New York Archives - Hungry Travelers

New York

Our Manhattan farewell in a few images

Posted on January 19, 2024January 20, 2024 by Pat and David

We've probably consumed too many of the slow-dissolve photo montages looking back on the year just concluded. Or too many listicles of the greatest fill-in-the-blanks. But we can't help concluding our series of Manhattan posts with a shout-out to some of the folks in the food industry who made that month so memorable. The urge to feed people is a kind and generous impulse. Thanks to these folks who made us feel appreciated. Here's back at you. Waitress at Junior's in Brooklyn, counter grill cook at S&P Lunch, waiter at Lombardi's Food cart operator for Nathan's Famous, waiter at Sylvia's, waitress at Lexington Candy Shop Frankie Frank at Hajji's Deli, hot dog server at Katz's Delicatessen, counter woman at Magnolia Bakery

Sylvia’s carries the banner for Harlem soul food

Posted on January 5, 2024December 30, 2023 by Pat and David

When we visited Sylvia's Restaurant (328 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY; 212-996-0660, sylviasrestaurant.com) a few days before Thanksgiving, our server Ali reminded us that we could return on the holiday if we wanted. ‶We're full up on reservations,″ he said, ‶but if you have no place else to go, we'll fit you in. Sylvia's believes no one should go hungry on Thanksgiving.″ That same spirit of welcome embodies Sylvia's throughout the year. Founded in 1962 by Sylvia Woods (whose family still operates it), the restaurant remains a standard-bearer of authentic soul food. Moreover, it's a community favorite, a touchstone of urban Black culture, and a Mecca for politicians courting the Black vote. Some of their photos line the walls, along with signed photos of...Read More

Inspiring the well-equipped kitchen

Posted on January 3, 2024December 21, 2023 by Pat and David

We've written before about the wonderful Paris kitchen supplies store, E. Dehillerin. Now we've met its match in Manhattan at J.B. Prince Company (36 East 31st Street, 6th floor, New York, NY; 212-683-3553; jbprince.com). Created in 1977 by German-born Judith B. Prince, the store isn't quite as old as Dehillerin (founded 1820). And it's moved around a bit. But the sixth floor showroom of its current incarnation is a vast toyland of kitchen tools and a treasure for the neighborhood.. Long-time staff member and CEO Tim Mussig purchased the company from Judith Prince when she retired recently. A former professional restaurant cook, he tends to hire staff with a similar background. Not only does the company carry all sorts of marvelously obscure kitchen tools, its...Read More

Going to see the inventor of chopped cheese

Posted on December 29, 2023December 29, 2023 by Pat and David

This year being the semi-official 50th anniversary of hip hop, we're reminded how certain deeply embedded bits of culture are actually not all that old. Take the NYC bodega lunch counter special, the ‶chopped cheese″ sandwich. We admit that when we enountered a bodega in Chelsea that advertised the ‶best chopped cheese in New York,″ we had to ask what it was. But we didn't feel that ignorant. No greater local food expert than Anthony Bourdain was also infamiliar with the culinary phenomenon synonymous with the Manhattan neighborhoods of Harlem and Washington Heights and the nearby South Bronx. The name of the sandwich appears to be short for ‶chopped cheeseburger.″ Foraging freely on the web, we converged on the generally accepted birthplace of the chopped...Read More

Visiting the bakery of New York’s guru of bread

Posted on December 26, 2023December 20, 2023 by Pat and David

Jim Lahey was a hero to us and many other home cooks during the pandemic shutdown. That's no exaggeraton. He's the baker behind the ‶no-knead bread″ method that had us all making delicious crusty bread in preheated Dutch ovens. Mind you, he's also the baker behind the overnight cool-rise pizza dough recipe for home cooks that we've been using for the last decade. We're not foolish enough to suggest that Lahey invented the crusty Dutch oven bread or the wonderful pizza dough. But he did carefully craft recipes for home cooks. His fame rests on the propensity of the New York Times food section to spread them far and wide. Never underestimate the power of Big Media. The original bakery at 73 Sullivan Street in...Read More

Nathan’s is why hot dogs are called coneys

Posted on December 11, 2023December 8, 2023 by Pat and David

We swear there's a Nathan's hot dog cart on practically every street corner in Manhattan. And we've eaten our share of the ‶famous″ franks as peripatetic lunches. On a sunny day in late November, with the temperature predicted to rise into the 50s, we made the pilgrimage to Coney Island, where Nathan's (1310 Surf Avenue, Brooklyn; 718-333-2202; nathansfamous.com) all began. For once, we could sit down to eat. From midtown, it took nearly an hour to get to Coney Island on the F train, giving us an appreciation of the extent of the metropolitan subway system. Once we reached Brooklyn, the last stretch of the route rose onto tracks elevated above the rooftops. We knew we were getting close when we spotted the Wonder Wheel...Read More

NYC luncheonettes reprise a simpler time

Posted on December 6, 2023December 5, 2023 by Pat and David

Across Fifth Avenue from the Flatiron building, S&P Lunch (174 5th Ave., New York, NY; 212-691-8862; sandwich.place) hardly toots its own horn. A plaque in the window reads simply ‶A Great Place to Eat Since 1928.″ Judging by the crowds waiting for a seat at 11:15 on a Sunday morning, the modest luncheonette doesn't need any more publicity than that. We love old-fashioned luncheonettes. S&P is the real deal, boasting vinyl-clad stools along a long counter and a grill menu of eggs and sandwiches. We joined the queue that started just inside the door and ultimately scored our preferred seating. No booth in the back for us. We prefer the counter, preferably right in front of the grill. In deference to S&P traditions, we ordered...Read More

Vintage cookbooks speak to an engaged life

Posted on December 3, 2023December 3, 2023 by Pat and David

We're as guilty as the next kitchen maven. When we set out to make a new dish, we turn to Mama Google. Unless it's a traditional Italian dish. Then we ask Michele Scicolone. Or one of her 16 cookbooks — most likely 1,000 Italian Recipes. Our copy is sauce-stained from steady use, but we still browse through it. And imagine the flavors. We have our favorites for other cuisines as well — Charles Virion's French Country Cookbook, Penelope Casas' Foods & Wines of Spain, and so on. Our vinyl records long ago gave way to tapes which gave way to CDs which gave way to an mp4 player. The shelves we cleared of music are covered with cookbooks. They still sing a sweet siren song....Read More

At the source for true New York cheesecake

Posted on November 30, 2023November 24, 2023 by Pat and David

We grew up in the era of quickie “cheesecake” made with Philadelphia cream cheese, tons of sugar, and an egg. The mixture was deposited into a graham cracker crust and topped with canned pie filling. We both loved it. But we always knew that there was something else called “New York cheesecake” that was presumably more complex and therefore superior. When we spotted a location of Junior's amid the neon clutter surrounding Times Square, we thought we might have located the cheesecake grail. After all, Junior's holds a registered trademark on The World's Most Fabulous Cheesecake®. We soon learned that the restaurant chain has been making it since the original Junior's opened in Brooklyn in 1950. Times Square locations were merely Junior's-come-latelies. So we made...Read More

The ecstasy of pastrami at Katz’s Delicatessen

Posted on November 24, 2023November 21, 2023 by Pat and David

Established in 1888, Katz's Delicatessen was already a New York institution when it rocketed to international fame in the rom-com When Harry Met Sally. We probably don't even have to describe the scene where Meg Ryan, as Sally, fakes an orgasm at a table in the back of the deli. She was eating a roasted turkey sandwich. We can't imagine the volume of her pleasure had she ordered Katz's famous pastrami. We've learned that it's best to be flexible about eating hours if you want to avoid the biggest crowds at New York's iconic eateries. We stopped at Katz's early one morning and the guy at the door told us that we would be able to walk right in if we returned for lunch by...Read More