Eating In Translation

Global Supermarket

Signs that take playful liberties with traditional letterforms are a common sight at New York's restaurants and markets. Since the shapes of food are so familiar and widely understood, it's not unusual for amateur signmakers as well as professional typographers to draw on this collective visual vocabulary. A chicken drumstick might be swapped in for the letter I, or a slice of pizza for an A. The practice is not limited to the Roman alphabet: A chile pepper, for example, can replace one stroke of a Chinese character. A favorite of mine embellishes the script of a Central Asian country to simultaneously spell and depict the name of the restaurant.

The letter O gets a lot of attention because of its bulky shape, which is easily mimicked by many other bulky shapes. An apple or an orange, a cocktail olive or a coffee bean, a ramen bowl or a dinner plate all can readily substitute as an O, especially when given context by untransformed letters. The substitution can be so smooth that we (meaning me) often read first and look closely later. The leafy globe on the awning of Global Supermarket (former site of one location of the mini-chain Trade Fair) seemed so prosaic that I almost didn't bother with a photo. Only afterward did I notice that the globe, from an American perspective, has done a one-eighty: It shows the Old World and not the New.

Global Supermarket
75-07 37th Ave. (75th-76th Sts.), Jackson Heights, Queens
718-779-2077

McSorley's Old Ale House

Two-course lunch (chili, $4; beer, $3).

McSorley's Old Ale House
15 East 7th St. (Second-Third Aves., opposite Taras Shevchenko Pl.), Manhattan
212-473-9148

Shangrila Express

By all accounts, the inhabitants of Shangri-La — that idyllic land of Lost Horizon, "far beyond the western range of the Himalayas towards the less known heights of the Kuen-Lun," where lifepans might be centuries long — accord little value to the concept of "express." Nor, in the lamasery that ministers to their spiritual needs, is there much call for halal food, this cart's stock in trade.

Another mobile business, with a similar, hyphenated name, has been known to sell Tibetan food; at this cart, which is perhaps a distant relative, shabalay and momos are not on the menu. Lately, however, one can find rajma ($5), a beloved breakfast of the Punjab, a region that straddles Pakistan and northern India. Well-spiced, protein-rich kidney beans in a thick gravy are deposited atop a bed of rice, then dressed with red (hot) and white sauces and several shakes of a spicy masala. It's no prescription for immortality, but on the wind-whipped border of Manhattan Valley and Morningside Heights, rajma brings fresh life to world-weary feet.

Shangrila Express
Cart stationed near the northeast corner of Broadway with 111th St., Manhattan
Morning till late night

Ratner's

The departure of a Sleepy's mattress store and renovations for an incoming urgent-care center exposed these traceries of the famed kosher dairy restaurant (est. 1905, moved here 1918, closed 2004). What looks like lettering, however, may never have been visible during the restaurant's long run. More likely this is the silhouette, highlighted by subsequent touch-up paint jobs, of the boxy metal trays that held the letters of Ratner's neon sign.

See also this menu, from 1987, and tell me you wouldn't like a little nesselrode pie.

Ratner's
Surviving signage, 138 Delancey St. (Norfork-Suffolk Sts.), Manhattan
(As of April 2015, no longer extant)

San Antonio Bakery

(This venue is closed.) The golden countenance of the pastel de choclo ($13.50) is a pillow of pureed corn seasoned with basil, baked atop a beef-and-onion filling that also sports black olives, raisins, and generous chunks of chicken breast. Literally it's a "corn pie," but menu captures its spirit in fine telegraphic fashion: This is "the Chilean version of a shepherd's pie," both savory and sweet.

Previously: A housemade bun frames this rendition of the iconic Chilean hot dog, the completo ($3.50). Smothering the thin beef frank are chopped tomatoes, sauerkraut, pureed avocado, and squiggles of mayonnaise. The avocado, unlike guacamole, has only the barest of seasoning; a few spoonfuls of pebre, a salsalike condiment provided at every table, adds just the right jolt. On another occasion, a baked seafood empanada (not shown, $4 at the time, and probably a special), featured clams, shrimp, and, in typical Chilean style, lots of onion.

San Antonio Bakery
36-20 Astoria Blvd. (at 37th St.), Astoria, Queens
718-777-8733
Also at 174 Rockaway Ave., Valley Stream, New York
516-568-0075
www.Facebook.com/SanAntonioBakery

Indonesian bazaar at City Blessing Church

Es doger, when served at a restaurant, will usually be listed under an amorphous menu heading such as "drinks and desserts." A fat straw is useful; a spoon is a necessity. It hails from the West Java capital of Bandung, a name associated with pink drinks, often colored by rose syrup but, in this case, by a bottled, tinted cocopandan syrup.

Other ingredients in this rendition included ice, basil seeds, red tapioca pearls, condensed milk, slivers of young coconut, avocado, and two types of tape (Tah-Peh), one made from black glutinous rice, the other, from cassava. Tape is a pasty fermented food known by many other names thoughout East and Southeast Asia; the sweeter ingredients of es doger are balanced by its sour twang.

Shown below: Bubur ayam, literally "porridge chicken," is essentially a well-decorated chicken congee. Warm rice porridge is first topped with shredded chicken, then dressed with chopped scallions, toasted soybeans, salty and sweet soy sauces, spicy peanut sauce, pickled vegetables of some sort, multicolor tapioca crackers, and an ingredient or two I might have missed, then freshened just before serving with a ladle of hot chicken broth. Bubur ayam is often one of the first items to sell out at these bazaars — it's what's for breakfast.

For more photos from multiple bazaars, see the Eating In Translation page on Facebook.

Indonesian bazaar at City Blessing Church
38-02 61st St. (at 38th Ave.), Woodside, Queens
(These 2015 events have been replaced, in 2016, by a series of larger bazaars at the St. James Episcopal Church.)

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Rosary Society Bake Sale

Many smaller events aren't just a gateway to homespun food: Sometimes they point to what else is good in the neighborhood.

Astoria Bakery

My apple turnover ($2) was very light, very flaky. Your squiggles may vary; don't be shy about asking for lots of icing!

Astoria Bakery
43-21 Ditmars Blvd. (at 45th St.), Astoria, Queens
718-728-9712

Belka (Squirrel) Deli

When winter drags on past its expiration date, even Russian-made vitamin C tablets (59 cents) start looking good.

Belka (Squirrel) Deli
8319 20th Ave. (83rd-84th Sts.), Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
718-333-0535
www.BelkaDeli.com

New A&N Food Market

(This venue is closed.) The floral come-on of a Xinjiang fragrant pear (Sheen-jeong, $1.49 per pound) is more pronounced, according to greengrocer wisdom, in specimens with a blush. This oblong fruit of northwestern China is crisp like an Asian pear, even when ripe, yet as juicy as any Anjou.

New A&N Food Market
41-79 Main St. (Sanford-Maple Aves.), Flushing, Queens
718-359-1300