Driven by a unique creative energy, New York is a city that delivers endless one-of-a-kind- experiences — whether you want to tour the art studios of Harlem, drink savoury cocktails in a Chinatown bar, stargaze from the High Line or camp on an island overlooking Manhattan
Discover the story of the city through its food
There may be no other city in the world whose history can be told through its food as plainly as New York’s can. Its food landscape can be peeled back to reveal successive waves of immigrants, each adjusting their national cuisine to fit their new home.
If you grew up watching New York on screen, you’ll think the one obligatory food option is a hot dog from a street cart. Known locally as a ‘dirty water dog’, because the frankfurters wade in warm water until they’re plopped in a bun and slathered with mustard, they’re the original New York street food. Their genesis is murky but it’s believed the Germans arrived in the 1840s, tubular meat in hand, and set up on corners selling frankfurters. The best known vendor is Nathan’s Famous, which has been slinging wieners in Coney Island since 1916, and is renowned for its Fourth of July hot-dog eating contest. Nathan’s also has a cart on the west side of Central Park. nathansfamous.com The bagel found its way to American shores with the Polish Jews who immigrated to New York in the mid-19th century. For decades, the chewy baked ring was known only in European Jewish enclaves in the city. It found a wider audience when, in 1909, Russ & Daughters fired up its bagel-boiling vats on the Lower East Side, the first business in the US to have ‘and daughters’ instead of ‘and sons’ in the title. The Russ family still runs the same spot, the narrow interior lined with glass counters and the exterior displaying the original neon sign. Ever popular is the bagel with cream cheese and lox (salt-cured salmon fillet). russanddaughters.com
Not long after the bagel landed in New York, another food icon emerged, thanks to Lithuanian-born butcher Sussman Volk. He used to let a Romanian immigrant store his meat in his shop freezer; as a thank you, the Romanian gave Volk his recipe for smoked pastrami (brined and spiced meat, now usually beef brisket). In 1888, Volk began selling the flavourful, tender meat at his deli in the Lower East Side. It proved so popular that a year later, Polish brothers Morris and Hyman Iceland, having mysteriously attained the technique for making the smoked meat, opened Katz’s Delicatessen a few blocks away. Its smoked pastrami on rye bread was a hit from day one, and the deli still serves the best version on the planet: monstrously big and unctuously tender. Since 1989, Katz has been famous for another reason, too: look for the p
