The Big Apple is the No. 1 food destination in the US, according to a perplexing new survey from SIXT, a premium car-service provider based in Germany.
But New York City ranked a middling No. 7 in the world, behind Tokyo, Paris, Osaka, Porto, London and Seoul. Can we really be a lesser food town than Porto?
The Portuguese city has one-fifth our population and is best known for its Francesinha sandwich of sausage, ham, and melted cheese in spicy tomato-and-beer sauce?
It seems everybody wants to rank world restaurant cities using different metrics. SIXT’s rankings are based on a dubious combination that includes “tourist interest” searches on sites including TikTok and Expedia, the number of restaurants on the “World’s 50 Best” lists, and the number of places listed in the Michelin Guide.
By that measure, New York earned a combined score of 44.36, way ahead of San Francisco and Los Angeles with just under 21 each but trailing Tokyo’s 53.73.
But leave quibbles about their methodology aside. Gotham’s restaurants don’t need anyone’s survey, legitimate or not, to appreciate our unprecedented wealth of cuisines, styles and kitchen talent.
The Big Apple’s culinary cred transcends our impressive array of places with three Michelin stars, a pantheon that includes Le Bernardin, Per Se, Eleven Madison Park, Jungsik and Sushi Sho.
We have no less than eight separate Chinatowns; Italian landmarks such as Marea and Il Gattopardo in Manhattan, Gargiulio’s in Brooklyn and Roberto’s in the Bronx; and an abundance of places for Korean, Mexican, Japanese, Colombian, Greek, Puerto Rican and Lebanese dishes.
We’re blessed with Nigerian-inspired Tatiana at Lincoln Center and Caribbean-themed Kabawa downtown. We have a growing Israeli contingent includes Dagon, Shmone and the stunning new D’oresh. Queens has some 200 languages and nearly as many cuisines.
Gothamites miffed over SIXT ranking us a mere No. 7 worldwide cant take comfort in the fact that the survey declared the Big Apple “best for vegan food in the country” and second in the world behind London, according to the survey.
“Despite Los Angeles paving the way in mindful and sustainable eating, New York has beaten the West Coast city out of the park with a score of 79.27 out of 100,” it says.
Too bad they didn’t rank our steakhouses instead, where seats outnumber those at all-vegan joints by approximately fifty to one.
SIXT gets at least one thing right. “People are traveling for food more than ever,” the survey says, citing such treats as Dubai’s “pistachio fuelled chocolate craze” to “Crumbl Cookies drawing in crowds across America.”
But I’ll sooner trust them with ground transportation than with any semblance of gastronomic guidance.
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