Food Adventuring Around NYC
My wife who is gluten free, almost gave up gluten free bagels for good after breaking a tooth on one of them. This was during the early days of COVID and the possibility of seeing a dentist was terrifying. Don’t worry, it all turned out ok with her and her tooth. But she has been …
Hidden, secret food and drink establishments will always be fun and exciting. But an interesting location is not enough to sustain a place. Shacking Burger is the newest food establishment in the unlikeliest of places. It’s in a gas station on the outskirts of Chelsea. Not only is a prepared food restaurant in a gas …
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 …
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 …
I know he works food magic, but I was amazed that Wylie Dufresne read my mind when composing the menu for his new pizzeria. Stretch Pizza, which feels like a modern somewhat high-end pizza restaurant, is nestled in the Flatiron District, pretty adjacent to the sceney Nomad area. As expected from the man who truly …
The cronut was invented oh so many years ago (11 to be precise!) yet we are still feeling the effects of that groundbreaking mash-up. Chefs (and bakers, especially) are continuing to create visual viral concepts that lure every unsuspecting foodie to wait in a mind-numbing long line to say they’ve tried it. So needless to …
Perhaps the New York hot dog is going the way of the pizza and gaining influence from out west. New Yorkers know Detroit-style pizza is as ubiquitous now (if not more so) as coal oven pies and it seems like most of the new hot dog places are ignoring the sauerkraut for a drag through …
You’d think Williamsburg was a town in Texas with all the new breakfast burrito options. The latest I tried comes from a cute little bakery near the Williamsburg bridge run by a husband-and-wife team who touch on both their Vietnamese and Dominican heritages at Ceremonia Bakeshop. The pastries here, especially the mochi donuts, looked great, …
In their old space, I think I may have worked my way through Superiority Burger’s menu of inventive vegetarian fast food. I’m a bit ashamed that I hadn’t been able to visit them in their new location until now. This spring, they came back in a much larger space (with wait staff) in an old …
My yearly resolution for some time now has been to eat less meat. I’m not ready to go full vegan (but wouldn’t be surprised if I find myself there in the future), yet I am eager and more than willing to try as many of the plant-based New York food businesses as possible. I recently …
I’m counting down the 10 best dishes I tasted in 2023… Eating out was definitely different this year for me. I let go of the need to visit all the latest “hot spots” (still have not been to Bad Roman or Tatiana) and found much more comfort and enjoyment in old standbys and casual neighborhood …
Even though they spell out how special they are in their name, I was late to the game when it came to Winner. Their original Park Slope location had been on my radar since they opened days before the pandemic became a pandemic. Since then the lines to get loaves of bread, sandwiches, and cookies …
I’m not sure I really understand the difference between a finger and a nugget when it comes to chicken. The birds, of course, don’t have either. I’m sure the difference comes from the shape of the fritter. It wasn’t until I was ordering the house made versions at the local favorite Krupa Grocery that I …
In the past, I would always try to match the Dish of the Week to the upcoming holiday. For Thanksgiving, it was always turkey, pumpkin something or other, mashed potatoes, or the like. I often forgot about the second half of the holiday – the giving part. Sea & Soil is an incredible new neighborhood …
When it comes to food, I usually like to steer people to the dishes a place is known for. When visitors ask me for the best cheesesteak in the city, I tell them to hop a train to the city of Brotherly Love. Likewise, when someone wants to eat Montreal bagels in New York, I …
For my recent birthday dinner, deciding on a special sushi meal was easy. The hard part was deciding which of the moderately priced sushi restaurants to visit. I feel like there has been an overwhelming number of them in the last few years. It came down to two – a more traditional Japanese omakase or …
I have fond memories of doing an impromptu restaurant week lunch at Aquavit a few years back before Marcus Samuelsson was on every commercial and cooking show this side of the Food Network. I was less impressed years later at Red Rooster. But now I was excited to try a brand new restaurant of his …
It used to be BBQ ribs and then for a while it was chicken wings, but now it’s mushrooms. If these items are on a restaurant menu, it will be very difficult for me to not order them. So when I checked out the online menu from the recently opened vegetable-forward The Wesley and saw …
I love, love raw oysters on the half-shell, but I would rarely pick a plate of them as a dish of the week here in NYC, because they don’t usually reflect much more than good sourcing and storage. Sure, a chef has to be able to shuck them well and serve them quickly. There is …
If you haven’t strolled through the concourse at Rockefeller Center since the pandemic, you may not recognize it. Where once stood chain coffee shops, generic tourist restaurants, and clothing stores, you can now find a series of high end restaurants brought to you by local food celebrities. There are some exciting destination dining options at …