Eating In Translation

What's Eating In Translation?

This website began as a collection of field notes on interesting food I'd tried, or planned to try, in and around New York. Since its launch, in January 2005, I've visited thousands of venues, from white-linen restaurants to elbows-on-the-table eateries, as well as street vendors, fairs, festivals, grocers, and greenmarkets — and my "to eat" list is longer than ever.

La Frontera

Despite all efforts, the house cemita wouldn't pose for a typical portrait. The second photo shows half of this overstuffed sandwich as well as bits and pieces that tumbled from the other half. All it lacked was a firmer roll — or a fork. (Or maybe I should have eaten it sooner, at one of the restaurant's many outdoor tables, rather than carrying it off to a park.) Also shown, in the third photo, an amuse-bouche while I waited for my takeout order: a birria taco and consomé.

La Frontera
497 East 138th St. (Brook-Willis Aves.), Mott Haven, Bronx
718-684-1418
www.Facebook.com/FronteraTheBest

Yogures Lupita

The young street vendor pointed out homestyle Mexican yogurts flavored with apple, peach, mango, and what he called papaya, presumably so he wouldn't need to explain mamey. It's a creamy fruit, and so the chunky texture of the yogurt puzzled me until I looked again at the lid and decoded "NT" — nuez and trigo, or walnut and wheat.

Yogures Lupita
East 138th St. near the northeast corner with Brook Ave., Mott Haven, Bronx
(one of multiple locations)
347-636-7607
www.Facebook.com/Rico-Yogures-Lupita-941249449323475

Sushi math

Formulae for salmon yaki tomato and maguro tofu rayu
Seen this summer at Sushi of Gari
370 Columbus Ave. (West 77th-West 78th Sts.), Manhattan
(one of several locations)
212-362-4816
www.SushiOfGari.com

Ix Restaurant

Guatemalan hilachas (ee-Lah-chahs), "loose threads" or "rags" of beef in a tomato-and-tomatillo sauce, resemble ropa vieja. Hilachas are more piquant than those Cuban "old clothes," however, and in my slender experience usually soupier, too. Also shown: the dish as presented, with lemon and chopped onion; contents of the beaded tortilla bag.

H/T Jared Cohee, Eat the World NYC

Ix (Eesh) Restaurant
43 Lincoln Rd. (Flatbush-Ocean Aves.), Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn
347-533-6920
www.IxRestaurantNY.com

Little Armenia

A handwritten sign led me to this sidewalk stand where Ararat, the chef, is still waiting to return to waiting tables at a Manhattan seafood restaurant. Also shown: tabbouleh.

Little Armenia
250 Hancock St. (Marcy-Tompkins Aves.), Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
Saturday and Sunday while the weather holds up; 11:00-5:00 or till the food runs out