A new three-hour culinary jaunt through Long Island City is giving visitors a taste of the neighborhood’s best offerings. The brainchild of two Queens natives, “Local Finds: Queens Food Tours” gives participants a chance to sample six of Long Island City’s most unique restaurants during a mile-and-a-half stroll that also offers a slice of the neighborhood’s industrial past and present-day transformation.
“Queens neighborhoods have so much history and culture, yet they are often overlooked for those in Manhattan and Brooklyn,” said Richard Mumith, a public-relations specialist and co-founder of the tour with friend Sergey Kadinsky, a licensed tour guide who heads the walk.
Restaurants on the tour were handpicked for their cuisine and the stories they had to tell. At Manducatis Rustica, on Vernon Boulevard and 46th Road, owner Gianna Carbone-Poli tells guests how her mother was the first pizza maker in Long Island City during the 1950s. Today, Ms. Carbone-Poli, who had no formal culinary training, serves her customers fare from the same family recipes.
Other restaurants signed on to the tour include Woodbines Craft Kitchen, Sweetleaf coffee shop, Alobar, Rockaway Brewing Co. and Sage General Store. Tours take place on Sunday mornings at 11 a.m. Eventually, Messrs. Mumith and Kadinsky hope to start tours in other Queens neighborhoods, including Flushing, Richmond Hill, Jamaica and Rockaway.
On a similar gastronomic note, Astoria’s first-ever restaurant week will kick off Sept. 19 and run for 10 days, celebrating the neighborhood’s diverse food culture.
