Food and Things » New York

Flushing’s New World Mall Food Stalls: Not Your Mother’s Food Court

Laura Weiss — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 17:47:04 +0000

By now, the Flushing malls, with their compact food booths from which emerge some dazzling regional Chinese dishes, are a well-known stomping ground for the culinarily curious.

The New World Mall, which opened last year, is hidden on the lower floor of a nondescript office building on Flushing’s bustling Main Street, the predominantly Chinese area’s teeming commercial hub. Enter the building, and the first floor holds few surprises. There’s a wireless provider and a Haagen-Daz ice cream shop. Very humdrum.

Making pork and scallion dumplings at Tianjan Food, New World Mall, Flushing, Queens. Photo: Laura B. Weiss.

But if you ride down the escalator, which is planted straight ahead of you just after you walk inside the building, you’ll encounter a mad riot of neon signs and mobs of hungry locals.

New World Mall, Flushing Queens. Photo: Laura B. Weiss

Yes, it’s a food court with booths stationed around the edges, the center filled with long tables. Except this spot is lined with roughly two dozen stalls serving up all manner of Chinese, Korean and Japanese delights. It seems that every family living in or around Flushing’s Chinatown—the second largest in New York after Manhattan’s—has descended on the place. There are families with children. There are teenagers huddled around tables. Elderly people pick at their steaming bowls of soup noodles.

Hand-pulled noodles with crispy duck at Lan Zhou Hand Made Noodles, New World Mall, Flushing, Queens. Photo: Laura B. Weiss.

Recently, I roamed around the mall, scarfing down savory hand-pulled noodles with fried duck at Lan Zhou Hand Made Noodles; the broth was savory but not earthy or deeply flavored enough for my taste. Then I tried feathery scallion and pork dumplings at Tianjin Food, easily the lightest and most flavorful I’ve eaten outside China.

Dumplings from Tianjin Foods, New World Mall, Flushing, Queens. Photo: Laura B. Weiss.

I finished up with a steaming bowl of congee, a Chinese porridge that’s often eaten for breakfast; sweet chunks of pumpkin floated just beneath the glistening surface.

If you want to try some Asian food dishes in familiar surroundings, the New World Mall provides a gentle introduction. And, of yes, the food court boasts clean bathrooms for that necessary pit stop before you head home.

How to Get There: Take the Number 7 train or LIRR to Flushing/Main Street.

Food and Things Changes Course

Laura Weiss — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 22:46:03 +0000

Happy New Year to all! Yes, I know Food and Things hasn’t been too active lately. But now I’m back and I’ve decided to change the blog’s focus. West Side Rag is covering the Upper West Side, including the food scene brilliantly. (I’m one of its columnists.) So it’s time to move on and cover the wider world of food–everything from culinary travel, to events, to recipes, to new blogs, apps and cookbooks.

So that means I’ll be writing about food adventures around New York—and around the country. I’ll cover food stall finds in Flushing, Queens and fried chicken joints in Memphis. Chef Renee Marton’s recipes will continue to appear on Food and Things. Plus, I’ll be posting about my own cooking adventures, mishaps, stumbles and all.

As always, I welcome your comments and feedback. For a daily dose of Food and Things, follow me on Twitter @foodandthings.com.

Vareli in Morningside Heights is a Welcome Addition to the Upper West Side Dining Scene

Laura Weiss — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 15:37:15 +0000

Vareli, Morningside Heights, NYC

If you don’t mind wading through clots of soused Columbia Students, Vareli in Morningside Heights is a nice spot for some of the best food on the Upper West Side.

The restaurant, which specializes in Mediterranean-themed small dishes dishes and tapas, is situated on the ground floor of the building that also houses that long-time Columbia drinking spot, The Heights. So if you want to avoid the weekend scrum, best to try this place on a weeknight.

Inside, the decor is plain but the food makes up for it. It’s very good and it’s consistent. I ate at Vareli’s about a year ago and had a delicious meal then too. Friday night, I selected roasted baby beets with kefalograviera cheese, pine nuts, and pickled onions and red beet coulis. The salad was tasty but the texture was a bit mushy, not what I expect from a beet salad.

Then, I tucked into some of the best grill octopus I’ve eaten anywhere. Unlike many versions of this dishes which can be tough and rubbery, this preparation was tender, moist and flavorful. It was helped along by Moroccan olives, serrano peppers and a bed of labneh yogurt.

My hubby chose pan seared scallops. He’s very fussy about his scallops. Mostly, we only eat them on the North Fork, right off the boat. But these were remarkably tender and delicious.

Entrées are mostly in the $20 range. Small plates are in the single digits or low teens.

Vareli

2869 Broadway, New York 10025

(Btwn 111th & 112th St)

212 678-8585

Milk Bar to Open on Upper West Side

Laura Weiss — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:20:24 +0000

Momufuku Milk Bar, NY. Photo by crunch1977 via flckr.

I love the Milk Bar’s pistachio layer cake. But the last time I was there, they didn’t have it any more. Maybe they’ll bring it back for their Upper West Side opening, scheduled for a September, says the West Side Rag.

Not familiar with the Milk Bar? It’s part of the David Chang empire and consists of outposts sprinkled throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Milk Bar features soft serve concocted to taste like cereal milk. I was never a huge fan of cereal milk and I don’t like it in my ice cream. But if you scoop up every last drop of milk from your cereal bowl every morning, then this is the treat for you. Other baked goods include the Compost Cookie® and Crack Pie®.

Click here to view Milk Bar’s menu.

Take the Zabar’s Lobster Salad Poll!

Laura Weiss — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 13:59:29 +0000

Want to voice your opinion (or is it outrage?) at the Zabar’s lobster née crayfish salad scandal?

Here’s your chance. Go to the West Side Rag to vote for your favorite new name for this now-notorious seafood concoction.

Zabar's lobster salad is really made with crayfish. Photo: West Side Rag.

Cupcakes: Baked By Melissa to Open on Upper West Side

Laura Weiss — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 13:40:05 +0000

Crains reports that mini-cupcake maker Baked by Melissa is opening an outpost on the Upper West Side. Yelpers give the bite-sized treats a generally solid rating.

The shop is slated to open at 2325 Broadway at 83rd Street. It’s the company’s fifth shop in Manhattan.

Cupcakes by Baked by Melissa.

Bacchus Wine is Closing

Laura Weiss — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:09:13 +0000

Bachus Wine is shutting its doors, according to the West Side Rag. Located on Broadway between 70th and 71st, the wine shop is holding a close-out sale of wine, glasses and other items.

Photo: by Digimist via flickr.

Upper West Side: All About Screme Gelato

Laura Weiss — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 21:42:19 +0000

A rainbow of gelato flavors in a Rome gelateria. Photo: Susan Toth.

Screme Gelato, which hails from Israel, typifies the globalization of the popular Italian variety of ice cream. With two shops on the Upper West Side and others elsewhere in the city, Screme is making inroads all over the city. And its story was featured in Ice Cream: A Global History (Reaktion Books).

The book, a look at ice cream's vibrant history worldwide, uses Screme as an example of gelato's growing worldwide appeal. Gelato was once made almost exclusively in Italy by family-owned concerns. These days, gelato has gone corporate. Large companies making bases and flavors supply gelato makers worldwide. What's more, anyone can be a gelato maker these days---even Israelis who adore ice cream of all types, and local influences are creeping into gelato. Sometimes variants--from Cookies and Cream to Peanut Butter, are supplanting traditional flavors like chocolate and pistachio.

Here's the excerpt from Ice Cream: A Global History (by yours truly):

In the summer of 2009, a new brand of gelato arrived in New York. In a bustling metropolis with thousands of outlets dishingup every ice cream variety imaginable – from classic vanilla to offbeat concoctions like bacon and egg – the debut of yet another ice cream purveyor caused barely a stir among the city’s ice cream aficionados.

But Screme gelato boasted a unique pedigree. The gelato maker hailed neither from Milan nor Rome, but rather from a country – Israel – far removedbfrom the hallowed traditions of Italian gelato making. In Israel, Screme (known as Aldo’s) had assembled more than 50 outlets. Though launched by an Italian gelato maker in 1993 Screme was soon taken over by a group of Israeli businessmen, who quickly rolled out flavours like halva and lemon to suit local tastes. When Screme opened its New York outlets, it took its ice cream in yet another direction, fashioning flavours like Captain Crunch, Reese’s Peanut Butter andKey Lime Vodka – tastes that were specifically engineered to appeal to American sensibilities.

‘The Italians are locked into standard flavors’, Screme’s owner Yona Levy maintains. Levy hasn’t hesitated to aggressively shunt aside centuries-old gelato traditions to create his unique kosher and organic offerings. In fact, it’s safe to say that Screme’s gelato variant – not to mention its rotating menu of more than 5,000 flavours – would utterly confound Italian ice cream traditionalists.

But Screme’s heterodoxy is not unusual. Around the world – from Berlin to Kansas City – globalization has transformed the Italian classic into a frozen dessert that more often than not barely resembles the traditional version. In fact, it could be asked: is today’s globalized version of gelato even Italian – or has it been reimagined into an entirely new, universal ice cream type?

Screme Gelato

2030 Broadway (between 69th and 70th Streets)

(212) 362-2111

176 West 94th Street

(corner 94th Street & Amsterdam)

(212) 663-1362

Screme @ Verdi Square @72nd Street

Coming soon.

H & H Bagels is Closing: Upper West Side Loses Neighborhood Icon

Laura Weiss — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 12:17:48 +0000

H & H Bagels is closing. What’s next? Zabar’s? But fret not, dear readers. The Upper West Side is now are home to the same chain and big box stores, from the Gap to CVS, that the rest of America enjoys. What will go into the H & H Bagels space? I shudder to think of the possibilities. For continuing coverage of the H & H story, visit the West Side Rag.

Julian Medina and Pichet Ong Open Cuban Diner Coppelia

Laura Weiss — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 23:00:36 +0000

Coppelia Cuban Diner

Anything Cuban—music, food, you name it—and I’m there, instantly. Coppelia Diner, a joint venture of famed chefs Pichet Ong and Julian Medina, is a warm casual spot for chowing down on traditional and inventive Cuban and Latin American specialties. And then there are Ong’s fabulous confections to finish off the meal.

I’ve been to Cuba twice and prowled around Little Havana in Miami. In Cuba, with strict rationing, the native cuisine has virtually disappeared except for a handful of “private” restaurants that cater to tourists.

So it’s always with mixed feelings that I approach Cuban food in the U.S. I remember the bare shelves in stores across the island nation. But the name Coppelia Diner–Coppelia’s is a famous ice cream parlor in Havana—grabbed me. So I had to check out this new eatery, open 24/7, to see what Ong and Medina, who also owns Toloache and Yerba Buena, were cooking up.

Inside the vibrantly decorated diner that brightens up a bleak stretch of 14th Street, there’s a long counter and tables and booths. Cuban music plays in the background because, as Ong told me,”of utmost importance to myself—and all of us—is our love for Cuban music.”

Coppelia “is inspired by an old fashioned diner with an ice cream and soda fountain eating counter, as found in Cuba, New York City, and many parts of the world,” Ong explained.

The menu consists of Cuban standards like ropa vieja, eggs and fried plantains, and yucca. But there are also inventive pan-Latin dishes like Chaufa de Mariscos and Peruvian fried rice, with shrimp, tilapia, mussels and tomato salsa, fufu (a root vegetable paste) and plantain puree.

The desserts are Latin-themed.

“For me, I think New York City needs a place where you can get a fabulous cajeta ice cream sundae, or a slice of carrot manchego cake, at 4am in the morning, with homemade everything,” Ong said.

The first time I was there, Ong handed me a serving of his luscious ice creams and sorbets to taste. Two in particular, salted tamarind and apple mojito sorbet, were nothing short of sublime.

A week later, I returned with my hubby. Our starters were crisp-on-the-outside, succulent on-the-inside ham and cheese empanadas, followed by plump tender quesadilla, stuffed with Chihuahua cheese, turkey, bacon and pico de gallo for $8.95. A Cubano, with roasted pork, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard, also priced at $8.95 was delicious and meaty. I did miss the crunch of real Cuban bread, the kind you find everywhere in Little Havana in Miami. Still, the roll was impeccably fresh and helped meld together the flavors of the meats and cheese. For dessert, I dug into yet another scoop of the addictive apple mojito sorbet.

Coppelia

207 W. 14th St.

New York, NY