Famous Fat Dave’s Food Tour of New York. The day our stomach muscles had been bracing for since we were recommended this tour of New York. And boy, was it worth every single morsel of food and minute of driving between destinations.
We piled into the minivan, as unfortunately due to unseasonably inclement weather (Nat: YAY! SNOW!) he wasn’t able to drive us around in his checker-cab, late in the morning, and embarked on what would be an incredible day of sampling New York’s best food.
1 minivan, 1 Dave, 4 people, 5 hours, 9 food stops. And naturally, this epic day of NY taste-sensations deserves it’s own blog, if not only just to articulate the day’s menu in all its glory.
Our food-godfather Dave, was more than just a food-tour taxi driver. He was an encyclopaedia of all things New York – history, politics, neighbourhood secrets, culture but of course, most importantly for the purposes of our excursion – food.
We would cover alot of ground today, and between each of our food stops (highly necessary for digestion), Dave would point our famous historical/political sites and fill us in on the ‘story’ of each borough (municipality, but bigger) and the restaurant we were headed to for our next ‘tasting’.
We quickly left the island of Manhattan, and headed into Brooklyn. And while the restaurants didn’t look fancy or particularly impressive on the outside, we quickly learned that it was what was behind the doors of the kitchen that mattered most.
Food Stop #1: Fernando’s Foccaceria, Brooklyn Heights
The menu: Arancini and black-ink cuttlefish pasta; accompanied by a ‘Manhattan Special’ Pure Espresso Coffee Soda (freshly brewed in Brooklyn – best coffee-based product we’ve had in the States thus far).
The verdict: Wonderful! The arancini was light, and not gluggy or cheesy; and even Claire, who isn’t a fan of seafood, thoroughly enjoyed the delicious (albeit messy) ink pasta.
The lesson: This restaurant was the filming location of the bar scene in Scorcese’s film ‘The Departed’. Celebrities including Leonardo diCaprio, Pierce Brosnan are known to frequent this once-little known, neighbourhood gem – which is now renowned by more than just the locals, for its incredible Italian fare.
Food Stop #2: Defonte’s Sandwich Shop, Red Hook
A neighbourhood stalwart since 1922, which narrowly avoided destruction in Hurricane Sandy (See ‘Side Note’ below), and serves the best breakfast sandwiches in Brooklyn.
The menu: A potato, egg & ham ‘Hero’ sandwich, accompanied by a small mug of stock/gravy for dipping the sandwich. Think – thinly sliced fresh ham, mozzarella made on the premises every morning, and a potato and egg bake – all located inside a freshly baked roll.
The verdict: Unbelievable. One of the favourite dishes for the day.
The lesson: Real mozzarella cheese is white, creamy and when you bite into it, is full of brine and clean juices. The supermarket stuff completely offends all notions of Italian cheeses (well, according to Frank, who prepares the fresh mozzarella every morning….)
Food Stop #3: Rico’s Tacos, Sunset Park
Mexican Food – often completely bastardized by Western cultures, and totally disrespected by Baja & Tex-Mex fast-food chains claiming to have fresh & authentic Mexican cuisine. Well that is, until you visit Rico’s Taco’s in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
The menu: Torta de pierna adobada [sic] – roughly translated to, Seasoned pulled pork leg, with salsa, guacamole, jalapeno in fresh bread roll.
The verdict: Melt-In-The-Mouth-Incredible. Taco Bell and Salsa’s are dead to me.
The lesson: Not all Mexican food comes in a tortilla or taco shell.
So we headed over the Belt Parkway to Coney Island (Fun fact: some freeways in NYC are called ‘Parkways’ because when they were built in the 1950s they would take people directly to the city’s parks.)
Food Stop #4: Belarus Supermarket, Coney Island
Brighton Beach (Think: housing commissions and lots of Russian people) in Coney Island is heavily populated with Russians in high-rise flats, following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. So naturally, this was the best place to find a traditional Russian delicatessen and try authentic New York pickles. This is where we met Leo – the one-armed Russian migrant, who prepares the pickles himself.
The menu: Pickles, fresh hand-made salami and poppy-seed sweet brioche rolls. (Eaten outside on the boardwalk, overlooking the Coney Island amusement parks and the beach… all while it is pelting with snow.)
The verdict: Yum! And while initially, Sarah, Claire & myself were not particularly keen on pickles; (George was already a fan of this New York delicacy) we were all pleasantly surprised. Funny how McDonald’s pickles aren’t really a good representation of this particular food…
The lesson: Avoid eye-contact with Russian women in delicatessens. While they may have comically large hair, and clown-like makeup, they don’t have a sense of humour.
Food Stop #5: Spumoni Gardens, Brooklyn
The menu: Thick slice pizza with nothing but fresh mozzarella, olive oil and tomato – steaming out of the oven; following by a tasting of ‘Spumoni’ – a moulded Italian ice-cream – in our case, the flavours were: chocolate, pistachio and cremolata (cream).
The verdict: Wonderful – especially the steaming hot pizza, while we were dusting off the remnants of Coney Island snow. And the spumoni was creamy, light and had intense, delicious flavours!
The lesson: The simpler and fresher the ingredients, the better the pizza! No pepperoni served here….
Food Stop #6: Brennan and Carr’s, Gravesend
The menu: The ‘Gargiulo’ burger – Hot beef burger patty, topped with hot roast beef, caramelised onion, cheese and… the bun/bread is smothered in gravy and beef broth. A menu staple since the restaurant began in 1938…
The verdict: Sure it’s a little messy to eat, but the explosion of flavours in your mouth is worth the beef broth dripping down your chin.
The lesson: Brooklyn firefighters enjoy a Gargiulo burger or two for lunch (Nat’s lesson: Brooklyn firefighters, with their accents and uniforms are hilariously cute). And thank goodness there were 4 of us to split that burger… After 2 bites, I was starting to understand why Michelle Obama has so much work to do with the country’s health and fitness campaign! (George, on the other hand, went back for seconds…)
Food Stop #7: Brooklyn Hot Dog
What’s a trip to New York without tasting an authentic, non-Times Square-vendor hawt dawg?
The menu: Mini hotdogs: cheese dog, and regular (with sauerkraut, onion & mustard). George also sampled a hot sausage dog.
The verdict: Incredible hot dogs. The rest of New York’s hot dog joints have a thing or two to learn…
I should point out that it was at this point Sarah, Claire & I had reached the end of our food tasting capacity. It was time for dessert and a post food-coma nap.
Food Stop #8: Mile End Delicatessen
Katz’s Deli in NYC might have the biggest name is pastrami sandwiches in Manhattan, but the real place to go to try NY Pastrami is Mile End Deli.
The menu: Pastrami on rye (and another pickle for George)
The verdict: Although we ladies only sampled a morsel of the pastrami, it was amazing. George confirmed that as he enjoyed the sandwich.
The lesson: This New York icon food deserves to remain as such. We’ve never eaten anything quite like it (and probably never will!)
Food Stop #9: Theresa’s Restaurant
To be honest, by this point we were too full to get out of the mini-van (and it was pelting down snow pretty hard), so Dave quickly ordered our dessert, to be enjoyed on the trip back into Manhattan.
The menu: Fresh out of the oven blueberry Jewish blintzes (Blintz: Thin pancakes, stuffed with cream cheese and fresh blueberries, and dusted with icing sugar)
The verdict: The perfect end to our taste-sensation tour of New York
The lesson: No matter how full you are, there will always be room for dessert (… but I think we already knew that.)
Today’s food tour was as much about the food as it was about the company (thanks Sarah & Claire), the tour guide – Dave, who provided us with more information, knowledge, trivia and insight into the inner workings of NY, and the local neighbourhoods we were able to explore and appreciate in their glory. While not as glitzy or impressive on the outside as Manhattan and its thousands of eateries, the restaurants we discovered today under Dave’s careful guidance, have survived for decades because of what they represent in their individual communities – local ties, great service and always, pride in their food!
Side Note: Hurricane Sandy
The devastation of Hurricane Sandy is engrained in the consciousness of New York, as a result of its wide-spread consequences. Today we witnessed first-hand, the slow recovery and rebuilding process that these neighbourhoods have been undergoing; in particular Brooklyn and Coney Island.
Slowly by surely, these tight-knit communities are continuing to rebuild as is evidenced in the local food establishments which have been around for many decades, and represent the resilience, cohesion and support that the communities within each of New York’s boroughs and suburbs are built upon.