footstool's VirtualTourist Home Page

A splendid time was guaranteed for all! The promise of tantalizing travel stories -- and a reasonably priced Turkish brunch! -- drew VT'ers from Delaware, Baltimore, India....even New Joizey, to the Upper West Side for the 2d Annual NYC VT Meet. Flashbulbs were flashing, tongues were wagging, and bellies were bulging at the nearly 3 hour affair. (The belly dancers were Friday night! Maybe next year...) All 11 who signed up did indeed appear, even Stan from Baltimore, whose bus got stuck in the Lincoln Tunnel for 45 minutes. That's VT dedication! We hope to hold a 3d Annual next year.

If you have been to Italy, you know that real pizza is thin-crusted and drizzled with greens, not oozing oil and drowning in spongy cheese. Forget Little Italy and go to DiFara's Pizza, an old-time father-and-daughter joint at 1424 Avenue J at East 15 St, in Brooklyn 11230. (718) 258-1367 Open 12-4:30 pm; 6-9 pm, Tues-Sun; closed Mondays. Take the Q or B train [Brighton Line] to the Avenue J stop. It's a goyische island in a Semitic sea. You will literally rub elbows with New Yawkas as you belly up to the counter with your order. I suggest that you call ahead of time and order a whole pie. Last I heard, a single slice costs $4 -- a bargain! I have eaten here. [March 2009]

Cheap-ass Chinese food can be had at Chinatown's Great New York Noodle Town, 29 Bayard Street, at Bowery, New York 10002 (212) 349-0923. This sweaty spot is anything but touristy. With dead chickens and geese hanging in the window (lower right in photo), it's one block south of Canal Street. Whatever you do, DON'T take your female to the north side of Canal Street -- that's where the Diamond District begins! After you polish off your low-fat salt baked chicken over white rice, with a side of pea pods, you can walk it off with a stroll over the nearby Manhattan Bridge. Cross Bowery and walk uphill to the entrance ramp. You'll enjoy the subway going by you, on the Manhattan Bridge, as you take in the sights [and smells!] of underfoot Chinatown. I have eaten here numerous times. [August 2008]

Now I have never slept here, or even visited here; why should I? I live here! lol I'm just passing on info I gleaned from an August 5, 2008 New York Daily News item. A new barracks-style hostel has opened in the trendy Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. The New York Loft Hostel, once a fabric storage factory [clothes were actually made in America, back when the dollar was king] is at 249 Varet Street, Brooklyn 11206. (718) 366-1531. nylofthostel.com. A bunk bed costs $29 and up. This is 2 blocks north of Broadway and Flushing Avenue, so you're close to the J and M (Broadway) line to Manhattan, and the G train (crosstown Brooklyn-Queens local). My son lives a few blocks from here. Years ago, I used to drive thru this neighborhood at 90 mph with my head down, but then in the 80's the artists came, followed by the yuppies, and, finally, turistas! Enjoy my city. [August 2008]

No huevos rancheros aqui, amigos! The Mission Cafe is a neighborhood lunch joint on 82 2d Ave, East 4-East 5 Sts, East Village (212) 505-6616. While tourists and "borough people" are permitted to eat here, mostly locals feast on their varieties of wraps, fresh ground juices, Vietnamese and their own in-house "Mission Possible" coffees. I enjoy their roasted vegetable sandwich, topped with pecorino cheese which is shaved (just like my women). This runs around 7 bucks. For a more formidable dinner, walk over to the Telephone, on the west side of 1st Ave between East 9 and 10 Sts, which features 3 Real working British "phone boxes," as well as Shepherd's Pie. If all this makes you pine for the Olde Worlde, then catch a match, and a Foster's Lager, at Nevada Smith's, west side of 3 Ave, between East 10 and 11 Sts. [January 2009]

Send a salami to your boy in the army! That's the slogan of this venerable Lower East Side cathedral to cholesterol, founded in 1888. This boxy nondescript cafeteria (look it up) is a welcome irony in this now-unaffordable one-time dump. This whole nabe is a metaphor of how gentrification and (until recently) ever-rising real estate prices are turning my city into one big luxury condo. For example, the ugly silver building behind Katz's was a parking lot just 2 years ago. But I digress. Katz's serves a cannonball-sized pastrami or corned beef sandwich which costs $15, but feeds 2 normal people. You won't find any Grey Poupon here. When you enter, you get a ticket, upon which each counterman writes the price of your order. Waitress tables are along the walls, which are graced with dozens of celeb photos. Katz's is on 205 East Houston Street, corner of Ludlow Street (between 1st Ave and Ave A), New York 10002. 1-800-4hotdog; katzdeli.com. [January 2009]

L'asso Pizzeria, in Nolita, lower Manhattan, is on the NE corner of Kenmare & Mott. From the street, it does Not look like a pizzeria. This square-shaped joint can seat 40 at small moveable tables. They serve thin-crusted 12 inch ($12) and larger pizzas with or without buffalino, just as in Italia. This is a special treat here, as local New York City pizza has a thick, gym-mat "crust" which serves as a sponge to hold all the oil from the mushroom cloud of shredded mozzarella. Horrible! And L'asso serves lovely high-fat desserts. I polished off the Almond Joy cupcake, with a molten chocolate center, in coconut creme ($7), with cappuccino. That's Amore! 41 Kenmare St, 10012, (212) 219-2353, lassonyc.com. Lively service and youngish crowd, WiFi. Sun-Thurs 12 noon to 11pm; Fri-Sat 12noon-3am [January 2009]