Eating In Translation

The UnFancy Food Show

Limited elbow room ahead.

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

Foreign Correspondent's Club

Wetting your whistle? Sometimes an inoffensive brew is your best bet.

Pop Ice delivery truck

I'd gladly pay you Tuesday for a bag of ice today.

Pop Ice delivery truck
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
(From a November 2006 visit)

Psar Kandal food vendor

A gentleman I met on the street — he moved here from Germany more than a decade ago and was working on establishing a turkey farm — introduced me to his local market. This Cambodian take on a banh xeo (about 2,000 riels), served "broken," had a similar name and was accompanied by lettuce leaves and fish sauce for wrapping and dipping.

Psar Kandal food vendor
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
(From a November 2006 visit)

Psar Thmei

A few of the sights waiting inside the "new market" were quite visceral, even for me.

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.

Soy Bean Chen Flower Shop

Stop and smell the flowers, and you'll spot the soy custard.

Roosevelt Food Court

(This venue is closed.) This purpose-built venue may ultimately hold a half-dozen stalls, or perhaps more; I couldn't tell from the street. (The gentleman who stepped outside to talk to me (concerned, at first; how many passersby stop to read city buildings notices?) would say only that the owner wasn't there, and that the food court might be finished in another month, or maybe two.

Roosevelt Food Court
135-28 Roosevelt Ave. (Main-Prince Sts.), Flushing, Queens
Likely to open in mid to late summer 2008

Florence's Restaurant

(This venue is closed.) The doors are open to all, but the cuisine makes few concessions to non-African palates.