The Waldorf Astoria in New York City has long been a byword for exquisite luxury, style and success.

From Franklin D. Roosevelt and Frank Sinatra to Queen Elizabeth II and Elizabeth Taylor, the hotel's guestbook reads like an A-list of twentieth century historical figures - not to mention tens of thousands of well-to-do tourists and travelers.

Over the years however some sticky-fingered guests have tried to claim a little bit of the Waldorf magic for themselves, checking out with hotel items as a souvenir of their stay.
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Drake takes drink orders, greets regular customers with a warm handshake and sets the tables for the next wave of the lunch crowd. It’s a stark change from the sheepish man who patrons first encountered when Harvest Café opened its doors in the beginning of 2011.

“My goodness, it’s like night and day. You’d see the change in him week by week,” says Jean Ringhoff, a regular at the café who works at a nearby bank. “At first, he barely made eye contact.”

Drake, like the restaurant itself, now commands a second look.
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Michelin Travel Publications rolled out the results for New York City's 2013 Michelin Guide today, and a record-setting 66 area restaurants earned one or more of the guide's highest honor - the Michelin star.

The Michelin Guide, or Le Guide Michelin, originated in France in 1900 and has since offered its notes, recommendations and ratings on restaurants and hotels in select cities around the globe. It published its first New York City edition in 2005.

The guide's recommendations are put together by a team of "famously anonymous" inspectors, who all must undergo strict training and sign confidentiality agreements before they can file reports on their assigned establishments.

The ratings for the guide are as follows:
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There’s a saying in Brooklyn, New York – Brooklyn bagels are the best because of the water. Connoisseurs of New York bagels will tell you it’s the local water that gives Brooklyn bagels their unique taste.

Click to listen to the CNN Radio podcast:

“That is true,” said Ameen Hamin, a manager at Terrace Bagels, a Brooklyn bagel shop at the top of several lists of the best bagel stores in New York. “We have the best water here so everything is made with water. That’s what makes the bagel taste good and gives it that texture.”
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A New Orleans resident noticed something was fishy when he tasted the iconic lobster salad from New York gourmet food institution Zabar's.

Doug MacCash, who happens to be a reporter with New Orleans' daily newspaper The Times-Picayune, was on a family vacation in the Big Apple when he first came across the orangey-pink shellfish salad at Zabar's.

"I stood in line for a bagel, walked past the refrigerator case and thought lobster salad, that sounds good, I'll treat myself," Doug MacCash said. "It was very good but as I ate it, it seemed very familiar."

That's because MacCash wasn't eating lobster - he was eating crayfish, also known as crawfish or crawdads.
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Food says so much about where you’ve come from, where you’ve decided to go, and the lessons you’ve learned. It’s geography, politics, tradition, belief and so much more and this week, we invite you to dig in and discover the rich, ever-evolving taste of America in 2011. The week will culminate with a Secret Supper in New York City, and Eatocracy invites you to participate online starting Monday July 11th at 6:30 p.m. E.T.

On maps, New York’s 7 train links Midtown Manhattan with Flushing in Queens, but it really connects New Yorkers from all over the world: so much so that the city has dubbed it the “International Express.” In 2000, it was named a National Millennium Trail, in recognition of its serving as “a metaphor for the migration of all the world’s people to America’s shores.”

Most of its stops are in Queens, which is one of the most diverse counties in the United States. 47 percent of the population was born outside the United States. This migration has brought with it a huge number of excellent restaurants, and the 7 train is a passport to eating all the way around the world.
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In a city celebrated for its "cawfeee" accent and doughnut-shaped rolls, the store that by many accounts is New York's bagel-lovers' paradise is set to shutter its doors.

H&H Bagels - a Manhattan landmark of sorts - will sell its last homemade dozen and close on Sunday, according to Moshe Fintz, the company's business manager.

The store's no-frills business model and doughy circles earned a cult-like following over its 39-year history on 80th Street and Broadway.

Many loyal customers aren't taking the news of the closing lightly.

"We have to preserve what's unique about New York," said James Besser, a pianist from Manhattan's Upper West Side. "And what's distinct about us here is the bagels."

Read - Iconic bagel shop closure to leave hole in New Yorkers' hearts

Potential presidential hopeful Sarah Palin brought her "One Nation" bus tour to Manhattan on Tuesday, splitting a pizza at Famous Famiglia with Donald Trump, who recently opted not to launch a bid for the Republican nomination.

iReporter rpcstudio was walking to the subway Tuesday when he saw a crowd gathered outside the pizza restaurant and captured this photo of Donald Trump and Sarah Palin. 'One woman shouted "I can see Alaska from here," as Palin exited. Another man began to chant "OBAMA, OBAMA."'

The party reportedly shared both cheese and pepperoni-topped pies, but documentation does not indicate that any member opted for another of the chain's specialties - a ham and pineapple-topped "Hawaiian Delight."

See the iReport and read Palin, Trump discuss 'potential candidates' over pizza in New York

Street food is suddenly hip, but in New York it's as old as salt on pretzels. So we asked a Big Apple vendor for dirt on - well, how dirty are those carts, anyway? He wanted to be anonymous. We agreed, so long as he gave us extra kraut.

Read - "Confessions of a... New York street-food vendor "

Justo Thomas is a symphony conductor.

His music: seldom heard. His stage: a sterile ten by five foot white-tiled room. The temperature: as cold as the fluorescent lighting above.

“Nobody comes down here. All this space is mine. Nobody comes in here,” says Thomas.

Here is the basement of Le Bernardin, arguably the best seafood restaurant in New York and most likely the country. Thomas, its fish butcher chef, has been “performing” at this three Michelin-star restaurant for seven years.

In the tucked away area, there’s a continual rhythm of sharp clings followed by loud thumps and wistful rings. But Thomas’s instruments do not include strings, percussion, or woodwinds. His are a half-dozen German-made steel knives.
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