The Presidential Palate

One of Ruben Diaz Jr.’s first memories of his childhood in the Bronx was moving, at around age 3, from the Moore Houses in the South Bronx to a single-family home, complete with a backyard, on St. Lawrence Avenue.  “I remember hanging out with my friends there, playing Tonka trucks in the yard,” says the former kid who has served as Bronx borough president since 2009. 

He also remembers some of the meals he and his family shared in that house—many of them Puerto Rican delicacies. “On special occasions, like Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve, you could smell pernil [slow-roasted pork] and arroz con gandules [rice with pigeon peas].” For dessert, there would be dishes like flan and rice pudding: “The smells woke you up in the morning and just added to the excitement.” 

He remembers working on an “assembly line” in the kitchen with his aunt, mother and grandmother to create pasteles: delicious little meat pockets wrapped in banana leaves. “We made dozens at a time. It was a big undertaking,” he says.  

That house, which Diaz remembers fondly, has since been demolished and now a pair of three-story homes sit on the same lot. “That’s one of the reasons downzoning has been important to me in my role as borough president,” he says.  And while some of Diaz’s childhood memories were food related, others were political. In 1980, when he was around 7 years old, his father (now a New York State senator) ran a political campaign. “I was licking envelopes, knocking on doors and putting up posters,” Diaz says. 

Fourteen years later he ran for office himself, for the position of district leader in Soundview. In 1996, at the age of 23, he ran for New York State Assembly—and won. In 2009, he was elected Bronx borough president.  

Since then, he’s seen something of a food revolution in the Bronx. Thanks to a growing number of eateries, his list of borough favorites is ever expanding, he says.  Like the Bronx itself, the borough’s culinary traditions are “diverse and full of flavor.” That’s one of the reasons he helped kick off Savor the Bronx, the borough’s very own restaurant week.

 “Tourism is up 14 percent, and a lot of that has to do with the food; the Bronx is becoming a food destination. If you want diverse flavor you need to come to the ‘Boogie Down Bronx,” says Diaz. 

He filled us in on some of his favorite spots for chowing down. 

For a special occasion… 

Patricia’s, the cozy, brick-walled Italian restaurant in Morris Park, is where “we celebrated graduations, anniversaries and other special occasions,” says Diaz. Neapolitan-style pizzas are all the rage here. 

For seafood…go straight to City Island 

“My wife, children and I all love shellfish and seafood, and City Island is where you get the best,” he says. Sometimes he likes to do the casual, picnic table thing and grab a lobster roll outside at Tony’s Pier, Johnny’s Reef or Sea Shore. For a more formal, sit-down option, there’s Sammy’s Fish Box, Portofino’s or Don Coqui, which specializes in Puerto Rican–style food. 

For Italian… isn’t it obvious? 

“Of course, you’ve got to go Arthur Avenue,” says Diaz. Zero Otto Nove, Pasquale’s Rigoletto and Mario’s, are all great sit-down and fill-up restaurants. And if you want your food to go instead, “you can’t walk out of Mike’s Deli without fresh mozzarella,” he says. “You may get through half a sandwich there, and save the other one for the next day.”  He adds, “Go there and tell Dave I sent you.”  

What’s ahead for the Bronx culinary scene…  

In addition to a new crop of breweries (Bronx Brewery, Gun Hill Brewing, Port Morris Distillery), the Bronx has seen trendy restaurants coming in. Diaz points to a bunch located on East Tremont Street: There’s Mexican spot Cabo and Latin-fusion eatery Travesias, and Tosca—a restaurant with a bar and lounge, too—that features classic Italian food as well as sushi. “There are all of these great new places that have popped up in this corridor over the last 10 years, and there are still a lot of folks who don’t know about it,” he says. 

In addition to the breweries, Diaz recommends Bronx Ale House (17 craft beers on tap) and Bronx Draft House, which he likes for the chicken sandwiches and tacos. “Perfect before or after visiting Yankee Stadium,” he says. 

For “probably the best Puerto Rican food outside my family” … 

Diaz says his standards for Puerto Rican food are high (and he knows better than to say any restaurant beats his family’s cooking), but he does like El Nuevo Bohio on East Tremont, whose roasted pork is the stuff of legends. 

But there’s no shortage of good, affordable Puerto Rican food all over the borough, says Diaz, including La Cocina Boricua and Westchester Avenue.  

Most misunderstood (and underappreciated) chain… 

The first U.S. outpost of Golden Krust was in the Bronx, and it’s still their headquarters. “The biggest misconception is that they’re just beef patties,” says Diaz. “You can get oxtail, curried chicken and curried beef at some of their locations. They do an amazing job, and are really more than just the frozen meat patties they’re known for,” he says.