Veritasty: Truthfully Delicious

My heart flutters a little bit when I see the sea of red and white striped walls going up in Union Square around Thanksgiving.  They make a labyrinth that turns into the Union Square Holiday Market.  When you wander, thousands of other people are also converging on the same few booths so sometimes you get a little crowded, but I love exploring, shopping, and eating at this market and many others around the city in the winter. Union Square has the most popular market and vendors vie for a booth.  On one trip, I discovered a tiny treasure at the market: La Sonrisa empanadas.  We were just strolling and I decided I wanted to grab one of these to snack on.  $3.50 and a few minutes later, I had in my hand a scorching fried empanada shaped like the namesake "smile" (sonrisa).  They fried it up to order on the spot, which I found remarkable for a stall that's probably 3 feet by 3 feet in dimension.  I settled on a type of empanada only af...

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 wall...

Recently, New York has been inundated with a new gastronomic phenomenon: food trucks.  Especially prevalent around NYU in our last year, food trucks provide quick, convenient, and mostly gourmet fare right outside your building or around the corner.  For some restaurants, their food trucks bring the food to you with their mobile offshoots.  In my nutrition class last year, we debated the (lack of) sanitation and health issues surrounding food trucks but let's face it, they are fun, delicious, and here to stay. Today, we went to PARKED, a food festival celebrating local food trucks and carts at South Street Seaport.  The streets around Seaport were already packed with one of those ubiquitous New York City summer street fairs (gyros, Italian sausage subs, mozzarepas, grilled corn, etc.) so PARKED was extra crowded. The first thing I had was a mini shrimp roll from Red Hook Lobster Pound.  The mini shrimp roll actually was a mini roll with mini shrimp on...