OY! KRISTEN

East Village Tour

This is a continuation of our Alphabet City Progressive Dinner tour. The East Village is one of the city's most eclectic hubs, ripe with ethnic restaurants, itty-bitty bars and funky shops. If you're a purveyor of rich food and off-the-beaten-path atmosphere, allow your feet to wander all over this hood. You could walk around this area of town for hours and never see the same restaurant twice.

If you take the subway to Astor Place, you will exit right by Starbucks. If you're interested in doing a bit of pre-game people watching, grab a beverage and sit in this massive window. This particular Starbucks location has the most perfect view of Astor Place, looking all the way down St. Marks Street. You can check out all the chic fashionistas walking by - and you don't feel like such a creeper, staring from your perch on a bench. Because instead, you're a creeper behind the glass. Just sayin', it's a bit of an upgrade.

Once you've had your fill of crowd-watching, dive into the mix and start walking down St. Marks. There are some of the CUTEST little shops in this area. Resist going into everything, because then you will never actually get to the eating. Which, in my opinion, is the best part.

Mighty Quinns

103 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003 mightyquinnsbbq.com

Cuisine: Merger of Texas & "the Carolinas"-style Barbeque

Must Order: Burnt Ends, Pulled Pork, Brisket BBQ, Edamame & Sweet Pea Salad, Baked Beans (and I don't even LIKE baked beans, but these were scrumptious), plus all the Pickled Add-Ons (cucumbers, celery, red onions, chilies)

Impression: So, about a month ago I wrote a post about the deliciousness of Harlem's Dinosaur Barbeque (and I will stand by that review!), but I have to admit - THIS IS BETTER. Also a completely different style of barbeque. Mighty Quinns is smokier, steeped in juicy sauce and tenderly, joyously falling off the bone. Into my mouth. Warming my heart. The Burnt Ends Pork was probably my favorite, but its a real toss-up, because all the meat was so freakin' delish. And the atmosphere is awesome, kinda country (I mean, as country as it gets in the middle of Manhattan) and staffed with folks who know their barbeque. This place had a 30-minute line out the door, and it was completely worth the wait. GO TO THERE.

Big Gay Ice Cream Shop

125 East 7th Street, New York NY 10009 biggayicecream.com

Cuisine: Ice Cream

Must Order: Salty Pimp (vanilla ice cream, dulce de leche, sea salt, chocolate dip), American Globs (vanilla ice cream, pretzels, sea salt, chocolate dip), Gobbler (vanilla ice cream, pumpkin butter & maple syrup OR apple butter & bourbon butterscotch, pie pieces, whipped cream)

Impression: It's pretty self-explanatory. It's a big, gay ice cream shop. There is a gigantic unicorn painted on the wall. And there is really, REALLY good ice cream to be eaten, if you don't mind the insanely long lines. There are benches outside where you can eat and enjoy the sunshine, although beware - the serving sizes are huge and your ice cream might do some melting in the spring sunshine :)

The Far East. Village, that is.

Once again, many many, MANY mad-crazy thanks to our bright-eyed guides to the East Village, dearest Anthony & Jessica. Geez, I'm so thankful to know you. And to glean from your foodie research and wisdom. You two are just the creamiest of the crop. Love you both :)

Alphabet City Tour

Okay, so we were officially hip for ONE NIGHT of living in this city. Most of the time we are seriously homebodies, cooking up a storm and watching Netflix. Most recently, this tradition has been supplemented by an evening walk in the park or a foot rub, per my husband's generous heart. Bless that man for being so kind while I whip up a baby. But on this one amazing night, our dear friends Anthony and Jessica "showed us the ropes" and took us on the most fabulous foodie tour of Alphabet City, which is a super cool, semi-gritty, chock-full-of-delicious-restaurants-neighborhood in East Village. Anthony and Jess are serious about their taste buds. They cook. Like, they really cook. And they attend all these fancy city dinners and chef award celebrations and they're up on the poshest places to eat your heart out. So we really couldn't have gotten luckier when they offered to tour us around these Alphabet City gems. People, I was sampling cuisine I never knew existed. Tasting recipes with ingredients I had never heard of. How delightful it is to experience and savor the many ways pork can be served. Yum.

Please forgive the grimy iPhone pics. Just know that all this food rocked my face off, so if you're ever visiting this area and want a rec... this post is your pot of gold!

The Blind Barber 339 E 10th St, New York, NY 10009 blindbarber.com

Cuisine: SPEAKEASY

Must Order Cocktails: Strawberry Fields, Batman, Blackjack

Impression: This place wins the chic/awesome/city-swanky award BY FAR. Guys, this is a speakeasy, hidden in the back of a real barber shop. Yes. There is a secret door that takes you to a back room, "the cocktail parlor", they call it, and in the parlor there are a series of rooms, including a library, where one can imbibe prohibition-style. Pretty stinkin' cool. Don't worry, I had a dressed-up lemonade, sans alcohol. But I still felt like one of the bad girls from the roaring twenties. And that was fun enough.

Momofuku Noodle Bar 171 1st Ave, New York, NY 10003 momofuku.com/new-york/noodle-bar

Cuisine: American-style Ramen & Noodle Bar

Must Order: Pork Buns! PORK BUNS!!!

Impression: Since this was a progressive meal, we only did a quick appetizer here, but of course we could have stayed longer and indulged. Instead, because the restaurant was so packed, Anthony ran inside, ordered pork buns to go, and we scarfed on them in the dark, wonderful New York moonlight. While all the urban hipsters pushed passed us, huffing on their American Spirits and scurrying off to their uber-hip dinner plans. The bunsssssss. Deliciously juicy and seasoned, the pork is housed by a light, yeasty dough that is just. Perfect? Yeah, perfect. We scarfed in decadent silence. And sadly walked away from the thumping restaurant.

Affiliate Restaurants: Ssam Bar, Booker and Dax, Ko, Ma Peche

Porchetta 110 E 7th St, New York, NY 10009 porchettanyc.com

Cuisine: Slow-cooked Italian Fast Food

Must Order: Italian Porchetta Sandwich, Chicken Saffron Sandwich

Impression: This joint is tiny, and more akin to a souped-up food truck, with about 4 barstools crowding the front entrance. And that's about all the seating you get. But you don't come to Porchetta for the seating, you come for the MEAT. Porchetta is a Roman-style herb-roasted pork that will make you cry, it's so good. Seasoned with fennel, sage, garlic, rosemary and pollen... it's just out of this world. And the Chicken Saffron Sandwich? It was a special when we were there, and I hope it remains especially on the menu :) Those Italians. They even do their STREET FOOD right.

// We are disgusting. I already know. //

Somtum Der 85 Avenue A, New York, NY 10009 somtumder.com

Cuisine: Isan Thai (from the northeastern region of Thailand)

Must Order Entree: Pad Ki Mao Pork & Basil (flat noodles with diced beef, scrumptious), Pad Thai with Crab (it sounds kind of weird, but it's kind of awesome), Papaya Salad (everyone loved it, I'm not a huge fan of this kind of salad in general), Sa Poak Kai Tod Der (deep-fried chicken thigh, yes, you read that right), Fried Pork Basil with Egg (self-explanatory and soooo good)

Impression: Inexpensive food (nothing is over $15), and surprisingly delicious, with an excellent mix of sweet-savory in each dish. I've had some strange Thai food since I've been in this city and that have made me a bit gun shy at new places, so I came into Somtum Der with a critical palate - and was pleasantly surprised at how good everything tasted. And from what I've heard, this place is seriously authentic.

More to Come!

We continued to hit up some yummy places in East & West Village, but I will have to split this post up into several because there is just SO. MUCH. TO SHARE. So stay tuned.

Anthony & Jess, how can I best profess my undying love for you?? Thank you for being the hippest, swankiest, most "in-the-know" New Yorkers we know and letting us accompany you on this tasty tour of the town :)