For 18 years, Calvin Trillin, who has contributed to The New Yorker since 1963, led New Yorker Festival attendees on an exclusive food tour. These are some of his favorite stops.
LessThis place is one of very few shops still in business that was open when Trillin moved to the West Village in 1969. It’s famous for its pork—particularly salami and sopressata—but on tour, Trillin got the prosciutto bread, which some call “lard bread.” (“We’re not going to tell people that,” he said, after telling people that.)
Vanessa’s started as a five-for-a-dollar dumpling place. Now there are many locations throughout the city—and dumplings, soups, buns, and more on the menu. Tour attendees got sesame pancakes and ate them on the go.
Despaña offers four or five different kinds of tortilla—and not the taco kind. Spanish tortilla is more like an omelette, usually made with eggs and potatoes.
Here tour attendees were treated to Vietnamese summer rolls with peanut sauce for dipping.
Di Palo’s is a 109-year-old specialty shop that’s been family-owned from the start. They sell prosciutto, salami, pastas, and olive oils, but Trillin suggests chowing down on the fresh mozzarella.
Get the classic pork bánh mì at this spot. (Spicy, of course.)
This Chinatown bakery is a popular spot to grab a bag of steaming-hot roasted pork buns. On tour, attendees dove into a whole box of them. The menu also offers pineapple buns with roasted pork.
Xi’an Famous Foods started in the basement of a mall in Flushing, Queens, in 2005. Its first Manhattan location could only fit three people standing up. For the full food-tour experience, get the spicy cumin lamb burger.