• New Yorkers dining at home more than eating out

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    For the past 10 years, New Yorkers have gradually been eating out less and eating in more, but this year marks the first time that the two trends have crossed over.

    By Ben Popken, TODAY contributor

    Put down your forks and listen to this: New Yorker's at-home meals surpassed dining out for the first time in 30 years. That's the news from the Zagat 2013 NYC Restaurant Survey.

    It said the citizens of the city that bills itself as the "food capital of the world" are only dining out and doing take-out 6.4 times a week, and they're making meals at home 6.7 times a week. That means more family pasta nights, and bagged lunches taken to work, and fewer trips to Per Se and Peter Luger's.

    For the past 10 years, New Yorkers have gradually been eating out less and eating in more, but this year marks the first time that the two trends have crossed over. In 2002, New Yorkers made 5.1 meals at home and ate out or got take out 7.9 times per week. In 2006 that moved to 5.4 and 7.7. When the financial crisis hit in 2008, eating out took an immediate hit, dropping to 6.9 times per week. Meals at home jumped to 6.1 times per week.

    In addition, the number of meals per survey per restaurant - an indicator of how many times diners return to their favorite eatery - rose from 9.6 in 2002 to 11.1 in 2008, then fell off to 8.5 in 2009, and declined to 8.1 in 2012. As the country's fortunes rise, so does its appetite for eating out. And vice versa.

    But it's not just New York City, eating fewer meals out is a national trend. The NPD market research group reported in October that traffic to casual dining restaurants is down 2 percent this first quarter across the country, while visits to midscale restaurants is down 3 percent. That's in line with a four-year downward trend.

    However, Tim Zagat, co-founder of the burgundy restaurant guide, told NBC News he's "not sure that it's more penny-wise to cook at home." There's a big opportunity cost to consider "once you factor in shopping, washing, cooking and cleaning." Instead, he said, budget-conscious diners might be "better off working an hour later -- assuming you have a job."

    With persistently high unemployment figures in the headlines, that could be a big assumption. Still, he doesn't deny that New York restaurants have had to change with the times, and the recession, to keep their appeal.

    "There isn't a restaurant in New York that still requires a tie," Zagat said. While some high-end joints like Le Bernardin still require men to wear a jacket, "If you put it over the back of your chair in the middle of dinner, they're not going to tell you to put it back on. Ten years ago taking your jacket off in a fine dining establishment would have been unthinkable."

    Relaxing those standards means broadening your customer base, and that means being slightly more accessible to younger, more casual clientele, with lower purchasing power.

    That's why Zagat sees what he calls "Better Alternative to Home" or "BATH" restaurants as a huge saving trend for the industry. They're the noodle shops, burger joints, BBQs, upscale diners, family style chains and ethnic eateries offering hardy fare and comfy and cozy atmosphere, "like having a second living room." They buy wholesale and, he and his wife wrote in a 2008 Wall Street Journal op-ed on the effect of a bad economy on the restaurant business, "produce meals far more efficiently than home cooks."

    Affordable and casual restaurants dominated the list of 199 new restaurant openings included in the Zagat 2013 NYC restaurant survey. 399 of the overall listings offered a complete dinner, including beverage to wash it down and tip for the waiter, for less than $25.

    Related: http://lifeinc.today.com/frugal-food 

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  • After fighting to sell tacos, he's named 'Most Heroic Vendor'

    By Chiara Atik

    DNAInfo.com via StreetVendor.org

    Albert Loera, right, along with his mom Patricia Monroy, run Paty's Taco Truck, which took home a Vendy Award for "Most Heroic Vendor."

    Among the many vehicles from all five boroughs selling their fare, one taco truck stood tallest as New York City’s most popular food trucks and vendors gathered on Governor’s Island Saturday for the 7th Annual Vendy Awards, which celebrate the art of street eating.

    This year, Paty’s Taco Truck was awarded the Vendys’ inaugural award for “Most Heroic Vendor.” 

    While selling tacos and hot dogs might not immediately conjure images of acts of bravery, the past few years have proven that New York food vendors are vigilant and, yes, heroic. The most famous example are the hot dog vendors who last year spotted and alerted the authorities to a car bomb in Times Square.

    This year, the Vendys decided to honor Alberto Loera, the 29-year-old co-founder of the popular Paty’s Taco Truck, which sells chorizo burritos and tacos. Loera has become the de facto poster boy for vendors in their war with the city of New York, which has started cracking down on food trucks.

    Paty’s Taco Truck has been towed multiple times and given countless tickets by the NYPD for parking on metered spots and selling “merchandise.” Loera and his lawyers argue that the truck, which has all its permits and licenses, doesn’t sell merchandise, it sells food -- a key legal difference.

    The conflict escalated when, last Nov. 30, Loera was arrested and his truck was towed, again for selling merchandise on a metered spot. When Loera recovered the truck, he says it had been completely gutted.

    “It was like they just cleaned the truck out: no dishes, no generator, no gas tank, no tools, nothing!” Loera told TODAY.com. But undeterred, he and his family borrowed money from relatives in Mexico in order to get the truck back on its feet again.

    “I’m not a criminal: I don’t sell drugs, I sell food,” Loera told TODAY.com. “I’m a father of three and I need to bring food to my family, and this is what I know how to do best: cook food. So that’s how I make money for my children.”

    Loera and his lawyers from the Street Vendors Project decided to take the matter to court and sue the city of New York -- a case they lost.

    Though he didn't win, Loera was honored for his perseverance and determination to fight for his right to legally sell food.

    “It meant a lot,” he says of the Vendy Award. “It meant that the fight wasn’t for nothing. It was for a good cause, not only for me, but for other vendors. Vendors that don’t speak English, vendors that get an unfair ticket and pay it and don’t fight back because they’re scared.”

    Loera and the Street Vendors Project are in the process of appealing the suit against the city. In the meantime, Loera can be found doing what he loves best: still on 86th and Lexington after 7 p.m., selling tacos.