Eating In Translation

Hi-Collar

Eastern omelette: omurice, an eggy kimono embracing ketchup rice.

Hi-Collar
231 East 9th St. (Second-Third Aves.), Manhattan
212-777-7018
https://HiCollar.square.site

Le Fournil Bakery

Holiday special: Moïshe's jelly donuts, a handwritten sign in the window, on the site of the former Moishe's Kosher Bakery. The donuts themselves were delivered from the remaining Moishe's Bakery, on Grand St. Also shown: Le Fournil's own choco twist; tilework exposed during renovation.

Le Fournil Bakery
115 2nd Ave. (6th-7th Sts.), Manhattan
www.LeFournilNYC.com
Closed Monday

Punjabi Grocery & Deli

A two-dollar go-bag of pakoras; the fan-driven in-house photo gallery (detail); the view from the sidewalk, in 2007.

Punjabi Grocery & Deli
114 East 1st St. (First Ave.-Ave. A), Manhattan
212-533-3356
www.Instagram.com/PunjabiDeliNYC

Beet Covid [wear your mask]

Sidewalk art (detail) outside Veselka, 144 Second Ave. (at 9th St.), Manhattan
212-228-9682
www.Veselka.com

Casa Adela

Mofongo — fried green plantain mashed with garlic, riddled with roast pork, and in this presentation capped with chicharrón, fried pork skin — is traditionally accompanied by a cup of caldo, chicken broth. One purpose of the caldo is to revive a dried-out mofongo (not an issue for this Puerto Rican kitchen); mine eventually served as a pour-over nonetheless. My mofongo was also accompanied by a generous side order of pernil (pear-Kneel). No particular purpose, except that I love well-seasoned roast pork.

Casa Adela
66 Loisaida Ave. (Ave. C, between 4th and 5th Sts.), Manhattan
212-473-1882
https://Casa-Adela-Puerto-Rican-Restaurant.business.site

Khiladi

(This venue is closed.) Pappu is the name, in the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, for a glorified dal. "Mom's way of making it," says the menu, might involve tomato or mango; for my palakura pappu, split yellow lentils were brightened by spinach. Also shown: my tabletop decoration. I'll bet Mom could make something of this, too.

H/T LauHound, who pointed out the podi idli

Khiladi
175 Ave. B (at East 11th St.), Manhattan
646-791-0351
www.KhiladiNYC.com

Trader Joe's Wine Shop

"Please maintain social distancing (6 feet)," a hand-drawn signboard that illustrates "2 shopping carts, 3 whole pizzas, 6 wine bottles." I'd like one of those 24-inch pizzas, please.

Trader Joe's Wine Shop
138 East 14th St. (Third-Fourth Aves.), Manhattan
212-529-6326
https://locations.Trader Joes.com/ny/new-york/541

Terra Thai

Compliments of the proprietors, who recently decamped from Boulder, Colorado, to a tiny East Village storefront: heng lae, pork curry in the style of Chiang Mai; kao ka moo, braised pork in five-spice sauce; and warm coconut milk with sweet corn. Heng lae was a special; next time might bring khao soi.

Terra Thai
518 East 6th St. (Aves. A-B), Manhattan
646-478-7415
www.TerraThaiNY.com
Closed Monday

Little Tong Noodle Shop

(This venue is closed.) Noodles and sides (clockwise from front right): pea shoots, mala chicken mixian, pork wontons, and "Lijiang old town grandma-inspired" chicken mixian. This last dish (also shown below, from my first encounter) is a soup fortified by soft rice noodles, chicken confit, and a tea egg, and accented with various greens and pickles. Its most visually striking feature is the color of the chicken broth — black sesame garlic oil takes credit or, for the eventual ring around my soup bowl, blame.

As for the Old Town of Lijiang: The historic center of a Chinese city in Yunnan province, it was honored as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. In the "tourist scramble" that followed, however, "the indigenous Naxi people were the first to get shoved aside." The Old Town's touristification, to be sure, is no fault of Little Tong — the noodle shop seeks only to offer chicken soup for the Yunnan soul.

Little Tong Noodle Shop
235 East 53rd St. (Second-Third Aves.), Manhattan
929-383-0465
231 West 39th St. (Seventh-Eighth Aves., inside The Deco Food + Drink)
www.LittleTong.com

Ukrainian Museum Christmas Bazaar

Cooking at home is a virtue for the ladies — almost always ladies, much less often men — who organize holiday affairs such as this. Once the labor-intensive work has been carried out in their private kitchens, the bazaar itself can be as much about catching up as about raising funds. During this event the museum's own small kitchen, on the lower level, across the hall from the meeting room that hosts a holiday boutique as well as a crowded display of baked goods, functions primarily as a conversational nook.

Shown, from various bazaars: almond crisps, honey cakes, apricot squares, and wafer cakes, whose eight crispy waffle-textured layers are painstakingly spread with chocolate before the confection is covered in crushed walnut, then cut into lozenges. Typical cost per serving: a dollar or two, while they last.

Ukrainian Museum Christmas Bazaar
222 East 6th St. (Second-Third Aves.), Manhattan
www.UkrainianMuseum.org
(The 2019 bazaar took place on December 7-8)