Eating In Translation

Free food!

Hand-painted community fridge, 136 Lawrence St. (Fulton-Willoughby Sts.), Downtown Brooklyn

Waldorf Cafeteria

The first Waldorf restaurant opened in Massachusetts around 1904, according to Brownstoner; this Brooklyn location debuted about a quarter-century later. A New York City tax photo, c. 1940, shows that the cafeteria had two entrances connecting what might have been an L-shaped dining area. In those days, the Waldorf wrapped around Bond Clothes, famous for its two-trouser suits; today, the corner tenant is an Ann Taylor factory store.

H/T the Ghost Signs group on Facebook

Waldorf Cafeteria
Surviving signage, 449 Fulton St. (at Jay St.), Downtown Brooklyn

Pierogi Boys

Atop boiled pierogi — here, a sampler of potato and cheese, sauerkraut and mushroom, and meat — a crunchy garnish is the best garnish. Sour cream, furnished on the side, helps hold those bits of bacon in place.

Pierogi Boys
Inside the DeKalb Market Hall, City Point, 445 Albee Square West (Fulton-Willoughby Sts.), Brooklyn
929-368-2768
www.PierogiBoys.com

Katz's Delicatessen

Random act of Katz's: my half of a pastrami sandwich shared with a friend.

Katz's Delicatessen
205 East Houston St. (at Ludlow St.), Manhattan
212-254-2246
Also, as A Taste of Katz's, inside the DeKalb Market Hall, City Point, 445 Albee Square West (Fulton-Willoughby Sts.), Brooklyn
www.KatzsDelicatessen.com

Kotti Berliner Döner Kebab

Fresh cucumber and onion complement long-marinated, spit-roasted chicken on the namesake kotti döner kebab. At this market stall, the sandwich — born in Turkey, now also naturalized in Berlin — can be wrapped in a thin flatbread or clamped in a pretzel bun. Soft, focaccia-like pide (Pee-day, shown, $14) is a particularly good choice if you've been generous with the sauces.

Kotti Berliner Döner Kebab
Inside Dekalb Market Hall, 445 Albee Square West (Fulton-Willoughby Sts.), Brooklyn
(one of several locations)
347-614-1779
www.KottiDoner.com

Schrafft's

Founded in 1861 as a Boston candy company, Schrafft's was transformed in the 1900s into a chain of casual yet genteel restaurants, many of them in the greater New York City area. According to Jeri Quinzio in Savoring Gotham, Schrafft's "specialized in such homey dishes as egg salad sandwiches with the crusts cut off, cheese bread, and chicken à la king, along with indulgences like butterscotch sundaes. Most shops included a candy counter and a soda fountain as well as table service. Some boasted a bar."

This location, which may have opened with the building in 1925 and had closed by the late 1970s, sported a men's grill. A clubby preserve found in many midcentury restaurants and hotels, the men's grill maintained a strict door policy at some establishments. At others, including Schrafft's, a woman could cross the threshold provided that she was escorted by a man.

Read how E.B. White, channeling Hemingway, imagined lunch for two at another Schrafft's, in 1950. ("This is my last and best and true and only meal, thought Mr. Pirnie as he descended at noon and swung east on the beat-up sidewalk of Forty-fifth Street. ...")

Schrafft's
Surviving signage, 1 Smith St. (Fulton-Livingston Sts.), Downtown Brooklyn

Choncho's Tacos

Baja Williamsburgh.

"American Food"

At the Brooklyn Book Festival, the emcee at the north stage made continual entreaties on behalf of the nearby "food court," which amounted to no more than two stalls, one for fruit, one for baked goods. The hourlong panel on "American Food" offered much more meat and, unsurprisingly, attracted a much more attentive crowd.

Shown, left to right: moderator Ed Levine (Serious Eats); Mark Kurlansky (editor, The Food of a Younger Land); Liz Thorpe (The Cheese Chronicles); Jennifer 8. Lee (The Fortune Cookie Chronicles).

"American Food"
A panel at the Brooklyn Book Festival, Brooklyn Borough Hall and Plaza
www.BrooklynBookFestival.org
Mid-September

Lassen & Hennigs

This longtime deli/bakery/caterer prepares the softer style of black-and-white cookie ($2.25); as at Leske's Bakery, still-moist frosting perches on a spongy base. Because it travels more easily, the fondant-draped variety — as at Nussbaum & Wu — is much easier to track down in New York, and you can find it in multiple color combos. But sometimes there's good reason to make the trek to Brooklyn Heights: If you want to "get in your licks," only a softie like this will do.

Lassen & Hennigs
114 Montague St., Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn
718-875-6272
www.LassenCatering.com

Sts. Constantine and Helen Cathedral Greek Festival

An entree that didn't stuff me left room for a second dessert.