New York for The Food Pilgrims: a Friday-to-Monday weekend
Steel, steam, and a harbour that never sleeps.
Eating is the itinerary. Breakfast where the porters eat, a market tour, the dish the city is known for in the place that does it best, and one serious dinner.
Friday: Essex Market, pastrami and a cannoli
- Essex Market
The 1940 public market, in its new hall since 2019, with cheese, dumplings and bread; browse before dinner and buy a pickle.
- Katz's Delicatessen
Pastrami carved by hand on rye since 1888, with a pickle and a ticket you must not lose; share one sandwich and order fries.
- Veniero's Pasticceria
An Italian pastry shop in the East Village since 1894, with a cannoli and an espresso at the marble counter.
Saturday: Greenmarket, a class and a steakhouse
- Union Square Greenmarket
The Saturday market of farmers from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut: apples, cider doughnuts, cheese and the city's chefs shopping.
- Cooking class at the Institute of Culinary Education
A recreational class in a professional kitchen near the World Trade Center; check the schedule and book a hands-on class in advance.
- Peter Luger Steakhouse
The porterhouse for two has been served here since 1887, sliced at the table and bathed in butter; cash and a booked table.
Sunday: Bagels and Arthur Avenue
- Russ & Daughters Café
A Lower East Side sit-down for the bagel and lox plate, the fish from a family smokehouse founded in 1914. Arrive at ten, before the queue forms.
- Arthur Avenue Retail Market
The Bronx's Little Italy: a covered market of cheese and sausage, with butchers, bakers and a cigar roller at the back.
- Dominick's
No menu and no bill at communal tables: the waiter recites the specials and you point; the veal, the clams and the escarole are the answer.
Monday: Dim sum and bialys
- Nom Wah Tea Parlor
A 1920 dim sum parlour in Chinatown's crookedest street: order the shrimp dumplings and egg rolls from the cart and a pot of oolong.
- Kossar's Bialys
America's oldest bialy bakery, baking since 1936: take a warm onion bialy with cream cheese and eat it on the pavement.
- Museum at Eldridge Street
A 1887 synagogue restored with a stained-glass window by Kiki Smith; the guided tour explains the immigrant community that built it.