Nosh New York: The Food Lover's Guide to New York City's Most Delicious Neighborhoods [Paperback]

Myra Alperson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 20, 2003

Whether you're a lifelong New Yorker or you're visiting for the first time, when you're in the Big Apple you're in food heaven - a nosher's paradise where you can find the freshest and most authentic foods of any cuisine in the world, from steaming soup dumplings to Persian Kebabs, Moroccan tagines, Chinese bubble tea, Senegalese ginger beer, Colombian cholados, kosher focaccia bread, the freshest Italian cheeses, Guyanese roti and more!

In this thorough and user-friendly book, passionate New York food guide Myra Alperson takes readers on her popular tours around town. Organized by borough and divided into easy-to-follow walks -- each of which can be done in an afternoon -- she points readers to the best ethnic restaurants, cafes, bakeries, tea houses, take-out stores, specialty shops, produce stands, supermarkets, and other food hot spots.

From generations-old favorites to vibrant newcomers, the delicious discoveries and include the best:

- Indian, Greek, Brazilian, Cuban, Romanian, Irish, Chinese, Afghan and Thai spots in Queens
- Italian, Kosher, Caribbean, Polish, Scandinavian, Russian and Moroccan delights in Brooklyn
- Chinese, West African, Soul Food, Mexican, Dominican, Korean and Turkish finds in Manhattan
- Sicilian, Albanian, Jamaican and Cambodian delights in the Bronx
- And much more.

You'll also discover: New York's last authentic beer garden * where to buy Chilean hot dogs and Brazilian pizza* the newest wave of Egyptian markets * the last Kosher market in Brighton Beach and the only Norwegian market in New York City * fun and delectable side trips * vegetarian and kid-friendly finds * cultural information for each neighborhood, along with info on the best parks, museums, gift shops, and bookstores.

Complete with subway, bus, and car directions along with detailed maps of each neighborhood covered, Nosh New York turns an afternoon in the city into a delicious food adventure.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

New Yorkers and tourists alike will happily take this culinary tour by native New Yorker Alperson (The Food Lover's Guide to the Real New York). It's not surprising that many of New York City's most appealing and interesting restaurants happen to be in mostly ethnically diverse neighborhoods. For example, Woodside, Queens's La Chanita is a "Mexican coffee shop that serves Mexican breakfasts side-by-side with Irish breakfasts," and Sapori d'Ischia is an Italian wholesaler by day, quaint trattoria by night; the largely Caribbean-populated area around Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn is home to Gloria's In & Out; and El Barrio, in Spanish Harlem, offers all kinds of Latin cuisine, from the Puerto Rican La Fonda Boricua to the Mexican El Paso Taquería. Alperson weaves in history with her often fascinating culinary tour; for instance, in describing The Lemon Ice King of Corona, also in Queens-a once Italian neighborhood now inhabited by Mexicans, Bangladeshi and Ecuadorians-she recommends a stop at Louis Armstrong's house, which is now a museum.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Alperson weaves in history with her often fascinating culinary tour."
--Publishers Weekly

"{Myra Alperson is} a guide who combines food and culture can unravel the mysteries of the city in a most satisfying way....her enthusiasm never wanes."
--Boston Globe

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; First Edition edition (September 20, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031230417X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312304171
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,188,082 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a good starting point to explore NYC's culinary surprises but has many weaknesses..., January 11, 2006

By 

Dianne "gypsie" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nosh New York: The Food Lover's Guide to New York City's Most Delicious Neighborhoods (Paperback)

If you are interested in exploring New York's vibrant, delicious underbelly, and are willing to venture deep into the boroughs to experience the many cultures of this great city, this book is a good place to start.

I thank the author for getting me into neighborhoods that I might not have otherwise ventured into. I have used it to explore about a dozen locations in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. You are pretty much guaranteed an interesting afternoon if you follow one of these walks, in spite of the book's many weaknesses.

The organization of information around neighborhoods is a good starting point, but beyond that the infomation is not presented in a way that is easy to follow on your feet. Yes there are maps, but the maps do not delineate the routes of the walks nor do they show any of the places mentioned in the text. The text gives addresses of restaurant and shops but rarely gives cross-streets. A little more information on the maps that visually shows the route of the walks and location of the points of interests would have made a huge difference here.

The book is bulky and just not well designed for walking tours. It is very difficult to find your way walking while trying to keep your place in a page of text. And besides the weaknesses in design, many of the points of interest are inaccurate or outdated. It just seems like the book was put together very quickly and cheaply. It is obvious that some neighborhoods were not researched very extensively when the author mentions that a restaurant looked interesting but she did not try it on her [single] trip to the neighborhood.

Overall, I do recommend this book simply because I know of no other guide like it for NYC. But use it just to put yourself in the right neighborhood, don't waste too much time searching for specific places listed here. I use this book as a starting point and supplement it with more current and intensive infomation from chowhound.com.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delicious New York Noshes- A Grazers Delight, November 3, 2003

By 

Annette (Eastchester, N.Y. United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nosh New York: The Food Lover's Guide to New York City's Most Delicious Neighborhoods (Paperback)

Here is a book that helps you to enjoy the wonders to be found in all those little amazing neighborhoods in the 5 boroughs of New York City. This marvelous book overflows with both eating and touring adventures. Each page brings a new surprise, a hidden market here, a De La Vega mural (a variation of Picasso's Guernica) as well, a garden there, Her tours bring you tastes you couldn't imagine...the Nosh adventures go way beyond the food. Another added surprise are the recipes sprinkled throughout the book. This book gives a range of shopping tips as well. Ms. Alperson provides excellent maps as well as detailed travel instructions so that you can find your way around the and exciting areas and experience your very own nosh walks. It's like touring the world and never leaving New York. Ms. Alperson is at the cutting edge of culinary discoveries...check it out!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars NYC is a Foodie's Paradise, October 31, 2003

By 

Charles Molesworth (forest hills, new york USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nosh New York: The Food Lover's Guide to New York City's Most Delicious Neighborhoods (Paperback)

This is a very exciting book. Myra Alperson guides the reader through neighborhoods in all five boroughs of NYC showing you the wonderful bakers, butchers, grocers, and restaurant owners who have settled there, bringing the food products of their native cultures to our city. Each walking tour is clearly laid out making for the prospect for many delightful afternoons. Bring a camera and a knapsack to record your experiences and carry the goodies back home from these enriching experiences.