New York City Food Lover's Guide: Who Came Out on Top?

Eataly; photo by Evan Sung

It was a good year for Italian eats, eco-friendly shoppers and ginger-headed food-TV personalities according to our 2011/12 New York City Food Lover’s Guide, out today in a bookstore near you.

The guide pulls together the opinions of 6,355 New Yorkers, and covers 1,491 food purveyors, party suppliers and other gourmet shopping establishments. It also includes a list of prime foodie walking tours (for those of you who like a little exercise with your face-stuffing), a list of online purveyors and even a green glossary to help you navigate the farmer’s market like a pro.

Some of the big winners this year include Mario Batali’s Flatiron megastore Eataly, rated the No. 1 Major Market; Absolute Bagels for, yes, Bagels; Il Laboratorio for Ice Cream; and Brooklyn’s Ladybird Bakery for Cupcakes. Dickson’s Farmstand in the Chelsea Market grabbed the prize for Top Newcomer.

The Bronx did especially well in our Survey this year, with Casa Della Mozzarella and Borgatti’s Ravioli both standing tall with a near-perfect 29 Quality rating. Salute! Another victor: Bobby Flay, who was voted the No. 1 food-TV personality. How’s that for a Throwdown?!

Finally, despite living in one of the best restaurant cities in the world, plenty of you are opting to fire up your own stoves – 46% of surveyors reported that they are cooking dinner at home more than before. With all the info in this guide, however, don’t even think of coming home with frozen grocery-store pizza.

Stay tuned as we roll out some of the Survey’s tasty new lists throughout the week.