One of our travel guides partners, Not For Tourists, has several unique offerings for travelers on their website this week. Check out the following highlights from their New York correspondents this week...

Better With Bacon By:  Sara Bogush

Crif Dogs

Every now and then there comes a boozy late-night hour when a smoked, deep-fried hotdog spiraled in bacon sounds like your ticket to heaven. And this St. Mark's Place dugout will probably be aglow and waiting for you and everyone else with gluttony on the brain. Fans of Gray's Papaya recession special may grumble about the $2.75-$5 per dog prices, but the bacon wrapping alone adds a salty kick that’s worth lightening your wallet a little. Then there are the toppings--avocado and sour cream, fried egg and cheese, chili and jalapenos, and virtually any other combination you can dream up. Note the secret door through the telephone booth against the wall. This is the entrance to PDT, a swanky lounge that serves up serious cocktails, where you can order in hot dogs and tater tots from next door.
 

 
Post-Junk/Pre-History By:  Rob Tallia

City Reliquary

Looking to kill a half-hour in Williamsburg? You could do a lot worse than swing by the City Reliquary on Metropolitan. Specializing in random artifacts from NYC's not-so-ancient history, you can gaze and wonder at such items as the insanely large collection of Statue of Liberty postcards, old thermos and seltzer bottle collections, World's Fair memorabilia, Presidential Plates, manhole-cover rubbings, and antique pens. The best stuff, however, is simply the little bits and shards of old buildings and structures that are just lying everywhere--and what various folks at the Reliquary have decided to do with such pieces (see photo!). The current exhibit is showing some cool 1930s-era milk cartons. Never a dull moment at the Reliquary, we assure you.
 
 
Hot Mess Molly Riordan

Bikram Yoga Williamsburg

Laden with the guilt of a winter replete with whiskey and goat cheese, a cleanse seemed a most sanctifying option. What better way to bring oneself back to reality of the physical self than by stripping to skivvies and twisting one's body in equatorial heat amongst beautiful people more fit than one's wildest 'Buns of Steel' dreams? As sweaty, tedious, and masochistic as your greatest night clubbing (if you have those; I don't), Bikram yoga in hipsterville is nauseating in a thousand different ways. There is no way to look cool whilst balancing on one foot with the other over your soaking forehead, slowly slipping to the ground in a puddle of your own perspiration. So why choose to go to Bikram in W'burg? For the same reason you choose to do anything there--because once you've showered off your shame, you feel smugly self-satisfied and just a bit more badass.

 
Italian-Italians By:  Rob Tallia

Farinella

Ah, to be an Italian...from Italy. Why? Well, besides the cool accent, you actually know how to make pizza, bread, sauce, sandwiches, etc. You actually know that bufala mozzarella is superior to all other kinds of mozzarella. You make things like calzones, but instead of stuffing them with processed ham and ricotta, you stuff them with escarole, black olives, and capers. And when you open a pizzeria in New York, it looks like Farinella. And you don't care that it's at some weird location (Worth just west of Broadway) you just make your four-foot-long pizzas in the back room, and wait for people to come in and understand what the hell you're doing. And if it doesn't work, you shrug your shoulders, go back to Italy, and just do the same thing for your family; the hell with the stupid Americans.

 
 
Swedish Brunch By:  Craig Nelson

Aquavit

What's that you say? There's a deep recession going on? I guess I didn't notice because I was too busy stuffing my face with herring, salmon, and meatballs from the outstanding $48 smorgasbord every Sunday afternoon at Aquavit. They call it "brunch" but that's just wrong. This isn't just some overpriced French toast and a couple of weak mimosas. This is an all out celebration of Swedish food with 8 kinds of herring (apple curry, vodka lime, sour cream dill) 4 kinds of salmon (with gorgeous sauces like lemon mayoand espresso mustard), 5 kinds of cold cuts and cheese (salami, ham, roast beef), 6 kinds of salads (egg and dill, baby shrimp, potato, caper, and onion), 4 kinds of hot entrees (meatballs with ligonberry, roast elk, grilled lamb), and so many tasty desserts I finally lost count. If you break it down by the bite (over thirty different tastes in one sitting!), it's actually a fabulous deal. A beer or bloody mary is included, but you might as well splurge for a couple of shots of house made coriander and dill aquavit to wash down that boat load of herring. As the Swedes say, "Jette bra!"

Check out their website  - they have free downloadable guides, maps, gear, and of course, the travel guide books. Not to mention, they are pretty funny people. I am always laughing when I visit their site, or read their newsletter.

They also have sections of their guidebooks available for download at only $1.50.

Not For Tourists has offered a coupon for Wandering Educators - please use the coupon code: WE for a 10% discount.