Last Sunday, my sister Jen and me went on a 3-hour food and history walking tour of Greenwich Village, NY. It started as a sunny spring day in NYC, then the weather rapidly changed. After the second stop on the tour, it felt like the beginning of March.
I learned so much about the Village that I divided the food and history into two parts. The food tour that we took has been in business for 21 years. They took my gluten-free business very seriously; so did the restaurants.
Our guide’s name was Bert and he had a fantastic personality. He is an actor, comedian, improviser, and tour guide for 18 years. He knows his shit. Our group had 14 of us; luckily, everyone was fun and easygoing.
We met at the famous Murray’s Cheese. Wow, was all I could say. It is a beautiful store and a cheese lover’s dream. It is not overpriced if you can believe that one. Many cheese stores here in VT are much more expensive.
The first tasting spot was Joe’s Pizza. This stop I knew would be the roughest one for me. If I had to choose a last meal, NYC pizza would be on the menu.
Before Bert went inside to get the group’s pizza, he gave us the history. Joe’s has been in business for over 100 years and is famous. Everyone who’s anyone has eaten there.
Bert also explained how NYC water really does matter when making pizza and bagels. Pizza and bagel makers from other parts of the country have been trying to change the scientific components of their water. For instance, raising or lowering the ph, phosphorus, magnesium, etc. It’s serious business.
Bert also discussed the sauce was San Marazano tomatoes with nothing added. No garlic, salt, or pepper. They used a high-quality cheese that didn’t contain oil resulting in a slice of pizza that didn’t leave a greasy puddle behind.
Do pizzerias use cheese that contains vegetable oil? Yup! “Pizzeria” inexpensive cheese contains oil for better melting ability. That is what they use in places that serve $1 slice pies, not at good places like Joe’s. You get what you pay for.
Bert came out with a gigantic 14-cut pizza and those cheap white paper plates; pizza is always on. Before the tour, he handed me a beautiful antipasto salad; while delicious didn’t help me salivate for that pizza.
Next on the tour was a sit-down stop at a taqueria named Tacombi. They are known for their authentic fish tacos, like the ones found on the beaches of Mexico, not anywhere in the US.
The owner started selling tacos out of a VW Kombi camper in NYC and called the place Tacombi joining the two inspirations. It is a very hip and cool spot in the west village with delicious tacos.
I couldn’t have a fish taco since it’s battered and fried, but I did have one spread with flavored sweet potato and blacks beans. It was delicious, and I didn’t feel left out here.
The next stop was a standing outside stop, Faccios Italian Specialties. The group was given an arancini or rice ball and a slice of thinly sliced soppressata. I was giving a marinated freshly pulled mozzarella knots. I make arancini, so I was fine with the cheese. The soppressata was delicious and one of the meats they specialize in.
Next, we had a sit-down stop at Pesce Trattoria, which is in another ancient building with a gorgeous, original tin ceiling. Bert told us restaurants were required back in the day to have tin ceilings in case a fire broke out in the kitchen.
Photo credit of restaurant from Pesce Trattoria.
This is where I was almost leary to eat my gluten-free meatball. It looked exactly like everyone else’s. The inside of the meatball looked like everyone else’s. I trusted them and tasted a soft and delicious meatball in a simple sauce. They sprinkled on a blend of romano and pecorino cheeses.
At every “sitting stop,” Jen and I used their bathrooms since bathrooms are hard to come by in NYC if you don’t know. It was cold and super windy so sitting in a warm restaurant felt wonderful.
We walked to our next standing stop called The Donut Project, a woman-owned business with all women employees. Being gluten-free, real donuts are hard to come by; I’m this case, my gluten-free donut trumped the real thing!
The donuts at The Donut Project come in very different flavors and toppings. My donut was huge and delicious. It was fried like a donut should be, not baked in a donut pan some places try to pull off. This was the best thing on the whole tour for me.
Jen said the donuts the group got were delicious covered in a lemon glaze, but my donut was better. How do you like those apples??
We walked to our next stop, and it didn’t seem like it could get colder or windier. We were frozen to the bone. Our sit-down stop was a Rafele. Rafele opened in 2012 when the chef from Naples even had his own pizza oven sent over.
As soon as we walked into the restaurant, I was smart and got a seat at the bar near the pizza oven to warm up. The place was very nice and the kitchen was small like most restaurant kitchens.
My eggplant parmesan was another one of those dishes I couldn’t believe was gluten-free. The chef presses the eggplant for 24 hours to get out all the water, then dips it in egg and sautés it. I am not sure if the tour’s eggplant was breaded, which it didn’t need.
We stayed here the longest before our last standing stop at Rocco’s bakery, another west village institution. The group had mini cannolis while I was given a cup of cannoli filling and a pignoli nut cookie.
I didn’t miss the real cannoli in the least; my cup of the filling was huge. I was happy with this substitution.
After the tour was over, Jen and I got a table in Rocco’s, and each had a cappuccino. Originally, we were going to hang around for two more hours and have dinner in the village, but since we were not hungry and were freezing, we planned to head back to Jersey.
We had dinner later that night at an Indian restaurant called Nirvana. It was close to where she lived, and the food was warm and comforting after such a cold day.
The experience exceeded my expectations. The Original Food Tour Company, the tour company we used, has many other food tours in the city. I can’t wait to go on more!
I hope you got an idea of what the tour was really like. I would highly recommend taking the 3-hour tour one-day yourselves. It’s a great way to experience the history behind the real deal places and not taken to tourist traps.
When I wrote “a 3-hour tour” I automatically thought of Gilligan’s Island. LOL! 😂
Look for part two of the food and history walking tour very soon!
Great report and photos! Have you ever listened to Bob Dylan’s “Positively Fourth Street?” I hope your COVID case turns out to mild and finished soon. I’m sure you won’t forget this NYC Food Tour. Thanks for sharing this with the world. “New York, New York”