Walking around Brooklyn with Nicolas Nuvan is an exercise in glad-handing. Passers-by stop, and Cheshire cat grins spread across their faces. Some ask him for a selfie, others shout his name from their cars to get his attention. Many simply wave. Street vendors offer him free food or drinks, and all Mr. Nuvan asks in return is for people to open up to him.

“This is, like, the most religious experience,” Mr. Nuvan, 36, who was wearing black Teva sandals and white pants, said one steamy June afternoon in Bed-Stuy. “So much of what happens when I’m outside feels like it’s happening to me. I’m not trying to force anything.”

Among the countless microphone-in-hand influencers on social media, Mr. Nuvan has built a lane for himself with his distinctly laid-back approach to his man-on-the-street interviews of street vendors and shopkeepers. Although Mr. Nuvan will often try different foods during his interviews, his goal is not to provide his audience with a review, but to siphon life wisdom from the vendors.

“More important than merchandise is their time and memories,” he said. “That’s what I really like.”

Walking south on Fulton Street, on the corner of Bedford Avenue, he came across a fan.

“What’s up, Nicolas?” Danny Cevallos, 27, said before asking Mr. Nuvan for a selfie.

“I watch a lot of his videos all over Facebook, Instagram; he’s a very cool guy,” said Mr. Cevallos, who is a maintenance worker, before stepping into Dave’s Hot Chicken for lunch. “I like the way he interacts with people, how he communicates and socializes. He’s always open to everybody. He never says no to anybody or never neglects the food that he gets to try out.”