First Prize Pies-NYC

First Prize Pies
120 Essex St
New York, NY 10002

As seen on
-Foodcrafters
-FoodOgraphy

First Prize Pies specializes in unique, handmade pies that are baked to order (a small selection of flavors are available for pickup anytime at Roni-Sue's Chocolates in the Essex St Market). With a name like First Prize Pies you better have some dam good pies. Her specialty? S'more pie. This thing has the toasted marshmallow, the chocolate, and the graham. Allison Kave offers crazy flavors like bourbon ginger pecan, apple cider cream, root beer float, or chocolate pretzel to name a few. Allison's claim to fame, and the reason behind her store name, is that she won the first annual Brooklyn Pie Bake Off. Hence the First Prize Pie. Catch her at festivals and fairs all over the 5 boroughs.

Bottom line: Allison's pies are made with the highest quality ingredients and her recipes are creative, thoughtful and well-executed.  What else could you hope for in a pie!?

Brooklyn Bangers-NY

Brooklyn Bangers
27 N 6th St
Brooklyn, NY 11211

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http://brooklynbangers.com/
 
Brooklyn Bangers  promises slammin' handmade sausages. The menu features merguez, bratwurst and kielbasa sausages as well as the special rampwurst! If you're not familiar with ramps - they are a super trendy leafy wild green onion! With mild flavor like garlic or a scallion. The $8 sausage was a hefty one, tremendously thick and fat and barely contained in a potato bun. Almost entirely green with ramps the flavor was very mild. Topped with a ramp and pea slaw. This was truly delicious. Alittle steep but ramps are very expensive because they only grow in the wild and the season is very short. Brooklyn Bangers does do a few festivals around Manhattan so check their website. These are some truly yummy sausages!!

Cemita's-NY

Cemita's
27 N 6th St
Brooklyn, NY 11211

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$9 for a sandwich??? Are you crazy? Well it turns out its well worth it.
I almost bought another one! The sandwich is huge and I halved it with my wife  and was quite happy afterwards. This sandwich was accompanying the many hands at the Brooklyn Flea. After finding out where they were coming from, it was love at first sight! They are mammoth and packed so nice and neatly. But at your first bite you just ruin that pretty sandwich, and then the spicy sauce hits you! They completely stuff each sandwich with fresh vegetables, some sort of black bean spread, fresh cheese, avacado, some kind of spicy spread too! Everything blends together perfectly, and the crusted chicken is crisp on the outside but still juicy and moist on the inside. You can also get them in pork or beef. I would eat here again and I have! They set up shop at the Brooklyn Flea and Smorgusburg. Until then Cemita's! I will see you on my next weekend off!

Bon Chovie-NYC

Bon Chovie
All over NYC Festivals

As seen on
-The Chew

-Brew Dogs

I know what you're thinking, EW Anchovies!!!!!!!!!! But these aren't the ones that come from a can. How about fresh anchovies right out of the ocean? How about fried up bite size crispy goodness with spicy aioli dipping sauce? Now we are talking. Now these aren't nearly as salty or fishy as anchovies or sardines that come in that little tin but these were saltier then I expected. They offer them a few different ways with heads or without. They are so small that you eat the heads and bones all in one bite. You've got to love the name too. I give these guys props for doing what most people wouldn't. Get some killer fried fish. Check your listing of NYC festivals this summer.

The Brooklyn Meat Hook-NY

The Brooklyn Meat Hook
100 Frost St
Brooklyn, NY 11211

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-FoodOgraphy
-FoodCrafters

The Meat Hook brings local, organic, grass fed meat to Brooklyn with artisanal craftsmanship. A true gift to Williamsburg. The Meat Hook is  part of the Brooklyn Kitchen, which is a kitchen/restaurant supply store. It's really a one stop shop for all your culinary wants including mason jars, cast iron pans, pasta making machines, organic grains, meats, spices and much more. They also offer classes and workshops to the public to learn how to butcher full pigs and cows etc. The Meat Hook has been making waves in the foodie scene with their bacon cheeseburger sausage. Bacon Cheeseburger Sausage? It's as if they ventured into the dark recesses of my subconscious, and found the thing I never knew I always wanted. They have found a way to cram a hotdog casing with bacon, cheese, and meat. Yes my prayers have been answered. But you can only score some if you get your butt over to Brooklyn. See you there!

Bacon Sandwich

S'more Bakery-NYC

S'more Bakery
All over NYC events
You can also order on Etsy

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On a weekend trip to Smorgasburg in Brooklyn, which is an amazing food fest with something for everyone, I scored some s'mores.  Among the many vendors was S’More Bakery who was serving up their signature toasted on the spot s'more. The  S’moregasm - two homemade cinnamon-sugar graham crackers, one smeared with chocolate ganache, sandwiching a toasted-on-spot homemade marshmallow Or the Salted Sailor- A lot like the original S’morgasm, swap out the semisweet chocolate ganache for vanilla bean specked salted caramel sauce instead. The perfect combo of salty & sweet. And the icing on the cake is the view enjoyed overlooking the Manhattan skyline from Williamsburg. The S’moregasm was just as delicious as it looks !!!

4Food-NYC

4 Food
286 Madison Ave
New York, NY 10017


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-FoodOgraphy

4Food brings ordering your burger to a whole new level. The menu changes daily based on the most popular burgers which you can make online yourself. You can totally customize your burger, name it, and then it goes on the master list where others can order it also. The most popular make it to the interactive menu board. Every burger has a hole in the middle, like a doughnut, for you to fill with a scoop of your favorite toppings. Mac and cheese, mushrooms, veggies, pulled pork you can cram all that stuff into the hole in the middle.

I love this concept, the inside is clean and modern, and it's fast and efficient. The choices are endless, super unique for sure, and the food tastes good. But the portion size is very small. I was actually really surprised when I went for the first time. The burgers look nothing like the pictures you see. Particularly the brioche bun, which looks huge, thick, and fluffy on the menu, but is SO flat and thin when you actually order it. The patties are really thin, and they put just a little bit of all the things you add on. One burger is really just a snack instead of a meal, so either get a couple sides or an extra burger. No complaints about taste, though. It was tasty and quick but would need to eat 2 to be full, lame. Its a cool concept and they have ipads on all the tables to make your burgers on. It was only a few blocks from Grand Central which made it a real nice spot to grab something for the train.