Alas, New York City, the city that never sleeps. It’s even possible to eat 24/7.
I stayed at the Hotel Edison, just ½ a block away from Times Square. We started with a Pumpernickel Bagel with White Fish Salad & Nova Salmon in Gramercy Park – you have to know someone to enter this park as you need a key!
Whole Foods – So much choice!
We then hit Chinatown which was amazing! If you want to have the best Dim Sum, head to Nom Wah Tea Parlour, where we dined on Shrimp & Peashoot Dim Sum, Pork Buns, Egg Rolls and Rice Noodles with Black Bean Paste and Ribs – delicious! Walking through Chinatown was an incredible experience looking at all the fresh fish, eels, frogs, crabs, dried fish, dried mushrooms and so much more.
The Best Dim Sum Ever!
Shrimp and Pea shoot Dim Sum
Fresh Fish in Chinatown
And…dried fish in Chinatown
Little Italy was wonderful, the streets were closed to cars, so we strolled down the middle and due to the intense heat, kept popping into the amazing Italian delicatassens, laden with Prosciutto, Mozzarella Balls, Pickles and breads – mouthwatering! Forcello’s for Deep Fried Pizza and Vennezia for Canoli’s and real New York Style Cheesecake.
Deep Fried Pizza at Forcellos – Just yesterday we put this to test for some guests who were craving a pizza!
Kossars for a Bialy was followed by Katz’s Diner (made famous from the movie When Harry met Sally), Russ & Daughters for some Scandanavian treats, Sugar Sweet Sunshine for the best Sassy Red Velvet Cupcake I have ever eaten and then Economy Candy, the biggest candy store in New York City!
Eating Bialy’s at Kossar’s Deli!
Sassy Red Velvet at Sugar Sweet Sunshine – Seriously unbelievable!
I was a kid in a candy store – Economy Candy
Just because I hadn’t had enough to eat on this day, we ended off at the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop where I had a Salty Pimp Ice Cream! Imagine a cone filled with rock salt, caramel, soft serve and dipped in chocolate. Not bad for one day of eating! The next day, I ventured out alone and discovered Eataly, very popular in New York City. It is a one-stop gourmet shop – fill up your baskets with cured meats and cheeses, fruits and vegetables, fresh meat, fresh fish, handmade pasta, desserts, coffees and baked goods before sitting down at one of the five restaurants within this new favorite place of mine! Definitely worth a visit!
Wonderful breads in Eataly
And then there was the meat in Eataly!
Have some Pasta!
Mushrooms anyone?
The rest of my time in NYC was filled with outings to the 9/11 Memorial – a very moving experience. Walking through the busy streets, Motown on Broadway, people watching and then my final food moment at Ben’s Deli where I had the all time favourite Pastrami & Corn Beef on Rye with Pickles. Truly delicious and very filling!
My Final Gourmet Moment at the Bens Deli, eating a Corned Beef Pastrami on Rye!
Rich Laburn is filmmaker, photographer and writer who is based at Londolozi Game Reserve in South Africa. Spending his time capturing scenes of the wild and communicating the beauty of the African bushveld, he runs the Londolozi Blog as a way to entertain and engage people wishing to visit these wild lands.
