Eating In Translation

Nneji: The Nigerian Connection

"We've tried our best to return to deeper ways of cooking,” says Beatrice Ajaero. "Beatrice and her mother have wanted to share West African culinary culture with their friends and neighbors for many years," and in June her grocery and takeaway restaurant Nneji (nn-Nay-jee) "brought the rare and tempting prospect of Nigerian food" to Astoria, Queens. Read more on Culinary Backstreets.

Max & Mina's Ice Cream: Taste Makers

Bruce and Mark Becker of Max & Mina's Ice Cream, in Kew Gardens Hills, Queens, have a repertoire of more than 10,000 flavors (not all at once, of course); the current house favorite reflects the shop's wildly diverse decor. Read more on Culinary Backstreets.

Staying Alive: Queens Restaurants Navigate the Pandemic

The pandemic that swept into Queens exacted a terrible toll on many families, compounded by the mandated closure of houses of worship and other centers of community support, and by the shutdown of all but essential services. Under strict guidelines that only lately have begun to loosen, restaurants, bakeries, and other food businesses have been permitted to remain open. How are they faring? Read more on Culinary Backstreets.

Cut and Run: Astoria's Pizza Slice Joints

Sold by the slice, pizza is emblematic of New York City. It's an inexpensive antidote to hunger pangs that can be ordered quickly, and eaten quickly, even on the go. Think of Tony Manero, the John Travolta character in Saturday Night Fever, double-decking a pair of slices while strutting through Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

At a less bouncy pace, we recently visited Astoria, Queens, in search of good slices. Read more on Culinary Backstreets.

(A few) Best Bites 2019: Queens

For Culinary Backstreets, here are several of my favorites of 2019, in the company of a few more from CB Queens correspondent Ike Allen. See also my Best Bites for 2018 and 2017.

Warique: Peruvian Hideaway

Many things aren't easily transplanted from tropical eastern Peru — first home of Jimmy Lozano, owner of Warique — to temperate New York. But his grandmother's spice blend for pollo a la brasa thrives in Jackson Heights. Read more on Culinary Backstreets.

Kape't Torta: Coffee and Cake, Filipino-Style

"Tortas are modest in appearance — they resemble flattish cupcakes with minimal adornment — but they taste like breakfast at grandma's to many homesick Filipinas.

"And tortas are a common bond between Nora Galleros, Jeanette Uy and Khaterine Gadingan — Khaty, to her friends. Nora, Jeanette and Khaty grew up in the Southern Philippines, on theisland of Mindanao, and think back fondly to the food of their home city, Gingoog (Hee-ngo-og).

"In 2004, Jeanette remembers, the 'first stop when I came to New York' was to visit her high school friend Nora, who had arrived in 1990 and was running her own business. Jeanette, who loves baking so much that she 'could forget time' while in the kitchen, brought Nora a little something to accompany her morning kape, or coffee. Tortas, of course." Read more on Culinary Backstreets.

200 Gram Noodles: From the Streets of Chongqing

After moving to Flushing three years ago, Tingting Li missed her home city's most famous noodles, "which in the Chinese name of her restaurant are called xiǎo miàn. 'Small noodles' would be an overly literal translation. 'Small as in simple' explains them better, she tells us (in Mandarin; one of her two business partners translates to English). Eating them is a 'very casual thing' back home. 'No big deal … like you brush your teeth.' "

Finding them in New York, however, was another matter. Read more about the "local flavor noodles" that evoke her previous home on Culinary Backstreets.

Burmese Bites: Morsels from Myanmar

(This venue is closed.) The dough for palata is "stretched to translucence by a series of acrobatic, table-slapping wrist flips, then stretched just a bit further until it seemingly must tear under its own weight." For Myo Lin Thway — shown, in the first photo, beside his wife, Rebecca, at the 2007 Myanmar Baptist Church Fun Fair — "showmanship is simply a natural byproduct of the palata-making process" that he's mastered over more than two decades. He's hardly a showoff himself.

Read more about Burmese Bites, which rose to fame at the Queens Night Market, then won new fans with a weekday food cart, on Culinary Backstreets.

La Gran Via Bakery: Cuban Comfort

At La Gran Via Bakery, in Jackson Heights, only the smile of co-owner Betsy Leites outshines the show-stopping display. When it's time for coffee, Betsy pulls a potent cortadito, too. Read more on Culinary Backstreets.