Sleeping pig at the Marin County Fair on July 4th, 2007 –preparing for the pig race.

Dave Freedenberg, better known as Famous Fat Dave, is one of the most extraordinary NYC cabbies you’ll ever meet who likely knows more about what New Yorkers like to eat, and where they eat it, than anyone else in New York City.

Dave knows every inch of the City and all its eateries, he has the wheels (a classic white Checker Marathon), and he puts it all together to offer private and personalized eating tours to visitors and New Yorkers. And his blog – The Hungry Cabbie – is a treasure trove for chow-hounds. His food writing has also appeared in Time Out New York, Not For Tourists Guidebook, Attaché Magazine and Gothamist.com, and Dave has been profiled by the NY Daily News, VillageVoice and other NYC papers.

Question: Your profile pretty much tells us everything about Dave Freedenberg. So we’ll start with Famous Fat Dave. How did you come up with that name? Did it happen after you started taking people on eating tours in your cab, or did you start off with the name?
Answer: The story of the name “Famous Fat Dave” goes back to when I lived in Florence, Italy for a semester in 2000. I’m a terrible chef. I’ve got no talent for it. But over there the ingredients are so good that I couldn’t help but create amazing Italian dishes in my kitchen. No matter what I made was delicious because the pasta and the cheese and the olive oil and meats and the tomatoes were all the best I’d ever had by a long shot.

My favorite creation was fried salami in pasta sauce with al dente penne. I thought I needed to give it a name so I called it “Famous Fat Dave’s Super Salami Surprise Sauce With Penne.” When I got back to America, that dish didn’t work at all so I needed a new outlet for Famous Fat Dave. That’s when “Famous Fat Dave’s Super Salami Surprise Sauce With Penne” morphed into “Famous Fat Dave’s Five Borough Eating Tour On The Wheels of Steel.”

Question: No competition for Nathan’s Famous for hot dogs, I take it, but how about burgers? Corner Bistro or Shake Shack? Why? And how about the best slice of pizza in New York and why? Since we’re on the subject, out of all the eating tours you take people to, and all the eateries you know, which is the best place you like and what do they serve?
Answer: I do love the original Nathan’s Famous. But I’m also a fan of Criff Dog on St. Mark’s and the Katz Dog and Stukel at Katz. That’s the beautiful thing about this town. Even when there is an indisputed king of something, there’s always competition. It keeps everyone honest.

Corner Bistro or Shake Shack? Corner Bistro all the way. Shake Shack’s shake sauce is kind of ridiculously salty in my experience and the line ridiculously long. Corner Bistro has a really long line too, but you can get the same burger, usually better, at 3am with no line. But I also really like the Corner Bistro riff at Stoned Crow. I’m a huge fan of the burger at Donovan’s Pub in Woodside, Queens. And I think the Whaley Burger with a fried egg, pinapple, and beetroot at Ruby’s on Mulberry St can compete with any of them for pure taste sensation. A guy from the Bronx recently told me I’ve gotta try the “Murder Buger” at a place simply called “Home of the Murder Burger” up there. So I’m looking forward to trying that out.

Best slice of pizza in New York? Loaded question. I’ll say this: I try to appreciate them all. I don’t pretend to be have the authority to pick a “best.” I don’t even have a favorite. I like the pepperoni at Lombardi’s, I like the crust at Patsy’s on 118th and 1st, I like the thick slice at Spumoni Garden’s, I like the sweet tomato sauce at New Park in Howard Beach, I like the whole pie at Totonno’s in Coney Island, I like the sausage at Louie And Ernie’s in the Bronx, I like the brocolli rabe grandma slice at Fratelli’s in Hunt’s Point. I can go on. But you see, how can I pick a “best” or a “favorite.” They all excel at different things. That’s why I take people on pizza tours, so they can try 8 or 10 or 15 different slices over 4 or 5 or 8 hours and decide for themselves.

Likewise, it’s impossible for me to answer “what’s the best place you like and what do they serve.” That’s like asking me to answer which one of my children is the best (I don’t have any children, but I can imagine).

Question: Which part of New York City do you prefer? I’d say Brooklyn has the best to offer, in terms of food, but on your tours, which part do you and your customers enjoy the most?
Answer: I call it the “Five Borough Eating Tour” and on some tours we’ll hit as many as four boroughs in five hours. Some people want to see as much of the city as they can. Sometimes we’ll keep it to just one borough to spend more time eating and less time driving. I tell people that if this is their first outer borough eating experience, it’s probably best to start with Brooklyn because there is the biggest variety of food, nice mix of new and old, and best views.

Question: You have earned a lot of publicity and been written about by just about every major magazine or paper including the NY Daily News and VillageVoice. Is there any difference between now and the way you went about your work previously? I mean, do customers look upon you as a celebrity now, or is it the same as before?
Answer: The publicity doesn’t make people feel like I’m a celebrity as much as walking into a tiny spot in the middle of a rough neighborhood and having the guys behind the counter shout “Ayyy, It’s Famous Fat Dave” or “Ohh, da Hungry Cabbie’s here.” My customers aren’t looking at newspaper clippings on the tour. But they like it that I know all these people all over this big anonymous city and they get to meet them when otherwise they’d never find the place much less talk to the characters working there.

Also, driving around in the classic white Checker Marathon is fun for people because everyone is smiling and waving and giving thumbs up as we drive by. Sometimes people come out and take pictures and strike up conversations about the old days. So the whole experience makes this big scary city feel like a small town.

Question: I understand you came to New York from Maryland to study, and you love all things food, and New York is just right for you. But what is it about New York – The City – that you like the most?
Answer: I’m a late night person, so I guess I like it most that there is so much great stuff to eat in the middle of the night here. I take people on The Midnight Munchies Tour a lot because there is less traffic and more eating. Some places are only open at night. Lots of places are open really late. And I feel like New York is somehow more New Yorky at night.

Question: Cab drivers usually have lots of fun stuff to tell. And if it involves food, it becomes even more dishy. Any fun incidents you want to share, without naming names?
Answer: Without naming names? You mean famous people? I haven’t gotten too many famous people in my cab. I once picked up Bjork outside Lombardi’s Pizza (I don’t think she was eating there, I think she just happened to be at the intersection of Mott and Spring). Her sculptor husband stared at me really weird through the rear view the whole ride, and when I got her to her destination – “Hoooouston and Sihhhhxth Hhhhhavenue” she told me in her crazy voice – the fare was $4.60. She handed me a $5 dollar bill and went to look for another dollar to tip me, but gave up after 2 seconds and just stiffed me. But then I guess that’s naming names huh?

Question: What’s Famous Fat Dave’s secret? Is it your knowledge of the eateries, or is it your personality or is it the unique nature of your ‘eating tour in a cab’, or is it a combination of all of these and/or something else?
Answer: Well, I know all the good places to eat because I talk to all my fares about their favorite spots. And they’re very proud of them. And I have a personality unlike most grumpy professional drivers in this town so spending 5 or 6 hours with isn’t so terrible. I also have an official sight-seeing tour guide license and I can tell people some good stories from driving the cab and working in the food business selling pickles, cheesemongering, hot dog vending, and breadtruck driving. Really, a major key to the whole operation is that I won’t get lost, I can change course on the fly if there is unusual traffic or an impromptu food request, and I know how to find parking/when to double park.

Question: Any plans for the future? Book deals, television or movies maybe? Or something else?
Answer: I am working on a book about driving the cab and working in food and doing the tours. It’s slow going though. Television seems not to like me since Food Network and History Channel both rejected the idea. Movies? Why not? Right now, I’m concentrating on making the tour the best it can be. That’s why I bought the white Checker Marathon. My goal in life is to eat for a living.