famous fat dave's eating tour of nyc
Robin Friday, May 14, 2010 at 1:46PM 
Dave in his cab, the last Checker off the production lineWhile taking my celebratory trip to NYC after winning the Pepperidge Farm puff pastry contest I booked a private food tour with Dave, a.k.a. Famous Fat Dave (beware of automatic sound byte). I'd first seen him on Anthony Bourdain's show on the Travel Channel, No Reservations.
When I discovered that I'd be in NYC with a little extra cash to spare I knew that the best way to explore the NYC food scene was with someone who really knew what they were doing. Dave was totally that guy.
First stop was some delicious pizza in Spanish HarlemWe were staying in Manhattan, right in Times Square - and yes, we were present for that little issue. Talk about being confused, not the situation, just us. Everyone was surprisingly calm and the NYPD handled it like pros. It was just very difficult getting back to our hotel that night.
Dave took us out of Manhattan and into areas I'd never thought I'd see on our short trip.
Fratelli's in the BronxWe stopped in the Bronx for some broccoli rabe and sausage with garlic knots. The location wasn't nearly as intimidating as I thought it would be - not that I'd be ready to go for a jog by myself at 3 in the morning, though. As Dave put it, "We're on the wrong side of the tracks in the South Bronx. Watch yourself."
The broccoli rabe and sausage were delicious. The bitterness of the rabe and the richness of the sausage were perfect together. I think I might have liked it better had it been a polish style sausage, but I'm sure the Italians would stone me for that comment.
Could eat this every day. Seriously. Even better was layering some of the rabe and sausage on a garlic knot. Sweet baby Jesus were those delicious. The garlic knots were steaming from the oven, so hot I burnt my fingers. Slathered in melted butter and sprinkled with some kind of salty-garlicky-generally awesome concoction - amazing.
After the Bronx we tooled out to City Island for some clams and fried shrimp. 
the clam shells were summarily tossed to the waiting seagulls, some of which had surprisingly accurate catching abilitiesThe shrimp aren't pictured, but they had this odd neon-orange coating. When Dave first brought them out I thought they were Buffalo-style or something. The flavor in the coating was delicious, but gave no clue as to what it was that made them such a shocking color. Dave said that he's asked them before, but they refuse to provide an answer. Nevertheless, they were delicious.
We went down to Arthur Ave after the clams for some eggplant parmigiana. Apparently Little Italy has been almost completely overtaken by Chinatown, so the majority of authentic Italian (Italian-American, whatever) cuisine is found on Arthur Ave.
I love pigs...so cute, so tastyI scarfed down an eggplant parmigiana sandwich and a triple shot espresso to combat the splitting caffeine-withdrawal headache I had going. I got into a little debate with a lovely Italian gentleman over whose coffee was better, Italian or Seattle? It began with him calling me out "Hey Seattle, you think your coffee's better than mine?"
It ended with me saying, "I don't care what it is, if it has caffeine please god give it to me."
It dented my headache and we went next door to grab some sopresatta. Dave started explaining what it was to us, which I considered rather coincidental considering that it was sopresatta that got us there in the first place...
Apparently the city of New York has made it illegal to cure meat by hanging it from the ceiling, but this little shop was grandfathered into the new era.
My sister and I - me drooling over the massive amounts of tasty goodness hanging over my headSomewhere in here we stopped for some raw oysters and clams. From a streetcart. In NYC. On a 90 degree day. I think my sense of adventure is rather different from most people's.
I digs me some raw oysters, but I'd never before had a raw clam before. Other than the rather painful experience of getting it stuck in my throat and making me gag, it was OK. I'll stick with the oysters from here on out.
This is me giving myself a stomach ache that lasted almost the entire rest of the day...We had some freshly made cannoli after the oysters (great chaser, eh?). I'm not a big fan of cannoli, I never have been. It's something about the texture of the shell and the cream that just really doesn't do it for me.
cannoli filled while you wait!And while I can say that this was easily the best cannoli I've ever had, they still just aren't very good in my opinion. I'd rather have a madeleine, or an eclair, or a truffle...
Our last stop was for Caporal Fried Chicken in Washington Heights.
I'm a little ashamed to say that I never did get to try the fried chicken. I was so uncomfortably full at this point that I knew that if I ate one more thing I was going to be sick. And I knew Dave wouldn't appreciate that in his beautiful old Checker cab.
bang! pow! fried chicken!I do, however, know for a fact that the homeless man I gave it to on the walk back to the hotel had an amazing meal that night.
Looking back on it I really wish I'd forced myself to eat at least a leg - they put beer in the batter for pete's sake! Beer. Battered. Chicken.
Yes, please.
At the end of the day we'd had an amazing time, stuffed ourselves silly, and seen parts of NYC that I never thought I'd get to see as a tourist. I know for a fact that I would never have been able to navigate the food scene on my own, or find as many tasty treats as Dave presented us with that day.
It was a little pricey, but well worth every penny. If I ever make it back up to NYC I'm sure I'll be doing it again.
Famous Fat Dave's Five Borough Eating Tour
Reader Comments (5)
That is totally what I should have done the last two years when my husband was sitting in boring Continuing Legal Education classes in NYC. Except I think he would never have talked to me again,
This looks incredible. Definitely a side of NYC that I've never seen and wished I had. YUM
SO JEALOUS
HOW COOL!
I grew up in the Bronx!
I would LOVE to do this next time I visit home!
I am currently on dieting to lose some weight but you have get me crazy to visit those places....