Eating In Translation

An Obama T-Shirt to Tickle Your (BBQ) Ribs

Celebrated BBQ restaurant Rack & Soul has lined up behind the Barack Obama presidential campaign in name, if not pronunciation.

Word of Mouth: Will Wondees Never Cease?

After opening a second and a third Wondee within several blocks of the original — the best of the three, by my lights, especially now that the owners have dimmed that laundromat glare — this Thai mini-chain is stepping out of Hell's Kitchen and opening a fourth location in Morningside Heights, just south of Columbia University.

Almost across the street from the well-regarded Thai Market, Wondee Siam IV will occupy a narrow but quite deep space formerly occupied by the B. Cohen hardware store. The owners plan a September opening, a staffer at the original Wondee said on Saturday — right on time for the returning Columbia crowd. That delivery man, from the Domino's next door, will be sharing his lonely "bike lane" very soon.

Wondee Siam IV
969 Amsterdam Ave. (107th-108th Sts.)
Scheduled to open September 2008

Word of Mouth: Best Indonesian in the city

At the food bazaar outside the Al-Hikmah mosque, sometime between my combro and my cendol, I sat down with a few fellows to talk about their idea of authentic Indonesian food. In Queens, Whitney Ave. neighbors Mie Jakarta and Minangasli each got a mention, and surprisingly, so did Bali Nusa Indah, on Ninth Ave. in Manhattan. When I asked the fellows about the best of the lot, though, Upi Jaya was the unhesitating consensus choice; from what I gathered, the others don't even come close.

Word of Mouth: A last shout-out from the "soul food diner"

Writes a longtime employee of M&G: "I am sorry to say that now it is officially over the diner has been sold we left for vacation on june 29 2008 we will not be back. We are very sorry about the inconvenience to the loyal customers who stuck by us over the years and to all newcomers, onetimers, tourist, walkins just everybody who has ever eaten there, all the young people who made M&G's the late nite place to be back when we were 24hrs. WE WILL TRULY MISS YOU ALL"

M&G Diner
383 West 125th St. (near St. Nicholas Ave.)
212-864-7326

Word of Mouth: No slices at The Pizza Place

Until recently this storefront sold pet supplies; renovations by a new tenant revealed stained glass from a soda fountain called Wetter's. Now the glass has been covered again, but only for a short time; The Pizza Place is a fictional setting (click for a better view, and note the 555 telephone exchange) for a new movie called "I Hate Valentine's Day." In the near future the building will house a second outlet of Slope Cellars, a wine and spirits store on Seventh Ave.; expect stained glass, but no slices.

The Pizza Place
216 Prospect Park West, Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn
Former home of Wetter's, future home of Slope Cellars

Word of Mouth: Personal pizzaiolo on Avenue J?

If your sights were set on a DiFara slice last Saturday evening and you arrived much after 5:00 (allowing for the usual waiting time), you were plumb out of luck. (Click on the photo, or any other, for a better view.) The sum of Dom DeMarco's efforts — a score of cheese, sausage, mushroom, and pepperoni pizzas, with basil all around — were destined for a single festive Midwood residence, where they arrived shortly after the exchange of vows. (Congratulations and best wishes, Gil and Gaby!) If you'd like that sort of service yourself, I gathered from the father of the groom, it helps to be a customer of long standing; knowing the pizzaiolo for 40-some years earns you a certain amount of goodwill.

DiFara Pizza
1424 Ave. J. (at East 15th St.), Midwood, Brooklyn
718-258-1367

Word of Mouth: Memories of Laos

(This remembrance was sent to me by a reader, Orestes Gonzalez, following my recent posts on Luang Prabang and Vientiane. In addition to making a few minor typographical edits, I've omitted the name of "the lady," to protect her privacy.)

Thanks for the memories of Laos.

I was there in 2000, coming from Siem Reap. I got there on a Friday night, with $5 in my pocket (couldn't find any money changers in transit). The airport, newly remodeled, had no money changers open, as my flight was the last one (and had been delayed several hours).

The hotel I stayed at wouldn't change traveler's checks (I walked the ten blocks to get to it) or accept credit cards, so I was basically stuck for the weekend, without cash, until the banks opened on Monday. I guess I would eat fried caterpillars for the next two days.

Word of Mouth: BBQ Comes to Belmont

Mo Gridder's BBQ has announced a second outpost, in the Belmont section of the Bronx, a few steps from Arthur Avenue at 632 East 186th St. At the original Hunt's Point pitstop, in the parking lot of an auto center, $34.95 gets you an oil change and a checkup for your car, and a ribs platter for you. Expect good chow, but not quite the same full service, at the new location — it's the former home of Roberto's, which now dishes family-style Italian standards at No. 603.

Mo Gridder's BBQ
565 Hunts Point Ave., Bronx
718-991-3046
Closed Sunday
"Coming soon" to 632 East 186th St., Bronx
www.MoGridder.com

Word of Mouth: Mississippi Picnic

Madison Square wasn't the only park to host Southern food lovers on Saturday. Garry Roark, the personable pitmaster of Ubon's "Champion's Choice" (here, holding forth on Big Apple Barbecue eve), told me of an event I hadn't heard of in its 29 years: the annual New York Mississippi Picnic in Central Park. Some 2,000 folks were enjoying Mississippi blues, fried catfish, and sweet tea at the very hour I was polishing off the last of my pulled pork, whole hog, and baby back ribs, so I didn't have the time or the capacity to do it justice. However, the picnic is just a one-day affair, so if you find yourself at Ubon's on Sunday, expect to rub elbows with Mississippi delegates who haven't yet eaten their fill.

New York Missisippi Picnic
www.NYMSPicnic.com/Templates/welcome.htm
Early June

Here's One Girl with Room to Grow

Memorial Day wasn't the time to find yourself in Boerum Hill or Carroll Gardens with a craving for whoopie pies. But when One Girl Cookies reopens on Thursday, May 29, after a three-day makeover, the Dean St. bakery will expand into a new room with indoor seating, side by side with its neighbor Bar Tabac.

Perhaps you still won't find a sidewalk table with parking for your scooter, but then again, you'll never enjoy a whoopie pie at Bar Tabac — and often, it's those little things that matter most.

Word of Mouth: Malaysian at the U.N.

Monday to Friday, the delegate's dining room at the United Nations serves a buffet lunch ($25, plus beverages, tax, and tip) that's open to the public. In addition to a lovely view across the East River and the possibility of rubbing elbows with delegates themselves, the dining room also offers perhaps a half-dozen food festivals each year that focus the buffet on a particular cuisine. On Saturday, I learned that the 2008 festival season will open with the cuisine of Malaysia — specifically, the beloved Nyonya cooking of the "Straits Chinese" who emigrated to the peninsula and flavored their traditional dishes with local herbs and spices.

The Malaysian festival at the delegate's dining room will be held on weekdays from May 12 to May 23, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Reservations are required, and must be made 24 hours in advance; call 212-963-7625. Men must wear a jacket, no one may wear jeans or sneakers, and everyone must present a photo I.D.

Delegate's Dining Room
United Nations building, 4th floor
212-963-7625
www.DelegatesDiningRoom.com

Word of Mouth: Hallo Berlin Express

Update, May 7: "We are going to be open tomorrow from 11:30; we just have inspection," I was told by telephone. Thursday, May 8, it is. Previously:

"Do you know when they're opening?" asked the fellow in the sheriff's hat. The two of us were taking the noontime breeze on Ninth Ave.; I'd just emerged from a look at the new Hallo Berlin Express. The workman behind the counter wouldn't say, I told the "sheriff," but moments later a moustached stranger made an appearance. "May 1," said the stranger (who identified himself only as a partner) before he moseyed inside, perhaps to attend to the tap lines; unlike the famous food cart near Fifth Ave., Hallo Berlin Express will be serving beer with its brats. See you 'round these parts again soon, stranger.

Update: Opening day has been pushed back from May 1 to May 7, as you can see from the sign below. Despite the signmaker's uncertain hand and lack of ease with ordinal numbers, another stranger (unshaven, but moustache-free) confirmed the new, later date.

Hallo Berlin Express
744 Ninth Ave. (50th-51st Sts.)
212-333-2372

Word of Mouth: Cambodian Cuisine

It's still "coming soon," and that same sign remains stuck to the window, but when I stopped by on Tuesday, the interior was reasonably well-furnished and free of construction debris, and several folks were chatting off to one side. The lady who came to the door told me that she expected Cambodian Cuisine — which pulled up stakes in Fort Greene nearly two years ago — to open in its new home in four weeks.

This long-suffering Brooklyn transplant has gone through many fits and starts, so the lady's sunny attitude was especially encouraging; at the very least, she seems to be a believer. Realistically, I can't hope for anything like the freewheeling food scene I found in Phnom Penh, but if Cambodian Cuisine simply lives up to its name, I'll be more than happy.

Cambodian Cuisine
1664 Third Ave. (93rd-94th Sts.)
212-348-9100

Word of Mouth: Momofuku Staff Lunch?

"My sous chef says the cauliflower fritters are amazing," David Chang told the pizza makers at Artichoke, when he stopped in Monday afternoon to wish them well. The fritters weren't ready so early in the day, but he carried away three pies not long after. No joke.

Word of Mouth: Bridgeport Nigerian

With a half-hour to kill in the Trumbull, Connecticut mall — whose food court is surrounded by the grim likes of McDonald's, Blimpie, Taco Bell, Arthur Treacher's/Nathan's, Dunkin' Donuts, Ranch 1, Sbarro, and Cinnabon — I found myself inside a well-known athletic apparel store. After one of the employees made a better-than-average, but unsuccessful, sales pitch, we got to talking. He's of Nigerian descent, and I asked him if there were any Nigerian restaurants nearby. No, he said, there's a couple of African markets in Bridgeport, though there's also a "soul food" restaurant that has some African influences. He couldn't remember the name, but he added that it's downtown, and that that area of Bridgeport isn't very large.

Anyone know any more?

Word of Mouth: Manhattan Filipino

The two counterwomen at Pommes Frites didn't look or sound Belgian; in fact, they were speaking Tagalog. Asked about the best Filipino restaurant in the neighborhood, they recommended Grill 21 over the nearby options on First Ave. As for the possibility of adding chicharon bulaklak to their own deep-fried offerings, they offered only a giggle.

Word of Mouth: Turkish Boza

On my return visit to try the sahlep at Güllüoglu, on Coney Island Ave., one of the regular customers volunteered as my food stylist (a luxury; perhaps you've noticed how many of these photos feature my left hand). I saw by his outfit that he spends a lot of time in the neighborhood, and asked if he'd ever seen boza, a Turkish hot drink prepared with chickpeas, cinnamon, and sugar. He pointed me to a pair of markets, by the names of Efe and Sultan, on Ocean Ave. at Ave. W. Although those markets don't serve ready-made boza, at least they sell the mix; I'll visit them soon.