Illustration by Jean Jullien

“I didn’t travel overseas until I was, like, 20, but I was obsessed with America,” says Cristian Bonetto, co-author of Lonely Planet’s 2014 Discover New York City, the one so beloved by all the European visitors who seem to be overrunning our city more than ever. We are nursing espresso drinks at Bed-Stuy’s beachy Brunswick Café at Bonetto’s expert suggestion.

A 39-year-old Australian who lives most of the year in Melbourne, Bonetto is bundled in a thick gray cardigan—he’s “freezing to death” in Brooklyn. At the moment, he’s on a “café crawl,” trying out a spate of new Aussie coffee shops, like this one, which he likes for its single-origin roasts and generally good vibes.

Bonetto spent last fall crisscrossing New York City in search of the best coffee shops, outer-borough food trucks, and underappreciated museums for the massive guidebook. (He’s been with the company since 2006, when he lost his job as a writer on the Aussie soap Neighbors after traveling too much.) This week, he’s in the city on holiday, staying with a friend in Park Slope. He comes to town a few times a year for fun, but he’s never really off the clock. Last night, he saw the Costume Institute’s “Death Becomes Her” exhibit at the Met, followed by a meal of “pornographically good” sliders at the Korean tapas joint Danji.

Bonetto understands his tastemaking comes with risks for the underexposed places he’s praising. “The irony of saying this place is cool because it is so local is you’re ruining it by telling everyone who is not local to go. That’s often the dilemma that we have,” he says.

Right now, Bonetto is obsessed with Queens, which Lonely Planet just named the hippest place in the U.S. to visit. (Sorry, Queens.) “There is something so incredibly authentic about those little hole-in-the-wall basement malls in Flushing,” he says. “I feel like a bit of a spokesperson for Queens.”