Eating In Translation

Chinatown crosswalk

H St. NW at 8th St., Washington, D.C.

Pisticci

The medium reinforces the message: Open for delivery, 5:00-10:00 p.m., handwritten signage on delivery bags. Not just food but cocktails and wine, too, thanks to new (and probably temporary) rules issued by the State Liquor Authority.

Pisticci
125 La Salle St. (Broadway-Claremont Ave.), Manhattan
212-932-3500
www.PisticciNYC.com

Frutas: mango, piña, sandia

Mural (detail; various artists of the local Latin American Youth Center, date unknown)
Outside Tubman Elementary School, 11th St. NW between Kenyon and Irving Sts., Columbia Heights, Washington, D.C.
Read more about the Columbia Heights neighbohood on DCist

New York-area food events

Since 2007, I've published a weekly roundup of food events in and around New York City. I've attended hundreds of these events, such as the annual Kachin Traditional Food Fair, shown here. Like many readers of Eating In Translation, I'm especially fond of fairs and festivals that showcase dishes, and sometimes cuisines, that are readily available to the general public only on special occasions.

Unfortunately, given the current advisories about gathering in groups, I'm suspending these roundups for what might be a period of several months, if not longer. In the meantime, I'll seek out other worthy subjects to cover in their stead.

I see ... coffee mugs

Pareidolia (pear-ih-Doh-lee-ah) "is the tendency for incorrect perception of a stimulus as an object, pattern or meaning known to the observer, such as seeing shapes in clouds," or coffee mugs in concrete patches. Perhaps there's also a tendency to see what we have a taste for.

"Coffee mugs"
4445 Vernon Blvd. (at 44th Dr.), Long Island City, Queens

New York-area food events, March 12-19

Please note: My roundup of food events appears one day early this week, and it updates several listings that have been either postponed or cancelled. Before traveling to any event in the coming days, it would be wise to confirm with the organizer.

Salt Smoke Time
Thursday, March 12, 6:30-8:30
Archestratus Books and Foods, 160 Huron St. (at Manhattan Ave.), Greenpoint, Brooklyn
www.Eventbrite.com/e/salt-smoke-time-turns-one-with-will-and-julie-horowitz-plus-an-esteemed-panel-of-guests-tickets-80582421191
Tickets: $5

The Dairy Restaurant
Thursday, March 12, 7:00-8:00
Strand Bookstore, 828 Broadway (at 12th St.), Manhattan
https://www.strandbooks.com/event/katchor-dairy-restaurant
Tickets: $15, or $30 including a signed copy of the book

Mei Lai Wah

Take daily, or as needed: Chinatown's best baked roast pork bun. Also shown: two noodle rolls, one with dried shrimp, the other wrapped around a youtiao, or fried-dough stick, that itself is stuffed with fish paste.

Mei Lai Wah (previously Mei Li Wah; the Chinese characters are unchanged)
64 Bayard St. (Mott-Elizabeth Sts.), Manhattan
212-966-7866

Hawa Restaurant

That's rich: mafe yap (Mah-fay Yahp), lamb in peanut sauce, at this new Senegalese restaurant in Central Harlem. Also: thiebou djeun (Cheh-boo Jen), the national dish of rice and fish, with the customary cabbage, carrot, and cassava, plus eggplant and, unsummoned, extra sauce on the side.

H/T Eat the World NYC

Hawa Restaurant
410 Lenox Ave. (West 130th-West 131st Sts.), Manhattan
917-965-2215
www.Facebook.com/Hawa-Restaurant-109186223910971

Yes we are open for business

Sign posted in the window of i-Fortune Cookie
4469 21st St. (44th Dr.-45th Ave.), Long Island City, Queens
718-786-4821
www.Facebook.com/pages /Fortune-Cookie /113388305361281

Unique Bakery

Traditionally, the red beans, brown sugar, and rice flour of little bowl cakes (put chai ko, also bo zi gao) are steamed in ceramic bowls, then unmolded by twinned bamboo skewers that the customer takes in hand. Nowadays, in Dyker Heights and reportedly in Hong Kong, too, aluminum cups are common. Mine were sold in a baggied two-pack, without skewers, but came free from their cups with little trouble.

Unique Bakery
6213 Fort Hamilton Pkwy. (62nd-63rd Sts.), Dyker Heights, Brooklyn
718-680-9000
www.Facebook.com/Unique-Bakery-550592221701870