Lady Gaga ate at the Pomeroy, making it a must visit for foodies

Foodies are visiting the Queens, the New York borough that has been living long in the shadow of glitzy Manhattan, emerging as a treasure trove of good eats. From the GastroPubs popping up all over the place, to the Michelin cuisine, the new food scene reflects the steady renovation in that area. Now, many people are trekking across the East to visit this culinary hub.

Something changed at the Queens when in one evening of October 2015, Lady Gaga wearing a pink dress, walked down the street in the Astoria neighbourhood to attend opening of the Pomeroy, a restaurant run by her childhood friend, chef Bo O'Connor.

There has been arrivals of new restaurants and bar every month, as revealed by Dixie Roberts, a freelance journalist working for the website WeHeartAstoria and lives very close to the Pomeroy.

GastroPubs is a British import starting to crop up along the streets and often sport a similar look, a bar, minimalist decor, designer table-chair sets, intimate lightings and parquet floors.

The food is changing significantly too, with the new restaurants trying to offer something different to the options that traditionally are available in the area. Sonny Solomon, owner of an Indian Place called Kurry Qulture, said that the menu people see here are not actually found anywhere else in Queens. Almost everybody here save the same traditional cuisines.

At the Pomeroy, O'Connor serves American cuisine with a hint of South Korean mixed, where she and her family is from.

Queens is a working-class place, so while the new restaurants charge high than average prices, they also try to stay in touch and affordable. At the Kurry Qulture, average check is $45 to $50 per head.

Before the emergence of international chefs and entrepreneurs, restaurants in Queens were either Italian or Greek, two communities that still have a strong presence in the Borough.

Dan, who belongs to the group called Anti-Renovation of Queens and who declined to give his last name, believes it's possible to prevent Borough from the developers. The group managed to defeat a planned real estate project in the Sunnyside area after mobilising people and lawmakers.