. But I made my peace (piece?) with the pizza search and even wrote up a conclusion. Well, thanks to Jason Feirman and his Pizza …
SADLY, LAST LICKS IS NOW CLOSED. I don’t know why baseball and ice cream go so well together, but it’s true. Maybe it’s because the magic of the All American sport and the sweet creaminess of rocky road are both the object of many young boys’ affections. But ice cream crosses gender lines, so shouldn’t we …
I am so close to completing this list that any little screw-up or mishap makes me really nervous. Before we went to Motorino, the hip, over-hyped pizza shop, I checked their menus online. Time Out said that the Octopus Conserva was only available at the East Village location. However, upon inspection, I learned that the …
What the hell is an aloo and why would I want to eat its balls? That was sort of my running joke with this list item. Aloo actually translates to potato and I was more than relieved to discover there were not animal parts involved. You never know with these little spots out in Queens. …
SADLY, RONNYBROOK MILK BAR IS NOW CLOSED. Upstate in the Hudson Valley at Ronnybrook Farm, cows are milked and raised the old-fashioned way. No hormones, no homogenization, no pesticides. In other words, it’s all so organic that it makes organic labeled products look positively processed. The only thing that is not eco-friendly is the commute you …