When the Chef and I travel to the Upper Hudson Valley or the Berkshires, we try to stop at Millerton, a colorful half-in-the-past town in Duchess County. Along with two ancient menswear stores, and the magnificent Oblong Books there is a Harney’s Tea emporium complete with tasting room, gift shop and restaurant. We had just come down from Mt. Washington, Massachusetts, and we were famished.
Read MoreI had the Chobani café in my sites as a snack destination as soon as I saw the small, clean, well-lighted place while getting my Target adrenalin rush. I loved the café wall papered with photos of “nazar boncugu”—the Turkish blue and white evil eye talismans meant to ward off bad luck—and the wooden tables lined with real limes, lemons and oranges. The vibe is sleek, healthy, corporate, but the offerings are anything but standard.
Read MoreBut as happens in New York City, there is always something new to take you out of your old aches and frets. In my case it is usually a snack. Crossing Clinton I saw Tramezzini NYC, a small space with summery white exposed brick walls, two counters and a blackboard outside advertising iced coffee and Venetian sandwiches. In fact, Tramezzini, stands for a particular kind of Venetian sandwich, made of soft olive oil bread—in this case, flown in from the Veneto.
Read MoreYou enter Orchard Express on the Lower East Side, as if opening the tent flap of a Moroccan souk. Men of indeterminate ethnic backgrounds are hunched over sewing machines or gossiping and laughing both in front of and behind the counter. No matter how many people are clogged into the narrow aisle of the shop, I know I will get my pants marked with a chalk slash and hemmed within a half hour ($5/hem).Which leaves me with time for…a snack! But where to go? Fortunately, Russ and Daughters Cafe is across and a little down from Orchard Express.
Read MoreBread doesn’t have to be perfect and from an artisanal bakery to make a perfect sandwich, but perfect bread can elevate plain ingredients—like radishes and butter—to the sublime. This is certainly the case with Orwashers raisin walnut pumpernickel bread. Founded on the Upper East Side in 1916, Orwashers bakery has a place in my own personal New York City history. I lived on E. 78th and 2nd Avenue in my first and only solo apartment, and Orwashers was one block away.
Read MoreJunzi kitchen had its soft opening June 14th. Only four blocks north of the the hot pot venue, Junzi is world’s away in that it is a “concept” Chinese restaurant, translated for American palates; think a Chinese Sweetgreen or Digg In. The founders, Yale University graduates, opened their first “fast casual” Junzi kitchen, now hugely popular, in New Haven.
Read MoreIndustry City appeared on my NYC Snack Attack radar when my ethnic food sleuth sister, Carol, told me about a must-try Burmese noodle restaurant in the Food Hall of this industrial space turned hipster playground in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park. Formerly Bush Terminal, IC boasts 6 million feet of warehouse space and is home to 400 companies specializing in everything from fashion to film to food.
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