Thanks for stopping by! If you want to read reports on eating and restaurant hopping in the greatest food city in the world, you’ve come to the right place.
The Basics
- So what is this exactly?
In some respects it’s a restaurant review blog, though traditional reviews will be hard to come by. When I use the word “reports” I mean the literary idea of “reportage” — journalism that recalls the spirit of a place and time, not just what happened. - Hmm . . .
Now don’t mistake that to mean I intend anything remotely literary. This is about eating after all, and what we all think about it. - What we all think?
Yeah. Each post is meant to be laboriously commented upon, if not to give the blog a strong community spirit, then to rescue it from total narcissism. - How do I know if a restaurant is worth checking out? Since these aren’t exactly reviews there is no rating system. Anything mentioned here is highly recommended.
- Listen, I’ve got a date tonight. What’s the quickest way to cut through all this muckity and find the exact info I need?
Excellent question.- You’ll find a convenient “Search” window to your right which will allow you to find all occurrences of a certain word in the reports (like “hamburger” or “flaming dessert”).
- Each report is also carefully tagged with several sensible categories. You’ll find a category list to your right, and clicking on any of them (specific neighborhoods, boroughs, or type of cuisine) will call up every report so tagged.
- Relevant contact info for each restaurant is found at the top of each post, including location, digits, and links to maps and official restaurant web sites.
Oh, and another thing — you probably should have gotten those reservations squared away yesterday.
- Who are you anyway?
Glad you asked! - How often should I visit?
I’ll post new reports almost once a week, though the Pages will be updated at random. - Pages?
They’re those links at the top of the page. This is where you will find other food-related info that doesn’t entirely fit the mission at-hand. - Ah, right — the mission. And here I thought it was about food.
It is. Pray continue . . .
The Mission
Let’s start with two conjectures: one is that eating is fun, and the other is that New York is a city of singular adventure that offers new ways to appreciate it every day.
Not to get too existential, but if our purpose on the planet is to keep going, then food is so much more important than it seems. Unlike the other things we do to keep going (like breathing and sleeping), food requires art — creative intent both in the preparing and the eating. Here we celebrate those two arts — the culinary and the gastronomic.
But let’s not forget the all-important second conjecture. I won’t belabor the point, but suffice it to say that I can’t think of anywhere else where one can start a day with no idea where it will end up but confident that it will be sublime every step of the way.
A third conjecture could be that each night, the only true mark of success is whether or not that day had its fair share of the serendipitous pleasures that tug an unexpected smile: the crisp apple smell of a farmers market in October, or a deli man who remembers you from yesterday, or a moment outside a cafe when you’re returned to the exact same moment, only longer ago and an ocean away.
Food can be a key to noticing all of that. And that noticing is why we’re here.
Doing Your Part
Though I do write most of this blog, regular readers will find, from time-to-time, different perspectives on different eating locales written by a talented team of eaters hand-picked by the Editor Yours Truly.
Each All You Can Eat NYC reporter is selected for his or her personal love of or connection to the place in question. And what we all hope is that you (yes, you the reader) will be inspired and submit writing on your most special eating establishments, or NYC eating experiences in general.
If a particular report sparks a memory you’d like to share, please post a comment and let us know what you think. If you have a longer piece in mind, just send us an email and we’ll get back to you as soon as we remember to check the in-box.
The Editor
Unfortunately, there’s nothing that specifically qualifies me to be here any more than you, but that’s partly the point.
I’ve worked in journalism and publishing since I was 15. I’m of the quickly fading Old School of Writing that demands a good editor for every good writer. This careless publishing of my unedited rants is a trepidacious first for me. I hope it works out.
I helped run a small press joint for a little while. The first book we published was All You Can Eat London, a collection of reports on buffet culture in that particular city. My coauthor Fred Chao and I somewhat hopefully called it, “A literary buffet review.”
All You Can Eat London sold surprisingly well for something so slapdash and we realized that we had hit a large and untapped niche — people for whom food is an ecstatic centerpiece of their lives rather than an afterthought, and who like to acknowledge it as such. Of course, that niche may just be people who are hungry at ‘zine fairs. Who can ever know?
I’ve named this project in the spirit of that one.
