I don’t know too much about Harlem, about its history or the many nuanced perspectives on its gradual gentrification. I do understand that Red Rooster has been an important part of that story, and that those who know more than I do have strong opinions on the role it has played in the process, for…

With the essence of the crispiest pork still lingering on our palates, we arrive to the end of a Chelsea Market corridor to what feels like a noisy open-aired taqueria next to some seafood market somewhere on the coast. It’s the surfer-chick sister restaurant of Los Tacos No. 1. A few sandy-looking picnic tables, a…

The sheer volume of options is what struck me most on this past trip back Stateside exactly one month ago. “I’ll have whatever I want, whenever I want, however I want” is a concept that takes some time getting used to when you’ve grown distant from it. And after an entire uninterrupted year of “croissant…

Destination barbecue in New York? Yep. Meat worth a windy ferry ride from Manhattan? (Or a slightly confusing Uber ride from Williamsburg?) Yes. A meal at Hometown Barbecue in Red Hook, Brooklyn is the definition of a destination dining experience: It takes a while to get there. It’s in a place that you probably would…

A few weeks ago I found myself on a train to New York, with no concrete plans other than to stroll lazily around in the brutal summer heat of the city with my oldest childhood friend and her boyfriend, who were visiting the States for the first time. Fortunately, they had checked off the Empire State Building,…

The restaurant scene of NYC has intimidated me since the first lonely Fung Wah day-trip I took there back in high school. Overstimulated by noises and overwhelmed by options, I couldn’t imagine how even residents could reach a decision on where to go and what to eat in a city that seems to have everything for everyone…

I received a pair of keys in the mail last week in a package sent from Texas to my apartment in D.C. They were to a friend’s apartment in Queens, NY. So I went there. During my 5-day stay I crossed over to Manhattan maybe 3 times, mostly for gourmet groceries and to see a…

I realized a few hours ago that I never actually wrote the article about the wonderful package of Momofuku Milk Bar goodies I received from my boyfriend / frequent dining companion for my birthday (in February) this year, so the following article is a tad belated. Momofuku Milk Bar is a bakery and dessert shop…

After a night of a few too many Satan’s Circuses at The Library Bar and a sloppy cab-ride back to the hotel, I was in bed, loved but dehydrated, comfortable but doomed for the next morning. The inevitable hangover resulting from wine and whiskey and too much of both sent me dizzy across the room…

Like little Alice chasing after a White Rabbit who seems particularly pressed for time, I found myself last Thursday night falling down the fabled bunny hole. Some trains packed by rush-hour traffic, a short walk down a dark and abandoned Brooklyn street, through the doorstep of a grungy, junkyard-warehouse hipster haven with crackling noises and…