The Slow Food Guide to New York City: Restaurants, Markets, Bars

by Patrick Martins, Ben Watson, Martins

Book Overview

Slow Food is dedicated to: - stewardship of the land and ecologically sound food production- revival of the kitchen and the table as centers of pleasure, culture, and community- invigoration and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 193149827X
• ISBN13: 9781931498272
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing Company
• Length: 343 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.9" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

The Best NY Food Guide I've Found (and I've Seen a Lot)

Firstly, I would like to respond to the reviewer who called it a "comically inept production." Beyond being completely clueless and having probably not read the book, the reviewer clearly has no understanding of what the book, and the slowfood movement, are meant to be. He chides the fact that the author cites Katz's and other fast-food like restaurants and reviews them well. The fact is, Slowfood is not the antithesis of food prepared quickly. It is opposed to a culture that creates restaurants like McDonalds, quite different from a restaurant that gets its food to you quickly that the book might have mentioned. McDonalds, and the type of fast food that the movement opposes, presses out pre-frozen, tasteless, chemically concocted and near-poisonous masses of protein and starch. Restaurants such as the many taquerias and sandwich shops noted in the book are different. They are run by people who care about their food and make it by hand every day. They produce real, tasty food that happens to come out quickly. To deride the quick serving restaurants noted by the book because they go against the Slowfood theme is simply ignorant. As well, the book does not aim to be a repeat of the many books that once and again laud the many grand and expensive restaurants of Bocuse and his peers. It aims to be a guide for those who want to find the many tasty ethnic "dives" in a city best known for its ethnic diversity. And in that spirit, it excels. The book had loads of cheap and tasty restaurants that, even though they often had fast service, stayed true to the book's mission and served fresh and tasty food. To also deride the book by saying "Clearly, this thing was put together by amateurs" is once again remarkably ignorant and thoughtless. The majority of today's tourbooks are complete frauds. I just came back from Mexico after going to several of the worst restaurants in the country (I'm convinced.) I've had great food there and was perplexed as to how the Fodors book could have had the food (and our hotel) so wrong. Sitting at the restaurant, I noticed a phrase on the menu that seemed familiar. Looking into the tour book I saw the exact same phrase for the restuarant. The menu had several starred (literally) "special" items. The only recommendations in the book were the starred items on the menu (all of them,) and the descriptions of the items came straight off of the menu. The writer had never even gone into the damn restaurant. All of which is to say that "experienced" tour book writers are often far worse than amateurs. The "amateurs" in the Slowfood book take the time to eat at and review hundreds of hidden restaurants you couldn't find anywhere else, and they actually do the reviewing themselves (and a good job). I've tried loads of NY food guides, and this one was truly the best I've found.

Excellent summary of the best NYC eats

As a frequent traveller to Italy, I have found the Slow Food Guide to be invaluable for restaurant recommendations throughout that entire country. The Slow Food organization has consistently provided knowledgeable reviews of places that offer traditional regional cuisine for excellent value. Now that Slow Food is expanding its scope to other cities and countries, I am happy to report that its New York guide also provides reliable reviews of some of the city's best eating establishments.Note that, unlike Zagat, the Slow Food guide is not meant to be comprehensive. Instead, the contributors have chosen to write about a handful of some of the best restaurants for each cuisine category, ranging from cheap takeout places to famous four star establishments. Inevitably, some noteworthy restaurants have been left off of the list -- but those that have been included are highly worthy representatives of their respective cuisines.Also, unlike Zagat, the reviews contain far more knowledgeable insights about ethnic restaurants in the city. Instead of providing entries about places that are popular but have watered-down cuisine for Western tastes, the contributors provide descriptions of outstanding and occasionally lesser-known restaurants that serve more authentic fare. In particular, the guide highlights some of the best ethnic restaurants in the outer boroughs, which are too frequently ignored by the Zagat reviewers and clientele. For example, the guide recommends Sripraphai Thai restaurant in Woodside, Queens -- and their inclusion of this relatively overlooked gem indicates that this is a guide well worth following.In summary, the Slow Food guide is not necessarily meant to be a comprehensive survey book like Zagat's, but its focus on some of the best New York restaurants -- regardless of cost or borough -- makes this guide potentially even more valuable to New York visitors. I look forward to seeing more excellent city guides appearing State-side from the Slow Food organization.

The Best guide to eating in NYC

So much more comprehensive and caring than Zagat's. Thoughtful reviews and insights into the City's more worthwhile restaurants and food stores. Great for visitors and NYers alike. I just bought a dozen of these as holiday presents.

Trumps the Zagat!

I LOVE and RELY ON my Slow Foods of NYC book. It's really a great resource--thorough with a special focus on restaurants that use local/organic produce. I use it far more than my Zagats!

The essential food guide to NYC

For anyone who just moved to the city, or is a visitor looking for the best, authentic "New York" food, this is the guide! The variety of food and options for dining out in this city are completely overwelming. I found that the way this guide is organized and the in-depth write-ups on restaurants and markets to be very helpful in finding the tastiest treasures of New York City.