Where do you eat in a city with over 17,500 restaurants? You could open Instagram, find a place with thousands of likes and a two-hour wait, and hope for the best. Or you could ask Alec Johnson — a New Yorker with no social media, strong opinions, and decades of knowing where the good stuff is before anyone else does. I've been visiting Alec for years, and his unofficial food tours have become my single favorite thing to do in the city. This is that list — every place he's taken me, fed me, or sent me to with very specific instructions about what to order. From $5 carnitas tacos in Alphabet City to omakase in Queens, a hidden cocktail bar inside Grand Central, and what might genuinely be the best pizza in New York — organized by neighborhood so you can actually use it.

What happens when you spend your life exploring the world through its flavors? You develop opinions—strong ones. I recently sat down with Emmanuel Laroche, author of A Taste of Madagascar and host of the Flavors Unknown podcast, to talk about the destinations that have shaped his palate and changed his perspective on food, culture, and travel. Here are his top picks (plus a few of my own) for where to go when you want food to be more than just fuel and instead be the whole point of the journey.

Most people think you need culinary school to be a great cook. That you need fancy equipment, expensive ingredients, and some kind of natural-born talent that you either have or you don't. Enter Hannan Zary, the chef behind Tamoont Dining + Gathering who taught herself to cook by obsessively watching Food Network as a teenager. Her cooking journey didn't start with love—it started with spite. Banned from her stepmom's kitchen during elaborate diplomatic dinner parties, Hannan decided to teach herself. Without money for cooking classes or fancy ingredients, she worked within her constraints and still became an incredible chef. Her unconventional path proves you don't need formal education, your parents' approval, or fancy equipment to become good at cooking. You just need to start. This guide shares Hannan's practical lessons for becoming a better home cook, from mastering basic techniques to learning through failure.