Lower East Side Food Tour

 We met our guide Jack at the famous Katz's Deli where a mile high pastrami sandwich will set you back $40. It is big enough for two to share and does come with a pickle. Almost everyone in restaurant  was eating one. Our tour guide brought us a platter of pastrami, rye bread, and pickles for our group of eight: two young women from Germany, a couple from Scotland, a mom and two teenage sons from Atlanta, and me. After this first stop, the guide offered us delectable raspberry rugalach from Russ and Daughters, the first business in NYC to put daughters instead of sons in their business name.

We walked a few more blocks to a local Dominican restaurant, El Castillo de Jagua  where we sampled plantains, fried cheese, pickled onions, eggs, and sausage accompanied by a drink which in Spanish means to die from dreams. The drink tasted like an orange Creamsicle.  I would definitely return.

At the Essex Formaggio in the classy Essex Market we savored Grey Owl goat cheese from Québec, So creamy and tangy! My thoughts flew to my cheese tasting tour in France this summer. What is life without good cheese, I ask you?

Our tour guide Jack fed us the fascinating history of the lower East Side as we walked and tasted. I appreciated learning about the role of Jewish immigrants in the neighborhood.  My father used to take me to the Yiddish Théâtre which played a key role in the Jewish Community until the Jews started moving to the suburbs. 

The rest of the tour passed quickly. At The Pickle Guys, Jack surprised us with pickled pineapple. Nobody jumped up and down for that one. We noted they pickle everything from turnips to okra to lox. The cake donuts at Donut Plant

Pastrami anyone?

Dominican  Deliciousness

Gorgeous Goat Cheese

Pickled everything

and the bagels and bialys at Kossar's  found a lot more fans.

My new friend from Scotland and I agreed on the excellent variety of the food we tasted and the  preparation of the well informed tour guide with his magic backpack full of paper plates, napkins, and water bottles.

Oops, I almost forgot Economy Candy specializing in the old fashioned candy we all grew up with. What was your favorite?

I thoroughly recommend this tour the next time you get to New York. What a fun and yummy way to explore the lively neighborhood of the Lower East Side! Enjoy the photos.

Travel After France : New York City

 I get off the plane and the melting pot that is New York City greets me.  The taxi  from the airport pulls up to Michael and Erin's door located in a  lively Dominican neighborhood.  I unpack and decide to take the first cultural plunge into the bodega on the corner. My goal is to find white corn meal. Last evening I baked Jimmy Carter's corn bread recipe from my new cookbook, Baking in the American South by Ann Byrn. This cookbook is a treasure: each recipe is preceded by a story, a legend, a glimpse into the history of the South.   President Jimmy Carter did not bake this cornbread, but his White House Chef did. White corn meal, yellow corn meal, butter, flour, baking powder, milk  and an egg. The recipe could not be simpler except for the difficulty finding white corn meal.  Bill luckily found it at Fred Meyer in Beaverton.  To my great surprise, the corner bodega does not carry it. Now I am on a mission to find white corn meal somewhere in NYC so I can bake Jimmy Carter's Cornbread for Michael and Erin before returning to Oregon.

After the bodega, I walk over to the park. Although the neighborhood  feels so different, the rhythm of the 5 P.M. hour feels the same.  Tired looking people carrying shopping bags head home.  Dog walkers talk to their pets.  Smiley kids ride bikes.  Blue Amazon  trucks make deliveries. As I stroll deeper into the park, I

Soccer in the Park

Basket Ball Fun

Houses on nearby Ocean Hill

The Corner Bodega

am pleased to see all the tennis courts in use as well as the soccer and basket courts.  But wait,  something is missing. There are no soccer moms, maybe a few soccer dads or are they the coaches? A couple of women are setting up a snack stand with dried mango. Definitely a different vibe now. I also notice I am the only white woman in the park except for a few tennis players.  

Back at the house, I wait for Erin and Michael to return from work. They work so hard those two and still remain the most amazing compatible couple ever.  We eat one of Erin's delicious  healthy home cooked dinners. My heart hums with joyful relief knowing Erin takes such good care of Michael. To witness this again and again makes the trip to NYC worth it.