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The Independent
29-07-2025
- The Independent
How New York's immigrant communities built a culinary capital, from Little Yemen in the Bronx to Chinatown's Asian-inspired ice cream
'Lower East Side food tour!' a man with a yellow umbrella called out, practically shoving a pamphlet into my face as I stumbled out of the subway at Houston Street on 2nd Avenue. The summer air was thick and humid. Crowds spilled out of bars and cafes, and the scents of pastrami, shawarma carts, and — oddly enough — charcoal wafted through the streets. It was my first evening in New York City after a turbulent 8-hour flight from London that had worsened both an emerging headache and hunger pangs, and I was ready to eat my body weight in anything within arm's reach. Most visitors to New York City think they know its food scene from films and television, and will find themselves grabbing questionable street cart hot dogs or one of the many dollar pizza slices scattered across the city. But the reality across NYC is far messier and more compelling. New York is where immigrant communities have shaped entire neighbourhoods through corner shops, cramped kitchens, and restaurants that serve as community centres as much as places to eat. For four centuries, this has been the city's defining pattern: each new wave of arrivals finding a place to live, building economic footholds through food, and gradually reshaping what it means to be a New Yorker. The Lower East Side, with its layers of Jewish, Latino, and Asian immigration, tells this story as clearly as anywhere — but it's a pattern repeated from Flushing to Brighton Beach to Queens. The aim of my trip was to explore New York City 's decades of immigration history, shaped through its food. And with the city having just reached its 400th birthday, it felt like the perfect time to pay homage to New York's culinary heritage. My first stop was Little Myanmar in the East Village, a restaurant specialising in Burmese cuisine, where I caught up with a local New Yorker friend. The place was stacked with rickety tables and mismatched chairs, and a curtain separated the kitchen from the rest of the restaurant. Despite its modest size, the place was packed, which I took as a good sign. I flipped through the menu, featuring a range of tea leaf salads, shrimp curries, and Burmese soups. We decided on two servings of ohn no khauk swe, a rich noodle soup made with chicken or vegetables and coconut, served with an optional egg or fish cake, and paired them with Yangon milk tea. A small community of Burmese immigrants arrived in the US in the 1960s and 70s, following the 1962 coup and the subsequent anti-Chinese riots. However, it wasn't until the mid-2000s, coinciding with the peak of resettlement efforts for Burmese refugees, that a significant influx of Burmese immigrants — particularly from the Karen ethnic group — began arriving in New York, many of them settling here and on the Lower East Side. They followed the same blueprint written by generations before them: find cheap rent, open a restaurant, serve your community first, and then introduce the broader city to your culinary world. The food at Little Myanmar may be Burmese, but it's served in American portions. Our soup arrived in large bowls, with optional red chillies on the side. I twirled my fork into the noodles, coconut, and vegetable broth, took a generous bite, and was instantly transported to Karachi, my ancestral homeland. There, South Asians who had moved to Burma soon after Partition had brought back their own version of ohn no khauk swe, or khow suey, to Pakistan. The milk tea wasn't overly sweet nor bitter and surprisingly complemented the savoury food perfectly. With hunger pangs now satiated, we next headed to Chinatown Ice Cream Factory for dessert, a 20-minute walk from the East Village. Ice cream's origins can be traced back to around 200BC during the Tang Dynasty, though whether ancient China, Persia, or the Middle East invented it remains a subject of intense debate. Inspired by this history, Philip Seid, a Chinese immigrant originally from the city of Taishan, sought to introduce Asian-inspired ice cream flavours to New Yorkers. He opened the original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory branch in 1978, which now offers 30-plus rotating in-house flavours, including pandan, red bean, ube, and durian. The shop was a long corridor with the counter on one side and a single slab for perching with our ice creams on the other. I ordered a don tot, a light and creamy Chinese egg custard, while my friend opted for a Thai iced tea-flavoured ice cream. At $8.50 a scoop, these weren't cheap treats – but they were worth the price. Outside, Chinatown and Little Italy were buzzing with people enjoying the long summer evening. On one side, restaurants serving soup dumplings lined the street, while trattorias filled the other. If I hadn't known any better, the Chinese and Italian flags hanging overhead would have convinced me I was in either, or perhaps both, countries. The next morning, my food exploration took me an hour outside of Manhattan to the Bronx, home of the New York Yankees. Not far from Yankee Stadium, the New York Botanical Garden offers a stunning greenhouse with rainforest and cactus displays. While these may be the area's most famous attractions, the Bronx is also home to Little Yemen, an ethnic enclave in the borough's eastern half. Recent migrations to the Bronx, largely driven by the North Yemen Civil War (1962-1970) and the ongoing Yemeni Civil War (2014-present), have led to a significant growth in the Yemeni community. Today, over 500 Yemeni-owned businesses, primarily delicatessens and grocery stores, thrive within a one-mile radius. I made my way to Azal Restaurant and Hall on Morris Park Avenue, known for its traditional Yemeni lamb dishes. However, the restaurant also offers a vegetarian menu at a fraction of the price of its Manhattan counterparts. Chairs were draped in bright red cloth, each with a glittery golden bow, while a hookah sat beside each table. I flipped through the breakfast section of the menu and ordered fatta with gashta and honey — toast served with honey and mustard seeds as an appetiser, followed by fasoolia Yemeni — white kidney beans with onions, tomatoes, minced scallions, garlic, and cumin, served with warm clay oven bread as my main course. "Happiness on a plate" might be a clichéd expression for some, but it's definitely how I'd describe my experience at Azal. It was a Saturday, and by the time I left, people were rolling in for brunch and lunch as servers brought out heaps of bread and cups of qahwa (Arabic coffee). Outside, the streets were alive with storefronts showcasing Middle Eastern clothing, jewellery, and Bint al-Sahn, the traditional Yemeni honey cake. Even though I felt full to bursting, no food-related experience in NYC is complete without a detour to Jackson Heights. After nearly an hour on the subway, I arrived at Roosevelt Avenue in Queens, one of the most ethnically diverse neighbourhoods in the world and the gateway to Jackson Heights. With over 180,000 residents and more than 160 languages spoken, Roosevelt Avenue is a slice of the human experience within a 20 block radius. From Little Colombia to Little India, hawkers sold spices, the scent of fresh naan drifted through the air, and stalls were piled high with exotic fruits from every corner of the world. I headed for a late lunch to meet more local friends at Nepali Bhanchha Ghar located on Jackson Heights' 'Nepali Junction', a Nepalese restaurant famed for its momos. Known as the Momo Queen of Queens, it has proudly won the Jackson Heights Momo Crawl for three consecutive years. South Asians began arriving in Jackson Heights following the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, which opened the door for increased immigration from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet, and Bhutan. Today, there are more than 20 Nepalese restaurants, along with Nepalese-run boutiques, beauty salons, clothing stores, and other businesses in the area. Literally translated as 'Nepali home cooking,' Nepali Bhanchha Ghar was lined with framed photos of famous diners, Kathmandu, and Mount Everest. Today, the menu has expanded beyond the beloved momos to include barbecue, thalis, samay baji (Nepalese bento boxes), and a wide variety of chowmein. My friends and I ordered a mix of potato and vegetable momos, sukuti samay baji (homemade beef or goat jerky), chicken and vegetarian chowmein, and bhatmas sadeko, a marinated soybean salad. Struggling to maintain a coherent conversation between mouthfuls of what was probably the best vegetarian chowmein of my life, I reflected on how in less than 24 hours I had travelled between four countries and regions in NYC. As a Londoner, I'm no stranger to multiculturalism, but in New York, it's different. Here, entire neighbourhoods are built around the traditions of specific communities who have truly made them their home. The pattern I had traced from the Lower East Side to Queens wasn't just about food, but instead was about how a city gets built by its residents. These areas are not just places to eat; they are living testimonies to how food in NYC embodies the stories, struggles, and histories of immigrant communities, shaping and constantly redefining the city's identity. After four centuries, New York remains what it has always been: not just a melting pot, but a vast network of kitchens where everyone is contributing to one shared cookbook, one recipe at a time.
BBC News
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
YouTuber reveals favourite 'chippy' after UK tour
A YouTuber who has spent 15 months travelling across the UK to sample 120 fish and chip shops has told how his favourite turned out to be in a town just a short hop from Peel said he began his delicious mission - named The Chippy Tour - to "support and promote the traditional fish and chip".But after scouring the length and breadth of the country he decided - after a third visit - that his absolute number one was Green Lane Chippy in Leigh, Greater Manchester. Proprietor Paul Georgiou, who runs the shop with his brother Andy, said it was a "great honour" to be praised by Mr Peel, who has amassed thousands of online followers. Mr Georgiou said his shop had been around for "well over 100 years". "There's customers in there who are 80, 90 years old who have been coming in since they were kids," he said. "We do take a lot of care, we're very fussy in our products. We've got great staff and fantastic customers." Mr Peel, of Warrington, Cheshire, who posts his reviews on Youtube, said he got the idea after becoming concerned by the decline of traditional fish and chip shops due to spiralling costs and competition. He said he visits each shop incognito to ensure he gets the same service as anyone else, before filming his reviews somewhere nearby and rating each establishment out of five. "The idea is to show fish and chips at different chippies, how they do it, their love for the meal," he told BBC Radio Manchester. "When you actually get to start meeting the people, they really want to be the best. They have their own ideas about things like the batter and their cooking mediums."It's family-run usually, through generations sometimes. There's so much more that goes into these businesses." Mr Peel said he often ensures he also tries any other speciality dishes he spots on the menu. "If they do their own pies or do their own things like deep fired Mars bars, I'm on it," he said. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
Forbes
03-06-2025
- Lifestyle
- Forbes
Eating Around Buenos Aires
The vibrant food of this city hardly needs an introduction. The first time I went, 25 years ago, I was stunned by the fact restaurants would deliver a single empanada. That much, thankfully, hasn't changed. I heard from my very charming food tour guide at Sherpa Tours that she often orders two kilos of gelato when at home and hungry on a night in. Dulce de Leche is beloved in Buenos Aires. getty Dining doesn't get a lot more fun than it can be in the back streets—and broad boulevards—of Buenos Aires. A couple of things set this magnificent city apart from other destinations and they include a remarkable history of immigration, mostly from Spanish and Italian settlers. It has also included numerous Armenians and Jews from a number of culinarily interesting countries; access to incredible grass-fed beef; a fascination with ice cream and dulce de leche-based desserts. Argentine food is very meat-forward, although more vegetarians are emerging in this country. The natives also love to put cheese on everything. That, oddly, includes cream cheese which was even given to us on the national airlines on the flight down. The seminal dishes are almost always empanadas to start, as a snack or a meal or culinary introduction to the country. I found a smaller range of flavors this trip than previously: it was mostly meat, ham and cream and the odd Caprese which is mozzarella and tomato in an empanada casing. Steaks are always divine: ask for medium rare if you want it as the Argentines tend to overlook their steaks (based on previous concerns with food safety). Matambre is thinly cut slice of beef and Milanesa is a classic Austrian Schnitzel. It can be made of veal, beef or chicken. Add tomato sauce, cheese and ham and call it a Napolitana while you are down here. It is delicious but not ideal for everyday consumption. I took my first food tour in Tbilisi Georgia with Culinary Backstreets. It was actually a fun introduction to seminal dishes from the country and let me spend time with an interesting woman and get to know her country better through our discussions. I did another one in Buenos Aires, with a young lady named Lucy, and it was also a good introduction to classic dishes here. We started out with pizza, did down some steaks and ended up with with gelato. The whole tour took place in Palmero, a trendy area in the center of Buenos Aires. This area is a great place to wander and eat, as are the equally trendy 'hoods of San Telmo and Recoleta. San Telmo is as famous for its Sunday, meat-heavy brunches as it is for its antiques flea market. As the neighborhood has gotten trendier the shopping has become less interesting. However, I really enjoyed a simple meal at Cafe Rivas on a quiet corner. The burger is a stunner at the Four Seasons. Liza B. Zimmerman Recoleta is a hotbed of fancy hotels, great restaurants and the cemetery where Evita Peron is buried to top it off. The Four Seasons Buenos Aires Hotel here has a lovely bar space and a sun-filled dining room restaurant that goes by the name of Elena. Major cuts of meat are always in play here (and sometimes you can get the great burger from the bar). The sommeliers also know their way around an unusual glass or wine or two. Because Argentina has many fewer laws about how food and wine can be sold so the country is home to many lovely Puerta Cerradas, or 'closed doors,' which is a restaurant that is operated in someone's home. It is a chance for local chefs and sommeliers to share their visions on local food and open their spaces to guests. Santiago at Casa Coupage. Casa Coupage One of the more interesting ones I went to was Casa Coupage, owned by Santiago Mymicopulo and his partner Inés Mendieta. Their beautiful bi-level home is hidden on a backstreet in Palermo. The couple focuses on modern Argentine cuisine and unusual Argentine wines such as older vintages and blends. Mymicopulo likes to taste them blind, which is always humbling. It is easy to go crazy eating the potentially best steak in the world down here. Two of the more notable, and expensive, options are Fogón Assado and the Palermo in the Faena Hotel, in the eponymous hotel that also exists in Miami. Both serve over-the-top steak-a-ramas with multiple cuts of meat and local wines. Either would be a fitting beginning or end of a trip.
Times
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Three great Belfast city tours to book now
Belfast: city of storytellers, protests, seven types of rain (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday . . . they say), plus 1,000 tours, covering music, art, politics, troubled bloodshed, wonder — and a hell of a lot of butter. No nationality talks as continuously and as comedically as the Irish, so it's unsurprising that this new course of tourism is thriving. Even the locals are in on them, saying the walkabouts have made them see modern Belfast in 'colour' after the 'black and white' of their childhoods. Here are three of the best. Ireland is home to some of the world's finest seafood — and people reluctant to put it in their mouths. So says Rae Carnegie, a guide on one of Belfast's most colourful food tours. St George's Market is the centrepiece of Carnegie's four-hour whistle-stop tour. Trading since 1890, largely in butter, it now sells everything from shark meat (sold out) and oysters to antique hairbrushes and Irish macaroons (aka fifteens), as well as 'No Topless Bathing, Ulster Has Suffered Enough' art. 'You're going to be punched in the face by your senses,' Carnegie says. She isn't wrong. 'Our eels get sent to Japan,' Carnegie laments, before clapping her hands. 'I've got sweets for indigestion, pills if you're hungover, plasters if your feet hurt,' she shouts, marching off through the market for 'tea, not chai, not matcha, not whatever the hell the kids are drinking now, just normal Irish tea'. Did you know 'bap' stands for 'bread against poverty'? It's just one of many historical titbits on the seven-stop tour, whose standouts are Mike's Fancy Cheese, and Daisies, run by the chocolatier Martin Giles, who attends boxing matches with pockets full of liqueur bonbons so he doesn't have to queue at the bar. Word to the wise: buy his hot-chocolate powder. 'Make sure you mix it with milk, not water, though,' Carnegie warns, 'otherwise Martin turns into Liam Neeson from Taken. He will find you.' Details £70, • How to spend a weekend in Belfast and the Antrim Coast Dolores Vischer is a punk, 'not a posh punk' — and while she once played the drums with the Stranglers, that was only because Jet Black needed a pee. 'New York had the haircuts, London had the trousers and Belfast had the reason for punk,' she says, leading us around the city's iconic musical landmarks, playing music through a speaker dangling from her lanyard. Not for nothing is Belfast a Unesco City of Music (Liverpool and Glasgow are the UK's only other two). The city spawned Van Morrison, Stiff Little Fingers and, most recently and notoriously, the headline-grabbing hip-hoppers Kneecap. Kicking off at the Ulster Hall, where Led Zeppelin first performed Stairway to Heaven, the two-hour tour visits the city's oldest pub, oldest church, trad music pubs, record shops and a Victorian music hall, as well some of the city's best street From £22, Who knows a city better than a taxi driver? Plus, this tour with yer man Billy Scott — boy about town, biker, comedian, historian, sponge of local gossip, with many a contact up his sleeve — comes with a proper black cab. We whizz like slebs down bus lanes, stopping where we like because, after all, this is a loiter-legal taxi. Genius. We tour the student areas, central Belfast, the Cathedral Quarter with its soon-to-be-married stags, and many a backstreet shooting spot as Scott rattles through IRA history and the Troubles, trailing facts in his wake: 'Queen's University, Tudor-style, opened 1857; women were allowed to attend in hats and gloves and CS Lewis's mother was one of the first female graduates.' We pull over so I can sign the Peace Wall, and pull up one backstreet, not far from Sinn Fein HQ, where a mural of Kneecap looms huge and alive. A moment in history indeed. 'Nice spot you're staying in,' Billy says of the Harrison Chambers of Distinction, in south Belfast (B&B doubles from £130, whose owner, Melanie Harrison, designed the fabulously bohemian suites herself and has enough stories to run her own tour. 'It reminds me of a 19th-century Parisian gentlemen's club,' Scott says. 'Not that I've ever been in one.'Details £80 for two, £35 a head for three or more, Lucy Holden was a guest of Fly to Belfast from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen or Inverness from £30 return with easyJet, Aer Lingus or Loganair
Forbes
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
New Food Tour Makes The Case For Seattle Center As A Culinary Hot Spot
Here's a welcome shot in the arm for the neighborhood that's home to the world famous Space Needle. Let's take a sweet sneak peek at the latest offering from Eat Seattle Food Tours. The Space Needle, Seattle's most iconic landmark, was built for the 1962 World's Fair. A walking ... More food tour of the Seattle Center makes a convincing case that the neighborhood's a culinary destination worth exploring. There's no doubt that the expansive area that hosted the 1962 World's Fair is a thriving arts district. A calendar full festivals, celebrations of cultures from across the globe, cutting edge plays at Seattle Rep, the wildly entertaining Museum of Pop Culture opened by the late Paul Allen in 2000 and exquisite ballet makes the case nearly every day of the year. (BTW, the lineup of for Bumbershoot 2025 has just been announced and it's exceptional. Can't wait to see Car Seat Headrest, Janelle Monáe, Say She She and so many more during this celebration of music, art and chef-driven food over Labor Day weekend.) But when it comes to a serving as a dining destination, that's a bit of a tough sell. Well, Eat Seattle Tours recently introduced a new offering that makes a convincing case there's some tasty spots to explore. Dog in the Park under the Space Needle serves the original cream cheese-smeared Seattle Dog. It's ... More featured on a new culinary walking tour from Eat Seattle Food Tours. First up, these walking tours are led by folks who have backgrounds working in the professional kitchen leading to some juicy insider dish. Bet you didn't know the famous cream cheese adorned Seattle Dog dates back to a street vendor hawking bagels in the city's historic Pioneer Square way back in the late 1980s. That's where this ramble begins, under the soaring Space Needle, in front of a steamy Seattle Dog from Dog in the Park. While savoring those satisfying bites, the tour guide will walk you through some fascinating history of this vast campus, built on the ancestral lands of the Coast Salish people. Lots of good info, and what kind of buns do they use for those dogs? Eat Seattle Tours founder Liz Philpot was looking to explore neighborhoods beyond the highly popular wanderings around Pike Place Market and Pioneer Square. For the thousands of cruise shippers flooding Seattle during the summer season, this is a welcome detour. Wondering how to get to this tour? Take the Monorail, of course. That World's Fair relic offers a quick ride from downtown to the Center, landing dramatically with a slide through the magnificent Frank Gehry-designed home of MoPOP. Premier Meat Pies uses local ingredients in its British-style creations. It's featured on the new ... More Eat Seattle Food Tour of the Seattle Center and environs. Premier Meat Pies in the Seattle Center Armory – once home to the region's National Guard – serves up an extensive lineup that features traditional Scottish pies stuffed with beef and oats to the jaw-dropping mac-and-cheese pie that's begging to be featured on your Instagram feed. Now with four locations, the original debuted in the Center's food court in 2015, and yes, the devotion to that European pastime/obsession known as football is palpable. While noshing on this satisfying savory pie, your tour guide will pepper the group with some little known facts about this space. There's a secret pool downstairs, originally built for those serving in the National Guard. And, guess what? Today, it's also home to the Center School, a small arts and college prep program that's part of the Seattle School District. While strolling past the International Fountain and Climate Pledge Arena – home of the Seattle Storm and the Kraken – your tour guide might spill some tea about the high profile partner involved in the branding of that popular venue. Yup, it's none other than Amazon. Sure wish this ramble included a stop at Caffe Vita's outpost at the fantastic KEXP Gathering Space, but apparently, that space isn't exactly accommodating to tour groups. Circle back for an expertly crafted espresso drink, OK? Eat Seattle Food Tours founder Liz Philpot wanted to introduce visitors to the culinary highlights ... More of the Seattle Center neighborhood, including Taylor Shellfish's Oyster Bar. Just outside the Seattle Center, Taylor Shellfish Farms has been schooling oyster slurping beginners and thrilling seasoned bivalve enthusiasts for more than a decade in this location. The well-versed staff walks newbies through the basics of growing oysters and, most importantly, eating them like a pro. Before you say ewww, no way, give it a shot. But if you cannot go there, alternative bites are offered. Consider yourself fortunate if they're shucking the famous Sumo Kumos – an extra large-ish version of Kumamoto oysters – or the delicately flavored Sunseeker oysters from the frigid waters off Vancouver Island. So good. Little known kernel: Visionary food pioneer Jon Rowley was one of the first to sing the praises of this Pacific Northwest oyster producer. The Uptown Hophouse near Seattle Center features a Philly-style pretzel. It's a stop on the Eat ... More Seattle Food Tours ramble through the neighborhood that launched in the spring of 2025. After picking up some treats at Sugar Bakery & Coffeehouse, the tour concludes on a high note, at the Uptown Hophouse. This sport bar pours an impressive lineup of local craft brews and a beer-friendly menu that includes what is possibly the best Philly-inspired pretzel west of the Mississippi. It's served with spicy queso and if you're still hungry after this action-packed food tour, consider taking a side trip to the top of Queen Anne Hill for something sweet at Moonrise Bakery or go savory at Just Poke and grab some delicious Seattle souvenirs at La Pasta. Listen to Eat Seattle's Liz Philpot discuss with Tom Douglas and co-host Bridget Charters her inspiration for this new tour on a recent episode of Hot Stove Radio show.
