Eating In Translation

Randiwa

Colors of the EAMAYC* Sunday buffet at this Sri Lankan restaurant: deviled chicken; coconut-laced kale mallum; pork black curry; chile and coconut sambols; palak paneer; eggs; eggplant moju; kiri, housemade yogurt soon to be topped with palm sugar syrup; and the consequence, kiri-pani.

H/T Jared Cohee, Eat the World NYC

Randiwa
1405 Richmond Ave. (at Christopher Ln.), Bull's Head, Staten Island
718-477-1044
www.Randiwa.net
Closed Tuesday

* "Eat as much as you can," Randiwa's formulation of "all you can eat." The buffet is bottomless, and the staff don't push to turn tables; let's disregard concision.

Holtermann's Bakery

My morning of "apple picking" (one glazed, one cinnamon sugar) was prompted by a visit to September's Nansen Lodge Scandinavian Heritage Fair. At that annual event, all of the baked goods were homemade, with one exception: Holtermann's kringle, a flattish, filled, iced pastry ring that was doled out two slices per portion. This day, an entire ring of kringle crowded the edges of the box immediately below my donuts. I'll show it when I can, but the dining buddy who bought it has the right of first reveal.

Holtermann's Bakery
405 Arthur Kill Rd. (Miles Ave.-Giffords Ln.), Great Kills, Staten Island
718-984-7095
https://HoltermannsBakery.webs.com

Lighthouse Point Fest and Soup Tasting

From the instructions to competitors: "Pick a lighthouse anywhere in the world and create a hearty soup, potage, gumbo, bisque, bouillabaisse, or chowder that represents that special place and the unique people who lived and worked there." My favorite entry was a steamer chowder served by Lifestyles for the Disabled. The ingredients — including steamer clams, salt pork, potatoes, and sweet onions, as well as clam broth, cream, butter, and sherry — were cloaked too thoroughly and evenly to permit a suitable photo. Evidence of the namesake ingredient will have to do. Also shown: leavings of the afternoon.

Lighthouse Point Fest and Soup Tasting
Outside the National Lighthouse Museum, 200 The Promenade at Lighthouse Point, St. George, Staten Island
www.LighthouseMuseum.org/lighthouse-point-fest-2017
(The 2019 festival and soup tasting was held on September 28)

Nansen Lodge Scandinavian Heritage Fair

One lapskaus — a Norwegian stew, double-plated to support the weight of corned beef, potatoes, carrots, and turnips — led to many desserts. Apart from kringler, prepared by the venerable Holtermann's Bakery and doled out two slices per portion, all of the baked goods were homemade. (Not quite half appear in these photos.) Many had been fashioned by the hands of the lady who served me, notably a ring-shaped, glazed applesauce cake with crushed pecans (also shown at bottom). That cake, like all the desserts, was just a dollar; it seemed prudent to take my seconds to go.

Nansen Lodge Scandinavian Heritage Fair
Nansen Lodge, 3465 Victory Blvd. (Graham-Travis Aves.), Travis, Staten Island
www.Facebook.com/pages/Nansen-Lodge-Social-Club-Inc/117837564908551
(The 2019 fair was held on September 14)

African Heritage Cultural Festival

I admired the deep blue headwrap of the woman grilling the chicken. It called out, and intensified, the paler shade on the green, white, and blue flag of Sierra Leone, hanging nearby. The colors of my black-eyed peas and joloff rice (a complimentary plate) came from palm oil and tomato respectively — but perhaps I could have kept in mind the roadside stand I'd seen minutes before, just around the corner, brimming with bushel-sized mesh bags of brilliantly orange, yellow, and red chili peppers. Scotch bonnets, or something like them.

And I should have taken note (and accepted) when the woman held out a bottle of water so matter-of-factly. Those were some mighty hot peas.

African Heritage Cultural Festival
Park Hill Ave. between Osgood Ave. and Sobel Ct., Park Hill, Staten Island
www.Eventbrite.com/e/african-heritage-cultural-festival-tickets-72345253601
(The 2019 festival took place on September 28)

Phil-Am Foods

Although this batch was shelved in a refrigerator case, with the desserts, pichi pichi are sometimes considered a heavy snack owing to their principal ingredient, grated cassava. The stodginess of the cassava is mitigated by sugar, coconut shavings, and, often, added flavor, in this case langka, jackfruit. Also shown: a handwritten sign at the point of purchase for a decidedly salty snack, keeping warm and under cover. Balut will wait for another day.

Phil-Am Foods
527 Tompkins Ave. (Virginia-Clifton Aves.), Rosebank, Staten Island
718-876-6948
www.PhilAmSI.com

Tamales Martita

Tender as can be: a trio of tacos de cabeza, featuring luscious chunks of beef cheek. The menu has much to explore (not all of it is posted on the fridge); weekend mornings are busiest.

Tamales Martita
99 Port Richmond Ave. (Ann-Bennett Sts.), Port Richmond, Staten Island
718-524-7758
www.Facebook.com/TamalesMartitaNY

Rosemarie Bakery

The trees are still green, but the cookies have started to turn color: an autumn-themed lagniappe, handed through a window open to the sidewalk.

Rosemarie Bakery
155 Port Richmond Ave. (Vreeland-New Sts.), Port Richmond, Staten Island
718-816-1585
www.RosemarieBakery.com

Oaxaca Pizzeria Deli & Taqueria

Keep your 'roni cups: pizza estilo Oaxaca, con carnitas y jalapeño (boiled pork and fiery pepper). Even this "grande" pie (the only other size is "extra grande") was an ambitious undertaking for our table — every slice was a two-hander.

Oaxaca Pizzeria Deli & Taqueria
1240 Castleton Ave. (Dongan-Taylor Sts.), Port Richmond, Staten Island
718-556-9416
www.Facebook.com/OaxacaDeliAndTaqueria

Targee African Grocery

My batch of kanyah, West African peanut cakes, was made with toasted rice flour. An equally common (and nearly as crumbly) variety is prepared with gari, granular fermented cassava, whose sourness offers a compelling contrast with the other principal ingredient, sugar. This grocery stacks both types of kanyah right by the register.

Also shown, at the corner: a secondary street sign honoring this Liberian neighborhood's most famous performers.

Targee African Grocery
523 Targee St. (Vanderbilt Ave.-Sobel Ct.), Park Hill, Staten Island
718-816-7670
https://Targee-African-Grocery-inc.business.site