Fi2W Debuts NYC Ethnic Food Tours at International Culinary Conference

Street vendor selling tamales in Jackson Heights

Street vendor selling tamales in Jackson Heights. (Photo: John Rudolph)

For the past six months we’ve been writing and podcasting about great places in New York’s immigrant neighborhoods to enjoy authentic flavors from around the world. This week, as part of our Food in 2 Worlds project, we’re introducing two walking tours that offer an insider’s take on where to find the best tamales, falafel, Tibetan momos and much more.

Fi2W has teamed up with Streetwise New York, a company that specializes in walking tours of the city’s immigrant neighborhoods, to create food tours of Jackson Heights and Astoria, two Queens neighborhoods that are known for their large and diverse immigrant populations. Both neighborhoods offer great restaurants, street food, and food markets. But finding those culinary offerings can be a challenge for outsiders.

For the inaugural tours on Thursday, March 29, we will be joined by chefs and food writers from around the country who are attending the annual meeting of the International Association of Culinary Professionals in New York. They’ll get a taste of the richness of immigrant New York while sampling dishes like pulled pork tacos from a thriving street cart on Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights and grilled octopus served at an ornate Galician social club in Astoria. Along the way they’ll have a chance to meet celebrity food authorities Fany Gerson, author of My Sweet Mexico; Maria Speck, author of Ancient Grains for Modern Meals; and Kathy Gunst, Resident Chef for the award-winning public radio show Here and Now and author of Notes from a Maine Kitchen.

Follow the tours on Twitter at #foodin2worlds. Click here to contact us about Food in 2 Worlds culinary tours.

Fi2W is supported by the New York Community Trust and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation with additional support from the Ralph E. Odgen Foundation, the Mertz Gilmore Foundation and the Sirus Fund.

AboutFeet in Two Worlds
Feet in 2 Worlds (Fi2W) is an independent media outlet, journalism training program, and launchpad for emerging immigrant journalists and media makers of color. Our work brings positive and meaningful change to America's newsrooms and has a broader impact on how immigration is reported and the ethnic and racial composition of news organizations.