The Diva That Ate New York //

Sunday, May 29, 2011

DIY Food Tours In New York City: Eating On The Go-Go For A Good-Good Time

Hey Dale Carnegie, here’s a surefire way to win friends and influence people. Take them on a New York City food tour! It’s good, clean fun in the city. You spend time outside—fresh air, you walk around—exercise, you nibble—pleasure. It’s a win-win-win. All you need are some tasty destinations and some friends.



Jax Snax On The Go-Go

I’ve made the first part EASY for you by whipping up Jax Snax On The Go-Go DIY NYC food tour guides. It’s a series of guides and you get the first one: EAT CHOCOLATE! Financial District to Houston St. by signing up for my mailing list. They contain my picks for the best places in New York City to grab and eat chocolate on the go.

Lose Weight While You Watch The Show

I’ve got a theory that you gain less weight if you move while you’re eating—this may not be true, but let’s at least start a rumor!. Plus, the streets of New York are like live theater—it’s like Law & Order and Home Shopping Club meet Friday Night Stand Up. The more time you spend walking around the more you get to see of the “show”.

Nibble New York Like A Native

I eat out a lot, often on the go. As a native New Yorker and a food freak, I hate the idea of people eating mediocre food in my town. Plus I get a thrill out of pointing people in the direction of outstanding nibbles around the city—friends, strangers, anyone.

My Jax Snax On The Go-Go DIY NYC food tour guides are arranged by neighborhood and have a couple of my favorite* “MUST EATZ” for each destination. Each guide comes as a pdf with my TOP fifteen picks and also as a Google Map with even more recommendations. You can sign up for the first one: EAT CHOCOLATE—Financial District to Houston St.

The Jax Snax guides are not only great for food tours, but you can also use them to:

• Taste New York City like a native (I was born in NY hospital!)
• Use for visits to New York City
• Give to out-of-town guests or people you know who are going to New York City

“Jackie was an amazing tour guide from start to finish - not only friendly, hilarious & accommodating to a practical stranger, she was extraordinarily knowledgeable and could tell me about everything we visited and more in-between, from the best gelato in town to the oldest New York matzo factory. Highly recommended for a food tour and, more importantly, fun!”—Jackie Lee food writer and food blogger (I’m A Feeder) who was visiting from London this past winter and wanted to get a taste of the Big Apple.

Build A Tour That Rocks

Putting together a food tour is not rocket science, but things can go wrong. I’ve written Food Tours 101—Top Ten Tips For Hosting A Successful Food Tour that will help you organize a great tour.

So grab some friends and get to it.

More Food Tours Guides

The next guide is EAT CHOCOLATE - East Village. Once I finish the chocolate guides, I’m doing an EAT Olde New York food tour and a EAT DUMPLINGS food tour.  Sign up for my mailing list and you get more DIY NYC food tour guides, plus my recipes, dining and cooking tips, songs, videos and more!

Get on my list and get feeding,
XXOOJAX

Not In New York?


You don’t have to live in New York City to create your own food tour. In L.A., my dear friend Julia and I grazed all over the city walking, subwaying (who knew that there’s a subway in L.A.?—Not me) and driving.

I recently ate my way around Boston with food bloggers Ken Leung (Hungry Rabbit NYC) and Brian Samuels (A Thought for Food). Not eating on the go-go, but going to many places and eating and eating and eating (seven eating establishments in one day—I almost exploded!).

Next month we’re going on a private Korean Nosh and Drive in New Jersey organized by food blogger and author Justin Schwartz.

My point is you can make up a food tour anywhere and tailor it to fit your circumstances. Google “food crawls” or “food tours” in your area to see what’s happening by you. There are also web sites like Dish Crawl where you can find all sorts of food eating adventures to join in on.

*NOTE: These are my best picks. It’s fairly likely that you and I have different tastes. I don’t know every place. I have not tasted everything (I’d like to). That said, I’d love to know the places you like. Maybe I’ll like it too. If I try it and I like it, I’ll include it on my map. If I don’t, I won’t, but please don’t be offended.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Food Tours 101—Top Ten Tips For Hosting A Successful NYC Food Tour

Walking around and nibbling delicious foods with friends is my idea of heaven in any city. The beauty of living in New York City is here there’s a smorgasbord of portable, nosh-able foods you can eat while you’re on the move.

In New York, you can certainly pay someone to take you on a food tour, but doing it yourself gives you much more freedom, flexibility and since you’re not paying for the tour you get to spend more money on FOOD.

Here’s some tips to help you put together an enjoyable food tour in the Big Apple or whatever city you’re in.

Who’s Walking?

One of the most annoying questions on earth is “Are we there yet?” Begin planning your tour with the question, “How do I want my guests to feel at the end of this tour?” Keep in mind the interests and abilities of your guests before you plan where you’re going. What foods do they like? What are their energy levels—are they walkers? Are they adventurous eaters or more conventional? Considering their comfort will make the tour
more enjoyable for you and them.

Plan Ahead 

Hungry people can be mean and impatient (just ask my boyfriend!). Plan out where you want to go ahead of time.

Stumped for “where to go?” Ask a foodie—even if you think you don’t know any, they are always friends who know one. There are also food related websites (NY: Serious Eats, Fork In The Road and Eater are helpful)  and a zillion blogs that will list what they like best. I have a series of DIY NYC food tour guides. You get the first one and access to the subsequent ones by signing up for my mailing list.

Find the shortest or most interesting routes between your destinations. Google maps is great for mapping out multiple destinations and sending/printing a map for your guests. It’s also fun to search nearby and see what’s interesting to check out between nibbles.

VERY IMPORTANT: Make sure you know where the bathrooms are along the way. Some of your destinations will have them. Hotels, department stores, libraries are great places to find relief.

Invite & Organize Your Guests

Putting in a little effort when planning your tour will pay a lot off in the long run. Event Brite is great for inviting guests and a Facebook can also be helpful. They’re free and they makes it easier to keep track of who is coming and to keep them informed.

In your invitation be sure to include an approximate amount of money they should bring to spend on the tour.

To organize your guests, create an e-mail with the itinerary and each person’s contact info so they have it for the tour (in case they’re late or wander off, but also so they have a record of where they’ve been).
Suggest that they:

• Carry a bottle of water
• Wear comfortable walking shoes
• Dress in layers
• Bring a reusable tote bag (a insulated bag is useful for chocolate when it’s warm)
• Bring some cash since some places may not take credit cards
• Bring a note pad and pen

Flesh it Out

If you have the time and the inclination you can gather some facts about the places you’re visiting or the history of the neighborhoods you’re walking in to make your food tour even more interesting for your guests. Often in the smaller places the owner is happy to have a chat with visitors, but be sensitive about how busy they might be.

Think With Your Stomach 

People often say I’m going to STARVE MYSELF before going on a food tour. WRONG! Your stomach shrinks when you don’t eat so unless you are starting your food tour at breakfast, eat lightly earlier in the day. 

You may want to start with savory foods first, then move on to the sweet stuff, so you have a little something in your stomach. I find that going back and forth from sweet to savory makes me a bit ill. 

Another TIP for a straight chocolate tour is to meet your companions ahead of time and have a savory snack or light meal before going on your tour. If you decide to just have chocolate suggest to your guests that they arrive having already eaten a little something.

Size Matters

A good size for a food tour is two to twelve people per tour leader. Less than two and you’re on your own, more and:
There’s too many people to get in and out of each destination quickly, so the tour takes too long
It’s hard to keep track of everybody
Your group might overwhelm some of the smaller places you visit

Sharing Is Caring

Encourage your guests to share the food they’re tasting because:

• You can taste a greater variety of stuff
• It’s cheaper
• It’s less fattening

Timing Is Everything

I can wander around eating for hours, but it’s not for everyone. You can figure on spending 15-20 minutes at each stop depending on the size of your group. Plan accordingly so you can get your food, nosh and shop. A two hour tour is perfect for most folk’s attention span.

Designated Buyer

When you hit a place, like the Doughnut Plant, which can have long lines, with a large group you may want to do what we did on the last donut crawl organized by Hot Grease radio host Nicole Taylor (@foodculturist). Press your face up to the window to see what they have, take everyone’s order and let one or two of your most patient friends stand in line to get everyone’s food.

Capture & Share The Joy

In this day and age one does not have to be encouraged to record moments, but I still like to remind people to do it. Take pictures as you go and share them with your guests. Hanging out with your friends and having fun is one of the purest pleasures in life. Photos and videos help keep memories alive. It’s also fun to share with people who were not lucky enough to come… and you can make them very jealous too.

Share this information. Share the guide. I would love for you to all be on my mailing list. So please sign up if you want access to lots of yummy stuff. Whatever you do, get the info out there and let the feeding begin!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Yummy in my Taim-my!

Menu at Taim

On the run from the Brugal Rum tasting to the Culture Catch karaoke party, I had a rumbling in my tummy. Luckily, I was by the slammingest falafel joint in the West Village, Taim.

Taim specializes in Israeli-style falafel, which takes my taste buds back to the Orthodox Jewish falafel vendors in Les Halles in Paris. They serve up three kinds of actual falafel: traditional green (parsley, cilantro and mint), red (roasted red pepper) and harissa (Tunisian spices). It comes loaded with Israeli salad, hummus and tahini. I ordered the green with hot peppers, but I forgot to get their house-made hot sauce, too. Bugger!! I did remember to get their ginger-and-mint lemonade, which is never too sweet although it could have been a bit more gingery.

We devoured them down by the Hudson River while simultaneously enjoying a cloudy sunset and watching the park police ticket a couple of drunken teens who had climbed over the guard rail and dipped their feet in the river. Own our private live “Cops” drama. I had “Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do” running through my head…

Falafel on the Hudson

All the food at Taim is strictly vegetarian and kosher. So NYers with food/religious considerations can dig on in. They fry the falafels to order (so they are crunchy and fresh—YUM!) and it’s usually busy so be prepared to wait or call ahead to pick up—they deliver as well. Try their side dishes/salads/platters. I love the marinated beets with lemon, garlic and spices as well as Sabich Platter with fried eggplant, organic hard-boiled egg, tahini sauce, Moroccan carrots and Israeli salad. The Sabich is also available as a sandwich, which is easier to eat on the go-go. It’s all good and very fresh and loved tasting, meaning you can taste that the person who made it gives a damn. Plus, it is super-consistent, which is very important to me. I have been eating there for several years and my mouth and my tummy always leave smiling.

Taim
222 Waverly Place, New York 10014
Taim on Menu Pages

Monday, June 8, 2009

Onigiri: one-hand sushi sandwich

Two onigiri waiting to be opened

I love the Japanese! They invented one of my fave Jax Snax on the Go-Go hunger busters! Onigiri: it’s like a sushi sandwich with a variety of savory fillings including salmon, tuna, cod roe, plum, etc. Just follow the three steps on the packaging to release the seaweed wrapper from the plastic cover that protects it from the rice and you get a triangle of sushi rice (about one cup in size), freshly wrapped in seaweed (by you—clever) and munch away. You don’t even need soy sauce since the filling is seasoned, but you can always request a packet. Oh, they are also C-H-E-A-P!

Between $1.50 - 2.00 at Cafe Zaiya, where they are made fresh and kept at room temp since they turn over quickly—or at least one hopes they do… You can get them at other places like Sunrise Mart, but those are pre-wrapped and refrigerated. The cold temperature makes them potentially safer to eat, but it also makes the rice hard and the seaweed soft, since it’s touching the rice, killing the texture combo I love. I prefer to take my life in my hands at places that make them and leave them out. I have never had a problem with them.

I had them first in Australia, in the early 90’s and thought, “This is genius! So much easier than trying to balance a take-out tray o’ sushi while you are walking down the street.”

They make great sense if you are on a gluten-free diet, as there are not a lot of quick, wheat-less things to snack on while you are traipsing around the city. They are also called omusubi and I fantasize about one day eating my way around Tokyo trying the incredible varieties that are available there.

Jax Snax BONUS: if you get them at Zaiya’s midtown location, 40th between 5th and Madison, they have Beard Papa cream puffs, too—two awesome snacks under one roof!