A belated but welcome review in the Charlotte Observer (and others) of Calvin Trillin's New Yorker Festival multisnack walking tour:

The tour began at a vest-pocket park in the Village. Trillin, in short-sleeved shirt and a white ball cap from an Arkansas barbecue joint, donned a wireless microphone and drew a crowd of locals and distant fans.

"I think he's just an American treasure," said Nancy Timmerman of Mount Pleasant, Mich., who built a trip to the festival around the chance to hang with Bud, as he's known to friends.

One friend on the tour, Beth Elon, lives on a farm in Italy and writes about food for Israeli newspapers.

"Bud is more of a glutton than anything else," Elon said while turning the corner at Bleecker Street in Trillin's West Village neighborhood.

"He loves tastes and weird combinations. It goes far beyond whatever is fashionable. He's lusty about food." Keep grazing.