Proper food etiquette for NYC

Hello good readers of TA - I%26#39;ve been reading a lot of posts here about food lately - bagels, hot dogs and pizza particularly. It%26#39;s become evident that we regular NYC-based posters here haven%26#39;t been vigilant in firmly and clearly establishing rules for consumption of food in NYC. Keep in mind people that we have Food Police here, so the following is offered as a public service.

Pizza: The most important thing you can learn is what a slice is, how to order it and how to hold it while walking down the street. Equally important is how t answer the question ';Tastaya tagoe?';

So, please commit the following to memory - there will be several follow up tests

www.sliceny.com/gopizza/archives/000374.php

Ho Dogs - the most important thing to know is how hot dogs are served here in NYC - our first primer is this valuable article from the NY Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni where we discover that both Gray%26#39;s Papaya and Papaya King serve the same brand of hot dog.

nytimes.com/2005/鈥?/a>

Hot Dog Teaching Point of the Day - If you order a dog from one of our many street vendors it must be ordered with sauerkraut and mustard - That Is The Law Here People! - Remember there are Food Police out there, be careful!

Bagels - God intended that bagels be eaten warm, ';right out of the oven.'; Do not let the counter person bag your bagel without your touching it first. If it is warm take it. If it is cold ask that it be toasted - if they say no, go somewhere else. Bagels should be eaten warm.

Cold bagels are only good as door stops and as defensive weapons against violent personal attacks.

For a crying out loud that%26#39;s a ';schmear'; of cream cheese you want not a ';smear.';

OK - is that clear? I think that%26#39;s enough for today. Remember, we have Food Police here people, so be careful out there!

And, have a fun trip!

Proper food etiquette for NYC

LOL, LTT! Re: ';tastaya tagoe';: A friend of mine was visiting recently and she went out by herself for a bagel in the morning. When she came back she said, ';This bagel is good but that place is weird. The guy at the counter kept saying, %26#39;To sate the goat,%26#39; and everytime I said %26#39;What?%26#39; he said it again: %26#39;To sate the goat, to sate the goat.%26#39; I think it was some kind of question, so I just said %26#39;yes%26#39; until he stopped asking.';

Another bit of New York food etiquette is the vexed question of the ';regular coffee'; (or its variant, the ';coffee regular';). Without getting into the interminable debate about how much of each, visitors should know that if they%26#39;re asked if they want their coffee ';regular,'; that means non-decaf coffee with milk and sugar. Who can say how many mornings--nay, lives--have been ruined by this misunderstanding?

Proper food etiquette for NYC

LOL! Thanks for the chuckle!

Here%26#39;s a cute blog entry on the vernacular use of ';regular coffee';

www.witoldriedel.com/MT/archives/000357.html

My experience is that, once flavored coffees and Star$chmucks really took over here, that colloquial usage fell out of favor here.

Too bad. It%26#39;s such a handy phrase.

QB - great! I remember my first days here when I just couldn%26#39;t figure out what was regular and what was milk %26amp; sugar!

Another thing to add that Ange brought up...

If you are in a market like Whole Foods or Zabar and the cashier asks if you want ';paper'; or ';plastic'; that refers to the type of bag NOT whether you are using cash or a credit card....

whose post got deleted???

Hmmm---I haven%26#39;t gotten a hotdog from a street vendor in years but when I did, it was always with sauerkraut and mustard!

LOL...that is awesome. Love this post.

Hotdogs are mustard only for me (or maybe mustard with a bit of onion.) I hope that%26#39;s not too offensive by NYC standards! At least I know better than to put ketchup on them!

LTT - perfect, thanks for the laugh.

When I visit family in Las Vegas and they put ketchup on hot dogs..........oh vey!

How about mayo on corned beef ?

Food police, food police, where are you!!!!

And, again, blueberry bagels are dessert!!!

NYCgirl--May I add that cinnamon-raisin bagels are dessert, too. Mayo on corned beef--I can%26#39;t imagine it!