New York Magazine – July 08, 2019

52 new york | july 8–21, 2019

eating outside

BLUEBERRY PIE

In a Brooklyn Backyard

It’s been ten years since

former mayor Bloomberg

closed Times Square to

vehicular traffic, but it

takes more than pedestrian

plazas and “designated

activity zones” to lure any

sane New Yorker to the

O.K. Corral of costumed

hustler vs. unwitting

tourist. It takes something

like the “Know Your

Rights,” a sweet-tart

sundae that does a boffo

impersonation of a mango

lassi and is available only at

this seasonal, politically

minded satellite of the

Lower East Side ice-cream

parlor Ice & Vice. The soft

serve is flavored with

Mexican vanilla and black-

lava sea salt. Mango takes

the delectable forms of

both liquid yogurt and fruit

purée. And the icing on the

cake (or, in this case, the

dusting of cardamom sugar

on the sundae): Five

percent of the stand’s sales

benefits the New York

Civil Liberties Union.

ICE & VICE ISCREAM! KIOSK

Broadway at 43rd St.; no phone

LET THE OTHERS EAT PIE inside with the A/C cranked.

Over in Clinton Hill, at Petee’s, there is an alternative:

a secret garden for pie aficionados. The look is lived-in, not

fancy, like something out of the French Quarter, with green

wooden benches, Russell Wright plates and bowls on wrought-

iron tables, garden hoses strewn about the slate floor, one enor-

mous shady tree, a bunch of hopeful planters—everything but a

string of laundry hanging on a clothesline. And then there’s the

pie: old-fashioned, flaky, butter-crusted, look-

ing better than a Wayne Thiebaud painting,

and easily the freshest, tastiest thing you’ve

eaten in a Brooklyn backyard since the original

Franny’s hung up its pizza peel. The cherry with

tart sour cherries from Michigan is a seasonal star, and so is the

blueberry with the tiny wild blueberries that grow on bushes

upstate and all over Maine. Get them both à la mode and with

the housemade maple whipped cream.

PETEE’S PIE

505 Myrtle Ave., nr.

Ryerson St., Clinton

Hill; 646-494-3630

A MANGO-LASSI

SUNDAE

In the Middle of

TIMES SQUARE

Ballparks are

bastions of open-air

eating, and the options

have come a long

way from peanuts

and Cracker Jack. But

with all the recent

excitement in stadium

food being generated

by big names and brand

expansions—Danny

Meyer pizza, Nicoletta

chicken parm, Josh

Capon grilled cheese—

it’s easy to overlook

the no-name, house-run

stands. Still, one

humble concession has

surmounted its

corporate-food-service

anonymity to capture

the hearts and stomachs

of sports fans and food

geeks alike: Pastrami on

Rye, a sort of catchall

counter for nachos,

pretzels, popcorn, and

hot dogs, also dispenses

a cultishly popular

pastrami that holds its

own against New York’s

finest (with the added

bonus of its fresh-air

environs, something

the old-school deli genre

isn’t exactly known for).

Notably moist and

tender, with almost a

Texas-level-BBQ bark,

the brisket is braised

and smoked in-house

(er, in-stadium), then

hand-sliced right at the

counter while you watch.

If you’re lucky enough

to be there while Larry E.

of the Bronx is manning

the station, you might

even get offered

a burnt end to nibble,

Katz’s style, while he

studiously slathers the

Jewish rye with Gulden's

and piles on the ruby-

red layers of meat.

It’s a captivating show,

frankly, and could make

you temporarily forget

whatever drama is

playing out on the field.

HOT

PASTRAMI

Behind

Left Field

HOT PASTRAMI

ON RYE STAND

Citi Field, field level,

section 126

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