It's been an extremely busy year at FDL, as we travelled all over the world bringing you exciting stories and experiences. One of the cities we have often revisiting with a huge smile is New York.
Home to a large mix of people, places and cultures - the city that never sleeps is also a city for serious eats. In summer we brought you a Brooklyn city tasting tour - a look at some of the best bars, cafes, restaurants and farmers markets throughout the Brooklyn area. We also compiled a list of the top picnic spots for those wanting to sample an outside dining experience while visiting the Big Apple.
New York is home to literally thousands of annual and one off food events and FDL were lucky enough to visit some of the best. Is the place where you could eat a dinner of venison tartar at nine in the morning at a secret pop-up restaurant organised by Le Fooding group, donned all white to attend an outside picnic in Battery park and attended a cinema where all the films were accompanied by food that matched the movies on screen.
There was a jelly mold competition showcasing some of the most lifelike food designs ever seen and all this is on top of culinary congresses - likeIdentità NY, on the rooftop of Eataly - fine dining subway journeys and adinner party hosted by the designer Julia Ziegler-Haines.
The city, with some of the world's highest buildings, is also home to some of the worlds biggest characters and to cover one of the biggest names in food FDL asked restaurant critic and author Gael Greene. She wrote a personal account of her friendship with the charismatic chef James Beard, ahead of the much coveted James Beard Foundation Awards - designed to praise chefs, designers and journalists who contribute to the richly diverse landscape of American cuisine. The 2012 Awards will be held on 4 and 7 May, so save the date!
New York is a truly exciting city full of flavor, underground restaurants, great events and recipes from all over the world. Even though they're over 1000 miles away, there's even the option of trying a Kosher variant of the classic Uzbekistan dish of Plov, a real example of the city's rich diversity.
So if it's adventure, excitement and contrast that excites you, join FDL and enjoy this sweet taste of New York.