Serious Eats: New York
The Year That Was: Editor's 10 Favorite Posts on Serious Eats: New York
Grand Theft Auto Screenshots of New York Food and Restaurants: With Grand Theft Auto 4 debuting in April, we became borderline obsessed with digging up food- or restaurant-related material in "Liberty City," the video game's New York City-inspired metropolis.
The Flagel: How does a flat bagel, or "flagel," get so flat? And does it contain less bagel volume than a normal-sized one? We investigated the curious bread specimen.
Slurpees and How to Pour Them: In honor of "7-11 Day," or July 11, the chain gave out free Slurpees. Kansas City native Adam Kuban notes: "New Yorkers don't know how to pull a proper Slurpee," compared to his Midwestern brethren. As a public service, he supplies a video tutorial.
The Phaal Challenge at Brick Lane Curry House: Spiciest Curry Ever? Serious Eats intern Emily Koh proved her spicy street cred by eating phaal, "the spiciest curry dish ever," at Brick Lane Curry House in the East Village. Leaving unscathed—shoot, girl—she shares her strategy.
Off the Beaten Path: Mother's Day Guinea Pig: To repay Mom for buying you that fluffy guinea pig when you were eight, Joe DiStefano suggests a trip to Jackson Heights, Queens for "cuy asado," or roast Ecuadorean guinea pig, at El Pequeño Coffee Shop.
Nathan's: Another Epic New York Food Line: Shake Shack's line is long but efficient. Di Fara's "line" is long and inefficient, but involves entertainment from pizzaolo Dom DeMarco. But the lines at Nathan's? Something else entirely.
Are Frozen Fries My White Whale? Ed loves a Shackburger and vanilla frozen custard as much as the next guy, but the fries? No way. He's so obsessed with critiquing their frozen origins, it's turned into a Moby Dick white whale situation.
Do Restaurants Get A Political Voice? Is a coffee shop allowed to have a sign outside that says: "Sponsored In Part by Muffins For Obama"? Or should food stay out of politics?
I Bought the Entire Spinal Column of a 700-Pound Tuna (Oh, Yes I Did): In November, the Mitsuwa Marketplace in New Jersey held its annual "Giant Bluefin Tuna Cut Performance," where our Tam Ngo made the best $2 purchase known to man.
Have a Chinatown Thanksgiving With a Turkey from Roasted Delights: Peking turkey, though not traditional, is so juicy (white and dark both), and has such a crisp, amber exterior, pilgrims would totally be jealous. The Serious Eats team convened at Roasted Delights in Chinatown to sample a 15-pound Cantonese-style air-dried bird.