Eating In Translation

Artisanal Creamery

Emphasis on "cream."

Niederstein's

This boulder, reads the inscription, "supported Henry Schumacher's inn built here in 1854. Renamed Niederstein's in 1888 it served as a rest stop for travelers and horses between Jamaica and Williamsburg." (Suddenly that subway ride doesn't seem like such a haul.) The restaurant served its last sauerbraten in 2005 and was demolished later that year. Today all that remains is a rock to mark where German pilgrims landed, then tarried awhile, before moving on.

Niederstein's
Marker at 69-16 Metropolitan Ave. (69th-70th Sts.), Middle Village, Queens
(now also the site of an Arby's and a Radio Shack)

Fortunata's

The grandma slice at Fortunata's ($2) goes heavy on the fresh mozzarella, and absent a knife and fork, it's hard to bite clean through that cheesy layer; the tomato sauce underneath is more sweet than tangy. Good; would certainly be better fresh from the oven.

Fortunata's
65-26 Metropolitan Ave., Middle Village, Queens
718-456-4786

Stokrotka

Nestle corn flakes cereal snack (20g.; 65 cents), from Poland; apricot and peach had the unreal flavor of freeze-dried fruit in some breakfast cereals. The store itself is your typical end-of the-subway-line convenience shop/deli, leaning toward Eastern Europe.

Stokrotka
67-34 Metropolitan Ave., Middle Village, Queens