Eating Our Way Through NYC

On Friday, I went on Big Onion's Original Multi-Ethnic Eating Tour with my buddy Dax, who is the Communications Person Extraordinaire at Big Sky, Montana. (If you haven't ever skied there, GO—it's amazing, and gorgeous.) We learned about the history of the Lower East Side (where Little Italy and Chinatown come together with hints of Jewish and Dominican) and wandered around for a few hours on a brisk autumn afternoon.

Items consumed:
• Fried plantains
• Pickles from the Pickle Guys on Essex Street
• Halvah
• Dried plums and dried rose petals
• Soprasetta, parmigiano, and fresh mozzarella
• Cannoli

One of the most amazing things about this city is the number of cultures that all come together. In the latest issue of the Village Voice, the staff picked out their favorite dishes of 2008. There's xashlama from an Armenian restaurant. Tripe soup from Zlata Praha, a Czech place. Fish-pepper soup from the Ivory Coast. Brik from Tunisia. Roti from Trinidad. Masa patties from El Salvador. Griot from Haiti. Alu-bhate from Bangladesh. I've decided that I need to make some culinary field trips to other neighborhoods just to see what food I can uncover: I can travel the world by subway.