Lower East Side Food Tour

My husband and I recently ended up on an impromptu mini food tour of New York's Lower East Side after a visit to the Tenement Museum. It was a freezing cold night so we ducked in some of the restaurants and food stores that were on a list I picked up at the museum on our way back to the subway.

Our first stop was Pickle Guys, which made me feel liked I was suddenly in a scene from the "Crossing Delancy." My husband has an inexplicable obsession with pickles and was very excited to try this place out, but sadly it had already closed by the time we showed up, a little after 6 p.m. So we will be heading back to the neighborhood soon to check it out.

Next we ended up outside Streits Matzo Company on Rivington Street. I peaked in the window and there were two men busy taking matzo from the oven and stacking them in baskets. I snuck a few shots with my camera before the cold air forced us to move on.

At this point we desparately needed some coffee and a spot to warm up so we ducked into Sugar Sweet Sunshine a few storefronts away. If I ever make good on my threat to open up a cookie shop, I'd want it to look a lot like this place. The cupcakes were tempting and I starred at the Pumpkin Triffle for a while dreaming of what it tasted like, but I was saving myself for what turned out to be a final and filling stop:

Yonah Schimmel Knishes on East Houston St, a short walk from Katz's Deli. Just our luck the place was about to close, but we convinced the man behind the counter to sell us a knish to go. He handed me a giant, round, heavy, pillow of potato happiness that was about the size of the well packed snowball. I starred longly at the tables before we left dreaming of what else could be on the menu of this east side relic to a era when people like my grandmother still went to the butcher, produce stand and baker to make dinner.

We ate our knishes walking back to the subway and decided we wouldn't need to eat dinner for a while.
I'm not surprised most of the places were closed by the time we got there - that is pretty typical for us. But I am anxious to recreate our tour a little bit earlier in the day when it's not so bitter cold.

Anyone want to join us?