Immigrant New York through its food: Jewish appetizing and deli on Houston St, the Tenement Museum, the Essex Market, a flour-milling slice shop, the 1887 Eldridge St synagogue, and Chinatown's roast pork and dim sum.
Best time: Late morning on a weekday (Russ & Daughters and Wah Fung close early; Wah Fung closed Mondays)
Appetizing shop since 1914 selling smoked salmon, sable, whitefish and bagels; a take-a-number counter experience distinct from a deli. A sit-down cafe is on Orchard St.
Pastrami on rye; share one sandwich if continuing. 30 min.
Deli open since 1888 where pastrami is hand-carved to order at the counter; the defining New York Jewish deli and the setting of the 'When Harry Met Sally' scene.
Restored apartments at 97 Orchard St show how immigrant families actually lived between the 1860s and 1930s; every visit is a guided small-group tour through real rooms.
Public market running since 1940 (now in a modern building at Essex Crossing) with butchers, cheese, Puerto Rican and Dominican counters, plus the Market Line food hall downstairs.
1887 synagogue, the first great house of worship built by Eastern European Jews in the US, restored after decades of decay; the modern stained-glass east window by Kiki Smith is…
Takeout window for Cantonese roast pork (char siu) and roast duck over rice; one of the cheapest full meals in Manhattan and a Chinatown lunch institution.
Dim sum parlor on crooked Doyers Street since 1920, the oldest in the city; made-to-order dim sum rather than carts, in a room that still looks like a 1950s diner.
