Famous Fat Dave: The Hungry Cabbie

The dog days of summer are not a good time to be a cabbie in New York.  It seems like everyone who has the means has already taken off for breezier locales.  Business is dead.  Gas is more expensive.  Profit margins are squeezed.

So it’s a good thing that I’m conducting more and more Famous Fat Dave’s Five Borough Eating Tours these days.  The more you read The Hungry Cabbie, and the more you tell your friends, the less often I have to drive my yellow cab for street hails.  Reservations for tours are pouring in (August is almost booked), so call now.  Operators are standing by.

This weekend I was planning on heading to Rockaway Beach for a filet of sole hero from the 101 Deli, a stroll on the boardwalk, and a dip in the Atlantic.  But I was busy with two eating tours I booked at the last minute.  One was a Midnight Munchies Tour like the one I did with David Wain and Ken Marino in June.  The other was a Best of Brooklyn Tour I conducted for the Sorey family of Richmond, VA.

Rachel and her boyfriend have a few years in New York notched on their belts, but the rest of the fam came up for the occasion, a surprise gift for Mr. Sorey.  With dad in the passenger seat and 4 in the back seat, we were breaking all sorts of Taxi And Limousine Commission rules, so there was a nice touch of extra added adventure whenever we saw a police cruiser and had to have one person slink down in the back seat to hide.

We only had four hours for the whole tour, but the Sorey’s were real champs, and we did a lot of eating on the run so as to fit in more chow time.  I didn’t take a picture of the Ewephoria Sheep’s Milk Gouda from Murray’s, but that’s what held us over during the drive to Tom’s Diner in Prospect Heights:

We called ahead, so our piping hot Belgian waffle with strawberries was waiting for us.  We felt like the smart ones as we slathered ours in syrup and cinnamon butter while we sat outside in the chairs meant for all those people waiting in the line that stretched out the door:

Click here to read what I wrote about Tom’s in Gothamist.

After we (I) finished our waffle (this was when I explained that Famous Fat Dave always gets the last bite), we stopped at El Gran Castillo de Jagua for a Cubano.  The mercury was pushing 100, so the heavily forested Prospect Park was the ideal spot for everyone to dig in on the pressed sandwich:

Click here to read what I wrote about El Gran Castillo de Jagua in Gothamist.

The kids ran into Culpepper’s to grab a Bajan (that means ”from Barbardos”) flying fish cutter with hot sauce while the rest of us relaxed in the A.C. from my 2001 Ford Crown Vic with 200,000 miles on it.  Then we all took turns devouring that sandwich while we drove down Nostrand Avenue:

Click here to read what I wrote about Culpepper’s in Gothamist.

Stuck in a bit of traffic on Nostrand and Glenwood, we noticed the overwhelming smell of smoky bbq filling the air above the avenue.  I switched on the hazards in a no parking zone in front of a church, ran across the street, and returned with some jerk chicken from a Guyanese man bbqing on the sidewalk:

And my nose served us right.  It was delicious:

Next stop was the Irish-style, soaking wet roast beef sandwich from Brennan and Carr that took a beating in my Gothamist column last week.  And guess what creepy Gothamist commenters:  The Soreys all LOVED it:

Like father,

Like son.

Click here to read what I wrote (and how revolted some ignorant commenters were) about Brennan and Carr in Gothamist.

After a taste test comparison with the Roll N’ Roast beef sandwich with cheez whiz and onions in neighboring Sheepshead Bay, we took our Roll N’ Roaster lemonades and hit Brighton Beach for a while.  We had time to get some sun, feel the breeze, and take a gander at some Little Odessa’s summer street culture:

No Famous Fat Dave tour is complete without eating off the big yellow table:

And that’s how we enjoyed our shawarma from Sahara in Gravesend.  Mr. Sorey wasn’t impressed.  I wish we had time to hit Zaytoon’s (they put pickles in their shawarma, and the meat has the more complex flavor Mr. Sorey was looking for), but we had time constraints:

Click here to read what I wrote about Sahara and Zaytoon’s in Not For Tourists Guidebook.

L&B Spumoni Gardens in Bensonhurst is always a crowd-pleaser though.  No one can deny the glory of a steaming hot thick slice of pizza and a steaming cold squeeze cup of spumoni on the outdoor patio:

Click here to read what I wrote about Spumoni Gardens in Not For Tourists Guidebook.

Zipping up the Gowanus Expressway that never has any traffic on it, we found ourselves in Red Hook as the time grew near for me to return the cab to Cha Cha in Greenpoint.  Frozen, chocolate-dipped mini key lime pie on a stick really hits the spot at the end of a muggy, sticky day of eating and driving.  Everyone was grabbing for it:

Click here to read what I wrote about Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Piesicles in Gothamist and Click here to read how I discovered Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pies

So how could we possibly cap off a tour like that?  We did it with deep fried, crunchy, dill, sour pickles, rolled in Cajun spices, and dipped in tartar sauce.  A heavenly treat straight out of Elvis’ cookbook.  And it was a big hit:

Where do you find something so scrumptious you ask?  I’m keeping that one a secret for now.  But if you take a tour, I’m sure we can arrange a tasting.

I’d like to use this space to thank the Soreys for their enthusiasm.  You really ate like pros.  I’m sure it is clear from these pictures, the Sorey’s enjoyed their Best Of Brooklyn Tour immensely.  But more importantly, they really did save Famous Fat Dave the last bite:

Visit www.famousfatdave.com to book an eating tour.  And if today’s post wasn’t enough Best of Brooklyn for you, take an almost entirely different virtual Best of Brooklyn Tour with the Dolgens.