5 Questions With Professional Foodie-Magician Josh Beckerman

Josh Beckerman is known as the Foodie Magician. Two noble endeavors merged into one very entertaining and hilarious young man. I first met Beckerman at a dinner party in NYC where he was performing (magic, that is). He blew my mind with his tricks (which included guessing a random guest’s favorite restaurant), and I immediately started following him on Instagram to see his foodie exploits documented daily. As someone who dines out for a living and knows the restaurant scene of Manhattan inside out, he had a lot of good recommendations and droolworthy favorite dishes in mind. I asked Beckerman to share some of his knowledge with us here on Toast, so here goes…

“I started eating sushi at the age of three. Does that make me a ‘foodie’? Who knows,” Beckerman told us. (Note: He’s also a comedian.) Seriously, though, “No idea what sparked it—I just became obsessed. I would research all NYC restaurants, memorize Zagat, have a list of all the NYC restaurants I wanted to hit, etc.”

But you’re a foodie and a magician, so which came first?

“I started my food blog in 2006, and was making money doing magic at parties before that, so I guess you can say magic,” he says. “In 2010, when I was entertaining at parties, I started introducing myself as ‘the foodie magician.’ People would be like, “What the f*ck is that?'”

Give a shout-out to a great NYC restaurant we may not have heard of.

“I think Chris Cipollone is doing great things at Piora. A true gem of a restaurant.”

The one dish I can eat every day is_.__

“Sushi. I practically eat it every day. I find myself at chef David Bouhadana’s Sushi Dojo often, starting with his $45 10-piece omakase but then continuing to 20 pieces of straight-up fresh fish.”

OK, lightening round. Name all of the favorite NYC dishes that come to mind.

“The short rib and porchetta sandwiches at Il Buco Alimentari, the Avocado Toast from Cafe Gitane is simple perfection, the casual, but always solid salads at Westville…I can keep on going if you’d like.”

Do you ever eat healthy or are you always indulging?

“I always try to eat healthy, and just because I indulge doesn’t mean it’s bad for you. You can indulge in healthy bites. I’m at the Juice Press every day for a green juice. I don’t eat processed foods. I do eat every meal out, though (Daddy doesn’t cook. Also, Daddy likes calling himself Daddy cause Daddy likes going home alone every night. #stillsingle).”

Have you eaten at any of Beckerman’s favorite spots? And are you as perplexed as I am about how he’s still single? (Anyone interested, leave a comment below or check him out @foodiemagician on Instagram.) Also, please share your own favorite NYC dishes and restaurants with me.