For today’s installment of Meet the Team, we present intern extraordinaire Alyssa Maldonado, who’s been helping R&B with every step of the way. As a native New Yorker, she’s got the inside scoop on where to go and what to eat all over the city. Take it away, Alyssa!

Where did you grow up?

I spent most of my childhood in Astoria, Queens, around all the Greeks. Now I go to Vassar and my family lives in the Lower East Side.

Any hidden restaurant gems you can recommend as a native New Yorker?

Max on Ave B & 4^th St—no one’s ever heard of it, but it’s this little Italian place with a cute garden in the back. I like to eat outside. Also, I don’t know if this is necessarily a hidden gem but I love those Indian places on 1^st Ave near 6^th St. in the East Village—the ones with all the Christmas lights and the guys hawking outside. They’re ridiculous but so much fun—and they give you so much food!

What’s your guilty food pleasure?

It should be a guilty pleasure—but it’s not—ice cream. I eat all I want and I don’t gain weight from it. I gain weight from eating normal food, but not ice cream. It’s very bizarre.

What do you think the ideal walk-and-eat neighborhood is?

I would have to say the West Village, just for Bleeker Street alone. You walk up that street and get your bread at Amy’s, your ice cream at Cones, your cheese at Murray’s…[sigh]. I could walk that block for hours.

We here at R&B are big supporters of the James Beard Foundation Greens, an event series for foodies in NYC aged 21-40. Past events have included a Porkapalooza with Ryan Skeen, a behind-the-scenes look at a dumpling factory in Brooklyn, and of course, a Taste of Hell tour with us! Tonight, we’re venturing out to Williamsburg to check out Brooklyn Bowl, the city’s first LEED-certified green bowl-o-drome, with a menu from the team behind Blue Ribbon (think fried chicken, egg shooters with pickled peppers, and chocolate chip bread pudding). We’ll be there, shooting for that perfect 300 and sipping on Sixpoint brews, and you can join us by clicking here! Because there’s nothing more amusing than tipsy foodies in bowling shoes.