Eating In Translation

Hecho en Dumbo

On Hecho en Dumbo's opening night on the Bowery, I stopped in to discuss the merits of tomato-tinged, Mexico City-style pozole rojo with one of the staff. (He's from Puebla himself, and so appreciates a good pozole verde, too.) We also discussed the charm of secondhand signs like this one, which in the right light reveals the blind-embossed tracery of "Hershey's Ice Cream." It's not the first time this old sign got a new coat of paint.

Hecho en Dumbo
354 Bowery (Great Jones-East 4th Sts.)
212-937-4245
www.HechoEnDumbo.com

Melina's Pizzeria

(This venue is closed.) Hey, cats, you'll have to call elsewhere for your pepperoni pie.

Bahamas Deli Grocery

It would be too much to hope that the proprietors have anything to do with the islands, or that they know the first thing about conch salad. The name, and the palm-tree poster in the front window, are more akin to wishful thinking shared with passers-by. ("Bahamas" plays well in winter; here's a name that makes a stronger appeal in the dog days of summer.)

This 24-hour market does stock several different hard ciders, including bottles from Spain and even Latvia, as well as dusty bottles of wine from California. Check that: "wine product."

Bahamas Deli Grocery
3317 Broadway (at LaSalle St.)
212-222-8001

M&M Grocery & Fruit

(This venue is closed.) This long-lost West Indian storefront has been sealed off with cinderblocks. Given the scarcity of food markets in the immediate neighborhood, the bottle-return business is also more surface than reality.

(This is what happens when you have your blinkers up against the winter wind. The commenter below points out two nearby supermarkets that didn't even register during my walk-through, and a few smaller greengrocers as well. The most attractive prospect is a farmer's market, worth a look come summer. Thanks for the word, Yvette!)

M&M Grocery & Fruit
Fulton St. near Marcus Garvey Blvd., Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn

Davis Bros. Country Store

(This venue is closed.) In small type on the awning: "Specializing in fresh meats, country hams, sausages, and bacon." In type that's even smaller but more pertinent to the current state of affairs: "Long-distance moving."

Davis Bros. Country Store
1518 Fulton St. (Throop-Albany Aves.), Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn

Fish House

Not for arthropods only.

Victoria's II

Is that a cloud of ricotta, or just a cloud? Given that the awning features menu items that are predominantly Mexican and not Italian (note the extension on the awning; I've never set foot inside), we might also wonder: Why isn't the eagle perched on a cactus and clutching a snake?

Victoria's II
43-46 46th St. (43rd Ave.-Queens Blvd.), Sunnyside, Queens
718-361-1162

Hot Bird

Long time flown coop.

Surviving painted sign for Hot Bird
One of several signs near the intersection of Vanderbilt and Atlantic avenues, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn

The Leopard

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."

Nada-Sushi

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

Outdoor Seafood Soul Food Menu

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.

New Sam Kee Jan

Purely for the photo op, I snapped this twosome of boiling peanuts and bok choy, wondering how those Georgia jumbos had found their way to a Chinatown market and where they were headed.

New Sam Kee Jan
24 Catherine St. (at Henry St.)
212-233-6252

Let's Eat Soul Food Restaurant

According to a passing postal carrier, Let's Eat Soul Food opened in the 1970s, then after a time closed, opened again in the 1980s, then, eventually, closed again. It's been gone now at least 15 years, he added, except for the sign — on which the only suggestion of soul food is a plate of pancakes, slanted to fit between an ice cream cone, a burger, and what to all appearances is a lime rickey.

Let's Eat Soul Food Restaurant (closed)
Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. at 151st St.

Rao's

Rao's may be New York's toughest reservation, but "do not enter" applies to the adjoining street, not necessarily the restaurant. "You want, you can have a look around, just no pictures," said the man who stepped out the door one afternoon as I lingered on the corner. (Their default dry pasta: DeCecco.)

The older gentleman who appeared a few minutes later noted, as does the Rao's website, that even without a reservation, you can have a drink at the bar. "You won't eat, though," he cautioned.

Rao's
455 West 114th St. (at Pleasant Ave.)
212-722-6709
www.Raos.com
Monday to Friday, dinner only

Nhà Tôi

I haven't found occasion to eat at "My House" since it opened this past spring; the next few, colder months, as this Vietnamese shop builds out its menu, may be a more promising time.

Meanwhile I've noted that in the right light, the hand-lettered awning reveals the outline of the former proprietor's fare (click on the photo for a closer look). I remember passing by that business, which as recently as 2008 served frituras and mariscos to Williamsburg's dwindling Puerto Rican community, but unfortunately I don't seem to have a photo.

Nhà Tôi
160 Havemeyer St. (South 2nd-South 3rd Sts.), Williamsburg, Brooklyn
718-599-1820

Papa John's Pizza

Previously I ragged on Papa John's, a bit, for not bothering to install a proper sign before firing up the oven.

Café Select

With Swiss thrift, this menu holder and specials-board mount gives new purpose to an old rack for telephone directories. Paging Mr. Peterman...

Café Select
212 Lafayette St. (Spring-Broome Sts.)
212-925-9322
www.CafeSelectNYC.com

Obama Country Deli

The website doesn't lean either way, but based on the briefest of walk-arounds, I'm guessing "Obama Country" and not "Country Deli."

Obama Country Deli
2868 Frederick Douglass Blvd. (at West 153rd St.)
347-688-1910
www.ObamaCountryDeli.com

Dana's Luncheonette

Look close and you'll see that the lime rickey is $1.45, but only "to go."

Tienda Guatemalteca

Though it brings in breads from El Quetzal Panaderia, in Providence, Rhode Island, this grocery does run its own (menuless) hot-food counter in back; worth a look at lunch or dinner. I swung by before noon, too early for a bottle of Guatemala's seldom-seen Tiky pineapple soda, but two sweltering hours later, boy would that have been good.

Tienda Guatelmalteca (a.k.a. La Chapincita)
143-07 Hillside Ave. (143rd-144th Sts.), Jamaica, Queens
718-206-3627
Also at 18-08 Bath Ave. (18th Ave.-Bath 19th St.), Bath Beach, Brooklyn
718-837-1284