Delicious Eats Around Manhattan | New York City, NY

A time capsule of food and drink

With copious eating and drinking comes wisdom–or so we hope. Here, some of the choicest finds from a year of dedicated intake:

Watch That Wallet: The economy is a downer, but that hasn't stopped us from eating high on the hog with mere pocket change. Complex Vietnamese beef stew, aloo papri chaat, Asian-inflected hot dogs, orange-zested chocolate-chip cookies, Jordanian flatbreads, spiced chai, Franco-Korean pastries and minced-pork stew all come in at less than $5.

Artisan Overload: The thirst for artisanal and handmade is seemingly unquenchable. And although we might be sick of the words, we're happy to eat the products that fit in those categories when they're as delicious as these canned tomatoes, squash-seed oils and dairy tonics. Thick apple syrup, ethereal cheesecake and sheep's-milk yogurt all represent for the local team.

Cocktail Culture: The cocktail backlash hasn't hit–yet. Mixologists still reign, but try our 10 Best Cocktails of the year at home. Get your tipples in with nautical punches, pairing boards at the Beagle, jazzy classics at Silver Lining and slushies at both Mother's Ruin and the Tippler.

Stellar Spreads: All hail new restaurants! Masten Lake, Do or Dine and Allswell had us sprinting across the bridge to Brooklyn. Red Rooster brought down the house for brunch, Untitled did museum food right, dessert at Boulud Sud astonished, both Masak and the West Village branch of Fatty 'Cue brought Southeast Asian creativity to new heights, Tertulia impressed mightily, the Korean food at Danji had us returning regularly and the Dutch's take on American food continues to pack them in.