New York’s claim is breadth. Almost every cuisine on Earth is cooked here by people who grew up with it, and the best of it is rarely in Manhattan. Flushing’s Chinese food covers regional cooking that is hard to find anywhere else in the country. Jackson Heights runs from Himalayan momo to Colombian bakeries within a few blocks. Brighton Beach is Russian and Central Asian.
The city’s own inventions still matter: the pizza slice, the bagel, the pastrami sandwich, the halal cart. Each has a canon of arguments attached to it.
Eating well here is mostly a matter of transport. The subway is the tool, and the outer boroughs are where the value is. Reserve for the ambitious restaurants weeks ahead; for everything else, just turn up.