Queens ─ A Culinary Passport: Exploring Ethnic Cuisine in New York City's Most Diverse Borough

Everyone knows New York City is the culinary epicenter of the United States. And while Manhattan gets Michelin stars and Brooklyn gets blogger hype, real culinary fanatics know that authentic ethnic food experiences happen in the restaurants of Queens. There, New York's celebrated ethnic diversity is the most potent, with more than one million foreign-born residents. This means food lovers can travel the globe without using any vacation time: take a culinary tour of China, sip a frappe in Greece, dine on authentic Italian sausage--all without ever leaving Queens!

Queens: A Culinary Passport welcomes visitors to the borough, serving as your guide to more than 40 hand-picked ethnic restaurants and food stands, complete with chef profiles and recipes for recreating signature dishes at home. Also included are highlights of not-to-be-missed hidden spots, like ethnic grocery stores stocked with Greek essentials, fish markets that boast of visitors like chef Lidia Bastianich, and delis that turn out freshly made mozzarella and sopressata. For Queens novices, the book includes easy-to-follow subway directions and even detailed walking tours of each neighborhood, ensuring that your next trip to Italy, India, Greece, Latin America, and the Caribbean is only a borough away.

ANDREA LYNN, a southern-raised food writer, moved to NYC to attend culinary school and experience a diverse array of ethnic cuisine. After working at a restaurant and as a personal chef, she edited recipes for Art Culinaire and worked as senior editor at Chile Pepper, where she developed recipes for a spice-obsessed audience. Andrea now works as a freelance food writer and recipe developer and is author of the I Love Trader Joe's College Cookbook. She lives in Astoria.