For Eli Zabar, the 1970s were the Dark Ages for bread in New York City. In 1973, he opened E.A.T., his gourmet deli and café on Madison Avenue, and he was desperate to find good bread for his smoked salmon sandwiches. "The old bakeries had died out," he says, "and the bakeries that survived were making mass-produced supermarket garbage. There were a few mom and pops around, but most of those weren't any good either." He was getting his bread from an Italian bakery up in Harlem whose owner was often drunk. "One day, the bread came in, and it was so bad that I said, 'Even I can make bread better than this.'" More

We traveled all over New York City to find the best babka—to markets, delis, bakeries, and even the largest babka bakery in the country, located in Brooklyn. Check out our results. More

In the pantheon of iconic New York foods, not much outranks the proud cheesecake. Whether after dinner at Luger's, by the round at Eileen's, or shipped across the country by Junior's, New York cheesecakes are a force to be reckoned with. After countless miles traveled, bites considered, and calories consumed, we've arrived at our winners. More

Photograph from shapeshift on Flickr Old habits die hard, especially when it comes to holiday foods. So, despite international treaties to restrict the selling of eggs from beleaguered wild sturgeon and possible Russian mafia involvement in getting questionable caviar... More