Delia Barth

Even when you spend most of your free time and discretionary income on eating and drinking, some things simply stand out. They may or may not be from the latest openings in town, and we've intentionally left out the best new restaurants that opened in NYC this year so we can spotlight some other great venues. These were some of our favorite things to taste over the last 12 months. These were Time Out New York's editors' favorite food and drinks this year. 

As someone whose data often runs out mid-month, I was pumped about the idea of subway Wi-Fi. That is, until I learned that “Subway Wi-Fi” is nothing more than a sick joke played on innocent riders. RECOMMENDED: See more New York rants First off, the Wi-Fi doesn’t stay connected from station to station; it only works on the platforms. So, in between stations, you’re Wi-Fi–less. In all fairness, I have literally zero idea how Wi-Fi works—to be honest, I believe it is made of magic. But the Transit Wireless website claims that you can “stay connected while in transit,” which is actually just the transit system lying directly to our collective face. As if you haven’t hurt us enough, MTA?  But here’s the really fun part: With the average stop lasting about a minute, it’s a mad rush to reconnect at each stop. In order to reconnect, you need to watch a “short” video. Always on schedule, that video plays for the exact amount of time the doors are open. Just when the signal bars finally appear on your phone, the train zooms into the tunnel and your connection is lost, leaving you with only the afterimage—burned upon your retina—of a goofy ad you’ve seen a billion times. Guess I'll just look like a crazy person and not look at my phone the entire ride.

Journalist, silver fox, intrepid jogger—there are many ways you could describe CNN newscaster Anderson Cooper. But labels aside, the man is a born-and-bred New Yorker, even if he doesn’t eat like one (after all, he prefers the Soylent meal-replacement diet). Still, we got Cooper to open up about some of his favorite restaurants and local memories as well as his upcoming live storytelling show, AC2 (Beacon Theatre; June 21, 22), cohosted by TV personality—and Cooper’s dear friend—Andy Cohen. “It’s not a night of serious politics,” says Cooper. “It’s a night of really funny stories—all true—and just weird things that have happened to us. A lot of people will come up to me and say, ‘I wish I could get a drink with you.’ That’s basically what this night is. The bar is very open.” His favorite haunts: Club Cumming + Raines Law Room“Club Cumming is a spot unlike any other. It’s like going to a Berlin cabaret, and Alan Cumming often performs there. Beyond that, I like Raines Law Room. It’s not technically in the Village—it’s on 17th Street—but I think it has a Village-y, speakeasy feel.”His meal of choice next to Soylent: OatMeals“This is one of my favorite places in New York. It’s a tiny hole-in-the-wall that offers nothing but oatmeal. There’s a fixins bar, and it sells oatmeal muffins and oatmeal cookies. It’s very big with NYU students.” His weekend activity: Pace Gallery “A good day is one spent looking at art. That’s something I very much enjoy. I go to Pace Gallery to see wh

When it comes to trendy foods, presentation and Instagrammability tend to play a big role in drawing crowds. But how does your opinion change when you don’t have an Instagram or possibly don't even know what Instagram is? We brought four Italian grandmas to the Time Out office to try New York’s trendiest Italian dishes. And when it comes to their self-created Italian Test, these native New York nonnas are not messing around. Lets just say, they were not as impressed as many Instagram influencers seem to be with New York’s more innovative Italian creations. RECOMMENDED: Full guide to the best restaurants in NYC Each grandma is from New York and belongs to a lunch group called the Pasta Girls, who eat pasta together weekly. They have also all been cooking Italian meals since childhood and love feeding their families Italian feasts. So in our book, these women are Italian cuisine experts. We had them try Pop Pasta’s spaghetti donut (made famous at Smorgasburg last year), which every grandma thought was pasty and, quite honestly, offensive. Next on the menu was The Sosta’s critically-acclaimed brunch special: spaghetti pie. Gloria, 88, said she’s “had better” in Syracuse. Then there was Max Brenner’s chocolate pizza, which the grandmas all agreed was not real New York pizza but overall enjoyed it. And finally, there was a vegan fettuccine alfredo from John's of 12th Street, which was surprisingly a crowd pleaser. Forget Michelin stars; if you really want an honest review of your

Ever wonder what it takes to perform at a Knicks game halftime show? So did we, so we sent one a Time Out staffer to Madison Square Garden for a firsthand lesson from the Knicks City Dancers. Our prodigy suited up in an official set of warm-ups, learned the crew’s choreography (or at least tried to) and spent an afternoon uncovering the tricks of the trade. Spoiler alert: It ain’t easy.  Take a look at the video above for the full rundown, and get inspired to sharpen your own dance moves.  Sign up to receive great Time Out deals in your inbox each day.