Mmmm, snacks. The food you eat when you don’t need food. Most definitely beyond sustenance and into pleasure, enjoyment and greed.
I try not to snack too much on a regular basis, but this is less due to willpower than to deliberately not having them around.
Of course all bets are off on holiday. Especially in a city with eateries of all kinds on every avenue.
American-style pies are something I am drawn to. British sweet pies are pretty tame – generally fruit of some sort between two layers of pastry. In America, pies can have chocolate, cream, custard or nuts, and are served in decadent slices. I base this on the charming and unique TV series Pushing Daisies and the movie Waitress.
Petee’s is a tiny pie shop on Delancey Street. You can get pies to go, or eat a slice teetering on one of the few stools.
We started by sharing a slice of Chocolate Chess Pie, which was so amazing we immediately had to have another slice of pie – this one was peach and raspberry I think. I absolutely loved this place and wish there was one in the UK – I did have a mini pumpkin pie at Hummingbird Bakery recently, but it didn’t compare.
H had a birthday while we were in New York, and in lieu of a cake, I trotted out to a doughnut shop and brought him back some to have as a breakfast in bed.
I’d done a bit of research before choosing this particular shop, and it was not in vain. Light, airy dough, rich flavourful fillings – these guys know what they are doing. The big square one was peanut butter and jelly – not my favourite combo but this was really good.
In line with my aforementioned (American) biscuit obsession, when we were staying up near Times Square I fancied tracking down some baked goods. This place came up in my research, and I dragged H there so I could buy another biscuit – this one including cheese and jalapeno iirc.
So much lighter than any scones I’ve ever made, and even than the biscuits I tried to bake one time. I’m hoping scones and biscuits will be the next food trend.
It’s hard to read about sweet treats in New York without tripping over articles about the Milk Bar. Whether its their cereal milk or the crack pie (both of which we had), one gets the impression you’ll be missing out if you don’t visit.
Both were good. The cereal milk was how you would imagine it, like drinking the last bit from a bowl of sugary cornflakes – sweet and delicious. The crack pie reminded me of a cross between treacle tart and an incredibly sweet flapjack. I probably should have let it come to room temperature before wolfing it, because it was a little claggy, but delicious none-the-less.
If you live to graze, then visiting a street food market is the holy grail, and I don’t think I’ve been to a bigger one than Smorgasburg. It was a roasting hot day when we strolled across Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, and we quickly sought out a spot of shade. It made touring the stalls and waiting for items a race against heat prostration and sunburn, but there was so much to choose from!
I think this was an empanada, but am not totally certain!
Another plate of deliciousness.
Deep fried mozzarella sticks. These were the real deal, not some pale chain imitator, and they were amazing.
Also lovely drinks and sweet things too – you’d need to make many visits to scratch the surface.