Eating In Translation

J&M Food Market

2013-06-19T10:00:00-04:00

The typeface suggests the early days of the horseless carriage, prior to World War I, but the text points to a later era. Clarence Birdseye introduced the first commercially viable frozen-food technology in the mid-1920s; "frozen food" would have been an attraction to private home-owners and apartment-dwellers only with the retreat of iceboxes and the widespread availability of refrigerators, a decade or so later. (The mention of "beer" likewise rules out any date prior to 1933, and the end of Prohibition.)

A reasonable guess would be that J&M dates to the years just after World War II, and that the typography was meant to give an old-timey feel and evoke a slower-paced, simpler time.

J&M Food Market
Surviving signage on Rogers Ave. at Carroll St., Crown Heights, Brooklyn

Cafe Hong Kong

2013-06-18T11:30:00-04:00

As first reported on LauHound, Cafe Hong Kong is a new venture from the owner and chefs of South China Garden. Earlier known as Cantoon Garden, for many years this was a Cantonese go-to in Manhattan's Chinatown until it closed early in 2012.

The restaurant brands itself not only a "Hong Kong diner" but also an "espresso bar." One can order peanut butter and condensed milk toast, or several platters sporting sizzling steaks, or any number of dishes with spaghetti; the menu also name-checks Gimme Coffee! and milk from Battenkill Valley Creamery. (Elsewhere, Battenkill provides the foundation for very good ice cream.) The much-loved dishes from South China Garden, however, continue to be the biggest attractions — especially when one can score the likes of crisp-skinned chicken with garlic as a lunch special ($6.95).

Also shown: salt-and-pepper pork chops (lunch special, $6.95); "chef's twin egg bok choy" ($12), with both preserved egg and hardboiled egg; very tender salt-and-pepper squid ($16); crispy pork intestines ($12), boldly colored but, sadly, not so crispy, and reliant on a bed of crunchy pickled daikon and carrot for contrast; a casserole of stewed lamb, dried bean curd, and onion ($18).

Cafe Hong Kong
51 Bayard St. (Mott-Elizabeth Sts.), Manhattan
212-608-5359
www.CafeHongKongNYC.com

The Orchard

2013-06-18T10:00:00-04:00

The storefront and decor aren't much to see. At The Orchard, all eyes are on the produce, for which you will pay dearly; the lack of overlarge price tags suggests as much. A cherimoya, about the size of a softball and half again as heavy, cost $10, but this was a fair price for a handsome specimen that would also help me to benchmark less shapely cherimoyas in Chinatown.

As it happens, the cherimoya shown here is not the same one I purchased that day. I couldn't pin down the cultivar with certainty, and the crate at The Orchard had offered no clue, but a fruit label with the name Santa Barbara Exotics offered a lead. The California farm grows three varieties, according to owner Peter Nichols: Lisa, Bay, and White. Based on my after-the-fact description — I'd already scooped clean the super-creamy flesh, evocative of pear and pineapple, at a single sitting — Mr. Nichols opined that the Lisa cultivar was most likely.

After follow-up research, I'm confident he was correct. Shortly thereafter Mr. Nichols kindly shipped me several end-of-season cherimoyas of all three varieties, clearly labeled, as well as a half-dozen tennis-ball-size white sapotes to help fill in the gaps between the larger fruits. This fully ripened Lisa cherimoya, whose skin, not atypically, had turned slightly brown but whose flesh remained resolutely white, was one share of that booty.

The Orchard
1367 Coney Island Ave. (Ave. J-Cary Ct.), Midwood, Brooklyn
718-377-1799
www.OrchardFruit.com

Brooklyn Bread House

2013-06-17T22:30:00-04:00

Eggs, sour cream, and butter in the dough, sugar and more butter in the filling — these are a few typical ingredients for the Armenian pastry variously called nawook and gata.

Nawook, or nawuk, is more often heard in the south, near Armenia's border with Iran (and not far from Tabriz). Gata, sometimes katah, is the name favored in the north, nearer Georgia, and by the Russian-speaking baker who handed me a sample hot from the oven. Typically, this gata was lightly scented with vanilla and heavily freighted with calories.

Previously: Spinach, with onion and perhaps chive, lined the folded, sealed pancake called a kutaby ($1.50). The greens were sauteed in butter, it was clear from one bite. The menu (a takeout menu, though three or four stools huddle by the window) features items from across the Caucasus. Some are available on a steam table, many more, in the bakery display. Several times I've eyed the Georgian adgarski khachapuri, the boat-shaped cheese bread with an egg on top, but so far I've always sailed off without it.

Brooklyn Bread House
1718 Jerome Ave. (East 17th-East 18th Sts.), Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn
718-714-9084

Manning-Bowman

2013-06-17T10:00:00-04:00

During the first half of the 20th century, "electric appliances" and "smart gifts" were the stock in trade of Connecticut-based manufacturer and designer Manning-Bowman. Waffle irons seem to have been the company's best-known products; today they are collector's items, even when their elegant lines are subverted with a name like Twin-O-Matic.

This sign pointed the way to a seventh-floor showroom in a building then owned by the Doehler Metal Furniture Co. Manning-Bowman, whose Connecticut roots dated to 1832, survived as an independent business until about 1960.

Manning-Bowman
Surviving signage on East 32nd St. between Park Ave. South and Lexington Ave., Manhattan

What's Eating In Translation?

2013-06-17T09:00:00-04:00

This website began as a collection of field notes on interesting food I'd tried, or planned to try, in and around New York. Since its launch, in January 2005, I've visited thousands of venues, from white-linen restaurants to elbows-on-the-table eateries, as well as street vendors, fairs, festivals, grocers, and greenmarkets — and my "to eat" list is longer than ever.

The only way to trim it is to hit the road. Four or five times a week I track down, or happen upon, food from all over the world. Much of this food is foreign to me (that's where the "translation" comes in), but I always have an appetite for something new. If you feel the same, Eating In Translation can help point the way.

To follow along on my future travels, you might like to sign up for a free subscription, by email or by RSS. For up-to-the-minute reports (when I have them, which won't be always) on the weekend food festivals that are worth a visit, as well as the ones that aren't, you'll want to follow me on Twitter, too. To dig into my archives, many readers use the categories in the right-hand column (underneath the blue "live activity" box). Most categories cover some part of New York, but others reflect day trips (Jersey City, or perhaps Port Chester) or more-elaborate road trips (Cape Cod, Luang Prabang); a few reflect other themes (say, Fairs and Festivals).

Some readers also enjoy browsing through my Flickr photo sets, where you'll find all the photos that appear on Eating In Translation and many others that don't make it onto the site. Another avenue of approach is to click on any Eating In Translation photo; you'll be taken to a page where you can look at a larger version, or see other photos taken on the same day.

Though I can't possibly visit every venue on my "to eat" list, I always appreciate tips on where to go, as well what to order and how not to look like an absolute beginner when my food arrives at the table. Add your comments to any post, or drop an email to DaveCook [at] EatingInTranslation [dot] com.

Court Pastry Shop

2013-06-16T10:30:00-04:00

These lobster tails and their cousins the sfogliatelle look very much alike. Both are painstakingly prepared using many pastry leaves (foglie, in Italian). The clam-shaped sfogliatella, however, contains ricotta, while the more slender lobster tail ($3, Friday through Sunday only) is loaded with sweeter, lighter French cream. This is a common distinction in New York and the Northeast, but it isn't applied at every bakery; verify those fillings before you order.

Previously: At the streetside ices window, the ideal tool of the trade isn't a scoop, it's a spatula. Provided the frozen product is limber enough, as these housemade confections certainly are, spatulating the ice encourages even a penny-wise server to apply it generously, like a mason preparing to set a brick. The impression on the customer is of old-time craft and full value for money. Shown: a half-measure of the almond-flecked custard flavor, called cremolata by some, atop pistachio; a straight shot of lemon.

Court Pastry Shop
298 Court St. (Degraw-Douglass Sts.), Cobble Hill, Brooklyn
718-875-4820

Jing Fong

2013-06-16T10:00:00-04:00

From my archives, photos from a dim sum get-together, years back. Only the snails — which I spotted at the pan-fry counter, and that reminded me of Florida beachcombing booty — didn't land on our table.

Jing Fong
20 Elizabeth St. (Canal-Bayard Sts.), Manhattan
212-964-5256
www.JingFongNY.com

Cones

2013-06-15T20:30:00-04:00

The tahini (one scoop, $4) is as full-flavored as this Argentinean shop's celebrated corn and mate (Mah-tay) ice creams; it pales only before the intense white chocolate.

Cones
272 Bleecker St. (Morton-Jones Sts.), Manhattan
212-414-1795

Hot dog

2013-06-15T10:00:00-04:00

Coney Island-Stillwell Ave. D-F-N-Q station, Coney Island, Brooklyn

Taste of Russia

2013-06-14T12:30:00-04:00

Russian kvass reminds me of Caribbean malta. Both are brewed soft drinks, nonalcoholic or nearly so, that attempt to play the role of thirst-quencher, not always convincingly. Many commercial brands of malta, for example, have a syrupy character that smacks of molasses; one also evoked chocolate Yoohoo.

Unlike malta, kvass is fermented though not necessarily effervescent; it too can seem syrupy. After downing a full bottle of Troika brand kvass ($1.29), I felt thirstier for the effort. Perhaps the raisins, from which Troika and many other commercial renditions of kvass take their flavor, are the reason.

Earlier: Peterburgsky nut torte with caramel (290 g., $2.59 some years ago) hid the flavor of hazelnut under too much caramel and chocolate. Nonetheless, when proffered to friends, it disappeared very quickly.

Taste of Russia
219 Brighton Beach Ave. (near Brighton 1st St.), Brighton Beach, Brooklyn
718-934-6167

Food-Friendly Events, June 13-20

2013-06-13T10:00:00-04:00

Savor: An American Craft Beer and Food Experience
Friday and Saturday, June 14 and 15, 7:30-11:00
Altman Building and Metropolitan Pavilion, 125-135 West 18th St. (Sixth-Seventh Aves.), Manhattan
www.SavorCraftBeer.com
Tickets: $170 and up per evening; ages 21 and over only

Prophet Elias Greek Food Festival
Friday, June 14, 5:00-midnight; Saturday, noon-midnight; Sunday, noon-11:00
Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church, 15 Leroy Ave. (Allison Ave.-Monroe Pl.), Yonkers, New York
www.ProphetElias.ny.goarch.org/festival.html
Free admission

Ukrainian Heritage Festival
Friday, June 14, 6:00-10:00; Saturday, 1:00-10:00; Sunday, 1:00-7:00
Grounds of St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church, 21 Shonnard Pl. (at North Broadway), Yonkers, New York
www.YonkersUkrainianFestival.org
Free admission

Zion Episcopal Church Annual Strawberry Festival
Saturday, June 15, 10:00-4:00
Zion Episcopal Church, 243-01 Northern Blvd. (at 243rd St.), Douglaston, Queens
www.ZionEpiscopal.org
Free admission

All Saints' Episcopal Church Annual Strawberry Fair
Saturday, June 15, 11:00-6:00
46th St. between Queens Blvd. and 43rd Ave., Sunnyside, Queens
www.NYSunnySaints.org/1/post/2013/05/details-for-the-june-15-strawberry-fair.html
Free admission

Taste of Sutton
Saturday, June 15, 11:30-3:00
54th St. between First and Second Aves., Manhattan
www.TasteOfSutton.com
Tickets: $30

Hunts Point Summer Festival and Fish Parade
Saturday, June 15, 11:30-5:00
The parade, which begins at 11:30, proceeds to the festival grounds at Barretto Point Park, Hunts Point, Bronx
www.ThePoint.org/fishparade
Previously: www.EatingInTranslation.com/2009/06/hunts-point-summer-festival-and-fish-parade.html
Free admission

Hattie Carthan Annual Food Heritage Festival: Foods from the American Diaspora
Saturday, June 15, noon-9:00
Hattie Carthan Community Garden, Clifton Pl. and Marcy Ave., Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
www.NYCGovParks.org/events/2013/06/15/the-hattie-carthan-9th-annual-food-heritage-festival
Free admission

Sweden Day
Saturday, June 15; park opens 11:00, main program begins 2:00
The Manhem Club, 658 Clarence Ave. (Randall Ave.-Schley Ave.), Bronx
www.SwedenDay.com
Admission: adults, $10; kids accompanied by an adult, free

LIC Flea & Food opening day
Saturday and Sunday, June 15 and 16, 10:00-6:00; continues weekends through autumn
5-25 46th Ave. (at 5th St.), Long Island City, Queens
www.Facebook.com/LICFlea
Free admission

Food Truck Rally
Sunday, June 16, 11:00-5:00; repeats first and third Sundays, by and large, through October 20
Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn
www.ProspectPark.org/calendar/event/food-truck-rally
Free admission

Fairway Firefighters Food Face Off
Sunday, June 16, noon-???, rain or shine
Parking lot behind Fairway Market, Fashion Center Mall, Rte. 17, North Paramus, New Jersey
Free admission to the grilling competition; proceeds from tastings, $2 each, will benefit a charity chosen by the winning firehouse

Polish Heritage Club of Mahopac Annual Picnic
Sunday, June 16, 1:00-8:00
Sycamore Park, 790 Long Pond Rd., Mahopac, New York
www.PAHCMahopac.org/en
Free admission

To Eat: A Talk with Joe Eck
Monday, June 17, 6:30-???
The Horticultural Society of New York, 148 West 37th St. (Sixth-Seventh Aves., 13th floor), Manhattan
www.TheHort.org/programs_workshops_talks_tours.html#toEat
Free admission; RSVP to Programs@TheHort.org

Gracious Grub
Monday, June 17, through Thursday, June 27, various times
Various locations
www.Uniiverse.com/graciousgrub
See website for ticket details; a portion of proceeds benefits the Food Bank for New York City

The Caffeinated World
Wednesday, June 19, 6:00-???
The New School, Theresa Lang Community and Student Center, 55 West 13th St. (Fifth-Sixth Aves.), Manhattan
http://events.NewSchool.edu/event/the_caffeinated_world_coca-cola_and_coffee_in_history_culture_politics_and_your_life
Free admission

The Food Truck Handbook
Wednesday, June 19, 6:30-8:30
Mid-Manhattan Library, 455 Fifth Ave. (at 40th St.), Manhattan
www.NYPL.org/events/programs/2013/06/19/food-truck-handbook-start-grow-and-succeed-mobile-food-business-david-web
Free admission

Summer in the City
Wednesday, June 19, 7:30-10:00
Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th St. (Sixth-Seventh Aves.), Manhattan
http://Giving.CityHarvest.org/summer-in-the-city-2013-ticket-purchase
Tickets: $150; proceeds benefit City Harvest

Zoodohos Peghe Greek Festival
Wednesday through Sunday, June 19-23, 6:00-11:00-ish
Zoodohos Peghe Church, 3573 Bruckner Blvd. (Buhre Ave.-Arnow Pl.), Bronx
www.ZoodohosPeghe.org/Festival.html
Free admission

Umaimono Gourmet Fair
Thursday to Sunday, June 20-23, 11:00-8:00
Mitsuwa Marketplace, 595 River Rd., Edgewater, New Jersey
www.Mitsuwa.com/event/eevent.php?e=37
Free admission

Sold out: Koji: The Mother of Japanese Cuisine, June 18; Culinary Conversations: Torrisi Italian Specialties, June 19

Ongoing: Hester Nights, Thursdays; Chelsea Triangle French Market, Fridays and Saturdays; Hester Street Fair, Saturdays; Red Hook food vendors, Saturdays and Sundays; Brooklyn Flea, Saturdays and Sundays; Smorgasburg, Saturdays and Sundays; Fulton Stall Market, Saturdays and Sundays; High Line food vendors, daily; Chelsea Market, daily; SmorgasBar, daily; New York Greenmarkets, various days; Community Markets, various days; Our Global Kitchen: Food, Nature, Culture, daily; Sylvester Manor: Land, Food, and Power on a New York Plantation, Monday through Saturday; Shop Life, daily

Classes: See the schedules of the Astor Center, The Brooklyn Kitchen, Camaje Bistro & Lounge, the Ger-Nis Culinary & Herb Center, Haven's Kitchen, the Institute of Culinary Education, the International Culinary Center, Murray's Cheese, the 92nd St. Y, La Scuola di Eataly, Vimbly, and the Whole Foods Bowery Culinary Center, and the roundup of classes on CourseHorse

Walking tours: Tag along with Big Onion, the Institute of Culinary Education, Jeffrey Tastes, Joe DiStefano, the Museum of Chinese in America, NoshWalks, Urban Oyster, and "Wildman" Steve Brill

Tickets on sale: Brooklyn Homebrewer's Contest and Festival, June 22; Knights of Bruklyn Home Brew Competition, June 23; Bacon Bash, June 23; FoodTECH-NYC: Food, Tech, and Funding, June 25; Farmhouse Fest, June 25; Saveur Summer BBQ, June 25; Backyard Pig Roast, June 26; Pass the Paella, June 26; Bugs for Breakfast, June 26 (save $10 with promo code PROTEIN); Cheesemonger Invitational, June 29; Hudson Rising Farm Feast, June 30; Ice Cream Takedown, July 7; Halal Food Tour: New York/New Jersey, July 7; Spirits of New York, July 10; Cuban Cuisine: Del Casabe al Mojito, July 14; Good Beer, July 31; North Fork Craft Beer, BBQ & Wine Festival, August 10; NYC Vendy Awards, September 7

Chang Pai

2013-06-12T16:00:00-04:00

Often this website deals with the difficulties of navigating unfamiliar foodways when lack of fluency in a common language is a barrier. In New York this isn't simply a matter of translation to or from English; speakers of many languages must communicate with speakers of many others, and English is not always the key.

Spanish is another common transactional medium. At lunch one day at an Elmhurst restaurant, now closed, my waitress took my order in English, called it out to the kitchen in Bahasa Indonesia, then shouted downstairs to a stockboy in Spanish that was much more limber than mine. It's not that the neighborhood was lacking in young, able-bodied Indonesians (a gaggle of them took another table shortly thereafter), but they are comparatively few in number, with generally better prospects. To keep the wearying, lowest-paying positions filled, the Indonesian restaurateur — like many other immigrant businesspeople in New York — found the need to take up Spanish as a third language.

I don't know the lingua franca at Chang Pai, in Jamaica. Whatever language you may speak, however, the message of the sign is "Chinese," conveyed by the twin dragons that flank the name and by the typeface of the letters themselves. More specifically, the cuisine is halal Chinese and Thai, catering to a heterogeneous South Asian community, hence the subscript "Bangladeshi Indian Pakistani Chinese Style," written, respectively, in Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, Chinese, and English. On the takeout menu, similar language interspersed with commas clarifies that this is not a hodgepodge but rather an accommodation of four different styles of cooking.

Except to note that the staff and customers all appeared to be South Asian, I didn't ascertain what languages are spoken at Chang Pai or how the various cooking styles may differ (if indeed they differ at all). I did gather, however, that though Thai cuisine is honored in name, Thai speakers seem to be out of luck.

Chang Pai
166-12 Hillside Ave. (Merrick Blvd.-168th St.), Jamaica, Queens
718-291-8222
www.ChangPaiChinese.com

Oda House

2013-06-11T18:00:00-04:00

Traditionally the topknots on khinkali serve as a fingerhold, so you can eat the dumplings without utensils, and as a measure of how many you've eaten, since the knots are usually so tough that they're discarded on the plate.

At Oda House, however, the khinkali (three for $7) have very supple skins, especially considering their weight. Hold one by the knot, turn it upside down, nip through the skin with your teeth, and slurp out the broth — these are the Georgian equivalent of soup dumplings — then gobble down the dough and the well-seasoned beef-and-pork filling. When you reach the knot, just you try to tell yourself that it should be tossed aside. I'm betting that nothing will go to waste.

At my urging our table ordered the chvishtari khachapuri ($8), a corn-based version, served with walnut sauce, of the cheese bread best known from the former Soviet republic or from South Brooklyn. It's easily shared, once you employ knife and fork, but rest assured that all the more-familiar, gooier, tearaway cheese breads are on hand, too.

Also shown: tolma ($12), ground beef and pork with herbs wrapped in notably limber grape leaves, served with a yogurt tarragon garlic sauce; mtsvane lobio ($13), green beans cooked with white onion, fresh tomatoes and herbs; chakapuli ($19), lamb slow-cooked with onion, tomato, green pepper, and herbs, served with swabs of the Georgian lavash; chizhi pizhi (from another, brunchtime visit, $8), which often makes use of leftover offal but here denotes eggs, fresh tomatoes, roasted onions, and sour sulguni cheese baked atop bread; a wrapped hard candy from the basket by the door. The assortment of candies this day included several prosaic flavors, but in Manhattan this might have been a first sighting of barberry.

Oda House
76 Ave. B (at East 5th St.), Manhattan
212-353-3838
www.OdaHouse.com

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Japadog

2013-06-11T11:00:00-04:00

All the Japadogs are served on a warm bun, even the dessert dog called Age Ice.

Filled with ice cream, at a glance the Age Ice (Ah-gay Ice, $2.99) resembles this Bangkok ice cream sandwich, minus the sticky rice. The Bangkok bun, however, came straight from a bag; at Japadog it's quickly deep-fried, then sparingly decorated with granulated sugar. Though in truth it's no more than a hot-dog bun, in such a context the texture is reminiscent of a good raised doughnut. Shown, above and below: maccha, or green tea; vanilla; kurogoma, or black sesame.

Previously: The crackling, tickling, enticing texture of dried nori is a hallmark of the Terimayo ($4.81), a beef dog also dressed with teriyaki sauce and mayonnaise.

Japadog
30 St. Marks Place (Second-Third Aves.), Manhattan
646-476-2324
www.Japadog.com

Moegyo Burmese Food Fair

2013-06-10T11:30:00-04:00

My yaykae thote included at least one Yankee topping.

This version of the shaved-ice "salad" featured Filipino palm nuts soaked in red and green syrups, cubes of Chinese grass jelly and tiny shards of Chinese melon candy, and U.S.-grown peanuts, dry-roasted and crushed. A drizzle of condensed milk ensured that they all played together well in the assembled yaykae thote, shown below.

This annual fundraiser to benefit humanitarian efforts in Myanmar, first held in 2008, seems to get busier every year. For the 2013 event I arrived 15 minutes before the scheduled starting time and found the joint already jumping. Given the paucity of Burmese chow in New York, I immediately snagged a few take-home snacks to help stretch out the experience of the food fair beyond a single afternoon. Shown below: dried river fish, fried tamarind leaves with dried shrimp, coconut palm sugar candy, and sweet-sour roselle buds jam. All these items, I believe, were shepherded from overseas.

For many more photos from six years of Burmese food fairs held by the Moegyo Humanitarian Foundation, see the slideshow.

Moegyo Burmese Food Fair
Aviation High School, 45-30 36th St., Long Island City, Queens
www.Moegyo.org
(The 2013 food fair was held on June 9)

Nepalese-American Festival

2013-06-09T22:15:00-04:00

Pudhag, more often spelled puta, describes a dish of buckwheat noodles enlivened with egg, scallion, and chili. These, and a companion rice dish whose name I didn't catch ($5 for a small split order), were served cool, which suited the small sweltering festival site very well. The quartet of gals who prepared them were exploring the prospects of a new food business, but not Nepalese — Bhutanese.

Nepalese-American Festival
37th Rd. plaza, between Broadway and 74th St., Jackson Heights, Queens
(The 2013 festival — added to the Chopsticks and Marrow agenda after a timely encounter with a posted flyer — was held on June 9)

OddFellows Ice Cream Company

2013-06-09T13:00:00-04:00

Even tiny tasting spoonfuls of OddFellows' cornbread, buttermilk-honey-blueberry, and maple-bacon-pecan ice creams saturate the mouth with flavor. After an extended chowdown on the likes of, say, BBQ, a simple scoop of Battenkill sweet cream ($3.25) is more refreshing.

OddFellows Ice Cream Company
175 Kent Ave. (North 3rd-North 4th Sts.), Williamsburg, Brooklyn
347-599-0556
www.OddFellowsNYC.com

Signs of BBQ

2013-06-08T10:00:00-04:00

Some of these herald 'cue that's cooked low and slow, others are more in the spirit of the backyard grill, all are meant to get the juices flowing. A brief slideshow.

Desi Dhaba

2013-06-07T11:45:00-04:00

Served from a small kitchen shared with two sister operations, Bombay Spice and Desi Wok, this Gujarati mini thali (lunch special, $5.99) offered good value if not the most elaborate preparation or accompaniments. Compare, for example, the pale yellow rice-and-lentil kichdi with the khichuri (one of many other spellings) at Neerob, in the Bronx.

Also shown: a potato-heavy subzi, or vegetable curry; mixed pickles and raw onion; kadhi, a thin, sweet-and-sour buttermilk soup; raita; puri; and a reminder of a long-ago school lunch.

Desi Dhaba
Inside Desi Galaxy, 1396 Oak Tree Rd., Iselin, New Jersey
732-283-1097

Food-Friendly Events, June 6-13

2013-06-06T11:30:00-04:00

Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral Festival
Continues Friday, June 6, through Sunday, June 9, various hours
Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 64 Schermerhorn St. (Court St.-Boerum Pl.), Brooklyn
www.StConstantineCathedral.org/annual-greek-festival-2013
Previously: www.EatingInTranslation.com/2008/06/sts-constantine.html
Free admission

New Jersey Seafood Festival
Friday, June 7, 4:00-8:00; Saturday, 11:00-8:00; Sunday, 11:00-6:00
Silver Lake Park, Fifth Ave. at Ocean Ave., Belmar, New Jersey
www.VisitBelmarNJ.com/seafood2013.htm
Free admission

New York Mississippi Picnic
Saturday, June 8, noon-6:00
Dead Rd., Central Park (south of 72nd St., between Sheep Meadow and the Bandshell), Manhattan
www.NYMSPicnic.com
Previously: www.EatingInTranslation.com/2012/06/new-york-mississippi-picnic.html
Free admission

Summer Spit BBQ
Saturday, June 8, 1:00-5:00
Studio Square NYC, 35-33 36th St. (35th-36th Aves.), Astoria, Queens
www.SummerSpit2013-zvents.eventbrite.com
Tickets: adults, $85 online/$95 door; under 21, $60 online/$70 door; children under 5 years old, free

Arraia do Village
Saturday, June 8, 7:00-midnight
Father Demo Hall, Our Lady of Pompeii Church, 25 Carmine St. (at Bleecker St.), Manhattan
www.CatolicosNY.org/images/stories/Maio_2013/photo.JPG
Free admission, donations accepted at the door

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party
Saturday and Sunday, June 8 and 9, 11:00-6:00
In and around Madison Square Park, Manhattan
www.BigAppleBBQ.org
Previously: www.EatingInTranslation.com/2010/06/big-apple-barbe.html
Free admission

Feast Day in honor of St. Anthony of Padua
Saturday and Sunday, June 8 and 9, 1:00-5:00
Shrine Church of St. Anthony of Padua, Sullivan St. at West Houston St., New York
www.StAnthonyNYC.org/index.html
Previously, the "Italian food available in church lower hall" included ziti as well as sausage-and-pepper sandwiches
Free admission

Staten "Ireland" Irish Fair
Saturday and Sunday, June 8 and 9, noon-7:30
On the grounds of the Staten Island Boys Football League (Travis Ave. at South Ave.), Staten Island
www.StatenIrelandFair.com
Admission: adults, $12; children under 12, free

Long Island Bavarian Festival
Saturday, June 8, 2:00-11:00; Sunday, noon-9:00; rain or shine
Plattdeutsche Park Restaurant, 1132 Hempstead Tpke., Franklin Square, New York
www.OriginalEnzian.org/adforheritagefest.htm
Admission: adults, $8; seniors, $7; children under 12, free

Church-McDonald Bangladeshi Business Association Mela
Sunday, June 9, late morning-late afternoon
McDonald Ave. between Church Ave. and Ave. C, Kensington, Brooklyn
Previously: www.EatingInTranslation.com/2011/07/cmbba-mela.html
Free admission

Russian Heritage Festival
Sunday, June 9, 11:00-4:00
Asser Levy/Seaside Park (at West 5th St.), Brighton Beach, Brooklyn
www.RussianAmericanFoundation.com/heritage.html
Previously: www.EatingInTranslation.com/2009/06/together-in-new-york-community-festival.html
Free admission

Moegyo Burmese Food Fair
Sunday, June 9, noon-4:00
Aviation High School, 45-30 36th St. (enter on 35th St. near Queens Blvd.), Long Island City, Queens
http://blog.Moegyo.org/2013/05/moegyo-6th-annual-burmese-food-fair.html
Previously: www.EatingInTranslation.com/2012/06/moegyo-burmese-food-fair.html
Free admission

Egg Rolls and Egg Creams
Sunday, June 9, noon-4:00, rain or shine
Eldridge St. between Canal and Division Sts., Manhattan
www.EldridgeStreet.org/index.php/june
Free admission

Erdbeerfest
Sunday, June 9, 1:00-3:00
Zion-St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church, 339 East 84 St. (First-Second Aves.), Manhattan
www.GermanyInNYC.org/index.php?section=catevent&cat_evt_id=3720&cat_id=3
Contribution: $10

Long Island Kosher BBQ Championship
Sunday, June 9, 11:00-3:30, rain or shine
Temple Beth Torah, 243 Cantiague Rock Rd., Westbury, New York
www.LIKosherBBQ.org
Free admission; online RSVP, and a donation of two healthy cans of food per person, requested

St. Gregory Armenian Church Picnic
Sunday, June 9, noon-6:00, rain or shine
St. Gregory Armenian Church, 1131 North St., White Plains, New York
www.ArmenianChurch-ed.net/uploaded_files/tinymce/files/eventspdf/WhitePlainsPicnic2013.pdf
Free admission

Polish Heritage Festival
Sunday, June 9, 10:00-6:00, rain or shine
PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, New Jersey
www.PolFest.com/program.shtml
Free admission

Dining + Design with David Chang
Monday, June 10, 6:00-???
The New School, Theresa Lang Community and Student Center, 55 West 13th St. (Fifth-Sixth Aves., 2nd fl.), Manhattan
www.NewSchool.edu/eventDetail.aspx?id=93342
Admission: $10; free to all students and to New School faculty, staff, and alumni with ID; RSVP to BoxOffice@NewSchool.edu or 212-229-5488

Chefs' Tribute to Citymeals-on-Wheels
Monday, June 10, 7:30-???
Rockefeller Center, Manhattan
www.Citymeals.org/events-and-news/the_28th_annual_chefs_tribute
Tickets: $200 and up; proceeds benefit Citymeals-on-Wheels

Beginner's Guide to Heirloom Vegetables
Tuesday, June 11, 6:30-???
Horticultural Society of New York, 148 West 37th St. (Fifth-Sixth Aves.), Manhattan
www.TheHort.org/programs_workshops_talks_tours.html#heirloomVeg
Free admission; RSVP to Programs@TheHort.org

Beer Hunter: The Movie, NYC premiere
Tuesday, June 11, 7:00-???
Anthology Film Archives, 32 Second Ave. (at East 2nd St.), Manhattan
http://BeerHuntermovienyc.brownpapertickets.com
Tickets: $12

Old-School Comfort Food
Wednesday, June 12, noon-???
The Beard House, 167 West 12th St. (Sixth-Seventh Aves.), Manhattan
www.JamesBeard.org/events/beard-books-20
Suggested donation: $20 for nonstudents; reserve seats by calling 212-627-2308

New Fish City
Thursday, June 13, 11:30-2:00, 5:00-9:00
Brookfield Place plaza, Vesey St. at the Hudson River, Manhattan
www.BrookfieldPlaceNY.com/newfishcity
Free admission

Koji: The Mother of Japanese Cuisine
Thursday, June 13, 6:30-???
Japan Society, 333 East 47th St. (First-Second Aves.), Manhattan
www.JapanSociety.org/event/koji-the-mother-of-japanese-cuisine
Tickets: general admission, $12; seniors, students, and Japan Society members, $8

Sold out: Potlikker Film Festival, June 7

Walking tours: Tag along with Big Onion, the Institute of Culinary Education, Jeffrey Tastes, Joe DiStefano, the Museum of Chinese in America, NoshWalks, Urban Oyster, and "Wildman" Steve Brill

Tickets on sale: Savor Craft Beer, June 14-15; Brooklyn Homebrewer's Contest and Festival, June 22; Knights of Bruklyn Home Brew Competition, June 23; Bacon Bash, June 23; FoodTECH-NYC: Food, Tech, and Funding, June 25; Farmhouse Fest, June 25; Backyard Pig Roast, June 26; Pass the Paella, June 26; Cheesemonger Invitational, June 29; Hudson Rising Farm Feast, June 30; Spirits of New York, July 10; Cuban Cuisine: Del Casabe al Mojito, July 14; Good Beer, July 31; North Fork Craft Beer, BBQ & Wine Festival, August 10; NYC Vendy Awards, September 7

Mamak House

2013-06-05T10:30:00-04:00

Turmeric balances the kaffir lime, the Penang-born chef-owner told us, but her ayam rendang isn't spiced with coriander or the like as an Indonesian rendang might be. "Just" galangal, lemongrass, ginger, onion, and garlic season her Malaysian rendition of this classic chicken dish. Oh, and roasted coconut, too, to add a further dimension to the coconut milk.

Also shown, a handful of dishes (some of them comped) from multiple meals: murtabak ($6.95), a griddled flatbread filled with minced beef and egg, served with onion pickle; pasembur ($7.95), a shredded vegetable salad featuring assorted fritters and a hardboiled egg, dressed with a sweet potato gravy; mee rebus (ree-Boos, $7.95), which deposits a similar thick gravy, and garnishes including the inevitable hardboiled egg, atop egg noodles; assam pedas (peh-Dass, $18.95), a sour-spicy curry flavored with tamarind, kaffir lime, chilli, laksa leaf, and belacan; bubur pulit hitam ($3.95), black glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk and palm sugar. The just-softened texture of the rice was especially appealing.

This halal restaurant, named for Malaysians of South Indian descent, also serves a number of exotic-sounding weekend specials, the likes of which I've never seen in New York (and which I have yet to try). Reportedly, however, the weekend bestseller is the classic nasi lemak that first brought the chef to notice at her delivery and catering business, Mami PG's Cooking.

Mamak House
35-20 Farrington St. (Northern Blvd.-35th Ave.), Flushing, Queens
718-886-4818
www.MamakHouse.com

Cafe Avat

2013-06-04T18:30:00-04:00

The awning promises Уйгурская и Узбекская кухня, Uighur and Uzbek cuisine; a gallery inside displays photos from the chef's previous home, Bishkek.

Last summer these were the premises of China House, which kept a halal kitchen shared by chefs born in Hong Kong and Uzbekistan, and which employed a Kazakh waitress-cashier and a Kyrgyz deliveryman. But lately Charles Bibilos (United Nations of Food) had heard of a change of ownership, and a new chef from Kyrgyzstan. Over lunch our dining buddy Eric Malson (Mahlzeit!), who flipped repeatedly to the Cyrillic side of the menu, and our Uzbek waiter, who spoke fine English, helped to identify some less familiar fare.

The cuisine of Kyrgyzstan draws on influences from all along the Silk Road. Typically, as at Cafe Avat, the food is halal. This afternoon a number of enticing items were not on offer, most notably kazy, a housemade sausage, and the meat-and-onion fry-up called kazan-kavab. We were immediatly drawn, however, to ashlyam-fu ($6.50), whose aspect was as striking as its name. In this cold dish, a tangle of slippery lagman — the ubiquitous hand-pulled noodles of Central Asia — are smothered by a vinegary heap of tomato and cucumber, in a thin red sauce with a red-peppery edge. Even more slippery than the lagman are ghostly fingers of mung bean jelly; they contribute texture but little flavor of their own.

From the name we quickly pegged the Chinese influence in gan-fan ($5.99). Vegetable-and-beef stew over steamed white rice, though it may sound like the weary product dispensed by a thousand takeout kitchens, was easily our favorite dish of the day. (We very nearly ordered seconds, but some of us had to leave room for an early dinner.)

Also shown: juicy kebabs ($3.99 each) of lulya, or ground lamb, and lamb meat, whose richness was well-matched by raw onion and dill; hanim ($5.95), a sheet noodle wrapped around shreds of potato, flecked with black pepper but lacking a kick; home fries with mushrooms and garlic ($5.95), billed as such and delivering same; assorted pickled vegetables ($5.50), highlighted by the Korean-leaning spicy cabbage called chim-cha; a glass of kompot ($1.50). Though desserts, like the kazy and the kazan-kavab, were unavailable this day and don't seem Cafe Avat's strong suit in any event, Bakery Baku was just a short walk away.

Cafe Avat
2158 Bath Ave. (Bay 29th St.-Bay Pkwy.), Bath Beach, Brooklyn
718-676-4667

Village Voice distribution box

2013-06-04T09:30:00-04:00

Morningside Heights, Manhattan

Rugoris imparidecussatus

2013-06-03T10:45:00-04:00

If you consume sliced bread or know someone who does, you know occlupanids. "These small objects are everywhere," observe the scientists at the Holotypic Occlupanid Research Group (HORG), "dotting supermarket aisles and sidewalks with an impressive array of form and color." Though you're most likely to encounter one in a parasitic or symbiotic relationship with a plastic bag containing foodstuffs, occlunapids are not unknown at hardware stores and similar commercial establishments.

This specimen — collected by your correspondent, who shares with the researchers at HORG a fascination with small inanimate things — was determined to be "an as-yet undescribed species. The name given to it is Rugoris imparidecussatus," referring to "the unequally-distributed X-like shape of its oral groove." The evident scuffing suggests that this specimen, encountered on the sidewalk outside a Morningside Heights food market, may have been feral, and in search of a fresh plastic-bag host, when collected.

Rugoris imparidecussatus
www.HORG.com/horg/?page_id=1244

Coca-Cola

2013-06-02T23:30:00-04:00

The soda ad in the first photo was painted atop another ad, for a clothier or perhaps a department store (click for a closer look). The ad in the second photo is much more faded. "Coca-Cola" can be made out thanks mainly to its famous cursive script, but there's no telling whether it came with a second set of "pants."

The two soda ads appear on the same building and, most likely, were painted at about the same time. But the first faces north; at this latitude the second, which faces south, got more sun and faded more quickly.

Coca-Cola
Surviving signage at 584 Main Ave. (Passaic-Pennington Aves.), Passaic, New Jersey

Dollar menus

2013-06-01T13:00:00-04:00

Especially when times are tight, a sidewalk blackboard touting one-dollar pizza slices and Jamaican patties helps get customers in the door. Items that lack conspicuously posted prices, even in the absence of orthodox spelling and grammar, fetch a premium.

A similar price structure applies at a nearby Chinese business, competing against the value meals of the sandwich chain next door. Despite the "Northeast" name in small type on the awning, this buffet-grill serves no identifiably Dongbei cuisine.

The umbrellas in the second photo offer shade to Haitian street vendors, most of them women. About a half-dozen do business near this corner, selling similar and surely inexpensive provisions but, by the looks of things, nothing ready to eat.

F&J Bake Shop
2085 Nostrand Ave. (Glenwood-Farragut Rds.), Flatbush, Brooklyn

Northeast AAA Buffet-Grill
1877 Nostrand Ave. (Ave. D-Foster Ave.), Flatbush, Brooklyn
718-282-1313

Taste the Tropics

2013-05-31T11:15:00-04:00

You might want a drop cloth yourself.

In steamy weather, the ice cream at Taste the Tropics (shown above during a paint job some years back) gets runny very quickly. On one visit it began melting so fast and furiously that I couldn't manage a picture, and the only takeaway was a few soursop drops on my Merrells.

Generally it's better not to dilly-dally. Shown: grayish Guinness Stout atop slightly paler Irish moss (two scoops, currently $2.95), already dripping into my hand; pistachio-peanut (a single flavor); banana atop Irish moss. The bright banana ice cream, it may surprise you, was less flavorful than its companion, made from a seaweed that grows along rocky coasts on both sides of the Atlantic.

Also shown: a closeup of the awning, listing a few of the 20-some varieties available on any given day. Under a slightly different name, the next to the last is much better-known in New England, but you can try it on Nostrand, too.

Taste the Tropics
1839 Nostrand Ave. (at Ave. D), Flatbush, Brooklyn
718-856-0821

Food-Friendly Events, May 30-June 6

2013-05-30T10:15:00-04:00

New Taste of the Upper West Side
Continues Friday, May 31, and Saturday, June 1, various times
Vicinity of Columbus Ave. and 77th St., Manhattan
www.NewTasteUWS.com
See website for ticket availability and prices

Gateway to Nations NYC Native American Heritage Celebration
Friday, May 31, 10:00-5:00; Saturday and Sunday, June 1 and 2, 11:00-7:00
Floyd Bennett Field, Gateway National Recreation Area, 50 Aviation Rd., Brooklyn
www.RedhawkCouncil.org/powwows
Admission: adults and teens, $14; children ages 6 to 12 and seniors ages 65 and over, $8; children ages 5 and under, free

Lebanese Food Festival
Friday and Saturday, May 31 and June 1, noon-10:00; Sunday, noon-5:00
Vicinity of Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral, Remsen St. between Henry and Clinton Sts., Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn
www.OLCLC.org/doc/1304-06_Newsletter.pdf
Previously: www.EatingInTranslation.com/2009/06/lebanese-food-festival.html
Free admission

Festival Cultural de la Calle 152
Saturday, June 1, 11:00-5:00
152nd St. between Jackson and Union Aves., Foxhurst, Bronx
www.Facebook.com/events/368558356598556
Previously: www.EatingInTranslation.com/2008/06/festival-cultur.html
Free admission

Uncorked!
Saturday, June 1, noon-4:00, rain or shine
Historic Richmond Town, 441 Clarke Ave. (at St. Patrick's Pl.), Staten Island
www.HistoricRichmondTown.org/component/eventlist/details/1140
Admission: adults, $25 online/$32 onsite; children ages 12 to 17, $10; ages 11 and under, free

Hungarian Festival
Saturday, June 1, 11:00-8:00
Somerset St. between Division and Bethany Sts., New Brunswick, New Jersey
www.HungarianFestival.org
Previously: www.EatingInTranslation.com/2011/06/new-brunswick-hungarian-festival.html
Free admission

Taste of Serbia
Saturday and Sunday, June 1 and 2, 10:00-4:00
Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sava, 20 West 26th St. (Fifth-Sixth Aves.), Manhattan
www.Facebook.com/events/552636548120522
Previously: www.EatingInTranslation.com/2012/06/serbian_orthodo.html
Free admission

Eat: An Arts Festival by LABA
Saturday, June 1, 8:30-???; Sunday, 3:00-???
14th St. Y, 344 East 14th St. (First-Second Aves.), Manhattan
http://LABAfest.brownpapertickets.com
Tickets: $25 advance/$35 door

Michael Arnone's Crawfish Fest
Saturday and Sunday, June 1 and 2, 11:00-7:00
Sussex County Fairgrounds, Augusta, New Jersey
www.CrawfishFest.com
Previously: www.EatingInTranslation.com/2012/06/michael-arnones-crawfish-fest.html
Admission: adults, $40 per day; children under 14 accompanied by a parent, free

Philippine Independence Day Celebration
Sunday, June 2, 11:00-6:00
A parade, beginning at noon, proceeds from 38th St. south on Madison Ave. to the festival site, between 24th and 26th Sts., Manhattan
www.PIDCI.org/calendar-of-events
Previously: www.EatingInTranslation.com/2008/06/philippine-inde.html
Free admission

DayLife
Sunday, June 2, noon-5:00
Orchard St. between East Houston and Delancey Sts., Manhattan
www.LowerEastSideNY.com/events/daylife
Free admission

Food Truck Rally
Sunday, June 2, 11:00-5:00; repeats first and third Sundays, by and large, through October 20
Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn
www.ProspectPark.org/calendar/event/food-truck-rally
Free admission

Bay Ridge Fifth Avenue Street Festival
Sunday, June 2, noon-6:00
Fifth Ave. between 69th and 85th Sts., Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
www.BayRidgeBID.com/bid/event/5th-avenue-spring-festival/
Lots of interesting Middle Eastern markets and eateries along this stretch of the avenue
Free admission

Festival de los Andes
Sunday, June 2, 11:00-6:00
On the lawn in front of Hepburn Hall, New Jersey City University, 2039 John F. Kennedy Blvd., Jersey City
www.NJCU.edu/Event_Calendar.aspx?eventId=709
Free admission

Armenian Church Picnic
Sunday, June 2, noon-5:00, rain or shine
St. Leon Armenian Church, 12-61 Saddle River Rd., Fair Lawn, New Jersey
www.ArmenianChurch-ed.net/uploaded_files/tinymce/files/eventspdf/FairLawnPicnic2013.pdf
Free admission

Albanian Heritage Festival
Sunday, June 2, noon-7:00
Kensico Dam Plaza, Bronx River Parkway, Valhalla, New York
www3.WestchesterGov.com/news/all-press-releases/4530-annual-heritage-festivals
At one previous festival the Albanian food was confined to platters featuring cevapi (or the like); the backdrop of the dam is striking
Free admission

Culinary Landscape of the Galilee
Monday, June 3, 3:00-???
92Y Tribeca, 200 Hudson St. (Vestry-Desbrosses Sts.), Manhattan
www.92Y.org/Tribeca/Event/Culinary-Landscape-of-the-Galilee.aspx
Tickets: $32

Taste of Times Square
Monday, June 3, 5:00-9:00
46th St. between Broadway and Ninth Ave., Manhattan
www.TimesSquareNYC.org/events/taste-of-times-square/index.aspx
Free admission

Gaining Ground
Monday, June 3, 7:30-???
Greenlight Bookstore, 688 Fulton St. (at South Portland Ave.), Fort Greene, Brooklyn
www.GreenlightBookstore.com/event/forrest-pritchard-nina-planck
Free admission

Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral Festival
Monday, June 3, through Sunday, June 9, various hours
Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 64 Schermerhorn St. (Court St.-Boerum Pl.), Brooklyn
www.StConstantineCathedral.org/annual-greek-festival-2013
Previously: www.EatingInTranslation.com/2008/06/sts-constantine.html
Free admission

Taste of LIC
Tuesday, June 4, 6:30-8:30
Gantry Plaza State Park (49th Ave. at the East River), Long Island City, Queens
www.ChocolateFactoryTheater.org/redesign/event/8th-annual-taste-of-lic
Tickets: $60, or $150 for hour-earlier VIP admission; proceeds benefit The Chocolate Factory Theater

High Line Meat Tour
Wednesday, June 5, 6:30-7:30
On the High Line, Manhattan (meeting spot provided upon ticket purchase)
www.TheHighLine.org/events/2013/6/tour-eat-the-city-high-line-meat-tour-with-robin-shulman
Tickets: general admission, $15; Friends of the High Line, $10

A Secret History of Coffee, Coca & Cola
Thursday, June 6, 6:30-8:30
Mid-Manhattan Library, 455 Fifth Ave. (at 40th St.), Manhattan
www.NYPL.org/events/programs/2013/06/06/secret-history-coffee-coca-cola-ricardo-cortés
Free admission

The Drunken Botanist
Thursday, June 6, 6:30-???
The Horticultural Society of New York, 148 West 37th St. (Sixth-Seventh Aves., 13th floor), Manhattan
www.TheHort.org/programs_workshops_talks_tours.html
Free admission; RSVP to Programs@TheHort.org

Adventures in the Global Kitchen: Exotic Flavors in Fine Dining
Thursday, June 6, 6:30-???
American Museum of Natural History, Linder Theater (enter on 77th St., between Columbus Ave. and Central Park West), Manhattan
www.AMNH.org/calendar/adventures-in-the-global-kitchen-exotic-flavors-in-fine-dining
Tickets: $30

Sold out: Cheers to Science!, May 30; Katz's Deli 125th Anniversary Celebration, May 31; Lobster Roll Rumble, June 6

Ongoing: Hester Nights, Thursdays; Chelsea Triangle French Market, Fridays and Saturdays; Hester Street Fair, Saturdays; Red Hook food vendors, Saturdays and Sundays; Brooklyn Flea, Saturdays and Sundays; Smorgasburg, Saturdays and Sundays; Fulton Stall Market, Saturdays and Sundays; Mad. Sq. Eats, daily (last day May 31; High Line food vendors, daily; Chelsea Market, daily; SmorgasBar, daily; New York Greenmarkets, various days; Community Markets, various days; Our Global Kitchen: Food, Nature, Culture, daily; Sylvester Manor: Land, Food, and Power on a New York Plantation, Monday through Saturday; Shop Life, daily

Walking tours: Tag along with Big Onion, the Institute of Culinary Education, Jeffrey Tastes, Joe DiStefano, the Museum of Chinese in America, NoshWalks, Urban Oyster, and "Wildman" Steve Brill

Tickets on sale: Potlikker Film Festival, June 7; Summer Spit BBQ, June 8; Big Apple BBQ Block Party, June 8-9; Chefs' Tribute to Citymeals-on-Wheels, June 10; Edible Academy Family Garden Picnic, June 10; Dining + Design with David Chang, June 10; Savor Craft Beer, June 14-15; Farmhouse Fest, June 25; Backyard Pig Roast, June 26; Pass the Paella, June 26; Good Beer, July 31; North Fork Craft Beer, BBQ & Wine Festival, August 10; NYC Vendy Awards, September 7

Passport to Taiwan

2013-05-29T23:30:00-04:00

The volunteer-staffed food stalls at this annual event, which also features arts and crafts and live performances, serve a number of dishes dear to the heart of the local Taiwanese community. Rarest, in New York, are Hakka dishes, the culinary heritage of a people who emigrated to Taiwan from Guangdong and surrounding regions of southern China.

Shown above: "silver needle" rice noodle soup. The noodles, which had been extruded by hand the night before, were perplexingly short and fat but also pleasingly chewy. Below: "burning" grass jelly, whose namesake ingredient is melted and served hot rather than cut into pieces and served cold. The heated grass jelly was poured over mung and azuki beans and what looked like escapees from a fruit cup. In reality some of those sticky orbs may have been made from glutinous rice flour, while others may have employed taro or sweet potato. The different colors seemed to be only for looks; all had the same bland flavor and sticky texture.

See these treats, and other menu items from multiple incarnations of the festival, in the slideshow.

Passport to Taiwan
Union Square
www.P2Tw.org
May (the 2013 festival was held May 26)

"Kind of Brews"

2013-05-29T09:00:00-04:00

Previously: Kind of Blue

"Kind of Brews"
Evanescent artwork seen at Continuum Coffee
199 Ave. B (East 12th-East 13th Sts.), Manhattan
646-504-3107
www.Facebook.com/ContinuumCoffee

Our Lady of Refuge Barbecue and Street Fair

2013-05-28T11:00:00-04:00

The "street fair" was simply a sidewalk flea market. "Barbecue," as at many Memorial Day affairs, meant grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken, and dollar slices of watermelon. But the church's diverse congregation was also represented in the partially canopied parking lot by Puerto Rican pasteles and pernil, Mexican tacos and tamales, and a choice of several Haitian plate meals. This rendition of the thick vegetable stew called legim (leh-Gem, $5) also featured crab.

For dessert: pineapple upside-down cake ($2). Even the festival's vigorous Gaga-Gangnam soundtrack couldn't flip it rightside-up.

Our Lady of Refuge Barbecue and Street Fair
Our Lady of Refuge Roman Catholic Church, 2020 Foster Ave. (at Ocean Ave.), Ditmas Park, Brooklyn
www.OLRBrooklyn.org/news/2013/05/07/a-catholic-parish-is-brooklyn-is-having-a-memorial-day-barbecue
(The 2013 barbecue was held on May 27)

Berikoni

2013-05-28T10:30:00-04:00

Bakeries and other food businesses have devised all sorts of in-house shortcuts to distinguish their look-alike wares. The hole in this lobiani khachapuri might appear to have been cut for ventilation, except that its fellow cheese breads, which have different fillings, lack one. I suggest that it's a keyhole that allows bakery staffers to spy the mashed pinto beans inside. Tearing into the khachapuri, of course, affords an even better look, but, as with the pork-filled kubdari style, count on that pizza box to corral stray bits of filling.

Berikoni
125 Brighton Beach Ave. (Beach Walk-Ocean Pkwy.), Brighton Beach, Brooklyn
718-708-5040
www.Facebook.com/Berikoni

King's Gourmet Food

2013-05-27T11:05:00-04:00

A dining buddy brought me this bar, snagged at the Turkish-market equivalent of the candy counter. First impressions aside, "fistik ezmesi" isn't a brand name, and this isn't a candy bar; the literal translation is "pistachio paste." Not unfairly, fistik ezmesi is also known as Turkish marzipan. The flavor is intense enough that you could share a bar with a friend and not feel shorted.

King's Gourmet Food
1508 Kings Hwy. (East 15th-East 16th Sts.), Homecrest, Brooklyn
718-376-1585

Young & Rubicam Building

2013-05-27T11:00:00-04:00

The namesake ad agency was this building's prime tenant from its construction in 1926 until early 2013, when Young & Rubicam moved to Columbus Circle. It's unclear whether Y&R inspired the dozens of whimsical figures carved into the masonry near street level. Many depict traditional occupations; many others, like these, illustrate pastimes. Just possibly the connection with the ad agency is the embrace of minds at play. Shown: bagpipe playing, trail blazing, slingshot shooting, and what seems to be sweets eating.

Young & Rubicam Building (also known as the Murray Hill Building)
William Rouse and Lafayette Goldstone, 1926; carvings attributed to Arthur Seale
285 Madison Ave. (at East 40th St.), Manhattan

"State of Maine potatoes"

2013-05-26T09:15:00-04:00

In the early years of the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad (1891-2003), "State of Maine potatoes" were so essential to the company's financial well-being that caretakers were hired to shepherd the spuds during their travels. The chief task of these men was to protect the potatoes from freezing by tending stoves or heaters that would maintain the boxcars at an appropriate temperature.

Better-heated, better-insulated boxcars would have supplanted the caretakers in this model-railroad scenario. The place, according to the model-makers, is a contrived setting in the mountains of northern Orange and southern Sullivan counties, in New York. The time, I reckoned, would be the late 1940s or early 1950s, judging by the curves of the automobiles at the crossing (click on the second photo for a closer look).

Rail aficionado Larry Goss observes that only a very few red, white, and blue State of Maine railcars were labeled "Potatoes," beginning about 1950. These soon gave way to "dual service insulated boxcars which were designed with heaters to carry potatoes in the winter and newsprint paper during the remainder of the year. Probably because of this dual service 'Potatoes' was changed to 'Products' on these and all subsequent boxcars and all later refrigerator cars were painted orange."

"State of Maine potatoes"
Grand Centennial Parade of Trains
Grand Central Terminal, 87 East 42nd St. (at Park Ave.), Manhattan
www.GrandCentralTerminal.com/centennial/event.cfm?eventid=2145406609
(This 2013 event, in celebration of the terminal's 100th anniversary, was held on May 11 and 12)

"Maxwell House Coffee, Good to the Last Drop!"

2013-05-25T10:00:00-04:00

Most model railroaders are rigorous about the internal consistency of their railcars and related equipment. For the maximum "gee, wow" effect, however, on occasion they mix and match scenery from very different settings.

According to the hobby company that supplied it, the animated Maxwell House billboard seen here is meant to evoke the New Jersey original. On the Hoboken skyline the sign stood alone, in a bleakly industrial context, but in this HO-scale display, the building is closely flanked by bowling lanes and a mozzarella factory on one side and a Domino Sugar warehouse on the other.

"Maxwell House Coffee, Good to the Last Drop!"
Grand Centennial Parade of Trains
Grand Central Terminal, 87 East 42nd St. (at Park Ave.), Manhattan
www.GrandCentralTerminal.com/centennial/event.cfm?eventid=2145406609
(This 2013 event, in celebration of the terminal's 100th anniversary, was held on May 11 and 12)

Indonesian Food Bazaar and Fundraiser

2013-05-24T11:00:00-04:00

The vibrant green surely derives from some artificial coloring, but the bright gold of serabi kuah santan durian — take a whiff — can come only from the king of fruits. In truth the aroma was not off-putting in the least.

"Serabi kuah" are simply rice pancakes that can be topped as you please; "durian" is the infamous fruit (in this case some Thai variety, probably mon thong); and "santan" indicates that the yellow gravy, as it's called, is well-tempered with coconut milk. Palm sugar may have been added as well.

Also shown: sate Padang, beef and tongue skewers smothered in a flour-thickened gravy flavored with beef stock and turmeric; ngo hiang, a deep-fried roll filled in this case with ground shrimp (a very good late-night snack, even when cold); one take on the salad called gado-gado; lalampa, grilled sticky rice stuffed with spicy minced fish; shredded chayote, a component of nasi liwet Solo, the rice-based dish below it; minced-beef-stuffed murtabaks.

Sweet stuff: lemet jagung, bindles of steamed corn tweaked with coconut; tahu bacem and tempe bacem, deep-fried, spiced tofu and tempeh also sweetened with palm sugar; berdopo, a yucca crepe that's steamed on the inside of a pot lid, then folded over grated coconut, palm sugar, and on this occasion tidbits of pineapple or jackfruit; cendol, pandan-tinted rice noodles with a variety of sweet add-ins, shown before being swamped in coconut milk; a thick version of bubur chacha heavily freighted with taro; asinan, a sort of pickled fruit salad; es teler, still another iced concoction that straddles the boundary between drink and dessert. The most noticeable ingredients in this version are avocado on top and basil seeds on the bottom.

Indonesian Food Bazaar and Fundraiser
First Presbyterian Church of Forest Hills, 70-35 112th St. (70th Ave.-70th Rd.), Forest Hills, Queens
www.Facebook.com/events/291010884364018
The 2013 bazaar, perhaps a one-off, was held on May 18; proceeds from food sales benefitted Roslin Orphanage in Kupang, Indonesia

Food-Friendly Events, May 23-30

2013-05-23T10:00:00-04:00

SmorgasBar opening day
Friday, May 24, 11:00-11:00; continues daily through October
Front St. near Fulton St., Manhattan
www.BrooklynFlea.com/markets/smorgasbar-at-south-st-seaport
Free admission

Belmont Park Food Truck Festival
Saturday, May 25, 11:00-5:30ish
Belmont Park, 2150 Hempstead Tpk., Elmont, New York
www.NYRA.com/belmont/belmont-park-to-host-food-truck-festival-may-25
Belmont Park admission, $3, also includes access to the weekly farmers market
Via New York Street Food

Czech and Slovak Festival
Saturday and Sunday, May 25 and 26, noon-10:00
Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden, 29-19 24th Ave. (29th-31st Sts.), Astoria, Queens
www.BohemianHall.com/en/events/show_event.php?id=599
Free admission

Plus Polish Festival
Saturday and Sunday, May 25 and 26, noon-midnight; rain or shine
German Masonic Park, 89 Western Highway, Tappan, New York
www.PlusFestival.com
Free admission

Dance Africa Bazaar
Saturday, May 25, noon-10:00; Sunday and Monday, May 26 and 27, noon-8:00; rain or shine
Vicinity of Ashland Pl., Fort Greene, Brooklyn
www.BAM.org/neighborhood/2013/danceafrica-2012-bazaar
Previously: www.EatingInTranslation.com/2012/06/dance-africa-bazaar.html
Free admission

Ecuafest
Sunday, May 26, 10:00-6:00
West 107th St. between Amsterdam and Columbus Aves., Manhattan
www.Facebook.com/ecuafest100
Previously: www.EatingInTranslation.com/2009/05/ecuafest.html
Free admission

Indonesian food bazaar
Sunday, May 26, 10:00-4:00
Outside the Al-Hikmah Mosque, 48-01 31st Ave. (at 48th St.), Astoria, Queens
Previously: www.EatingInTranslation.com/2013/04/indonesian-food.html
Free admission

Santacruzan Street Fair
Sunday, May 27, 10:00-8:00
Vicinity of 2nd St. and Erie St., Jersey City
www.Facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=530002213731987
Previously: www.EatingInTranslation.com/2010/06/santacruzan-festival.html
Free admission

Food Truck Rally
Sunday, May 26, 11:00-5:00; repeats first and third Sundays, by and large, through October 20
Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn
www.ProspectPark.org/calendar/event/food-truck-rally
Free admission

Passport to Taiwan
Sunday, May 26, noon-5:00
Union Square North, vicinity of 17th St. and Broadway, Manhattan
www.P2Tw.org
Previously: www.EatingInTranslation.com/2012/05/passport-to-taiwan.html
Free admission

Loisaida Festival
Sunday, May 26, noon-5:00; rain or shine
Avenue C between 6th and 12th Sts., Manhattan
www.LoisaidaInc.org
Previously: www.EatingInTranslation.com/2008/05/casa-adela.html
Free admission

Haitian Day Parade and SpringFest
Sunday, May 26, 1:00-5:00
Parade proceeds south on Nostrand Ave. from Clarkson Ave. to the festival site, near Foster Ave., Brooklyn
Previously: www.EatingInTranslation.com/2009/05/haitian-day-parade-and-festival.html
Free admission

Rub-a-Grub
Sunday, May 26, 2:00-10:00
Do or Dine, 1108 Bedford Ave. (Lexington Ave.-Quincy St.), Manhattan
www.BrownPaperTickets.com/event/382503
Tickets: $15, or $25 for VIP admission, which includes two food items and two beers; ages 21 and over only

Our Lady of Refuge Barbecue and Street Fair
Monday, May 27, 9:00-4:00
Vicinity of Our Lady of Refuge Roman Catholic Church, 2020 Foster Ave. (at Ocean Ave.), Ditmas Park, Brooklyn
www.OLRBrooklyn.org/news/2013/05/07/a-catholic-parish-is-brooklyn-is-having-a-memorial-day-barbecue
Free admission

Eat the City: Farming the Five Boroughs
Tuesday, May 28, 6:30-???
Tenement Museum visitor center, 103 Orchard St. (Delancey-Broome Sts.), Manhattan
www.Tenement.org/culinary_conversations_details.php?id=8#.UZLKpStoTlc
Tickets: $30

101 Classic Cookbooks
Wednesday, May 29, 7:30-???
92Y Tribeca, 200 Hudson St. (Vestry-Desbrosses Sts.), Manhattan
www.92Y.org/Tribeca/Event/101-Classic-Cookbooks.aspx
Tickets: $15

New Taste of the Upper West Side
Wednesday, May 29, Friday, May 31, and Saturday, June 1, various times
Vicinity of Columbus Ave. and 77th St., Manhattan
www.NewTasteUWS.com
See website for ticket details

A Table at Le Cirque
Thursday, May 30, noon-???
92Y Tribeca, 200 Hudson St. (Vestry-Desbrosses Sts.), Manhattan
www.92Y.org/Tribeca/Event/A-Table-at-Le-Cirque.aspx
Tickets: $21

Food Politics: The Politics of Food, Ten Years Later
Thursday, May 30, 4:00-6:00
New York University, Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, 70 Washington Square South (LaGuardia Pl.-Washington Square East), Manhattan
www.NYU.edu/about/news-publications/news/2013/05/20/food-politics-the-politics-of-food-ten-years-later-a-panel-discussion-may-30th-at-nyus-fales-library-.html
Suggested donation: $10; RSVP to RSVP.Bobst@NYU.edu

Man Bites Dog: What Hot Dogs Tell Us About America
Thursday, May 30, 6:30-???
The Roger Smith Hotel, 501 Lexington Ave. (at 47th St.), Manhattan
www.BrownPaperTickets.com/event/378163
Tickets: general admission, $40; reduced for Culinary Historians of New York members

FoodFight Benefit
Thursday, May 30, 6:30-???
Brooklyn Brewery, 79 North 11th St. (Wythe Ave.-Berry St.), Williamsburg, Brooklyn
www.FoodFightBenefit2013.brownpapertickets.com
Tickets: general admission, $150 advance/$175 door; many other ticket levels available; ages 21 and over only; proceeds benefit FoodFight

Screening: Meat Hooked
Thursday, May 30, 6:30-8:00ish
BLDG92, 63 Flushing Ave. (at Carlton Ave.), Fort Greene, Brooklyn
www.BLDG92.org/events/film-screening-meat-hooked
Tickets: general admission, $8; BLDG92 members and NYCHA residents, $5

Cheers to Science!
Thursday, May 30, 6:30-8:00
The Bell House, 149 7th St. (Second-Third Aves.), Gowanus, Brooklyn
www.WorldScienceFestival.com/events/cheers_to_science2013
Tickets: $35 and up

Sold out: Brooklyn Uncorked, May 29

Ongoing: Hester Nights, Thursdays; Chelsea Triangle French Market, Fridays and Saturdays; Hester Street Fair, Saturdays; Red Hook food vendors, Saturdays and Sundays; Brooklyn Flea, Saturdays and Sundays; Smorgasburg, Saturdays and Sundays; Fulton Stall Market, Saturdays and Sundays; Mad. Sq. Eats, daily; High Line food vendors, daily; Chelsea Market, daily; New York Greenmarkets, various days; Community Markets, various days; Our Global Kitchen: Food, Nature, Culture, daily; Sylvester Manor: Land, Food, and Power on a New York Plantation, Monday through Saturday; Shop Life, daily

Walking tours: Tag along with Big Onion, the Institute of Culinary Education, Jeffrey Tastes, Joe DiStefano, NoshWalks, Urban Oyster, and "Wildman" Steve Brill

Tickets on sale: Katz's Deli 125th Anniversary Celebration, May 31; Michael Arnone's Crawfish Fest, May 31-June 2; Uncorked!, June 1; Taste of LIC, June 4; Lobster Roll Rumble, June 6; Summer Nights at The Bowery Station, June 6-7; Summer Spit BBQ, June 8; Big Apple BBQ Block Party, June 8-9; Chefs' Tribute to Citymeals-on-Wheels, June 10; Edible Academy Family Garden Picnic, June 10; Dining + Design with David Chang, June 10; Savor Craft Beer, June 14-15; Pass the Paella, June 26; Good Beer, July 31; NYC Vendy Awards, September 7

Morris Park Bake Shop

2013-05-22T14:45:00-04:00

Sharing new neighborhoods, new eateries, and new food finds with Eating In Translation readers requires me to willfully go where I haven't gone and eat what I haven't eaten. In this regard, getting lost can be a boon. A wrong turn on an overcast afternoon, without the sun to guide me, led me recently to the G&R Italian Deli and an excellent prosciutto, mozzarella, and roasted pepper hero.

Try as I might, however, I'm not always led astray. Sometimes I find myself retracing my steps, turning down the same side streets at the same time of day and finding myself at the same destinations. And sometimes it's not my sense of direction but my preference for certain flavors that gets stuck in a rut. After polishing off half of my amply filled hero, I stopped in at the Morris Park Bake Shop; it had been quite some time since I'd last walked in the door. After a good look at all the eat-as-you-walk pastries, I bought a frosted poppy-seed bun (90 cents). I like frosting, I like poppy seeds, and after the hero this light but not too sugary bite filled the bill.

At home, upon further review, I found that my previous visit to the bake shop had been a full five years earlier but that in 2008 my choice of pastry was just the same (albeit 15 cents cheaper). True, like most everyone else I'll seek out my favorite foods, but even while trying to cover new culinary ground, in recent memory I've inadvertently repeated myself on perhaps a half-dozen other occasions. Usually the purchase in question comes toward the end of a long outing; I'll lay the blame on my affection for sweets.

Morris Park Bake Shop
1007 Morris Park Ave. (Paulding-Colden Aves.), Bronx
718-892-4968

Il Tricolore

2013-05-22T11:00:00-04:00

When national colors appear in the public realm, not just at homes and businesses but also in shared spaces or on government-owned fixtures, they signal a sense of community. In these two photos the green, white, and red of Italy appear in Morris Park, on a pair of bollards that protect an electronic Muni Meter, and in Corona, on an old and probably defunct FDNY call box. Judging by the relative freshness of the paint and the objects painted, in which neighborhood would you expect today to find a greater variety of Italian-American chow?

Il Tricolore
Bollards protecting a Muni Meter, Morris Park Ave., Morris Park, Bronx
FDNY call box (probably defunct), near William F. Moore Park, Corona, Queens

G&R Italian Deli

2013-05-21T12:30:00-04:00

"Seeded or unseeded?" asked the counterman, already in motion toward the bread bins. After dithering for several minutes before settling on my sandwich order, I didn't need to give this much thought; I usually favor a nice seeded roll when they're fresh, and these looked the part. "A little vinegar?" the counterman asked over his shoulder, as he laid down overlapping slices of fresh mozzarella in a double row. Sure, I said; a few tart shakes would be just the thing.

Italian-American delis are comfortable ground for me, so these sorts of questions helped to fine-tune my prosciutto, mozzarella, and roasted pepper hero ($9). Half was devoured on the spot, half traveled home for later. But what about all the times when language is a barrier, not just overseas but here in New York, too? What sort of customized orders am I missing out on, I wonder? What questions are countermen and counterwomen not even troubling to communicate?

Also shown: a hand-lettered sign for housemade sauces. Since 1978 G&R has been turning out its own pasta, mozzarella, and sausage, too.

G&R Italian Deli
1928 Williamsbridge Rd. (Neill-Rhinelander Aves.), Morris Park, Bronx
718-931-3450

MD Kitchen

2013-05-21T12:15:00-04:00

This tiny satellite kitchen turns out red-sauce fare that's been squeezed out of the celebrated and busy pizza ovens at nearby Di Fara. No rush jobs here: The contents of these meatball and eggplant heroes (each $6.50, plus 50 cents for parmigiana) spent a good ten minutes bubbling in the oven. Note also the blackened end of the second roll. At my dining buddy's request, a good portion of the crumb was hollowed out, after which the roll was toasted well done.

Seats are few; unless your timing is exquisite, figure on taking your order to go.

MD Kitchen
1012 East 15th St. (Ave. J-Ave. K), Midwood, Brooklyn
917-789-9556
Closed Monday

Totto Ramen

2013-05-20T10:45:00-04:00

Chicken soup to cheer up your day: Totto spicy ramen ($11), topped for this bowlful with chicken rather than char siu pork. The rich, milky white broth soon took on the color of the rayu, that dark slick of spicy sesame oil, and seemed to get only richer as it sat waiting for kaedama ($2.50), an order of extra noodles.

Totto Ramen
366 West 52nd St. (Eighth-Ninth Aves.), Manhattan
212-582-0052
www.TottoRamen.com

Budweiser and baseball

2013-05-20T09:30:00-04:00

From my photo archives: By swapping in the appropriate logo and team uniform, this poster could have easily been adapted to any major-league city. Sadly, though, it suits the Mets particularly well. If you read the dot of the "i" in "Budweiser" as the baseball, this looks like one more mistimed jump at the fence.

Also shown: Unpaved, undrained Willets Point roadways after heavy rain. In the final photo, the bullpen gate of Citi Field is dead ahead.

Budweiser and baseball
Sign (no longer extant) at the Mets-Willets Point station of the 7 train, Corona, Queens

Grill Spot

2013-05-19T23:30:00-04:00

The menu hedges its bets: Cheeseburgers, wings, and fries are offered beside shurpa, solyanka, and chicken tabaka. In this lulya wrap ($6.95), grilled ground lamb was well-complemented by much diced onion, some leaf lettuce and dill, and a few red bits of hot pepper. The thin wrap itself was lightly charred before being rolled into action.

Grill Spot
1613 Voorhies Ave. (near Sheepshead Bay Rd.), Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn
718-915-0440

Isaac's Bake Shop

2013-05-19T09:30:00-04:00

This cinnamon strudel ($6 per pound) was very moist despite being dairy-free, my dining buddy observed. Also available in poppy, chocolate, and one variety that appeared to be almost 50 percent raisins.

Isaac's Bake Shop
1419 Ave. J (14th-15th Sts.), Midwood, Brooklyn
718-377-9291
Closed Saturday

Thai Thai

2013-05-18T23:30:00-04:00

In Thailand khao niew ping, sticky rice and banana wrapped in a banana leaf, then grilled, is an everyday if not commonplace street snack. At the counter of this Elmhurst grocery, the window of availability is much narrower: weekends only, from late morning until they sell out in early afternoon ($1.50). A similar timetable applies to what looks like sesame chicken (below, $5); it's actually sesame plantain. Both snacks are often available with a taro filling, too.

Previously: Given the choice between two varieties of fruit-in-ice (170 g., $3.25), my natural impulse was for a new flavor. Why go for the mangosteen, one more time, when I could try santal? A quick web search via iPhone revealed nothing about it.

I declined the shopkeeper's offer to hunt down a plastic spoon, and just as well: The cup's transparent seal was made of tough stuff. After the pull-tab and all available edges tore free, I finally punctured it with a metal spork (part of my regular field kit). But despite the spork and even after warming my purchase between two palms, I made frustratingly slow progress on the icebound (and unphotogenic) mass underneath, and I didn't fully appreciate the flavor.

That evening I belatedly recalled another near-encounter with santol, as it's more often spelled, years earlier. As it happens, one of the fruit's many other vernacular names is faux mangosteen.

Thai Thai (also known as NongNoi Thai Grocery)
76-13 Woodside Ave., Elmhurst, Queens
917-769-6168
www.Facebook.com/ThaiThaiGrocery

Peter Doelger's Extra Beer

2013-05-18T23:00:00-04:00

Though sometimes credited as a former Peter Doelger's brewery, these vintage-1880s premises are much too small for what was, by 1895, the eleventh-largest such operation in the country. More likely this sign marked a franchise bar serving the beer in question. The stained glass has held up well over the decades; Peter Doelger's gave up the ghost in 1947.

Peter Doelger's Extra Beer
Surviving signage at Teddy's
96 Berry St. (at North 8th St.), Williamsburg, Brooklyn
718-384-9787
www.TeddysWilliamsburg.com

Mado

2013-05-17T23:30:00-04:00

Mado's dondurma lays claim to the mantle of "hardest and densest ice cream in the world." Even more so than Middle Eastern ice cream, Turkish dondurma is bolstered with sahlep and mastic; filling my cone ($2) required two strong hands and an implement wielded like a long-handled chisel. And yet whether chiseled, sliced like doner kebab, or bitten off, it melts in the mouth, I can vouch.

Mado
Multiple locations in Turkey
http://en.Mado.com.tr
At Grand Bazaar to Grand Central
Grand Central Terminal, Vanderbilt Hall, 87 East 42nd St. (at Park Ave.), Manhattan
www.TADF.org/images/banners/grand-central-poster.jpg
(The 2013 event, perhaps a one-off, was held on May 14)