New York Food Trends Safari: Five inspirational takeaways from the Big Apple

New York has some brilliant BBQ spots, from Dinosaur Bar-B-Que just off the Hudson, to Pig Beach in Queens. None piqued our interest more, however, than Bark BBQ - the stunning Texas-Dominican style operation led by the cowboy hat-wearing pitmaster, Ruben Santana.

Santana has superbly married Texas-style cooking techniques with the rich, varied flavours of the Dominican Republic, with Bark BBQ offering a range of showstopping meats - from brisket and pulled pork, to Dominican-style chicharron - along with a medley of flavourful sides including an outrageous mac & cheese made with sour cream, achiote and smoked Gouda.

We found Santana in the Timeout Market outpost of Bark BBQ in Brooklyn, and ordered the chopped chicharron & brisket sandwich from the man himself. Served in a soft, squidgy bun with pickled onions and the signature, vinegar-based Bark sauce; the sandwich was a masterclass in meat-centric satisfaction, with Santana also giving us a taster selection of his pulled pork (a spicy, juicy little number) and rib tips (just pure crunchy goodness).

Trader Joe's is a bit of a supermarket of dreams for foodies like us.

An innovative own-brand Mecca packed with on-trend (and trend-starting) food and drink products ripe for the plundering; we spent a good hour in its Union Square outpost, finding inspiration down every aisle.

A few of our many spots included:

• 21 Seasoning Salute - a blend of onion, black pepper, celery seed, cayenne pepper, parsley, basil, marjoram, bay leaf, oregano, thyme, savory, rosemary, cumin, mustard, coriander, garlic, carrot, orange peel, tomato, lemon juice and lemon oil.
• Crunchy Chili Onion Hummus - a puréed chickpea hummus with a blob of Crunchy Chilli Onion - a smoky, sweet-spicy condiment with red bell pepper, olive oil, chilli flakes, garlic and onion.
• 'Bool Kogi' - Korean-inspired boneless beef ribs in a savoury sesame and soy marinade
• 'Protein Palette' - on-the-go packs of Italian dry pepper-coated uncured salami, roasted salted almonds, and Parmesan cheese crisps.

It wouldn't be a food safari to New York without a slice (or five) of pizza. We hit two spots in Manhattan in the two days, both of which were exceptional, but also remarkably different.

The first was at Angelo's Pizza on Broadway - a humble spot found (at the time) swamped in scaffolding. It's said to have been making its coal oven-cooked pies since the 1930s, with its menu featuring a white, a square, a calzone, and the 'Old Fashioned Margherita', with toppings all extra.

We got the latter, and while it wasn't much to look at (third photo below), the tomato sauce was beautifully rich, with the considered amount of mozzarella really needing only to play textural backup, with the slice itself crisp, light and perfectly charred.

Our second shot came at Di Fara - a great recommendation from our Head of Projects, JJ. Another legacy NYC pizza name, Di Fara is actually a Brooklyn mainstay, but we managed to pick up a pie at Wonder - a dark kitchen-style operation just off Central Park on the Upper West Side.

Devoured in Central Park proper, this pie was thicker, cheesier, and altogether messier than Angelo's; a perfect pepperoni number cooked (we figure) in an electric oven - a change widely made by Di Fara HQ last year after a half-century of gas-oven pizza production.

If you pushed us to say which spots delivered truly transformative food experiences during the New York food safari, our visit to the iconic Katz's in the Lower East Side would be a nailed-on top three.

The Jewish deli is the oldest in the city and is absolutely heaving every single day. The pastrami on rye is the hero offering, with the Insta-worthy titan worth every second in the queue.

Katz's has eight different ordering stations run by eight different sandwich makers, each of which relentlessly slice stunning chunks of pastrami beef navel from whole cuts while you wait (with samples).

The sandwich itself is 90% pastrami, two small slices of bread, and a dab of mustard. That's it (unless you add cheese like us). And the experience is one we'll never forget, with the pastrami almost softer than the bread, warm and unbelievably delicate in flavour.

Then there was Halal Guys - the original Halal Guys, we should say, on the corners of 53rd Street and Sixth Avenue.

A brand that's spreading far and wide, away from its humble food cart roots; we visited late on day two, scoring a chicken gyro sandwich in warm pitta bread, covered in its famous white sauce.