My deep dish of riz gras, "fat rice," paired lamb with sautéed onions and sharp mustard. Ivorian riz gras is a relation to various Senegalese rice dishes, particularly for the oil and the seasonings that become imbued in the rice. Commonly they are reddened by tomato paste; mine seemed to be a white (tomato-free) version.
Previously: Breakfast service begins at 4:00, but the cabbies who call on New Ivoire in the early morning hours often can't linger. Many take a sandwich to go; the most fortifying might be a footlong sandwich rognon, laden with onion, tomato, and the namesake sauteed beef kidneys. A more elaborate option adds sweet peas to temper the relentlessly earthy flavor of the offal. If kidneys throw you for a loop, a simple chopped-beef sandwich is also on offer.
A bowl of sauce feuille patate, sweet-potato-leaf stew heavy with beef and served with a plate of white rice, is typical fare at an Ivorian sit-down lunch. When I sat down, years back, a vibrating massage chair held pride of place at one end of the dining room, ready to accommodate weary cab drivers. During the first half of the afternoon's football match, which I watched with a dozen Ivorians while digging into my bowl, the chair sat silent and still under the flatscreen — but, true enough, I left before the late-afternoon shift change. The massage chair has since been retired.
New Ivoire Restaurant
76 East 119th St. (Park-Madison Aves.), Manhattan
212-410-5982
www.Facebook.com/pages/Ivoire-Restaurant/113417135359463