Hungry Travelers - Page 5 of 82 - Bringing the tastes of travel back home

Fashion and food: Dueling obsessions at FIT

Posted on November 15, 2023November 13, 2023 by Pat and David

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

Posted on November 13, 2023November 12, 2023 by Pat and David

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

Posted on November 10, 2023November 8, 2023 by Pat and David

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

Posted on November 6, 2023November 6, 2023 by Pat and David

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

Posted on October 12, 2023October 12, 2023 by Pat and David

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

Posted on September 26, 2023September 26, 2023 by Pat and David

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

Posted on September 21, 2023September 21, 2023 by Pat and David

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

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

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

Pizza by the square, just like in Rome

Posted on August 25, 2023August 25, 2023 by Pat and David

The tavola calda at Panetteria Romana e Spaccio di Paste includes delicious pizzas topped with fresh vegetables. When we admit to people that we are food and travel writers, their eyes tend to get wide as they imagine that we sit down to multi-course gourmet meals every day on the road. But the truth is that we really like to find some local comestible that makes a handy light lunch or supper. In Rome, that's often a square of pan pizza (pizza al taglio) from one of the bakeries. We've read that more than 5,000 establishments in Rome offer pizza al taglio. Romans eat those slices for lunch and all through the afternoon as a pick-me-up snack. The crust for Roman pizza more resembles focaccia...Read More

Summer bounty summons taste memories

Posted on August 16, 2023August 16, 2023 by Pat and David

Unlike many Americans, we decided to stay home this summer rather than crowd the plazas of Europe. We've been enjoying the farmers market and garden bounty of a warm and wet stateside year. The rolling harvest reminds us of some of our favorite dishes we ate overseas. They taste as good at home, even if the ambiance is different. Cherries from the Pacific Northwest have been incredible. They are sweet, large, firm, and more inexpensive than we've seen in years. When we have a lot of cherries, we can't help but think of making clafoutis, a rustic dish we associate with French country inns (like the one above). Most of the recipes we've encountered were geared to rather large baking dishes and made enough clafoutis...Read More