
TASTE: Charlotte Russe from Holtermann’s Bakery
Once an iconic New York City street food, the Charlotte Russe is a Push Pop–style confection encased in a cardboard shell with a movable bottom.

TASTE: A secret freight entrance lunch counter
I exit the sidewalk off West Thirty-Seventh Street and duck into the freight entrance of number 236, exchanging a knowing look with the man by

TASTE: Waffles with jam at the Norwegian Seamen’s Church
On a recent afternoon, I stopped by the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in Midtown, not for religious services or to consult a nautical chart, but for

TASTE: New York’s underappreciated papaya drink
What’s the deal with papaya drinks? They’re available all over Manhattan, flashing in neon from corner shops—but does anyone drink them? Paired with a hot

TASTE: Kava, a body-altering beverage
“Bula!” chants the crowd around the bar, raising their plastic coconut shells and downing the muddy contents in one long gulp. This is really the

TASTE: The lost autumn flavor of Hungarian gesztenyepüré
With autumn in New York comes the iconic Midtown smell of roasted chestnuts warmed by incandescent light bulbs in foil pans hung from hot-dog carts. But

TASTE: Bagel blasphemy? The Rainbow Bagel
“This place used to be so peaceful before the Rainbow Bagels came,” says the guy beside me at the Bagel Store. “I’ve lived in the

TASTE: Eight random taste delights
1. Borscht and challah at B & H Dairy Restaurant Cold or hot, the soup from the famous East Village diner is tangy and sweet and

TASTE: The grilled deli corn muffin
Tourists often arrive in the city with a checklist of iconic New York City foods, and they’re willing to queue up before the famous