Eateries

The Best Bagels in New York: Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company

Bagels were brought to the United States by immigrant Polish-Jews, and became a thriving business in New York City. It started as an item exclusively oriented towards the Jewish population but soon enough it took over New York City. Why not? It is portable, fast to make, easy to eat with one hand and you can combine it with everything, from peanut butter and Nutella to smoked salmon and capers. Next to hot dogs and pizza, the bagels complete the trinity of the New York iconic foods. As it is expected similarly to the other two foods, there are hundreds of stores around the city that are competing in making the city's best bagel. The Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company (BB&CC) is probably the best. I am not saying that the rest are not good, I am just saying that this is the best! Hands down the best.

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Περί Ορέξεως – Peri Orexeos – Heraklion, Crete, Greece

The food and the cuisine of a culture is very easily depicted in small restaurants and shacks that the locals know. They usually don't care about the appearance of the food, just the quality and the price. When however the food is offered in a more "gourmet" way it is a challenge. You have to overcome the stables and add perspective in dishes that have been around for decades or even centuries. This is not easily achieved, and only some very talented chefs can present the same food in a new way. Unfortunately this comes with a price... A very high price indeed. This is specially true for greek cuisine. The major challenge with greek food is not the food but the greeks themselves. A culture that has been kept isolated from international influences due to the very small emigration currents. It is therefore almost mandatory to stick to the local ingredients, techniques and methods. To overcome these without offending the local taste palette it is hard.

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Barney Greengrass – New York, NY, USA

New York is the one place on earth that the largest number of cultures are meeting, fusing and mingling producing different culture that is should not really called a melting pot; it resemble more a tossed salad. Something that looks nice together, taste great but you can still occaasionally get a tatse of the individual ingredients. And this makes New York City a great culinary destination. You can get everything your heart desires, from the typical Italian to the Ethiopian, Nepalese, Greek. But if there are the two more dominant culinary cultures are the Italian and the Jewish. And there are many different Jewish little jewels but there is one that is interesting because of what it is offering specialized in sturgeon. And so it is the sturgeon king of New York, NY.

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Backstage Coffee, Denver, CO

When on travel I try to find local place to enjoy my coffee. Big chains like Starbucks are fine, but they are the same everywhere. They do not carry the local flare and they don 't really let you feel the local atmosphere. Restaurants although they deal with the local crowds and cuisine are a bit more formal. Coffee shops allow for a more casual free-spirited atmosphere, and usually they have the air of the underground and alternative people. Sometimes these coffee shops are a treat. And that 's what the Backstage Coffee was.

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