Food writer-critic Robert Sietsema, in partial disguise, at the 6th & B Community Garden
Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
I met longtime food writer Robert Sietsema at the 6th & B Community Garden earlier this summer.
While enjoying a simit from C&B Café, Robert tells me about moving to the area. He lived for 13 years on 14th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C starting in 1977 when he paid $150 monthly for a four-room railroad apartment with a toilet in a closet. (It was rumored that Sylvester Stallone may have lived in the tenement building, now a co-op.)
"NYC was aflame when I arrived," said Sietsema, originally from Dallas.
Sietsema was a rock star — or, as he says, a micro-celebrity — for 14 years playing (bass, guitar, keyboards) in
Mofungo.
"If you weren't carrying a guitar around the East Village, there was something wrong with you," he says of the time.
He also started a rock star food fanzine called Down the Hatch, which focused on under-the-radar spots.
The Village Voice took note of the zine and offered him a job as a part-time food critic, which soon turned into a full-time gig.
Sietsema, who currently works at
Eater on the NYC beat, considers himself a consumer-focused reality-based food photographer and, in the past, had to pay cash mostly to avoid detection when on the job.
He says he can now use his credit card, as he believes no one cares as much about the reviewer's role, which has been entirely eclipsed by the social media influencer.
An adventurous food consumer, Sietsema admits that he will eat anything, though he doesn't care for brains (although he happily tries other organ meats).
As we debate where the official borders of the East Village are, I ask him for some of his favorite local dishes:
• Mushroom barley soup with buttered challah bread from
B&H Dairy Kosher, 127 Second Ave.
• Egg and chorizo sandwich from
C&B Café, 178 E. Seventh St.
• Three mezze with a glass of wine from
Café Mogador, 101 St. Mark's Place
• The spicy redneck from
Crif Dogs, 113 St. Mark's Place
• A bowl of pho from
Sao Mai, 203 First Ave.
• The slightly sweet cheese slice at
Stromboli, 83 St. Mark's Place
Sietsema says the East Village is one of the best food neighborhoods in the city and across all socioeconomic levels.
What’s missing from the local food scene? A good masala dosa.
