Greetings tasters, Many of you are now finally finished with all your turkey left overs.  This year my family did not have any left overs as we have kept a NYC tradition of dining out at a yummy restaurant! This year the Hoye family dined at Bar Americain, a Bobby Flay restaurant. Bobby’s hint of southwest cooking certainly came across in his turkey dinner. To start I chose a crab cake with red cabbage slaw paired with green onion sauce. My turkey dinner consisted of: a great heaping of turkey with lots of gravy, wild mushroom and bacon infused stuffing, fig and pinot noir chutney and lastly creamed kale. This is definitely a traditional turkey dinner with a twist. To finish this great meal… a piece of warm sweet potato pie… oh my! I hope your turkey day was as…

Greetings from the table of Alana, Many of you who have been on our food tasting tour of Little Italy know how much I rave about Di Palo’s homemade ravioli. About two times a month I purchase their homemade ravioli, meatballs, and sauce. This past week I made their ravioli and paried it with their bolognese sauce. It was extremely YUMMY!! I always say how thick the ricotta cheese is inside and it is so delicoius! A box of fresh ravioli is under $10.00 Head on down to Di Palo’s on Grand Street in Little Italy and enjoy! Mangia Mangia!

Hi tasters, As you most of you know I dine out often and love to share my experiences with all of you! However last night was a night to cook at home! I made a quick, simple AND tasty dinner… Chicken Cacciatore. Here is my reciepe to serve 4! 4 chicken breasts cut into pieces 1 table spoon of vegetable oil 1 diced onion 1 diced green pepper 1 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes 1 clove of garlic minced (tip use a grater) dash of salt, pepper, oregano To begin: Heat pan covering with one table spoon of vegetable oil, once oil is hot begin to cook chicken. Once chicken is cooked well begin to put in onions, peppers, salt, pepper, oregano, and garlic. Continue to mix and lastly add can of diced tomatoes. Let cook for a few…

Hello tasters! While strolling in the East Village the other day I discovered a great hidden gem– B&H Dairy! This little restaurant serving up soups, pierogies, knishes, mac ‘n cheese and amazing omelets hosts its diners with a counter and few tables. This authentic Kosher restaurant is one of the few surviving restaurants from the time of the “Jewish Rialto” aka Yiddish Theatre on 2nd avenue. Prices are so affordable! My friend and I each had a bowl of soup and some of their homemade challah bread for $8.25 total…amazing! I’ve also had their knish… yum! Next time you are looking for a great AND affordable breakfast or lunch, stop by B&H Dairy, 127 Second Avenue in the East Village.

This past week I spent two days in the windy city– going on a mini culinary adventure! The part of my adventure that I want to share with all of you– is my Chicago pizza eating experience. Many of you know by reading my Facebook and blog posts that I adore NYC pizza.  However, I do have to hand it to Chicago, they have amazing pizza too– and their very own style of making it. Chicago stuffed pizza (vs. deep dish that we see at Pizzeria Uno) is the idea of a deep dish pizza, however a thin layer of dough forms in a bowl in a high-sided pan and the toppings and cheese are added. Then, an additional layer of dough goes on top and is pressed to the sides of the bottom crust. The tomato sauce  goes on…

Greetings! Fall is officially here! This means pretty close to perfect NYC weather! Truly, what’s better than sunny days…with a touch of wind…and of course, walking the streets of NYC, feeling crisp leaves under your feet and smelling the aroma of pumpkin, apples, and cinnamon wherever you go? I love this season! Here are the…

After two great tours back to back in the East Village, I decided to treat myself to a great meal!  My sister and I went to have pizza at Motorino in the East Village (East 12th and First Avenue). We had heard a lot of good things about their true Neapolitan pizza (pizza napoletana) and even saw on the Food Network show “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” that Rachel Ray adores their anchovy pizza. So as we arrive and are seated… we see that Rachael Ray IS THERE TOO!! It was very exciting to see her enjoy a cuisine that I adore as well! As I did not want to be a total foodie “geek” I only glanced at her table a couple of times. However, she was true to her words… she ordered the anchovy pizza! I myself…

This past Labor day weekend in between making sure that all my tour goers were well fed I stopped by two tasty restaurants… Pipa tapas y mas and Cuba. Pipa tapas y mas, located in the Flatiron district brought me back to my memories from a recent vacation in Barcelona. To start I ordered a glass of their Cava sangria…AMAZING! The sparkling wine and citrus flavors blended very well together. Next my friend and I ordered a variety of tapas: chicken croquettes, calamari in its own sweet and savory sauce, skirt steak skewers and meatballs in a tomato meets light gravy sauce… all were very delicious and certainly a hearty meal. When it came time for dessert… we ordered a trio of cheeses; all were soft, delicate and paired with dried cranberries and fig jam. The decor is great too!…

Greetings! As many of you know, August marked Ahoy New York Tours and Tasting’s two year anniversary! As those who’ve toured wth me know,  I absolutely LOVE food and exploring new restaurants, markets, and many of  NYC’s hidden food gems. There are many reasons why I love what I do, but here are the top 10 that I want to share with all of YOU. 1. Smiling faces on tour-goers as they taste and fall in love with new foods. 2. My anniversary dinner at Becco— endless homemade pasta! 3. Meeting tasters from all over the globe: France, England, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Lebanon, Israel, Canada and 20 or more locations from the US. 4. Discovering why NYC pizza is so amazing and sharing all my favorite pizza places with fellow tasters. 5. Creating the Sweet Sights tour and enjoying…

As many of you can imagine, I am a huge Food Network fan! Recently I caught an episode of  “The Best Thing I Ever Ate”  on the Food Network channel and this episode featured a gem in the Essex Street Market… Shopsins! Shopsins General Store, isnot a general store in the usual sense, but a foodies delight! Shopsins is a mini “diner meets home cooking” known for their great breakfast foods and menu with OVER 1,000 items! Anything you order is great! Their Ebelskivers were featured on the hit show on the Food Network. They were everything I imagined and more! The definition of an ebelskiver is a Scandinavian pancake in a donut shape… sans fat! Their version was served nice and warm with bannanas inside and whipped cream for dipping…. OH MY! The sugar sprinkled on top was the  “icing on the cake”.  Of course before…

To celebrate Ahoy New York Tours and Tasting’s two year anniversary I went out to Becco to have an amazing dinner! I ordered their all you can eat pasta special (which comes with a tasty salad) and let me tell you this FRESH pasta was AMAZING. The selection that evening was: fresh fettucini with crab meat, ziti with a spicy…

This past Friday, I was so happy to see that Ahoy New York Tours and Tasting made the Spare Times section in the NY Times!! We’ve been anxiously awaiting this opportunity!! Check it out!

Hello fellow tasters… like many of you, I too enjoyed Restaurant Week! I dined at the very famous Russian Tea Room. Not only was the interior breath taking creating an amazing atmosphere… but the food was wonderful! To start I had their borscht soup –very unique they give you a little beef “dumpling” and sour cream (a must for borscht) to gently mix into the soup. Many of you have tried the borscht on our East Village Eats tour, it contains: beets, cabbage, beef, beans and dill.  Ukrainian, Polish and Russian cultures all have their own version of borscht! My main entree was beef stroganoff–this was so delightful! The noodles had such a fresh taste and a little bit of a buttery flavor. The beef (a generous amount) was very tender and flavorful. Lastly, my dessert– boy was I in heaven……

Hello fellow tasters– just wanted to write you all about a fantastic Sweet Sights experience that I recently had. As most of you know Sweet Sights is our dessert tour in the Upper West Side and its filled with the greatest shops to try amazing desserts such as gelato, cream puffs, the BEST chocolate chip cookie…

This past weekend I made sure to stop by the Big Apple BBQ in Madison Square Park (a BBQ fest with pitmasters from all over the country!). With 15 pitmasters smokin’ up ribs, pulled pork, brisket and more there was a lot to choose from! I personally chose some pulled pork — Carolina style and then some Texas…

While Little Italy is true to its name that it is “little”  there is still room for us to share a few hidden secrets on our Chinatown and Little Italy Food Fest food tour! Two examples are… – A famous mobster was shot down and killed at this restaurant’s previous location… – The oldest cheese shop in the USA and Little…

As per our newsletter here are some tips to save money this summer in NYC! 1. Take the Staten Island Ferry across to Staten Island. On your trip you’ll get the best view of the Manhattan skyline and get up close to the Statue of Liberty. You can access the ferry by taking a subway (1 or 9 train to South Ferry). From there you will see the ferry terminal and every few minutes a ferry departs. 2. Walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. The entrance on the Manhattan side of the bridge is near City Hall. The nearest subways are: 4,5 or 6 to Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall Station or the N, R subway to City Hall. The bridge is also great for views of the skyline, and once you get to the other side, follow signs to Brooklyn Heights (south…

So this weekend I really craved NYC pizza… not once but twice! Friday night before heading to the 79th street Boat Basin (a cafe along the Hudson River) to enjoy the nice weather I stopped at Big Nicks to have a nice big slice of whole wheat pizza. The slice was so big I only needed to eat one. Also, what was great was that you could hardly tell it was whole wheat pizza… but it did feel good knowing that it was better for me ! When it was time for dinner on Saturday night I still wanted MORE pizza! So, after my tour in the East Village my friend and I headed over to the West Village and waited a few minutes on line at John’ s Pizza. The location on Bleecker street is the original location and serves up coal-fired brick oven pizza. They…

Surprisingly many of you Ahoy NY fans have had your first Thai eating experience on our Chinatown/Little Italy tour. I always find this intriguing! Coming from a small town in upstate NY, my first Thai eating experience was when I moved to NYC 6 years ago. So for those of you who are “new” to Thai cuisine, here are some of my recommendations: Pra ram– a peanuty curry with a hint of spice and a touch of coconut milk. I often find pairing this curry with beef tastes the best! Pad see ew- this flat rice noodle dish is a hearty meal. It consists of rice noodles served with dark and light soy sauce and Chinese broccoli (bok choy). You can also pair this with chicken, beef, or my favorite shrimp. If you really enjoy this dish, the recipe is easy to find and is…

With several fresh fruit markets available in NYC one may not know where to begin their fruit buying journey. I recommend Chinatown! There are heaps of stands offering fresh fruits such as your everyday grapes, grapefruits, apples, mangos, etc.  However…  for those of you looking for something more unique there are stands that sell amazing lycee, rambutan, star fruit, dragon fruit, and the “king of all fruit” the durian!  Also, the BEST part is that the prices are wonderfully affordable. Visitors can pick up some lychees or longans to nibble on as they trek their way through NYC. Locals, why not pick up some exotic fruits and host a summer party?! To learn more about these amazing fruits, join our Chinatown and Little Italy Food Fest tour!