Eating In Translation

Kopi Kopi

The name "kopi" may be cryptic, and the sourcing from Sumatra (note the small print) may seem none too special for a coffee shop. The artwork, however — a rendering of the world's most expansive archipelago, albeit compressed and naively drawn — pegs this as an Indonesian-owned operation. Kopi Kopi (literally "coffee coffee") employs fair-trade beans from back home that are roasted here in New York, though this days-old business has yet to publish a menu of coffee varietals.

An Indonesian prepared-food menu has begun to shape up, however. It lists chicken soup, beef and chicken satay, the salad called rujak, and nasi uduk, a dish of coconutty rice served with marinated beef. Savory and sweet pastries include wingko Babat ($1.50), a Javanese cake made from glutinous rice and coconut. Mine was still warm.

Kopi Kopi
68 West 3rd St. (Thompson St.-LaGuardia Pl.), Manhattan
212-777-7285
www.KopiNYC.com

Artichoke Basille's

The namesake artichoke slice ($4.50) is heavy for its size. Though the topping is often compared to a spinach-and-artichoke dip, anything you'd dip into it might very well snap in two, since the creamy base is bolstered by mozzarella and pecorino romano so it won't ooze off the edges.

To manage all that weight, the pizza is framed by a crisp lip — not common, but not unknown, among well-regarded pies — and undergirded by a thick, stiff crust that lacks the chewiness of a classic New York pizza. Even if you enjoy the flavor, one slice is plenty.

Artichoke Basille's
111 MacDougal St. (Minetta Ln.-Bleecker St.), Manhattan
646-278-6100
(one of several locations)
www.ArtichokePizza.com

Landbrot

The best bite was between the bread.

Doma Na Rohu

Grandma slices.

Num Pang

True, the sandwiches owe some of their heft to the toasted baguette.

Sidewalk taco stand

Palm Sunday, like most Sundays, saw two vendors selling Mexican chow outside Our Lady of Guadalupe. One, with a diminutive Pueblan name, also prepared gorditas, huaraches, and quesadillas. The proprietors of the other — their first home was Mexico City — offered a rainbow of gelatinas, but their cooked-food menu was confined to a half-dozen tacos. This one ($3) boasted a chile pepper, likely a poblano, stuffed with white cheese and batter-fried; the taco was made even more filling by a scoopful of rice.

Sidewalk taco stand
In front of Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. Bernard
328 West 14th St. (Eighth-Ninth Aves.), Manhattan
Sunday only, morning through midafternoon

Mr. Tiki's Hawaiian Shave Ice

Often shave ice sports the brightest colors found in nature (come to think of it, that goes for Hawaiian shirts, too). But it's more essential to replicate the snowy texture found in winter atop Mauna Kea (or some more accessible mountain peak). Mr. Tiki's makings are very fine-textured; his machine shaves off broad, thin planes of ice that are patted, gently, into a spheroid shape. This "small" ($2.50) was slightly bigger than a softball. The scarlet bloom and pale brown fringe are the colors of cherry cola.

Mr. Tiki's Hawaiian Shave Ice
In a window of Karvalas Pizza, 108 Seventh Ave. (at Christopher St.), New York
Sporadic hours, most likely afternoons and early evenings in warm weather

Imperial Woodpecker Sno-Balls

The imperial woodpeckers of western Mexico are feared extinct; today they're known primarily from museum specimens and postage stamps. In northern climes, the sno-balls of New Orleans are uncommon, too, so a sighting in the West Village is cause for excitement.

Victory Garden

Soft-serve goat milk ice cream (3 oz., $3) had a lovely, light flavor. Another time I'd choose a topping less breakfast-cereal-sweet than "honeycomb candy" ($1.75), or none at all — though even against a pure white backdrop, that pansy garnish might still vanish in the mouth like a will-o'-the-wisp.

The owner, Sophia Brittan, makes all of her small rotating roster of soft-serves from goat milk, including one style dubbed "minty." Not simply "mint," it's flavored with a blend of varieties fresh from the Greenmarket: hyssop, apple mint, chocolate mint, whatever mint. It's another good reason to make tracks.

Victory Garden
31 Carmine St. (Bleecker-Bedford Sts.), New York
212-206-7273
www.VictoryGardenNYC.com

Sweet Revenge

Twenty types of cupcake are available all day, but chili parm pickles ($5) are baked at lunchtime only, alas.

Sweet Revenge
62 Carmine St. (Bedford St.-Seventh Ave.), New York
212-242-2240
www.SweetRevengeNYC.com

Il Cantuccio

Carb on carb.

Cafe Asean

Good stir-fried noodles and a good grilled burger have a lot in common.

Cambodian Cuisine Torsu

"Torsu" is Cambodian for "struggle," an understandable tag for a restaurant that endured a years-long migration from Fort Greene to the Upper East Side, only to see that second location shutter as well. The owners don't seem fully at ease in a downsized business, judging by the bulk of the upright refrigerator they've hefted aboard.

The Donut Pub

The shredded topping of this coconut cream donut ($1.10) wasn't sweet; the filling more than compensated. One is plenty.

The Donut Pub
203 West 14th Street (Seventh-Eighth Aves.)
212-929-0126

Former restaurant and bakery

From all indications, this last sign of an unknown, long-gone tenant will soon be wiped clean. Today the building is home to a restaurant, wine bar, and lounge named D6, after a postal district in South Dublin.

Surviving sign for a restaurant and bakery
557 Hudson St. (Bank-West 11th Sts.)

Numero 28

(This post is based on a visit to the mini-chain's Spring St. location, which is closed.) You can't tell this slice is actually a snip, can you?

Piccola Cucina Focacceria

(This venue is closed.) Supremely creamy arancini — just wait till you see inside.

Pizza Box

"Garden in rear..."

Bill's Bar & Burger

A restaurant burger with my favorite at-home topping? Bring it to meeee.

Keste Pizza & Vino

Fall colors on display.