NYC Foot on Foot Tour

His name is Corey Taylor, and his most recent occupation: giving NYC visitors - and locals - a food experience to remember. After being laid off of his job 2 years ago, this NY native decided to do something he really enjoyed. Corey now leads the Food on Foot Tours - tours in which he prides as being different than other food tours available in the city. The major differences are that you can eat as much, or as little as you want, there's no fixed food price, and there's no set food samples; this is not a "canned tour," as they say. Corey invites you to experience the best NYC food joints with unbelievable flavor and prices.

My sister and I came across this food tour on Yipit when they were offering a 50% discount. Being that both Jackie and I love food, we bought the coupon for the 7-hour tour on Nov. 6. I say a 7-hour tour because this particular tour was a Foot on Footathon and all proceeds were being donated to a charity. Normal tours are typically 3 hours.

The tour started at 10:30 a.m. We all met at a designated spot in Penn Station and began from there. TIP: Because Corey, and I quote, "Is the only tour guide crazy enough to have my groups travel via subways," I highly recommend buying a fun-day subway pass for $8.25. It saves money and the hassle of getting a metro card every time the group travels.

We started off at a pizza place in Hell's Kitchen, appropriate I guess because it is NYC, home of the best pizza! This place was called NY Pizza Supreme. I didn't take any pizza pictures because there was nothing really special about the way it looked, but it was some pretty darn good pizza.

Corey then brought us to a place called Go Sushi. He said this was one places he would bring us specifically for one food: the fried shrimp dumplings. They were typical Asian cuisine. Thick crunchy outside and a warm shrimp inside. The dipping sauce that was served with it was a warm, sweet duck sauce-like sauce, if that makes sense. The combination was delicious.

Another little tip: SHARE. There's no way I would be able to (or want to for that matter) eat an entire helping of food from each place we stopped, so having my sister there to share each dish with definitely helped not get too full too fast. This particular dish we shared with two extremely sweet girls from Europe.

Another great thing about this tour was that Corey really made it personable. He encouraged mingling and getting to know others in the group, which was a great way to learn about different cultures as well. In our group of about 15 people, about half of them were from Australia and Europe, and they really made the tour interesting. We ended up sharing food, advice, and some great laughs with these visitors.

It was then time to satisfy our sweet-tooth! We made our way to Amy's Bread on 9th Avenue where Corey raved about the chocolate sourdough twist, so of course we had to try it. The sour of the dough and the sweet from the chocolate went so well together and made this "sweet" treat, a bit savory. Consensus: wish there were more chocolate chunks, but overall delicious.

Just a ways down 9th Avenue was the Poseido Greek bakery. Apparently, this small, authentic Greek bakery is one of the only bakeries in the city that still hand makes their paper-thin phyllo dough. Jackie and I split a galaktoboureko (I think that's what it was). Whatever it was, it was magical! This little Greek pastry was filled with a sweet egg, milk, and cream custard and wrapped every so gently in layers upon layers of crispy phyllo dough. Oooooh phyllo dough how I love you.

Our next stop, still in Hell's Kitchen, was Lazzara's Pizza. This place had phenomenal thin crust pizza... only problem with thin crust pizza is that it's so easy to eat! I could have easily gobbled up an entire pie myself of this crispy thin dough topped with sweet tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. My mouth is watering now. As if you couldn't tell, this place is definitely a go-to for thin crust pizza. Even Zagat put it in it's top 10!

Our next stop was a zeppole shop, ironically named Led Zeppole. This place obviously sold more than just zeppoles (as you can from the pictures below), but Jackie and I stuck to the traditional food. Not much to say about this zeppole... it was like any other piece of fried dough with powdered sugar I've gotten in my life.

Next door to Led Zeppole, was a pizza place called Artichoke's, and being that none of us wanted another slice of pizza just yet, we all passed. Corey, however, was kind enough to buy a few slices to share among the group. In all honesty, I wish I had a picture to show just how thick and cheesy this pizza was. We all tried the artichoke pizza which was out of this world! It was layered with (what tasted like) pesto sauce, goat cheese (or some kind of similar cheese), and artichokes. If anyone knows of a place in NJ I can get pizza like this, PLEASE inform me :)

Moving on... we stopped at a the Build A Green Bakery. Corey bought the group a maple bacon scone to taste and share. It was so yummy that Jackie brought one back for her husband AND made a home-made version the next day. The bakery was tiny and lined with fresh pumpkin pies which gave the little shop an amazing aroma. They even had samples of the pumpkin pie, and, no joke, it was the best darn pumpkin pie I've ever had!

Just to give everyone a time-frame, we're now looking at about 4 hours into this tour. When Corey did his introductions, he said he had allotted 7 hours for this tour, but didn't think anyone would make it that long. We keep going....

This next place that Corey brought us to was called This Little Piggy, a place where he staked his reputation! Corey brought us there specifically for the pastrami on rye sandwich. Now, I'm not sure I've ever had a pastrami on rye sandwich with all the works (slaw and mustard), let alone a plain pastrami sandwich, but all I can say is that this was the best pastrami sandwich I've ever had - and probably will have. For all you pastrami lovers out there, this place is a hidden gem. The meat was so tender, and no exaggeration, melted in your mouth. The combination of cole slaw, mustard and this tender juicy meat was amazing. Jackie even went as far as saying this was her favorite food on the entire tour!

Corey was surprised we all still wanted to continue after all this eating! (I guess no one told him Jackie and I are fatties at heart hehe).

He then brought us to Crif Dogs, a #1 hot dog joint in NYC. Unfortunately, Jackie and I weren't exactly up for eating a fried hot dog at that time, but we weren't going to skip out on the next stop...

Butter Lane! This adorable little cupcake shop is snuggled right into E. 7th St. and could easily be passed by. Their concept of picking a cake flavor and then a frosting to suite your very own fancy was great for those who love their choices. Jackie and I shared a vanilla cupcake with hazelnut chocolate frosting. The frosting wasn't too sweet and the cake was perfectly moist. This place was good but I'd have to say any cupcake shop would be a perfect ending to a food tour!

Jackie and I were absolutely stuffed at the end of this nearly 5 hour walking tour, but it was worth every calorie! I highly recommend this tour for any visitors wanting a taste of what NYC has to offer, and even locals (like ourselves!) who just don't know what's out there.

If you were to go on a food tour, what kind of foods would you want to taste??

Restaurant Review: Cafetasia

Groupon


So I haven’t yet mentioned how much I love Groupon. I LOVE GROUPON. There it is people, my true feelings about the group-coupon website. Groupon (because not many people actually know what it is) is a website that features daily deals on the best stuff to do, see, eat, and buy in a variety of cities across the U.S., Canada, and Europe. You buy what is basically a gift certificate, for a percentage off the actual amount of the gift certificate. Follow?

My boyfriend and I receive daily emails for the New York and North Jersey Groupons, and came across a restaurant that sounded quite appetizing, so we bought the Groupon. Chris (the boyfriend) paid $15 for $30 worth of food and drink at Cafetasia in Greenwich Village, NYC. So we received 50% off the actual amount we got.

I could honestly write an entire blog post on how great Groupon is, especially if you want to try out new places without spending a boatload. But this post is about our Cafetasia experience.

Cafetasia

Cafetasia is located on East 8^th Street, near NYU and Broadway. The dimmed lights and sleek ambience gave off a young, hip vibe. Mirrors lined the walls and tall taper candles decorated the thick wooden tables. The middle of the restaurant held long wooden tables and benches, where couples or groups would sit comfortably next to each other. The tables lining the walls were single tables, holding parties of two, but very close to one another. Cafetasia combined cafeteria style seating with an NYC attitude.

Chris and I arrived around 6:30pm, just in time for happy hour! While we should have been armed with our printed out Groupon, we weren’t, because Chris forgot it at his office (looks like we’ll just have to go back!). Unfortunately, neither of us own an iPhone, so we couldn’t just show the purchased Groupon on our phone. (Groupon has an application for iPhone, so you can just bring the Groupon up on the phone and they can scan it right there and then. For those of you who don’t own an iPhone, like Chris and I, you have to do it the old fashion way, print it out.)

So Chris and I were seated and greeted by our server. The service was decent. Waters were brought to us without asking and dishes were cleared away when appropriate. We ordered drinks off the happy hour menu (which, unfortunately, Groupons are usually not applicable for). I ordered a Mai Tai at $4 and Chris ordered a bottle of Amstel Light at $3. Happy hour was only until 7, but the drink prices were good. We were also able to order off of the happy hour dinner menu which was a fabulous deal. An appetizer, entrée, and beer, wine, soda, or tea all for $10! Of course the happy hour menu was limited, but it still consisted of popular menu foods.

Food

I ordered Gyoza as an appetizer, grill salmon topped with 3 flavor sauce served with mix vegetables as my entrée, and a glass of merlot as my drink. Chris had fried calamari as an app, pad thai as his entrée, and a draft of Brooklyn lager as his beverage.

Appetizers

My gyoza was yummy. It wasn’t like any other gyoza I’ve ever had though. This seemed to be fried or baked because it had a somewhat crunchy, thick shell and was filled with a dark meat (probably pork). Three of these dumplings were served over soy sauce.

I thought it was kind of strange that Chris would order fried calamari at an Asian restaurant, but boy did they do that calamari right! It was crisp and crunchy, laid over lettuce, sided with a spoon full of green sauce with a dab of red in the middle. To be totally honest, I have no idea what the sauce consisted of. To us, it tasted like a combination of honey mustard and duck sauce; but it was green! (If anyone has any idea of what it could be, please, enlighten me!) Whatever it was, it was delicious.

Entrée

When my meal came out, it looked delicious, I just wish I could say it tasted as delicious. I am in no way a picky eater, but this salmon was just so… bland. The 3 flavor sauce seemed to be a combination of sweet chili sauce, hot sauce, and another ingredient I can’t seem to put my finger on. The vegetables were nothing special, and the rice was simply white, which I guess was used to soak up some of the sauce. The salmon was cooked well, maybe even a little overdone. Chris had a taste and said it tasted like dish soap. I’m not quite sure that was the other ingredient, but it did have a little bit of a weird taste to it. I’d stray from the salmon and 3 flavor sauce.

Chris’s pad thai on the other hand was excellent. Traditional chicken pad thai done right. The noodles were soft, the sauce was just right, and that peanut-y flavor stood out fabulously. We both thoroughly enjoyed this meal.

All in All...
our Cafetasia experience was refreshing. The chic ambiance, good location, great prices, unique food, and tropical selection of drinks will definitely bring us back.