Veritasty: Truthfully Delicious

Show of hands, who eats food from street vendors??  If you live in New York City, chances are you do, early and often.  This past weekend, we went to Governor's Island for their last fete of the summer, celebrating food trucks and vendors in our area - The 8th Annual Vendy Awards.  Judges, members of the press, and regular New Yorkers gathered to sample the offerings of a diverse collection of finalists and vote for the ultimate winners in each category of food vendor.  Again, we were blessed with beautiful weather that buoyed high spirits as we ate our way across the field of contenders. Our first bite was from Phil's Steaks, a truck that specializes in Philadelphia cheese steaks.  I've never had a real Philly cheese steak, having never been to Philly, so I don't really know what to base my opinion on.  That being said, Phil's cheese steak was delicious and a great way to whet my appetite.  A warm mound of chopped steak, smothered in Cheez Whiz, sa

Summer may be de facto  over, but we're gonna keep on celebrating New York and Brooklyn's bounty until way into the fall. One way to do that is to visit Smorgasburg Williamsburg or the newer (and in some ways better) Smorgasburg DUMBO! We did just that this weekend and found a few gems. Smorgasburg started out last year as an extension of the Brooklyn Flea, taking place on Saturdays in the summer and fall, in Williamsburg (smörgåsbord + Williamsburg = ?).  This year, Smorgasburg gained a new location in DUMBO in the Tobacco Warehouse on Sundays.  When I heard this, I was wary: why is a food market held in a warehouse.  For tobacco.  But then Alex told me what the Tobacco Warehouse actually is, and I was pleasantly surprised. Actually, we'd been there before during my cousin's wedding to take grungy/artsy photos.  Right under the Brooklyn Bridge, in front of the Carousel, there is an expansive enclosed space.  Essentially, it's a few brick walls that look li

Even though we both graduated from NYU this spring, we find ourselves still enchanted by the Greenwich Village neighborhood and we visited a bakery called Molly's Cupcakes recently.  Molly's Cupcakes is supremely cute, decorated with swing-like seats and light wooden furniture.  Their glass counters contained many large cupcakes labeled with adorable cartoon signs.  My mouth was drooling reading one after another sign. We selected four of the most delectable-looking cupcakes: creme brulee, peach cobbler, Cookie Monster, and rocky road.   The creme brulee was topped with glistening berries and a caramel crust and stuffed with a vanilla custard.  It was definitely reminiscent of a creme brulee!  It was not too sweet, yet retained the classy, classic flavors of creme brulee.  I was especially impressed with the thoughtful touch of vanilla custard inside.   Peach cobbler was also delicious.  The tanginess of fruit was a welcome foil t

I've said it once and I'll say it again.  West Indian people know how to party!  Today was the West Indian Day Parade on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn and boy, was it a party. Alex and I went once two years ago, but we did it all wrong.  We stayed very briefly and made a quick exit without submerging ourselves in the culture.  This time, we witnessed a pretty crazy, diverse, hyperactive, loud, delicious celebration of pan-Caribbean culture.  We walked up Eastern Parkway, peeking meekly at the local vendors - most likely hailing from a Caribbean country themselves and out to celebrate their culture and share their food with the world - grilling and frying food right on the street.  The air was quickly filling up with thick smoke, as well as delicious, tantalizing aromas of fried fish, grilled meats, and jerk spices.  We were surrounded by these swirling smells all afternoon. First, pre-parade, Alex had a dish of sweet plantains from a vendor frying them up in a giant va

My first adventure to Brighton Beach!  I've known Brighton Beach to be a Russian neighborhood - and we certainly saw Russian establishments in the area - but as we discovered, there is also a large Turkish population in the southern tip of Brooklyn.  I have only had good Turkish food (in fact, I sort of believe you can't go wrong with Turkish food) and our trip to a small kebab place called Beyti confirmed my theory. Beyti definitely looks like a local favorite.  The sweet smell of roasting meat hits you when you first walk in.  The people working there probably don't speak the best English.  People were walking in shirtless from the nearby beach and boardwalk.  Sanitary?  Probably not.  But gladly it didn't take away from the food. We shared a large mixed appetizer platter and a mixed meat entree.  The mixed appetizer platter was great: a big dollop each of a mint yogurt sauce (think tzatziki), hummus, babaghanoush, chopped eggplant, whole roasted eggplant, som

Happy 1st Birthday Veritasty!! One year ago, our first foodventure was to Pig Island on Governor's Island.  The lovely folks at Food Karma have organized this great event for a few years now and we were thrilled and honored to be a part of it.  It was a beautiful day on Governor's Island and every Food Karma event should be blessed with such nice weather.      First up was Ovelia's stall.  They had a couple of spits rolling meat that would become pulled pork with apple coleslaw on a pita triangle.  While we were there, they were also cooking up some loukaniko, a traditional Greek sausage.  They looked amazing, sizzling in the pan, studded with leeks and orange zest.   Next up was one of the highlights of the afternoon: Edi and the Wolf.  The offering was grilled pork belly on top of chopped peaches and a bed of arugula.  This little dish was delicious: crisp pork skin (always a plus), fatty pork belly (also always a plus), with the contrast o