Tasty Tours NYC: Exploring NYC's Food and Culture

By Katie Chin

“Should we dress up as tourists?” I ask my photographer before we leave. A ridiculous notion, prompting a subsequent thought of how a tourist dresses as well as why don’t I own any clothes with color in them. I settle on green sneakers, pack a big water bottle, and hop on the train downtown. After running to catch a crosstown bus and getting my foot trodden on by a gigantic baby stroller, we manage to arrive a few minutes early.

A Food Tour of the Upper East Side by Tasty Tours NYC

Ryan Watts, my point of contact as well as our tour guide from Tasty Tours NYC, is not dressed as a tourist but something about him stands out nonetheless, and he is easily identified as the group leader before even shaking his hand. He introduces himself and it is immediately clear he’s not from around here — he’s Australian.

Ryan Watts.Photo byChris S.

I am delighted. Nothing is more New York than attending a food tour of the Upper East Side led by a man who is not only the co-owner and operator of the business, but who was neither born nor raised here. If anything, I think to myself, this will be an adventure.

It goes without saying that I am starving. The Tasty Tour NYC starts at 11 o’clock in the morning, and I skipped breakfast in anticipation. Halfway through Ryan’s introductory speech (he mentions something about providing food for the mind as well as food for the soul, amongst other intelligent-sounding bits of conversation) my eyes zero in on the unassuming brown bag he’s holding.

I bet they’re bagels. How he has the self-control to not open the bag and wolf down its contents, I have no idea. I only know I’m reaching near-feral raccoon status in hunger and probably — definitely — should have eaten something before leaving. The rest of the tour group is small, four people, all of whom have some familiarity with each other, and I pray that they don’t notice how close to drooling I am.

H&H Bagels

The tour kicks off in front of H&H Bagels, a local and distinctly non-touristy joint that has the eternally tasty (and aesthetic) North Fork chips stocked in the baskets above cloudy glass bakery cases. The wallpaper is faded, the floor tiles are a bit stained, and the amount of people jostling in and out is unbelievable. It also smells quite inviting. Warm, yeasty, toasty aromas envelop us as Ryan talks about the store’s history.

H&H Bagels.Photo byChris S.

Finally — finally — he pulls the bagels out of the bag (I knew it). We are each given half an everything bagel, with a generous schmear of plain cream cheese, and they’re warm through the parchment paper. I know that everything tastes better when you’re hungry, but this is a good bagel. Not monstrously sized, but rather small and impeccably dense, with a chew that becomes clear only after sinking your teeth past the exterior crisp of the crust. Everything bagels are, of course, the only bagels worth mentioning and I’ll die on that hill. Needless to say, I feel so much better after eating this.

Cultural & Community Landmarks

As promised, this tour takes us across some intriguing cultural landmarks. We see the oldest comedy club in the city, where Chris Rock might casually drop by with some new material for unexpected patrons. We see a beautiful and slightly mysterious mural paying homage to the community’s German-heavy history, complete with painted gargoyles that resemble “John Lennon, if he were E.T.”

It is unnerving and completely accurate. We pass by an old diner that has been here for nearly a century, with hundreds of glass Coke bottles in any and all flavors imaginable (I see a Vidalia onion one). We even pass by Madonna’s house, and Ryan sheepishly says that although he has seen her a few times, she never looks too pleased to see him or the rest of the tour group. But the highlights of the tour are undoubtedly the food, so let us pivot back to that.

The Comic Strip LivePhoto byChris S.

Agata & Valentina

We stop in front of Agata & Valentina, a small and densely packed local grocery store known for being, well, small and densely packed. Shelves and products, both fresh and packaged, line the walls and nearly every available walking space. It’s locals only, as I’m shooed to the left by an elderly lady only to be bumped into by a different elderly lady weaving through the aisle with a classic New York grocery canvas tote, the kind with wheels and a handle.

To find out how this tour ended - click here.