Grub Street Food Festival

The Grub Street Food Festival moved to spacious new digs this year, and hosted a ton of great vendors. I started with the doughnut holes drizzled with caramel sauce and powdered sugar from Wonder City Coffee & Doughnuts.

Moving on to a brief savory stop, Pies 'n' Thighs served a delicious buttered biscuit with a fried piece of chicken covered in hot sauce.

 

A great newcomer, HS Chocolate Co., made their debut with inventive candy bars like the figgy blue, with blue cheese, fig ganache and nougat in dark chocolate, and chocolate disks filled with peanut butter, maple syrup and roasted peanuts.

 

A perennial favorite, Stuffed Artisan Cannolis, had a seasonal pumpkin pie cannoli alongside regular flavors like choco loco.

Blue cheese seemed to be a theme, with Robicelli's Iona cupcake - an amazing pear olive oil cake topped with Roquefort buttercream frosting, almonds and a port reduction.

Fatty Cakes NY had a great selection of yummy looking cookies, like the smashing pumpkin and an old-fashioned made with whiskey, cherries and orange cream.

The fried apple pie from Melt Bakery was fantastic - gooey cinnamon apple filling in a crunchy shell coated with sugar...mmmm.

Taka Taka

Taka Taka, Mexican sushi & Japanese taco joint, is a fun new place in soho. There's a full menu with hybrids of the two genres, like the fried soft shell crab roll with avocado and chipotle mayo, but the fun part is the conveyor belt that circulates through the restaurant with various rolls, with numbers for identification and on color-coded plates for prices.

The yakuza roll is delicious, with squid, salmon skin, cucumber and siracha sauce for a little kick.

I loved the spicy tuna tartar roll, coated in a layer of chives.

Coppelia

Coppelia is the perfect diner with Cuban influenced fare in a low-key but hip setting. The oxtail empanadas was rich and crunchy with crema fresca, cojita cheese and pico de gallo.

A dish of scrambled eggs with peppers accompanied by a fried rice with beans, chorizo and cilantro with an arepa is great for brunch.

The Huevos con bistec is perfectly pounded thin juicy steak with fried eggs and traditional rice and beans.

But maybe the most exciting part is the dessert menu created by Pichet Ong. With desserts ranging from angel food cake with meringue glaze to salty peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies, the desserts are impossible to resist.

Prince St. Cafe

Thank you, Prince St. Cafe, for being open today! After being holed up inside for the hurricane, a cup of coffee and eggs benedict with a smear of creamy pesto spread was perfect.

Legend

Legend, in an unusual Chelsea location, serves up some authentic and delicious Sichuan food, judging by the huge crowd there on a recent Friday night. The dry spicy tasty diced chicken makes a great bar snack or appetizer – small chunks of chicken fried to a crisp with a mild at first but slowly building heat, mixed with super spicy and not so spicy peppers.

Red Hook Lobster Pound Truck

The lobster roll from the Red Hook Lobster Pound Truck is pretty to look at and feels so summery, with chilled lobster fresh from Maine dressed in a mayo and celery salad with a dash of bright paprika on a buttery toasted bun (also from Maine) and served with a Brooklyn Brine pickle.

Luke's Lobster Truck

The Luke's Lobster "Nauti" Truck has their amazing lobster roll to go - huge chunks of fresh Maine lobster (including whole claws!) served chilled on a bun with a little bit of mayo, a little bit of lemon butter and a lot of delicious spices.