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 used to be a tradition every year to go to a different BBQ restaurant for my birthday. For the first 5 or 6 years I lived in New York, I’d chow down on baby back ribs. I think the tradition started when I was growing up in Florida but I made sure to explore …
Before I began this crazy caloric search for the best corned beef and pastrami in the city, there was only one place I thought deserved that title. How could you not go to Katz’s Delicatessen? It’s the oldest delicatessen in the city (dating from 1888) and it just reeks of New York history (and cured …
SADLY, RECIPE IS NOW CLOSED. I know I read an article a few months ago in New York Magazine where they listed a handful of tiresome food trends. But now I can’t seem to find the article in my back issues or online. Did I imagine it? One of the items I remember them listing (or …
SADLY, DBGB IS NOW CLOSED. It seemed to me that the name DBGB refers to the restaurant’s East Village location. It’s just down the street from where the Ramones and the Misfits cemented punk rock into the New York consciousness. Of course, that happened at CBGB, which unfortunately no longer exists on Bowery. But if you …
When I decided to do corned beef and pastrami, I set some ground rules for myself. First and foremost, I couldn’t get one without the other. Well, rules are meant to be broken. Especially when they’re broken with such unique style and deliciousness as at Mile End. If you read any New York publications or food …
My mission, should I choose to accept it is to hunt down the strangely marked building on West 48th Street close to 11th Avenue (practically in New Jersey!), call the phone number I was given by a certain hour, and wait for somebody to emerge. If I do all these things correctly, I will be …
SADLY, PULINO’S IS NOW CLOSED. I was invited once again by Jason Feirman (I Dream of Pizza) to Pizza Club. I first joined the group a few months back at the classic coal oven joint Arturo’s. This month, we headed down Houston Street a bit to the other side of the pizza spectrum to sample the …
My favorite issues of Time Out each year are the 100 Best Food and Drink issue and the Cheap Issue. It’s clear that I’m both a foodie and a Jew (a Jew-die?) So when they write articles about cheap food in the city, I am in heaven. The lunch special at Yakitori Totto, the semi-hidden (it’s …
Saraghina is one of those well-respected new pizza restaurants that I just didn’t get to during my intense pizza search. So I’m very thankful that it happened to find its way onto TONY’s list. Partly because it helped make my pizza search more comprehensive, but also because it was quite delicious. Michele Iuliano, the chef …
SADLY, ADELMAN’S KOSHER DELI IS NOW CLOSED. Corned beef, pastrami, knishes, chopped liver, and Jewish guilt, among other things were brought to New York by Eastern European Jews. And they were the first chefs, owners, waiters, and customers at the delicatessens. But times have changed and New York has become the melting pot of the …
Of all the gin joints in this city, Time Out sent me to this one. The strange thing about that comment is not that Time Out sent me to a gin joint, but more so that there aren’t many gin joints in this town at all. In fact, besides Madam Geneva, I can’t think of …
SADLY, FINE & SCHAPIRO IS NOW CLOSED. At the turn of the century and during World War II, the Upper West Side became a very popular neighborhood with the Jewish community. And even today, you can’t walk a few blocks without passing a synagogue. These were Eastern European Jews. You know, the ones who brought corned …
For a long time, whenever I thought of Vietnamese food I thought of very clean, healthy and light flavors – summer rolls and pho. In the last few years, I (and most of NY) discovered the banh mi. A Vietnamese sandwich traditionally made with cucumbers, cilantro, pickled carrots, and all sorts of pork: paté, roasted, …
What to do on a Sunday afternoon? I’m tired of going to the movies, I’m never up early enough for brunch, and there’s only so long I can sit at home and write blog entries. So last weekend, I ventured into Williamsburg for a different sort of Sunday afternoon. Instead of doing any of the …
SADLY, YERBA BUENA IS NOW CLOSED. Since there were two items on our list from Yerba Buena, we decided to make a full dinner of it. I usually end up doing this at all the restaurants, but it does get expensive and I keep trying to train myself to come in specifically for the one dish and …
SADLY, YERBA BUENA IS NOW CLOSED. For those with just a mild knowledge of Spanish, yes, leche de tigre translates to “milk of the tiger”. But that is not exactly what TONY recommended trying at the relatively new Latin restaurant Yerba Buena. Leche de tigre refers to the leftover fish liquid after the kitchen finishes making …
SADLY, LANSKY’S OLD WORLD DELI IS NOW CLOSED. Jewish delis seem to be an endangered species. There are only a handful left in NY from the golden age (the ’20s and ’30s) and when many New Yorkers speak of delis now, they are often referring to the bodega on the corner. And I fear there is a …
SADLY, BATI IS NOW CLOSED. I pretty much eat everything, but there are certain cuisines I like better than others. And one cuisine I’ve tried and tried, but just never get too excited about is Ethiopian. It’s a unique experience: going to a traditional Ethiopian restaurant. First off, they don’t really offer you silverware. In …
SADLY, ARTIE’S DELICATESSEN IS NOW CLOSED. Corned beef and pastrami were introduced to New York in the late 19th Century. And shortly thereafter, came the deli, the combo sandwich, and finally the Alka Seltzer. And the classic NY delis haven’t all been around from the very beginning (although Katz’s opened in 1888), but they have …
When Time Out published this list of 100 Tastes You’ve Gotta Try, I figured there would be some burgers, pizza, lots of ethnic food, a few hip cocktails or two. But I never guessed that this list would bring me to a strip club. A strip house, maybe, but a strip club? And I remember …