Eating In Translation

Ole & Steen

In Denmark, the home of Ole & Steen's founders, they don't call this a danish. The general term for such pastries is wienerbrød, named for the Austrian capital and its celebrated baking traditions and techniques. The common circular shape with filling in the middle is a spandauer; this one is topped with raspberry marmalade and slivered almonds.

Also shown, from a springtime visit, Easter chick puffs — passion fruit marshmallow, passion fruit ganache, white chocolate, shredded coconut, wandering eyes.

Ole & Steen
873 Broadway (East 18th-East 19th Sts.), Manhattan
929-209-1020
(one of several New York locations)
www.OleAndSteen.us

Sikh Day Parade and Festival

The first time I attended this April celebration of the Sikh religion — adherents trace their roots to the Punjab, in what's now Pakistan and northern India — midafternoon was the earliest I could manage. The parade, which had kicked off at Times Square around 1:00, had already wound down, and the crowd alongside Madison Square Park was nearly impenetrable, yet somehow folks continued to emerge with overflowing platefuls of food. After walking a wide circle past a temporarily closed Shake Shack, I found a roundabout passage to the serving tables, where mango juice, a banana, and my own plateful of food were soon offered, and accepted.

New York Bakery

This isn't a bakery. And, despite the trio of Korean daily newspapers stacked on the counter and a handful Korean noodle soups advertised only in Hangul, the menu hasn't been devoted to Korean food in ages. But this is a very New York establishment: Years ago, the husband-and-wife owners reportedly hired a Mexican cook, who helped them expand the menu of their home country with popular dishes from her home country.

Today the bill of fare features the likes of burritos, quesadillas, and these fish tacos (three for $8), weighty with breaded whiting and, on request, turbocharged with salsa verde. When I also signed on for onions and cilantro, husband and wife interrupted their Korean conversation to confirm my preference: "con todo."

Alas, this tiny kitchen will close at the end of October; prospects for a new location are unclear. H/T Jeremiah's Vanishing New York regarding the imminent closing.

New York Bakery
51 West 29th St. (Sixth Ave.-Broadway), Manhattan
212-213-2838
Breakfast and lunch only; closed Sunday

Experience Thailand

(Updated with additional photos.) Khanom foy thong is prepared much like street-fair funnel cakes and South Asian jalebi, but with more-delicate results.

The NoMad Bar

The burger ($18) at first seems too precious. Want fries? That's extra. But approach it edgewise and you'll find that the patty has plenty of heft; take a juicy bite and you'll marvel at its richness. Credit a blend of dry-aged chuck and ample portions of suet and bone marrow. Counterpoints: red onion, cheddar, and a trio of housemade pickles (included). The least familiar is fennel.

The NoMad Bar
10 West 28th St. (Broadway-Fifth Ave.), Manhattan
347-472-5660
www.TheNoMadHotel.com/#!/dining /menus/the-nomad-bar

LEGO store

Two newly created, characteristically blocky depictions of the Flatiron District: One farm-to-table, one grab-and-go.

LEGO store
200 Fifth Ave. (23rd-24th Sts.), Manhattan
212-255-3217
www.stores.LEGO.com/en-us/stores/us/flatiron-district

Taste of Persia

(This venue is closed.) "This is our Persian soup; we make it with 17 different vegetables. We top it with mint, crispy onion, garlic, and yogurt" (that is, kashk). The gal who runs Taste of Persia's outdoor pop-up repeats this litany tirelessly; despite the winter cold, customers just keep coming.

Not far away, chef-owner Saeed Pourkay also serves his thick noodle soup, ash reshteh (small, $6), and three or four other dishes each day from the front corner of a Flatiron pizzeria. (At less-busy hours, you may be offered samples of the lot, commentary included.) The setting is unglamorous, but it does offer indoor seating and ready access to fountain soda.

Previously: My Persian plate ($12) would look humdrum if not for the sumac powder and saffron water that decorate the basmati rice. That's too bad. Kabab diggi, the sauteed ground beef shown at top left, is quite good; fesenjan, below it — shredded duck in a pomegranate walnut sauce — is terrific, especially for the tartness of the pomegranate.

Taste of Persia
12 West 18th St. (Fifth-Sixth Aves., inside Pizza Paradise), Manhattan
212-488-0020
www.Facebook.com/pages/Taste-of Persia-NYC/256654807729263

Sen

Kamameshi (kah-mah-May-she, or "kettle rice") is an analog of the Hong Kong-style claypot rice called bo zai fan. A distinction of this Japanese style is that it employs a metal pot for cooking and serving, but the similarity is more apparent: Good things are steamed with rice, which takes on their flavors.

In the case of "five gold curry kamameshi" ($15), the principals are coconut curry, green onion, and minced chicken, which in the first photo have already been gently mixed with the rice. Also shown: the okoge, the enticing, desirable crunchy bits that adhere to the pot.

Sen
12 West 21st St. (Fifth-Sixth Aves.), Manhattan
212-388-5736
Also 23 Main St., Sag Harbor, New York
631-725-1774
www.SenRestaurant.com

Calexico cart

Black bean and "gringo ground meat" tacos ($3 each).

Calexico cart
Worth Sq. (24th St. at Broadway), Manhattan
(One of several mobile and brick-and-mortar locations)
347-595-0392
Through midafternoon only
www.CalexicoCart.com

Serbian Food Festival

Rise, sirs, from these semi-recumbent postures!