New Bronx City

I wrote this blog posting 4 1/2 years ago and it has been in draft since then. I'm going to post it today (December 24, 2013)and will be curious to see where it turns out in the order of blogs. This post described my first version of the New Bronx City tour. That tour has changed significantly, with a completely new meeting place, several new areas that we visit that we didn't then (including a block of Jerome Avenue filled with interesting shops and a stretch of White Plains Road in Van Nest that has an emerging Arabic-speaking community representing several countires) and the feel is completely different. I've led the tour three or four more times since then... So here goes: I'd like to reflect on my Saturday tour and add a recommendation. My New Bronx City tour, which took place on Saturday, has been a "work-in-progress." With the weather so lousy, there were just a handful of us. So I did something new: I told the folks that instead of paying me they'd have to lay out for all their food though but we'd do some extra exploring not in the original plan.

It turned out to be a long and fulfilling day - the tour lasted almost 5 hours! Our starting point at the Bronx Central Post Office to see a set of Ben Shahn murals painted during the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s turned out to be a bit of a letdown. I'd seen them myself prior to the tour, but I think we all agreed that although these are magnificent works of art, the setting is so drab that they almost vanish into the background. If the post office would install spotlights to showcase these murals, they would draw much attention.

The Shahn murals depict various aspects of American labor, and are especially pertinent today when the labor movement is undergoing a sea change - but there's almost a couldn't-care-less sense about them. This is a great contrast to the wonderful setting for the murals in the Flushing, Queens, post office that is part of my Flushing tour; I'll be scheduling it for the fall.

[In the years since, the Post Office has indicated possible plans to sell the building. Since its exterior is landmarked, and I think the Shahn murals are, too, it's hard to know who could possibly take it over except nearby Hostos Community College.0

We wandered to the so-called Bronx Walk of Fame, which consists of signs at corners from 149th Street north on the Concourse to at least 161st Street. (I didn't continue to follow it in the rain!)

Here are some recent photos from Joyce Kilmer Park at 161st Street and the Concourse - north side.

We then spent an unexpectedly long time at the Emigrant Savings Bank on the Grand Concourse north of Fordham Road looking at some beautiful murals depicting the early Bronx. What made this visit special was that the branch manager took time to give us some background on those murals and on the building itself, which is landmarked. This type of personal contact often makes the difference during a tour. However, at that point we hadn't eaten yet - our first tastes didn't come until afterward, when we visited a cluster of nearby markets - Cambodian, Guyanese and Bangladeshi - for beverage and snacks. However, it wasn't until we took the bus to the Pelham Parkway area and had lunch at Rawal Restaurant (641 Lydig Avenue) that we hit our culinary stride. This is where I took last year's New Bronx City tour for the first time and a large custom group in April. Sometimes I have to go back to a place to truly appreciate it, and yesterday's lunch was spectacular - flavorful, rich, varied, inexpensive, with nan and roti breads brought to us directly from the oven. We followed soon after with bureks at Burektorja Dukagjini 758 Lydig Avenue
The tour concluded at Enrico Caffe on Morris Park Avenue, a 15 minute walk from Lydig.

August 2008 - Staten Island

First of all, my big news: Noshwalks was featured in am-NY on Tuesday, July 29th, in a nice article on page 13. I'll try to post it later today!

I'm in the process of finishing Issue #21 of Noshnews and am pretty excited about after many months.

In this post, I'm going to share some photos and previews of the issue.

"Little Sri Lanka" - Many foodies know that there's quite a bit of Sri Lankan food to be found in Staten Island, especiallly in Tompkinsville, not far from the ferry terminal in St. George. But this past week, a new restaurant opened, and three weeks earlier, a rather tattered Sri Lankan place re-opened with a new owner and much different approach to dining in this neighborhood, i.e., both new restaurants have a lot more seating and are decorated to attract a more upscale clientele. Lak Bojun at 324 Victory Boulevard and Dosa Garden, across the street at 327 Victory Boulevard, each will offer a much nicer ambiance for eating than has existed to date.
Sanjeewa Wickremaratne opened Lak Bojun (324 Victory Boulevard) in early July.


Dosa Garden was set to open on Saturday, July 31. I was leading a Noshwalk in Sunset Park that day so I didn't have a chance to go to opening day. But owner Mogan Chinniah has carved out a beautiful and fairly spacious eating area for customers. By the way, the restaurant canopy and menu describe it as an Indian place, but when I visited them as they were putting the finishing touches on the place two days before opening, Chinniah told me that it's both Indian and Sir Lankan. The menu looks great, with about 15 different types of doas and utthappam (crepes and pancakes), biryanis and other mouthwatering treats.

Meanwhile, I had an amazing lunch at Lak Bojun, with chicken curry, carrots cooked in cocoanut milk, eggplant and a chewy dried fish in a savory rice. It reminded me of the Indonesian dish nasi goreng, which combines textures and flavors. I hope both restaurants are hugely successful!

I can imagine, now that there are four Sri Lankan eateries within a block that foodies will "discover it" and flock there in big numbers, if they can convince themselves that Staten Island isn't a faraway country. (The other two places are New Asha, next door to Lak Bojun at 322 Victory Boulevard, and Colombo Cafe at 12 Cebra Ave., around the corner. New Asha has been around for a pretty long time and is known to NY Noshers. Colombo Cafe was known as Lakshmi's until about a month ago. I think the new name is better, and the food is great, but the space needs improvement.)

Besides the Sri Lankan places, this neighborhood also has several Albanian shops. The three food venues include Chuck's Pizza (which, like many NYC pizzerias is owned by Albanians), Rey's pizza (next door to Dosa Garden) and Emil's Halal Meat Market and Groceries. Chuck's and Emil's are owned by the Dedovic family (340 and 342 Victory Boulevard). Chuck's -which opened earlier this year, in a really beautiful space - also serves bureks, the delicious fillo pies filled with cheese, potato, meat, spinach and, sometimes, combinations of these. Check out the menu, because admidst all the typical Italian dishes are a number of Balkan specialties.



Elez and Emil (Chuck) Dedavic pose together with a pan of fresh-baked burek! They're at Chuck's Pizzeria at 340 Victory Boulevard not far from the ferry. You can get there on the S61 or S62 bus, which takes 5 to 8 minutes to zip up Victory Boulevard to Cebra Avenue.


There are tons of Mexican places on Victory Boulevard, but my favorite by a long shot is Tulci-Mex Cafe at 104 Victory Boulevard. Owner Marcelo Farciert (whose surname is French, but he's 100% Poblano from the city of Tulcingo)was doing so well serving up Mexican dishes in the back of his market two storefronts up at 108 Victory Boulevard that he took over an old 99-cent store and made a successful restaurant. He offers four different types of tamales. Everything I've had there has been delicious.


Marcelo Farciert has operated his market on Victory Boulevard for about 15 years, but opened the cafe within the last couple of years.

I have LOTS more to say about Staten Island, but you'll have to get Noshnews #21 to read it. It will be done later this month. Check www.noshnews.com for more details!

Staten Island and some comments about Harlem

On Saturday, May 19, I went back to Staten Island for the first time in a year to lead a tour; I'm embarrased to say that I hadn't had time to prescout it, as I often do of places I haven't been to in a while, so I was curious to see what might have changed.
(The photo on the right shows the owner of Laxmi's Restaurant, which serves Sri Lankan food.)

In this corner of Staten Island, though, much was the same. The tour covers a short stretch of Victory Boulevard from its base at Bay Street almost to the top of the hill where it reaches Silver Lake Park. The boulevard itself spans the island, and I have to imagine that a ride along the entire route of the X61 bus would show me the spectrum of neighborhoods in Staten Island. frm immigrant and working class, to some of the townhouse developments now scattered throughout the island, to the older, more settled and affluent communities that are harder to reach.

This stretch winds through an area of low, old 2-story buildings at the base (it's walkable from the ferry, although we take the bus uphill to the beginning of Silver Lake Park and then proceed downhill to do the tour) and then passes some fascinating Victorian style houses as we ascend. Just before we reach Silver Lake Park, the houses begin to become more modern, more affluent. We usually stay on the bus a stop after the actual beginning of the park: it is a beautiful stretch of greenery, and from our vantage point, we are actually on a sort of bluff looking into a beautiful green valley. So much of Staten Island consists of vast, lovely parks!

Anyway, once we reach that point and start walking back, our experience begins. The neighborhoods are compact and eclectic, the buildings a throwback to the 1950s, and at this point, Victory Boulevard is clearly geographically, or geologically, too difficult to develop with the type of townhouse clusters that mark so much of Staten Island. There are quite a few old wooden homes, some built into steep bluffs, that would pose a challenge to any architect trying to develop housing with significantly more dwelling units - and that may be one reason why there isn't much here now.

At the intersection with Cebra Avenue, we come to a small cluster of Albanian and Sri Lankan shops and eateries - perhaps two of the oddest pairs of ethnic groups in one site. We go to Lanka Market to buy spices and Sri Lankan "spice coffee" (packaged, not fresh), which is a mixture of coffee with coriander and ginger. Don't try it plain - it clearly needs to be combined with sweetened condensed milk, and then you have a beverage of an almost ethereal flavor. You can also buy Mexican products here, so that Mexican chiles have their own section amidst the Asian curries.

Emil's market across the street, which used to be on the corner, has taken a larger space next door. It's an Albanian market selling products from the entire Balkan region, but its main attraction for locals is the halal meat market in the back. They smoke their own meat, so we were able to taste some of it, and it had a deep rich flavor - Albanian jerky!

Although the photo above shows the Sri Lankan restaurant Laxmi's on Cebra Avenue, our group that day had lunch at New Asha Restaurant, a small, simple place with a handful for tables. I asked the owner to put together a platter of different dishes for us, and the food - various curries, dals and spicy vegetarian dishes - were scrumptious. I "chased" it with a bottle of Thai basil seed drink. I've had Sri Lankan ginger beer, which is so-so. The most unusual dish for us was curried jackfruit. The blend of flavors and textures was wonderful - we used the roti bread to create wraps.

The photo below shows a chef handing me a delicious quesadilla... Besides me the other customers were Mexicans, and I knew I was getting something truly authentic!


We were too full to go to Rey's (not Ray's) Pizza across the street for a burek. Rey's is Albanian-owned. Two years ago there was a burek shop across the street, but Rey's had been around longer and I guess the clientele was more loyal, so the burke place closed and people buy their bureks there. Nearby we visited the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center and saw the prayer room. Two years ago, with a large group, we were given a quick tour. We were a smallish group (6 of us) on a rainy day, so we took ourselves inside.

We continued downhill, where we came to Fernandez Grocery to have some of the best tamales I've ever had. I confess that I don't even know all the types we had. I just pointed and asked for one of each, and they ranged from very spicy to almost sweet.

A few storefronts away we came to the Africa Homeland Store, a Ghanaian market that caters to a small West African community in Staten Island. I'm aware that many Liberians have made their home here and was told that further down on Bay Street, towards the Alice Austen House, I'd find a Liberian restaurant. That's for another day.

West Indian food can be found near the base of Victory Boulevard, including delicious wraps at Island Roti, being prepared in the photo!