As long as you’re at Coney Island, you may as well wander down the boardwalk to one of the Russian restaurants with seaside seating. I won’t lie—these places don’t have the greatest food, but the people-watching more than makes up for it. Order some cold vodka, maybe some smoked fish or other low-commitment nibbles, and watch the parade of Brooklyn characters flow past. Maybe you’ll spot a washed-up Russian model at a nearby table, singing sad Slavic songs at the top of her lungs and terribly off-key, then yelling and laughing angrily at the wind. Is she crazy? you wonder. Or just impressively drunk? The waiters stop by her table every so often and talk to her convivially, as if nothing is out of sorts, confusing you even more. You swallow a glug of vodka and notice it’s warming up, getting harder to drink. An old, bald man rides languidly by on a bike, big-bellied and tanned to wrinkles from a lifetime spent shirtless in the sun, just as he is now. Behind him come families, teenagers, the destitute, lovers, bruisers, and thieves.

Old New York is alive and well at Coney Island, despite the city’s best efforts otherwise. Savor it.

People always think I’m nuts for eating raw seafood from a place like Nathan’s, but I’ll tell you, those clams have always been live and fresh, and they’re shucked right before your eyes, so you’d know if anything looked off. Frankly, the same can be said of most of the clam bars along the boardwalk, too, which I’ll also happily eat at when I’m out there. You’ll walk out with pounds of superior smoked fish for a fraction of what you’d pay elsewhere. You may even find some unexpected goodies, like a killer salmon poke I picked up when I last stopped by. That means that they have to prepare at least 3,000 hand-formed dumplings for each day of the weekend, and probably quite a bit more. And I’m not even counting all the other dishes they prepare for service, from chicken feet to freshly steamed rice noodle rolls and cauldrons of braised tripe.

Most Coney Island visitors who stroll over to the original Nathan’s order a hot dog. I suppose that makes sense, given that that’s what it’s famous for, but I don’t fully understand it. I mean, you can get a hot dog literally anywhere in New York City; why get one at the beach? Instead, I encourage you to throw caution aside and do what I always do: Order raw clams on the half shell, along with a platter of fried frog’s legs. Plus a cold beer, of course.

As for the frog’s legs, I consider it a kind of duty to support those foods that are holdovers from an era when a lot more people probably ordered them. The hot dogs aren’t going anywhere, but the frog’s legs sure could be taken off the menu if we don’t keep the demand up. Beyond such philosophical motivations, they’re also legit good, plump little fatties. They taste just like chicken…if chicken spent a portion of its time living in water, like an amphibian.

At some point in the early aughts, my brother-in-law got turned on to this Bay Ridge red-sauce and pizza restaurant, and we liked it so much that we stopped visiting just about all the Italian-American places that were much closer to us. Back then, lines would form at Gino’s most nights, and, based on a recent visit, it’s just as popular today. “Coming here is like Groundhog Day for me, it’s always the same. We’ve celebrated birthdays here, anniversaries, weddings, it all blurs together,” she told me. She ordered some of her top picks for us, including thin slices of fried eggplant rolled around a creamy ricotta filling and doused with marinara, and big, breaded-and-fried butterflied shrimp Parmigiana, smothered in a comforter of melted mozzarella. (That might sound like they used a heavy hand with cheese…and they did, but it’s melted mozz, so I sure wasn’t complaining!) Another one of her favorites: a heaping bowl of rigatoni in a cream-tinged tomato sauce with prosciutto, peas, and mushrooms. It’s total comfort food.

My plan for this story was to visit some of the restaurants from my childhood neighborhood of Carroll Gardens that I had been fondest of and include one of them in this guide. It didn’t go well. The ones that weren’t unexpectedly closed despite their posted hours of operation (unacceptable) were so thoroughly disappointing that I couldn’t bring myself to list them here. Nostalgia alone is not a reason to recommend something.

And, old-time Carroll Gardens restaurants, I’m putting you on notice. It’s real hard to make a case for what a shame it is for a neighborhood to lose its flavor when the flavor of its food is so half-assed and mediocre. You have to at least bring your B+ game. Shape up, or you’ll be sleepin’ with the fishes…and ya won’t be missed. Capiche?

So instead, Serious Eats Visual Director (and native Brooklynite) Vicky Wasik drove me to one of her family’s longtime favorites, Frost, on the Williamsburg–Greenpoint border. The place itself is one large, square room, surprisingly full for early on a Tuesday night, and with a casual vibe despite the tablecloths.

There’s a breed of independently run Chinese restaurant in New York City, most frequently found in less affluent areas and the outer boroughs, that’s characterized by a fluorescent menu board displaying photos of all the dishes you’d expect—beef with broccoli, General Tso’s chicken. These are, in essence, fast food restaurants that specialize in Chinese takeout, though there’s usually some limited seating if you want to eat there. A lot of them used to have bulletproof glass separating the customers from the cooks, but many removed that protective barrier as the city became safer.

My advice: Get the fried chicken wings, under $5 at most places, even though there’s nothing remotely Chinese about them. This holds true for just about any of these places, since you’d be hard-pressed to find one that doesn’t have a small fried chicken menu, along with other items, like fried plantains, that cater to neighborhood tastes. The wings are invariably jumbo-sized, with a crisp, lightly battered exterior and tender meat. They’re good on their own, but they become superlative when you grab that yellow squeeze bottle of vinegary hot sauce that’s always on the counter and proceed to douse them with it until they’re stained red and dripping.

When Columbus arrived in the Americas, he stubbornly decided to call the native inhabitants “Indians,” despite the fact that he was nowhere near his intended South Asian destination. Centuries later, when actual Indians were brought to the West Indies as indentured servants, they took their cooking with them, and it has significantly influenced the food of countries like Trinidad and Tobago. The result: dishes with Indian roots, like curried stewed goat and roti, thousands of miles from their country of origin.

At Ali’s Trinidad Roti Shop, you can get that stew and others wrapped in the namesake roti, an unleavened flatbread with a wonderfully elastic pull. Wrapping the meat inside the roti is how it’s sold as street food in Trinidad, which is how I always ate it at Brooklyn’s annual West Indian Day Parade, a raucous festival that bumps, booms, and bops down Eastern Parkway every Labor Day. Ali’s version, which you order at the Plexiglas window, then eat at one of the few tables or carry out, does not disappoint.

Drive along the BQE toward Queens and you’ll pass a large warehouse in Greenpoint with a fading sign up by the roof that says “Marshall’s,” along with a big picture of a fish in a tuxedo, carrying a smaller fish. It was, for many years, an excellent smokehouse that mostly sold its goods wholesale. But to those in the know, it was also a place that offered retail sales to walk-in customers for a few hours each week. My mom used to drive me there to buy all the fish we needed for a Sunday bagel brunch, and I remember standing in that cold, cavernous entry room, empty save for a couple of employees in white work coats and several speed racks loaded with sides of lox, sable, and row upon row of golden smoked whitefish, hanging by their tails.

All that’s left of that Greenpoint Marshall’s now is the sign outside, but thankfully, ACME Smoked Fish, another wholesaler in Greenpoint, continues the tradition on Fridays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. ACME’s retail hours are way more popular today than I remember Marshall’s ever being—expect a sometimes-long line that leads to a short wait in a chilly refrigerated room—but boy, is it worth it.

Gino’s doesn’t have the kind of old-school Italian-American atmosphere you see in films; it’s newer than that. Opened in 1964, it has a quirky mix of upscale decor (white tablecloths, marble counters) coexisting with a to-go pizza counter at the front, complete with pre-baked pies for by-the-slice orders. But that’s also why I like it: It’s not some set piece indifferently dishing up thoughtless grub just because it knows it looks cool. It’s a solid restaurant that real people go to for a good meal. That’s gotta be worth more.

Their penne with vodka was, and still is, pretty darned delicious, and I’ve found you can’t really go wrong with any of the other classics I’ve tried there, like tender and juicy chicken parm, and a heaping bowl of escarole sautéed in olive oil with plenty of garlic. I didn’t get a chance to eat a pizza on my most recent visit, but if they’re anything like they were years ago, you won’t be disappointed.

Back when I was the food and drink staff writer at Time Out New York, I pitched a story about going behind the scenes at a dim sum restaurant to find out exactly how they prepare such vast quantities of dumplings and other small plates to feed the weekend hordes. Most of the big dim sum halls I approached in the city refused to let me observe in the kitchen, but the folks at Pacificana, located out in the booming Chinese section of Sunset Park, greeted me with wide-open doors.

Let’s stop for one second to do some back-of-the-envelope math. Pacificana seats about 500 people, and on weekends the place is totally full. They can easily flip those seats two or three times on busy days, which means that, conservatively, they’re feeding over a thousand people each day. And I’d wager that each person, on average, eats at least three dumplings. (I eat several times more than that, but I’m not a typical customer.)

Given that, what I was expecting was an army of cooks, cranking out siu mai and har gow all week long and stockpiling them in freezers in anticipation of the weekend rush. But what I found instead was a surprisingly small crew of skilled workers who made just about everything fresh to order. They’d pull balls of dough from a master stash, hand-roll each dumpling wrapper, stuff it, and close it with a series of fine pleats. They’d fill the bamboo baskets faster than I had imagined possible, then load them into giant blast steamers, and finally stack them on the carts that toured the dining room. When a cart ran low, they’d just whip up dozens more baskets in an unhurried flash.

Impressed with the quality of all their standard dishes, from the many types of dumplings to specials like roast pork with a crackling skin and tender meat, I’ve been going there ever since. If you’re feeling especially brave, try my two personal favorites: the aforementioned chicken feet, which are fried first, then steamed with black beans until the skin and cartilage melt right off the bones; and the tripe, which is squishy-tender in a ginger-y, anise-spiked broth. The bustling and expansive dining room is also one of the nicer ones I’ve seen in the city—elegant enough that my wife and I considered hosting our wedding there (until we learned that they wouldn’t do dim sum for a large party).

Spoon in a bowl of Watermelon Sorbet topped with fresh strawberries and watermelon chunks
Strawberry Watermelon Sorbet (5 Minutes)
5-minute watermelon sorbet made in a blender with nothing but ripe summer fruit and a splash of almond milk. This unbelievably refreshing sorbet tastes like cotton candy.
AuthorMinimalist Baker
Using a spoon to create texture on a bowl of Strawberry Watermelon Sorbet
PREP TIME
5 minutes
TOTAL TIME
5 minutes
Servings
2
(Servings)
CourseDessert
CuisineGluten-Free, Vegan
Freezer Friendly2 Weeks
Ingredients
US Customary – Metric
2 cups cubed frozen watermelon (ripe // seeds removed)
1 cup sliced frozen strawberries (ripe, organic when possible)
1 cup sliced frozen bananas (ripe and spotty)
1/4-1/2 cup almond milk, coconut milk, or coconut water (each provides a unique flavor and texture)
Instructions
If you haven’t already frozen your fruit, ensure it’s nice and ripe and juicy (the sweeter, the better) then slice and freeze on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Freeze overnight or for at least 4-6 hours or until firm like ice. (Note: Prep time does not include this step.)
To a high-speed blender (or food processor) add frozen watermelon, frozen strawberries, and frozen banana. Top with the lesser amount of dairy-free milk of choice or coconut water.

HOW TO FREEZE YOUR BURRITOS
After you’ve added all the fillings to your burrito, roll it into a tight cylinder, folding over the ends to keep it contained, and wrap the burrito tightly in foil. Once all your burritos are rolled and wrapped, store them in a plastic freezer-safe container, like a Ziploc, for three to six months.

Bake the potatoes: Increase the heat to 400˚F. Place potatoes on a baking sheet, drizzle well with olive oil, and sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake potatoes for about an hour until the skins are shriveled slightly and the potatoes are very tender. (See How to Bake a Potato for more details.)

THE BEST WAY TO REHEAT FROZEN BURRITOS
Is there anything more depressing than spending good time and money making a batch of freezer burritos, only to be disappointed when you reheat them? Just microwaving the burritos will warm the filling, but the tortillas will be soggy and not great.

Chinese officials warned food importing companies not to buy frozen food from regions with high incidence rates. The Municipal Trade Office in Beijing, China’s capital, warned importing companies. It was requested that companies bringing products from outside the country increase controls and pay particular attention to the countries they import through the cold chain, and not to import from regions where the epidemic has increased.

Covid-19 can also be transmitted via cold chain
In the statement made, it was stated that corona virus was detected in imported frozen foods, and it was reported that “it has been proven that the cold chain can transmit Covid-19”.
During the inspections carried out at Chinese customs on Saturday, the corona virus was detected in the outer package of the seafood cargo imported from Russia. It was previously announced that the corona virus was detected in the inner packages of the frozen fish cargo received from Brazil. After the coronavirus cases increased again in the Netherlands, the government took a series of measures to control the epidemic. Within the scope of the rules that come into force as of 18:00 on Sunday evening, cafes, restaurants and bars will stop their music broadcast as of 00:00 and will not be able to recruit new customers. These businesses will close at 01:00 at the latest.
Restaurants serving homes will be closed at 02:00 at night, these businesses will not be able to sell alcoholic beverages from 01:00.
Home visits will be limited to a maximum of 6 people. Employees will be encouraged to continue their work from home whenever possible.
Regardless of indoor or outdoor, all events such as celebrations, entertainment or meetings will be limited to a maximum of 50 people.
For events exceeding 50 people, such as open air concerts or crowded parties, permission applications will be made to the official authorities. Unauthorized activities will be distributed by security units.