The Best New York Food and Wine

New York City

When you think of New York State food, you'll probably first think about New York City's restaurant scene -- and that's no surprise. New York City is certainly the food capital of the United States, and, some would argue, the entire world. Young chefs come here to make their fortunes, and established chefs from other cities also come to New York, to show the world what they've got. New York's restaurant scene is vast, and vibrant, but also punishing -- rents are high and tastes are fickle, so what's here and hot today is gone and boarded up tomorrow. To succeed here, you need talent, creativity, persistence and luck. But when a chef, a taste, or a trend hits it big in New York, you know it's only a matter of time before it begins to march across the entire country.

• Learn to Cook in New York City at the Institute for Culinary Education, at the International Culinary Center,or, go to pizza school.
• New York City's Next Food Trend: Corn Dogs and Whoopie Pies
• Wine Bars, Wineries and Wine Tasting in New York City.

New York City has its pizza, bagels and hot dogs, but it's not really known for any one food in particular. The glory of the city, with its melting pot of ethnicities and its sheer size, is the variety of food that you can get here in a single day. Have dim sum for breakfast, Indian food for lunch, Italian pastry for snack, Tibetan for dinner, all with a few swipes of your Metro Card. If people eat it somewhere in the world, you can probably find it here.

The Rest of New York State

But of course, New York State isn't only about New York City. In fact, the state is far from an urban jungle, it's home to over 36,000 farms, and over 7 million acres of farmland. New York is third in the nation for milk and dairy production, and sixth for fruits, nuts and berries. (New York is especially known for its apples -- hence, the Big Apple.)

The rest of the state holds many amazing culinary destinations. On Long Island, there are terrific wineries, complete with wine tours. Heading north from New York City, there's the beautiful Hudson Valley, filled with restaurants and markets ranging from quaint to sophisticated. And then there's central and western New York State, with Finger Lakes wineries , the Adirondacks, and the distinctive dining scenes of the state's other large cities: Buffalo, known for chicken wings, Syracuse, known for spiedies and Rochester, known for beer. And of course there's Niagara Falls.

• Tour New York wine country, which includes the Finger Lakes, Long Island and more.
• Visit Harney & Sons Tea Tasting Lounge in Millerton, New York