Russ & Daughters bagels are worth the wait

Russ & Daughters bagels are worth the wait

“I come in for the chaos,” joked the man standing next to us in the crowd at Russ & Daughters (179 East Houston St., New York, NY; 212-475-4880; russanddaughters.com). We came for the bagels. On this Saturday morning, the long, narrow shop with a display counter along one side was jammed with people. To be fair, the “chaos” was of the controlled variety. Customers were in an almost jovial, anticipatory mood. It felt like the ticket line at a rock concert. Clearly, part of shopping at Russ & Daughters is the cheek-by-jowl camaraderie. There is a method to the madness. You take a number from the ticket machine at the door, just like at the supermarket deli. Then you try to squeeze to the back...Read More
Essex Market charts NYC’s changing tastes

Essex Market charts NYC’s changing tastes

The oldest establishment in the New York municipal market system, Essex Market's latest re-invention arguably strikes the perfect balance between supermarket and food hall. The old Essex Street Market, created in the 1930s as the flagship of the city's public market system, became essentially obsolete in the 21st century. The latest transformation, which opened in 2019, nails changing tastes and approaches to food in New York. Essex Market (88 Essex St., New York, N.Y.; essexmarket.nyc), as it's now called, is as much a gathering space as a shopping destination. It's located in a fancy new complex with luxury condos and a movie theater. The basement level is technically a separate operation called the Market Line. As you enter Essex Market from Delancey Street, the Indian...Read More
Fashion and food: Dueling obsessions at FIT

Fashion and food: Dueling obsessions at FIT

We don't know about you, but when narrative television is running thin, we're easily sucked into two specific genres of reality TV. We have now subjected ourselves to nearly every permutation of Top Chef and Project Runway (and their imitators and spinoffs). When we noticed that the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, just a block from our Manhattan Airbnb, had mounted an exhibition called “Food & Fashion,” we couldn't resist. Food and fashion have been inextricably linked since Adam and Eve donned fig leaves in the first documented example of unisex couture. The exhibition at FIT isn't quite as rooted in references to the Book of Genesis, but it does offer a banquet of food for thought. (So to speak.) Sections of the...Read More
Lombardi’s, where New York pizza got its start

Lombardi’s, where New York pizza got its start

Even Google doesn't know how many pizzerias there are in New York, but various uninformed estimates place the number between 1,000 and 32,000. What we do know is that it seems there's a pizza joint on every block and many of them sell slices to go. That fits with the NYC culture of literally eating on the run, or on the walk. New Yorkers seem to be constantly eating in public. But we digress. Surrounded by pizza from the moment we arrived in New York, we immediately gave up on trying to find the “best” pizza in the city. We were just happy to visit what might be the oldest pizzeria in New York. At least that's what Lombardi's claims. It was established in 1905....Read More
Gray’s Papaya carries the dog and juice standard

Gray’s Papaya carries the dog and juice standard

It's been nearly a century since the Papaya King started serving the unlikely combination of all-beef hot dogs and tropical juices. It became a New York thing. In 1975, Papaya King franchisee Nicholas Gray closed his Upper West Side franchise and re-opened as Gray's Papaya. It was built on the same menu, but had the added seasoning of Gray's in-your-face promotion. A dog and a juice at Gray's Papaya (grayspapaya.nyc) became the way that everyone from struggling folksingers to late-night sanitation workers managed to get a tasty bite and keep going. Gray's soon eclipsed the original Papaya King, with multiple locations around the city. Changing economic conditions and pricey real estate have taken their toll on the papaya-hot dog business, closing down the Papaya Kings...Read More
Woks still pop at Chinatown’s Wo Hop

Woks still pop at Chinatown’s Wo Hop

The James Beard Foundation's America's Classic designations tend to shine a spotlight on homey, old-fashioned eateries. Maybe more to the point, the nominations reflect a kind of culinary nostalgia for the comfort food of someone's childhood. Last December, the JBF named Wo Hop (17 Mott St., New York, NY; 212-962-8617; wohop17.com) in Manhattan's Chinatown to the America's Classic honor roll. Since we're spending a month in Manhattan, we made Wo Hop our first lunch-time stop. The restaurant has been in business continuously since 1938, making it one of Chinatown's most senior establishments. If you want to taste what New Yorkers used to think Chinese food was, this is where you come. The New York Times notes that Wo Hop offers an “authentic taste of an...Read More
Savoring summer’s sweet end at iconic clam shack

Savoring summer’s sweet end at iconic clam shack

As the days suddenly grow shorter and the weather cools, we find our tastes turning to the foods of fall and winter. Squash and pumpkin instead of tomatoes and peppers. Sage and rosemary instead of basil. But we couldn't let summer pass without one final visit to Woodman's of Essex (119 Main St., Essex, Mass.; 978-768-6451; woodmans.com). Located on the marshes next to the causeway over the Essex River, Woodman's is iconic. The establishment claims to have invented the fried clam. Many people dispute that. But no one disputes that since the first batch cooked up in 1914, Woodman's has pretty much nailed the art of the perfect fried clam. The restaurant's success has lifted it from the ranks of mere clam shack. For one...Read More
Atlántico knows how to salute National Lobster Day

Atlántico knows how to salute National Lobster Day

Someone, somewhere named September 25 as National Lobster Day this year, but the crustacean commemoration mostly flew under the radar. A few restaurants, however, marked the occasion. We were pretty thrilled to celebrate with the lobster bocadillo at Atlántico (600 Harrison Ave., Boston; 857-233-1898; atlanticoboston.com) in Boston's South End. This third of chef-owner Michael Serpa's restaurants focuses on the seafood traditions of Spain and Portugal. We'll vouch for that. The menu echoes much of what we've eaten in Cádiz, A Coruna, San Sebastian, or Barcelona — but with a New England twist. Tourists to Boston might argue that every day is Lobster Day. It's the dish they've been anticipating and they seem to order it with abandon. Those of us who live here indulge less...Read More
Green chile chowder an all-season pleaser

Green chile chowder an all-season pleaser

During our sojourn in Santa Fe last spring, we took ample advantage of green chile — even though the vegetable was out of season. Every supermarket stocked at least a few brands of frozen green chile. The peppers were invariably fire-roasted, peeled, and chopped. While frozen green chile doesn't seem to have made it to our Boston-area markets, seeing local chiles at the farmers markets reminded us of a favorite dish we made in Santa Fe. That would be green chile corn chowder, amped up with diced roasted chicken and simmered with potato cubes. The potato cubes are a New England thing, we suspect. But with corn, potatos, and some green chiles in the local markets, we revived the dish for the sudden chill of...Read More
A New Mexican take on The Bear’s omelet

A New Mexican take on The Bear’s omelet

Like many food-obsessed fans of Hulu's The Bear, we had to replicate the omelet that Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) makes in episode 9 of the final season as a gesture of love and comfort for a pregnant Natalie (Abby Elliott). Assuming you have a decent non-stick pan, it's an easy dish. But a few key elements set it apart from the standard omelet. For starters, Sydney whisks three eggs together and then forces them through a medium sieve. We'd never heard to sieving your eggs for an omelet, but it does break down the egg whites so they blend more cleanly with the yolks. That eliminates streaky white sections in the omelet. Sydney also uses three tablespoons of butter in the omelet pan. Pretty much anything...Read More