Foodie Heaven
NY City Food Tours -Heart of the Village Tour:
New York City is where our Gibson Girl Guides were born, so naturally we love it here.
A good friend of ours recently completed a mother daughter trip to New York and took one of the food tours offered by the company. They loved it and since we never like to feel left out of any NYC adventure, we signed up online for their Heart of the Village Food tour. We met at Montes Trattoria and after a brief introduction and explanation of the tour, our guide Susan began our fabulous foodie exploration just two doors down on MacDougal.
1. Artichoke Pizza, owned by the Basille family of Staten Island. We sampled a hearty half slice of their famous Artichoke Pizza, which eats like the best spinach artichoke dip smeared on amazing crust and baked until bubbly. Needless to say it is to die for.
Outside, nestled on MacDougal Street are town homes in colorful brick with mini gardens. These homes, called the MacDougal-Sullivan townhouses have a long history and one mid block was the home of Bob Dylan at one time from 1967-73.
The Neighborhood is known for eateries and bars with something for everyone. Very Bohemian. Across from the tow homes is the Italian Social Club, an exclusive members club featuring only fine dining with working rifle range in the basement. Caffe Dante, circa 1915, is an original Italian style coffee house.
Ivy covered walls on the famous Macdugal-Sullivan town homes.
The deliciously famous Undated Bhurji Roll.
2. The second stop was Masala Times for Indian street food. Owned by a family from Calcutta, it's a street cart style hole in the wall place. Bright and friendly Bollywood themed, we sampled the Unda Bhurji Roll, which was egg and pickled onion in masala rolled in a tortilla style bread and mango smoothie.
Across the street is Porto Rico coffee and tea shop which is one of the oldest fresh roasted coffee shops in the area, in business since 1907. Here 100s of coffee and tea varieties are sold, much of it roasted on premises. Souvenir of chocolate covered coffee beans was distributed by our guide, Susan. Actually, chocolate covered coffee beans were invented in the village by Harold Alexander who worked for a local village chocolate shop.
Around the corner a shady area called the Minetta Triangle is a little oasis of shade and cool with a trout embossed flagstone walkway. Minetta Street curves down to Minetta Lane, and this shady charming street follows the course of a legendary brook which still flows below ground. Popular with filmmakers, many scenes have been shot here. The real Serpico actually lived here.
Freshly roasted coffee beans fill the small shop with the best aroma.
A traditional bolognese pasta (as if we weren't already stuffed) was nestled right in the middle of the tour.
3. Back at Montes Trattoria for our third tasting, we sampled a meaty bolognese sauce over house made pasta. This was one stop where you could add alcohol for a fixed price which includes tax and tip. $10 for wine, $6 for beer, $3 for soda. Great food. We have actually eaten here several times when seeing Company XIV perform at the Minetta Lane Theatre. Montes has been a neighborhood staple since 1918.
Down the street, Caffe Reggio is the original coffee house and the heart of the Italian coffee culture. Gloria is their ancient espresso machine which is the oldest in the city. They claim to have introduced New York to the cappuccino.
4. At the 4th stop, Oatmeals, sweet and savory oatmeal bowls in 30 flavors are on their regular menu. We sampled an amazing oatmeal raisin cookie with vanilla plumped raisins.
Continuing our walking tour, we passed many of the buildings that house NYU on the way to Washington Square Park. As a side note, the very oldest houses are hard to find. There were no preservation laws until the 1960s. The park itself recently underwent a 7 year renovation project which resulted in an even more lovely oasis of cool in the heart of the village. The gateway to the park is the iconic arch, signaling the start of 5th Avenue since 1852. It commemorates the inauguration of George Washington.
This is the best cookie you will ever eat.
5. Cuba on Thompson Street was the fifth stop with a hearty tasting of platanos maduros (ripe plantains), and two kinds of empanadas - spinach cheese and traditional beef piccadillo, all served with a fresh tomatillo cilantro sauce made in house. Again this stop was a little longer and allowed for libations - sangria or mojitos for $10, beer for $6, mango juice for $3 and sodas for $2, inclusive.
Happiness on a plate.
6. Next we stopped at Sullivan Street Tea & Spice Co. Home originally of the Triangle Social Club and Civic Improvement Association, former meeting place of the Genovese crime family, now it's a marvelous tea house. We sampled raw honey and Moroccan mint tea while standing among dozens of jars of fresh ground spices.
7. Continuing down Sullivan to Houston ends the tour at the famed Francois Payard Bakery for an amazing salted caramel macaroon.
We have been traveling to New York for years and we saw sights we never knew existed, tasted amazing food, learned unique traditions, and saw a completely different side to this amazing city! This was a culinary and historic adventure for hardened foodies and novices as well. Highly recommend. Info and online ticketing at www.foodsofny.com.
