Eating In Translation

Old Bridge

2009-11-14T19:20:00-05:00

This one they actually call a burger.

Dressed with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and feta, the Sarajevo burger ($8.50) is distinct from the pljeskavica (Place-kah-Veet-suh), also served here and nicknamed the Bosnian burger at many other Balkan joints. A side-by-side taste-off would have required a second plate: Compared with a burger, the pljeskavica is famously "longer, lower, wider," like the new season's models from Detroit, many seasons ago. The mildly seasoned pljeskavica patty is typically a blend of beef and lamb, which I believe was the case with my burger, too.

As for the bread, what the waitress originally described as a pita proved thicker, denser, and chewier than most pitas of my acquaintance. Afterward I mentioned the name "somun"; she said that this was simply the Bosnian word for "pita." They're the same, she maintained, though she did add the familiar plaint that the bread here, in New York, is not the same as back home.

Old Bridge (a.k.a. Stari Most, its Bosnian name)
28-51 42nd St. (28th-30th Aves.), Astoria, Queens
718-932-7683
www.OldBridgeNY.com

Ukus

2009-11-14T19:00:00-05:00

The awning of this small restaurant proclaims it a cevabdzinica and buregdzinica, a shop that prepares the skinless sausages called cevapi and the savory pies called bureks. Ukus also serves a Bosnian soup ($5.50), whose glistening surface posed a photographic challenge even when not reflecting a televised soccer match. Beneath the surface I found dark-meat chicken, firm chunks of okra, bits of carrot and celery, and submerged dollops of sour cream that slowly emulsified in the broth. The sour cream, too, was less easily captured in pictures than in words, or with a spoon.

Ukus
42-08 30th Ave. (42nd-43rd Sts.), Astoria, Queens
718-267-8587

Phillips Farms

2009-11-13T21:00:00-05:00

Stand and deliver.

This tangy-sweet ketchup (18 oz.; $4) combines vine-ripened Jersey tomatoes with green bell peppers, onions, and celery, all grown on the Phillips family farm. It stands up even better on the burger of your choice.

Phillips Farms
Milford, New Jersey
908-995-0022
At the Union Square Greenmarket (and others), March through December
www.PhillipsFarms.com

Musa Durgun produce truck

2009-11-13T12:20:00-05:00

Each morning one of Manhattan's more colorful produce trucks makes its way to the Upper West Side from North Bergen, New Jersey (previously Paterson, as still shown on the side panel). Hardly an easy commute, but just a hop and a step when measured against the journey from Chechnya, the Turkish proprietor's previous home.

The selection of produce offers nothing so exotic. But budget-minded street-food fans, please note: As dessert or snack, the banana provides its own biodegradable "packaging" and doesn't need to be washed; just peel and eat. Though on the street I've seen bananas priced as dear as 35 cents apiece, here they're four for a dollar.

Musa Durgun produce truck
Parked on West 71st St., near the southeast corner with Broadway
Morning till evening, except in inclement weather

Food-Friendly Events, November 13-19

2009-11-13T00:30:00-05:00

Slideluck Potshow
Friday, November 13, 7:00-11:00
The Aperture Foundation, 547 W. 27th St. (Tenth-Eleventh Aves.), 4th floor
www.SlideluckPotshow.com
This nonprofit "aims to bring people together around food and art, and to give people an interesting, engaging, and fun platform for sharing art with their community." Adds the organizer: "Don't bring booze (we have you covered.) Do bring food to share — either for the potluck or as donations for the soup kitchen. Dress sharp for the Irving Penn photo booth!" $10 admission; online purchase recommended

Yankee Fair
Saturday, November 14, 10:00-4:00, rain or shine
Outside Plymouth Church, 75 Hicks St. (at Orange St.), Brooklyn Heights
www.PlymouthChurch.org
Many family-friendly activities. Lunch (indoors, 11:30-1:30) offers "three kinds of premium chili, plus sandwiches and kids' meals; there's also a "country kitchen [selling] baked goods and sweet treats, bread, cakes, and pies, ready-made meals, jams and chutneys, all made in Brooklyn kitchens." Free admission

Fresh Giant Bluefin Tuna Cutting Performance
Saturday, November 14, 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.; Sunday, noon
Mitsuwa Marketplace, 595 River Rd., Edgewater, New Jersey (accessible by bus from Port Authority or the George Washington Bridge)
www.MitsuwaNJ.com
"See the master chefs cut and slice a whole bluefin tuna right before your eyes!" Fresh oh-toro, chu-toro, and akami for sale, too. Free admission

17th-Century Dutch Worship Service and Colonial-Era Dinner
Sunday, November 15, service at 11:00 a.m., dinner at 12:30 p.m.
Old First Reformed Church, 729 Carroll St. (at Seventh Ave.), Park Slope, Brooklyn
www.OldFirstBrooklyn.org
"Worship as it was held in New Netherlands (Breukelen) in 1654, offered by members of Brooklyn's first congregation founded in that year, followed by a historically authentic dinner from the same era. ... The dishes are based on recipes from an authentic cookbook of the period, The Sensible Cook, and will be served and eaten in the style of the period (i.e., entirely with a wooden spoon.)" Adults, $20 in advance/$25 at the door; children $5. Reservations: 718-6388300 or info@oldfirstbrooklyn.org

The Brooklyn Chocolate Experiment
Sunday, November 15, 1:00-5:00, plus an afterparty
The Bell House, 149 7th St., Gowanus, Brooklyn
www.TheFoodExperiments.com
"Amateur chefs will compete by creating their most delicious chocolate-based dishes in two categories (sweet and savory). The audience, along with a celebrity judging panel pick their favorites." Afterparty includes free samples from Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream. Admission: $20 advance/$25 door; a portion of ticket sales will support ovarian cancer research

Cookies at Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks
Sunday, November 15, through Saturday, November 21, 1:00-7:00
Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks, 163 West 10th St. (near Seventh Ave.)
www.BonnieSlotnickCookbooks.com
During the city's first Independent Bookstore Week, Katherine Yang of Prune will bake a fresh batch of cookies each day for bookstore browsers and customers. Free admission, but call ahead (212-989-8962) to confirm shop hours and cookies du jour

A Toast with Hot Bread Kitchen
Monday, November 16, 6:00-9:00
Chelsea Market, 75 Ninth Ave. (15th-16th Sts.)
www.HotBreadKitchen.org/toast
A fundraiser for this nonprofit that "bakes artisanal breads from around the world...honors the culinary experience of immigrant women, and provides entrepreneurial and job skills." Eat, drink, and take a spin on "New York's only corn-grinding bicycle." Tickets: $50 advance/$75 door

Reading and Q&A with Jonathan Safran Foer
Monday, November 16, 7:00-???
Barnes and Noble Union Square, 33 East 17th St.
http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/event/60519
The novelist reads from his first work of nonfiction, Eating Animals

Classes: See the schedules of the Astor Center, The Brooklyn Kitchen, the Indian Culinary Center, the Institute of Culinary Education, the International Culinary Center, Murray's Cheese, and the Whole Foods Bowery Culinary Center.

Walking tours: Tag along with Big Onion, the Institute of Culinary Education, NoshWalks, NYC Discovery Walking Tours, and "Wildman" Steve Brill. Most tour operators cut back or suspend their schedule from mid-December through spring.

Coming soon: Norwegian Christmas Fair, November 19-21; Danish Christmas Fair, November 20-21; Swedish Christmas Bazaar, November 20-22; Luncheon Meet, November 22; Finnish Christmas Bazaar, November 27-28; ChowdaFest, Westport, Connecticut, November 27-28; Hungarian Holiday Fair, December 6

Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream

2009-11-11T16:50:00-05:00

Tea, Earl Grey, cold.

And in a cone, not a cup (small; $3.95). Van Leeuwen ice creams are rightly renowned for their scrupulous reliance on superior ingredients. (At an UnFancy Food Show one summer, it was explained to me that the nuts for their pistachio ice cream are sourced just every other year, "on the trees' schedule.") The custard base, made only from milk, egg yolks, and cane sugar (18 percent butterfat, 30 percent overrun, if you're into stats), is super-rich and creamy. So much so, in fact, that at first the ice cream may seem all texture, until that "Aha!" moment when the flavor makes itself known.

Shown: Earl Grey, flavored with Yunnan black tea and Italian bergamot; mint chip, excellent primarily because it was clearly made with peppermint, as advertised, and not merely some random "mint"; a subtle vanilla; and one of the Van Leeuwen trucks, parked at the Columbia University main gate.

Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream
For truck locations, see www.Twitter.com/VLAIC
718-701-1830
www.VanLeeuwenIceCream.com

Riverside Café

2009-11-11T16:45:00-05:00

The dining room, on the ground floor, has a much more modest design.

Six days a week it offers a buffet breakfast and lunch ($4 and $6, respectively, for one serving, not all-you-can-eat). The portion was modest, too, but Madras curried short ribs were fork-tender, and roasted Japanese eggplants I took by their stems until only the stems remained.

Riverside Café
490 Riverside Dr. (near 120th St., inside Riverside Church)
212-870-6820
Sunday through Friday, 8:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.

The Leopard

2009-11-11T13:40:00-05:00

I know little about this "Midtown French-Continental 'time warp'," except what I read in an old Zagat. The New York Times, which reported the restaurant's passage in June 2004 (yes, it's been lying in wait that long for a favorable real estate market), added that The Leopard had "been at 253 East 50th Street since the mid-60's."

In August 1963, it so happens, the Times reviewed a movie then playing at the Plaza (not far away, at 42 East 58th), praising it as "a stunning visualization of a mood of melancholy and nostalgia at the passing of an age," noting particularly the movie's "autumnal mood of change and decay." Those words, which describe Luchino Visconti's adaptation of Giuseppe di Lampedusa's novel The Leopard, are not out of keeping with the somber brown townhouse that was the restaurant's home. Pure coincidence?

The Leopard (closed)
253 East 50th St. (Second-Third Aves.)

Gian & Piero Bakery

2009-11-11T01:25:00-05:00

There's also a plain-looking, double-crusted version filled with vanilla custard.

But that was another evening, another dessert. This is Gian & Piero's almond pasticiotto (pahst-uh-Shawt approximates the bakers' pronunciation; $1.90), a palm-sized tart that layers almond paste on ricotta cheese on a thin seam of raspberry jam. The crown of slivered nuts are both a come-on and a promise.

Gian & Piero Bakery
44-17 30th Ave. (44th-45th Sts.), Astoria, Queens
718-274-8959

City and Soul

2009-11-10T14:40:00-05:00

The artist is a city boy.

New York and, to a lesser degree, San Francisco are the inspirations for Kim Cogan's solo exhibition City and Soul. If you've wandered, as I have, in latitudes south of 14th St., through the haze of brushstrokes you may recognize the subjects of several of Cogan's paintings. (Some are shown here only in detail, or on an angle, in accommodation of gallery lighting.) Above, "Nick's Luncheonette" sits empty on Williamsburg's Broadway, while "Open Late" portrays the Zaragoza Mexican Deli Grocery on Avenue A.

Below, "Grocery at Dusk" is the Chinese Hispanic Grocery of the Lower East Side, shown here in idiosyncratic detail. (See also Spy Pizza Café.) "Catch of the Day" portrays a Chinese fish market, maybe on Mott, maybe on Grand; according to the artist, the woman in the flowered dress, shown in multiple "exposures," was snapping pictures of the seafood with her camera. (Sounds like a food blogger to me.) I can't place the café of "When It Rains"; if you recognize it, drop a word in the comments.

City and Soul
Paintings by Kim Cogan
www.KimCogan.com
At Gallery Henoch, 555 West 25th St. (Tenth-Eleventh Aves.)
917-305-0003
www.GalleryHenoch.com
Through November 29, 2009

Berried Treasure Farm

2009-11-10T10:40:00-05:00

"Cooks like potatoes"; can be eaten raw, too.

The sunchoke ($4.00 per pound) is the edible tuber of a species of sunflower; "girasole," Italian for "sunflower," is the likely source of the tuber's other common name, Jerusalem artichoke. The flavor does suggest artichoke, but the crunchiness brings to mind water chestnut, too; if you cook them at all, steaming rather than roasting or boiling is better for safeguarding the texture.

And like the artichoke, the sunchoke stores a carbohydrate called inulin rather than starch, which not everyone digests comfortably. Better to experiment with a small portion before you dig in wholeheartedly.

Berried Treasure Farm
Cooks Falls, New York
607-498-4666
At the Union Square Greenmarket, roughly from March to Thanksgiving

Anselmo's

2009-11-09T21:30:00-05:00

Horn of plenty.

Anselmo's calzone ($10) would be cumbersome if the pizzeria didn't score it across the middle. But pull it apart and you'll have two flattened cones — perhaps one for you, one for a friend — of stark white ricotta and mozzarella in a thin, chewy, coal-oven-charred crust. The little tub of red sauce is merely a distraction, and the sausage I added ($2) made no impression at all. Choosing from the customary roster of pizza toppings, perhaps you can do better.

Anselmo's
354 Van Brunt St. (at Sullivan St.), Red Hook, Brooklyn
718-488-7400
www.AnselmosPizza.com
Closed Monday

Name This Restaurant

2009-11-09T19:30:00-05:00

The best-known Native American princess of the 1950s had little opportunity to visit this restaurant, which opened in 1959. Granted, this royal personage began her career as a puppet, which would have made the seating problematic, but it's possible that one of the two actresses who later embodied her did, indeed, dine here. Can you name this restaurant, and (perhaps more challenging) can you name this princess? (Please post your answer in the comments.)

Piccola Cucina Focacceria

2009-11-09T12:35:00-05:00

Supremely creamy arancini — just wait till you see inside.

Compared with a sturdy rice ball (so called) at Esposito & Sons in Caroll Gardens, after two bites this arancini ($3.50) collapsed into a delectable mass of arborio rice and pea-dotted ragu. See how it runs; the texture is closer to that of the prosciutto balls at Espo's neighbor Joe's Superette.

Another customer — a native of Catania, Sicily, who works at this focacceria's affiliated restaurant — told me that these are the only arancini he's found in New York that remind him of the Old World version. He also observed that although "arancini" (ah-rahn-Chee-nee), the commonly used Sicilian name for these "little oranges," is plural in form, even back home some folks use the word to order just one; others prefer to say "arancino" for the singular. No big deal, says he; sidestep the issue and order two arancini, say I.

Piccola Cucina Focacceria
120 MacDougal St. (Bleecker-West 3rd Sts.)
212-228-6175
Affiliated with a full-service restaurant called Piccola Cucina (184 Prince St.), which also lists arancini on its menu

Locust Grove Farms

2009-11-09T00:40:00-05:00

Despite the white pubescent fuzz, one tough character.

The fuzz rubs off easily under running water, though when you core your quince ($2.50 per pound) you might prefer to pull off the peel, which is edible but slightly astringent. You'll still need to soften it up. As a simpler alternative to roasting or baking, I sliced mine in eighths and steamed it on the stovetop, after which it took equally well to balsamic vinegar and to honey.

On many other occasions: I haven't ventured the squash blossoms, but the cherries ($3 per pint) were sweet if smallish. Clapp favorite pears ($1.40) were very juicy after a few days of brown-bagging it; awkward name, though. As for apples, a blushing golden (not shown; $2 per pound) turned out to be nearly as golden within, soft-textured, and sweet; from "the oldest tree on the farm," a Rhode Island greening (not shown; $1.40 per pound) was very firm.

Locust Grove Farms
Milton, New York
At the Union Square Greenmarket

Nada-Sushi

2009-11-09T00:35:00-05:00

Not angling for the Hispanic market, I take it. (See also the apocryphal misadventures of the marketing for the Chevy Nova.) Nada, I learn, is a ward of the Japanese city of Kobe. But I haven't visited the restaurant; wisecracks aside, about it I know nada.

Nada-Sushi
135 East 50th St. (Third-Lexington Aves.)
212-838-2537

Street Sweets

2009-11-09T00:30:00-05:00

Also street quiche.

For a moment, that tomato threw off the counterman, who, surveying his selection of quiches, thought that the full-fleshed dill-scallion variety ($6) had succumbing to overfishing by Midtown lunchers. (I caught the last one.) Nice little crust holds up well, literally.

Street Sweets
Location varies; this day, on 52nd St. near Sixth Ave.
212-888-6633
www.StreetSweetsNY.com

O'fishole Seafood

2009-11-08T01:10:00-05:00

A contraction, perhaps, of "old fishing hole"?

Could be. Though the name isn't as blunt as "Willie Burgers," this site's previous, affiliated operation, O'fishole's menu is pretty much what you'd expect. Two salmon cakes (with a side of garlic bowtie pasta; $6.50) had crisp shells and moist, onion-laced filling.

O'fishole Seafood
274 West 145th St. (near Frederick Douglass Blvd.)
212-234-2601

Outdoor Seafood Soul Food Menu

2009-11-08T01:05:00-05:00

Though I'd never seen this shack in operation, the awning seemed so bright and clean that surely, I thought, scoring a serving of fish 'n' grits was merely a matter of timing.

But after digging out photos taken 20 months earlier (below), I see that things are much the same, except for the nearby billboard (Magic Johnson out, Foot Locker in, basketball the common denominator). The awning simply looks young for its age, while the exhaust fan, unsurprisingly, always looked old.

Outdoor Seafood Soul Food Menu
2750 Frederick Douglass Blvd. (at West 146th St.)

Omega Oil

2009-11-08T01:00:00-05:00

Nowadays you read much more about omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish oil as well as certain plant and nut oils. There's no sign that the company behind the cure-all knew the first thing about omega-3, though do note that that ad was painted as a triptych.

Surviving painted ad for Omega Oil
Seen from Frederick Douglass Blvd. at 147th St.

Tia Julia

2009-11-06T21:55:00-05:00

Like many Mexican street-food vendors, Tia Julia does serve tacos, but on your first visit to the truck you may pore over the hand-lettered menu before noticing the small selection.

Instead your eyes might rest on the lesser-seen tlacoyo, which resembles an unsealed, pan-fried turnover stuffed with beans (first two photos below; $2.50), or meat and potatoes, and dressed with sour cream, hot sauce, and grated cheese.

It's filling, yet dwarfed by the torta and the cemita, sandwiches that are the mainstay of the truck's business. Either may be built on a milanesa of beef or chicken that's pounded thin, breaded, and deep-fried, accompanied by sliced avocado and — "Picante, amigo?" — an optional dose of pickled peppers. At Tia Julia, the surest way to distinguish the cemita is the shredded white cheese heaped higher than the roll is wide, until the sandwich is compression-wrapped for travel. Shown below: the milanesa de res torta ($5.50), with a biteaway view of beef, and a cemita de pollo ($7) in which the chicken is buried under cheese and half an avocado.

The one taco I've tried at Tia Julia seems to be a regularly offered "special," topped with rice and a cold hardboiled egg sliced in two ($2); if there's a story about how such a thing came to be, I'm all ears. Also shown: the truck's Direct TV dish, which feeds a small screen just inside the window for Spanish-language programming while you wait.

Tia Julia
Parked on Benham St. just south of Roosevelt Ave., Elmhurst, Queens
917-757-1633
11:00-10:00; closed Thursday
Newer, bricks-and-mortar location: 68-06 Roosevelt Ave., Woodside, Queens
718-205-6482

El Idolo

2009-11-06T17:00:00-05:00

Too bad the tortilla was stiff near to cracking.

Several related Mexican trucks in Queens and, occasionally, Manhattan bear the name El Idolo. In addition to traditional tacos, this Corona outpost serves a taco arabe ($3), in which the tortilla is rolled around grainy, flavorful, chipotle-sauced pork. Rather than a corn tortilla, this Pueblan variation on the top-loaded taco employs a slightly thicker, wheat-flour wrap — introduced, say many stories that seem to spring from the same source, by an Iraqi emigrant in the 1930s.

As I understand it, the tortilla in a taco arabe should be as limber as pita bread, if not as thick; mine unrolled of its own accord. I rolled it right back up and held on tight.

El Idolo
Parked on the south side of Roosevelt Ave. near 104th St., Corona, Queens
(One of several trucks with this name)

Eddie's Meal Mobile

2009-11-06T16:10:00-05:00

The truck is a '67 Chevy, but Eddie's business kicked into gear nearly a decade earlier.

It was July 1959 when Eddie Sikis (Psy-ches) decided to leave his father's bakery and strike out on his own. He bought the first of three trucks, secured a $10 consumer affairs license (the Department of Health was not yet overseeing mobile vendors), and set up near Corona's Linden Park. (In Eddie's childhood the park had also been this site of the artificial Linden Lake, which continually overflowed and flooded the nearby school, raising health concerns that were quieted only when the lake was filled in.) He's been setting up at his current location since 1965, when World's Fair traffic was still bringing in business and the land across from Eddie's parking spot was still part of a working farm (fresh New York City tomatoes, anyone?).

True, my bacon cheeseburger ($2.75) was made from a pre-formed patty and cooked on the same flattop that kept the coffeepot warm. That's OK, when Eddie's stories add so much flavor of street-vending days gone by.

Eddie's Meal Mobile
Parked at the northeast corner of 104th St. and 43rd Ave., Corona, Queens
Seven days, 10:00-5:00

Food-Friendly Events, November 6-12

2009-11-06T01:05:00-05:00

Real Ale Cask Festival
Friday through Sunday, November 6, 7, and 8, noon-2:00 a.m.
The Brazen Head, 288 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn
www.BrazenHeadBrooklyn.com
Nearly 40 casks will be on tap this weekend, a dozen at a time, many of them rarely seen in New York. Most $7/pint or $5 for a 10 fl. oz. "half-pint"; free admission

Cook. Eat. Drink. Live.
Friday, November 6, 6:00-9:00; Saturday and Sunday, 2:00-6:00
The Tunnel/La.Venue, 608 West 28th St.
www.CookEatDrinkLive.com
"Featuring a large sampling of ultra-premium gourmet foods and spirits, plus appearances from some of the city’s premier chefs." 21 and over, please; tickets, $65 per day

Hungarian Food and Pastry Fair
Saturday and Sunday, November 7 and 8, noon-5:00
Hungarian Reformed Church, 220 4th St., Passaic, New Jersey
www.PassaicHunRef.org/Menu.html
"Bring your family and friends for the most delectable Hungarian dishes and pastries." See the website for details of the menu, and hope for palacsintas as limber as the one shown above. Free admission

The Brooklyn Beefsteak
Sunday, November 8, 3:00-6:00
The Bell House, 149 7th St., Gowanus, Brooklyn
www.TheBellHouseNY.com/calendar.php
All-you-can-drink McSorley's light and dark ale, all-you-can-eat naturally raised aged beef, "delicious side dishes prepared by one of NYC's top young chefs — and absolutely no utensils." Tickets, $50, are no longer available online; they may, repeat may, be available at the door

BRooklyn Underground Chili Extravaganza (BRUCE)
Sunday, November 8, 8:00 (prospective judges should arrive earlier)
Barcade, 388 Union Ave. (Ainslie-Powers Sts.), Williamsburg, Brooklyn
"Ten competitors, including the 2008 champion, cook up their best chili for the delectation of all attendees. Think your palate is refined enough to judge? Turn up before 8 to win a chance to be one of the ten decision makers. To wash it all down, drink specials by SlyFox and Sixpoint will also be on offer." Free admission
Via Brooklyn Based

Literature and Gastronomy Roundtable
Monday, November 9, 7:00 p.m.
Instituto Cervantes, 211 East 49th St. (Second-Third Aves.)
www.FrenchCulture.org
Part of the sixth Festival of New Literature from Europe. Four novelists — Agnès Desarthe (France), Jesus Ruiz Mantilla (Spain), Christoph Peters (Germany), and Clara Sereni (Italy) — share their culinary and literary knowledge in a discussion moderated by Mark Kurlansky (author of books including Cod, Salt, and The Big Oyster), followed by a reception. Free admission

Food Writing Forum with Judith Jones
Tuesday, November 10, 6:30 p.m.
Alvin Johnson/J. M. Kaplan Hall, 66 West 12th St., room 510
Editor and author Judith Jones reads from her new book, The Pleasures of Cooking for One, which was inspired by the recipes and stories she wrote about in her memoir, The Tenth Muse. Jones is in great part responsible for bringing international cuisine into America's home kitchens by luring stories and recipes from cookbook luminaries like Julia Child, Lidia Bastianich, Marion Cunningham, Marcella Hazan, Madhur Jaffrey, Edna Lewis, and Claudia Roden, among many others. Tickets, $5; free to students and New School faculty, staff, alumni with ID
Via Local Gourmands

Agnès Desarthe in conversation with Mary Ann Caws
Wednesday, November 11, 7:00 p.m.
Posman Books, 75 Ninth Ave. (inside Chelsea Market)
www.FrenchCulture.org
Desarthe's latest novel, Mangez-moi, tells of a woman who "begins a new life as a restaurateur by opening a tiny 25-seat Parisian eatery without previous experience as a manager or chef." Caws is author of Provençal Cooking: Savoring the Simple Life in France. Reception follows. Free admission

Ongoing: You'll find food vendors at Brooklyn Flea, on Saturday in Fort Greene and Sunday in Dumbo, through November 22. This fall the vibrant New Amsterdam Market returns twice more this fall, next on November 22. You can find New York Greenmarkets, and a smaller array of Community Markets, at various locations around the city. For food-related walking tours, see NoshWalks, "Wildman" Steve Brill, The Institute of Culinary Education, NYC Discovery Walking Tours, and Big Onion; most cut back or suspend their schedule from mid-December through spring. The NYC.gov events calendar offers a searchable list of block parties and street fairs.

Coming soon: 17th Century Dutch Worship Service and Colonial-era Dinner, November 15; Norwegian Christmas Fair, November 19-21; Danish Christmas Fair, November 20-21; Swedish Christmas Bazaar, November 20-22; Luncheon Meet, November 22; Finnish Christmas Bazaar, November 27-28; ChowdaFest, Westport, Connecticut, November 27-28; Hungarian Holiday Fair, December 6

Mama Isabel's Place

2009-11-05T01:15:00-05:00

The truck shares its fenced-in corner lot with a half-dozen chairs, simply for customers to rest their feet; Puerto Rican pastelillos and alcapurrias are eminently suited to stand-up eating.

The casing of the torpedo-shaped alcapurria de carne (first two photos below; $1.50) is deep-fried yet unusually supple; inside is a ground-beef picadillo, something like a sweet sloppy joe. The pastelillos, which at a glance resemble empanadas filled with jueyes, pollo, or carrucho (crab, chicken, or conch, shown in that order; $1.50 to $2.50), are as delicate and flaky as any in the city.

Mama Isabel's Place
Truck parked in the lot at Prospect Ave. and 156th St., Woodstock, Bronx
10:30-7:00; closed Monday
Shuttered roughly from Thanksgiving through March