A New York foods critic's foray through the iconic dishes that define the city, with a recipe for each. Fried chicken in Harlem. Pizza in Coney Island. Venturing to out-of-the-way neighbourhoods in search of great food has blossomed into a cultural phenomenon, drawing thousands of New York locals and tourists alike. But Robert Sietsema was the original outer-borough food explorer, and he inspired a generation of food lovers to sample ethnic dishes and other cheap eats across the city's five boroughs over his 20 years as restaurant critic at TheVillage Voice. New York in a Dozen Dishes distils Sietsema's 40 years of eating across the city into a set of essays on dishes from cross-section of the city's international culinary landscape: a portrait of modern New York through its food. Written with Sietsema's characteristic charm, chapters cover the evolution of fried chicken from women-run cafes in Harlem to hipster joints in Williamsburg, the history of New York-style pizza, and egg fu yung and the endangered American Chinese cuisine. Each chapter ends with a recipe.