Tuesday afternoon about a dozen of us set out from Broome Street to survey cheap eats and sweets in the neighborhood just to the East of us. Though we hear often about the effects of gentrification on this historic neighborhood, for hundreds of years the home of one immigrant group after another, we found that much history and tradition remains -- and even the most recent immigrant groups have helped to make this one of the city's most vibrant eating zones.
We made just more than half a dozen stops on our way to and from our outer-most destination, the Doughnut Plant. Here's the run-down, with links:
Stop #1: Yonah Schimmel's Downtown Knishery. This place has been dishing up brick-sized knishes since 1910; before that, beginning in 1890, Yonah sold them from one of the pushcarts that were ubiquitous on the LES. If you've never had a knish, get yourself to 137 East Houston ASAP. (It's past Whole Foods but before the Sunshine Theater.) If you're already a devotee, tell me if you know where to find one better and more authentic than these. Warning: You probably can't eat one alone -- they're that filling! And for under $3! -- so bring a friend.
Though we didn't make an actual stop, we noticed the enormous cookies and other sweets through the storefront windows of the Sugar Cafe, at the southeast corner of Houston and Allen.
Stop #2: Russ and Daughters, another reminder that this tenement neighborhood was once home to millions of Eastern European Jewish immigrants and their children, has been down the street from Yonah's (at 179 East Houston) since 1914. It's a lot glitzier than the knishery -- serving up caviar, smoked fish, cream cheeses, dried fruits, and chocolates from glistening glass cases -- but it's still possible to get something delicious here without breaking the bank.
We headed back down to Rivington to catch a few places there:
Stop #3: Economy Candy, at 108 Rivington, is an old-fashioned candy lover's dream. Think of the biggest Halloween haul ever. Need a gigantic Homer Simpson Pez dispenser? A gazillion varieties of Halvah? Candy bars from your childhood that you didn't think they made any more? We were hit by a sugar rush simply by the smell when we walked through the doors; packed floor to ceiling with goodies, this place is as good for eye candy as for actual sweets.
We managed a quick detour down Essex to walk through the Essex Street Market, the result of the city's efforts, decades ago, to put an end to the LES pushcart vendors like old Yonah. (This is a fine place for cheaper groceries, as long as you have your own cart to push them home in.)
Heading back up to Rivington, we turned right and made Stops # 4 and 5: We split into two group to browse sweets on the north side and savories on the south side of Rivington, between Essex and Norfolk. For sweets: Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery, at 126 Rivington, a breakoff from Magnolia, which many Eastsiders claim outdoes the original. For savories: Dash Dogs, perhaps the most amazing hot dog joint you'll ever encounter -- an endless array of toppings and combos for the good old All-American Beef Kosher. It's just across from the Bakery at 127 Rivington.
Walking down Norfolk toward grand, we noted that we'd reach a point where the 19th-century tenements had been torn down in the mid-20th century and replaced by large public housing towers. Once we reached Grand, we took in a 360 degree sweep that allows you to see just about 200 years of NYC architecture, from Federal Period houses to tenements to mid-century public housing high rises to the new Blue Mammoth on Norfolk, representative of the 21st-century neighborhood.
Stop #6, the Doughnut Plant, at 379 Grand, was closed, unfortunately, for Labor Day. We'd been anticipating a longer stop there to buy and eat something -- finally! -- but had to put it off for another day. It will be worth the trip back: donuts the size of a human head! And light as air to eat. I recommend the Peanut Butter and Jelly.
Wending our way back home, we headed up to Broome Street and walked west. This allowed us to make Stop #7, to peek through the windows at all the hipsters crowded into Babycakes NYC, at 248 Broome (near Essex), where you can buy vegan cupcakes that would fool anyone who didn't know otherwise.
Once we reach Orchard Street, looked across the street to the left and noted that Guss' Pickles was also closed for the holiday. It's another place to return to for a fun -- and historically accurate -- neighborhood snack. If you want to understand how accurate, you can walk north on Orchard to the next corner and browse the awesome bookstore of the Tenement Museum.
We walked in that direction, not quite as far as the museum, to make our treat stop -- Stop #8, Il Laboratorio del Gelato. Purveyors of small-batch gelato for only the last 5 years, this is already a much-beloved neighborhood institution.
Walking back to Broome and turning in the direction of home, we made one final stop, to take a look at the menu board of Dumpling House, at 118 Eldridge, believed by many, including the Voice's food editor, to be the best of the 5 for $1 dumpling places that have sprung up in recent years, the product of new immigration from China's Fuzhou Province. With a pizza-slice-sized Sesame Pancake stuffed with Beef (or tuna or vegetables) going for only $1.50 and dumplings at 20 cents each, it's entirely possible to get lunch for two for around $6, drinks included. We, of course, had somehow managed to go for dessert first, but more than one of us declared intentions to return later for dinner.
Do you have places you would have stopped if you'd been leading this tour? Let us know about them in the comments section below.
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