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(This venue is closed.) At first blush, you and I would probably call this soft-serve, but in the Green Mountain State the name is creemee, maple creemee (small, plus topping, about $4). The maple hit was intense enough that the red raspberry sauce took it down a notch.
Corner of Vermont
374 Fifth Ave. (5th-6th Sts.), Park Slope, Brooklyn
347-844-9288
www.Facebook.com/CornerOfVermont
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Personal-sized pecan danish ($1.75).
Palisades Park Bakery
325 Broad Ave. (at Bellview Pl.), Palisades Park, New Jersey
201-944-3192
www.Facebook.com/pages/Palisades-Park-Bakery/117976321561105
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In English we have bread, cookies, and cakes; in Polish, chleb, ciastka, and ciasta. No translation is needed, however, for espresso and cappuccino (though a spell-checker couldn't hurt). The names of these two beverages are loanwords, which are rendered in the recipient languages just as they are in the donor language.
"Loan," some linguists maintain, is misleading, since the original spelling is appropriated rather than borrowed with the expectation of return. Payback, however, can take many forms, in this case through the acknowledgement of the preeminence of Italian coffee culture. The local Polish-American community offers a culinary return, too: On the largely Italian-American menu, several items that include sausage also have a kielbasa analog. I have my eyes on a hot sub with kielbasa, peppers, and onions.
Piazza Pizza & Cafe
168 Main Ave. (Hathaway-May Sts.), Wallington, New Jersey
973-777-1168
www.PiazzaPizzaCafe.com
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In Sichuan, the watchword is mala, numbing spicy; in Guizhou, the Chinese province to the south, folks prefer their food suanla, sour-spicy. Atop my serving of Guizhou cold vermicelli ($5), also known as dong fen or mung bean noodles, pinkish sour radish provided the gentle pucker.
This dish seemed to be the menu's most compact presentation of Guizhou's distinctive flavor combo; the radish, suggested the wall menu, is included by default. Ultimately I mixed it with the noodles, peanuts, scallions, a spicy red oil, and (not evident in these photos) what appeared to be dulse and some sort of preserved greens. The takeout menu, which is more extensive and includes serviceable English translations, also includes a Chinese-only annotation above the noodle section. For 50 cents, one can "add red sour" — surely a reference to the sour radish, added where you please.
Gui Zhou Miao Jia
136-55 Roosevelt Ave. (Main-Union Sts., inside a mini food court), Flushing, Queens
917-285-2535
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Portuguese Feast in the Ironbound
Friday, June 12, 6:00-11:00; Saturday and Sunday, noonish-late evening; parade begins Sunday at 3:00
Peter Francisco Park, Ferry St. at N.J. Railroad Ave., Newark, New Jersey
www.Facebook.com/events /782975345156571
Previously the festival stretched a mile-and-a-half through the Ironbound District; in 2015, as in recent years, it will be confined to a triangular park near Newark's Penn Station. Individual establishments with outdoor space, however, may also be serving festival-style food
Free admission
New Jersey Seafood Festival
Friday, June 12, 4:00-8:00; Saturday, 11:00-8:00; Sunday, 11:00-6:00
Silver Lake Park, Fifth Ave. at Ocean Ave., Belmar, New Jersey
www.Belmar.com/view.php?id=1602
Free admission
Prophet Elias Greek Food Festival
Friday, June 12, 5:00-midnight; Saturday, noon-midnight; Sunday, noon-10:00
Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church, 15 Leroy Ave. (Allison Ave.-Monroe Pl.), Yonkers, New York
www.ProphetElias.ny.goarch.org/festival.html
Free admission
The World of the Number 7 Train
Saturday, June 13, 10:00-5:30
From Grand Central Terminal to Flushing, with many stops in between
www.GeogNYC.com/?p=621
Cost: $42 (plus a MetroCard); advance registration required; contact Jaconet@aol.com to learn if space is still available
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The Dominican Republic claims the highest peak in the Caribbean, Pico Duarte. At just more than 10,000 feet, it's no Aconcagua, but the chicken, pork, and yuca of that island country stood shoulder to shoulder with the highland chow at Jersey City's annual Festival de los Andes. Have a look at the slideshow; devoted EIT readers will likely know which is which.
Best practice at food festivals is to arrive at the stated opening hour, to beat the crowds and to get first crack at the most enticing menu items, especially those that may be in short supply. With the aim of exploring the neighborhood afterward, my dining buddies and I did just that — and, on this occasion, we didn't catch any of the dance performances, which were running behind schedule. We also missed out on some chow that was late to the table. Baked mac 'n' cheese empanada, I have my eye out for you.
Festival de los Andes
On the lawn in front of Hepburn Hall, New Jersey City University, 2039 John F. Kennedy Blvd., Jersey City
www.Facebook.com/NewJerseyCityUniversity/photos/pb.160201390681313.-2207520000.1432682800./976502825717828
(The 2015 festival was held on June 7)
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Rare cause to enjoy instant coffee: a Nescafé paleta. In addition to ice pops, ice cream, and the ice cream sandwiches called galletas, on occasion this Mexican shop and cafe also prepares chamangos. In name and in conception, a chamango combines chamoy, a Mexican salty-sour-spicy-sweet sauce, and mango in both chunky and slushy form. Like many chilled hybrid drink-desserts, a chamango is served with both a spoon and a fat straw — though likely as not the straw will be swaddled in tamarind candy.
Paleteria El Paleton
114 Market St. (Mercer-Bergen Sts.), Passaic, New Jersey
973-472-2534
www.ElPaleton.com
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Though eye-catching, much more so than the scrawny mulberries on the impossibly gnarled tree halfway down the block, even up close these cherries offered little fragrance to lead me on. The tentative nibbling of a single bird high above corroborated my street-level verdict: not quite ripe.
Wild cherries
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
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Didn't step inside, don't know the food. Just taking note of the hand-lettered sign, especially the personal touch on the final Gs of Hong and Chang.
Hong Chang Restaurant
407 New Lots Ave. (Pennsylvania-New Jersey Aves.), East New York, Brooklyn
718-342-7487
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The freshest of Polski's prepared food usually finds a resting place on the open shelf by the window. This meat-and-potatoes dish would look even better if you could see the steam still rising. Pyzy ($2.50 each).
Polski Meat Market
726 Manhattan Ave. (Meserole-Norman Aves.), Greenpoint, Brooklyn
718-349-2884
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Thank you!
