A Ride on the #7 Train (Western Section: Manhattan to Woodside)

Put on a pair of comfortable walking shoes, take a ride on an elevated subway and follow me on a Globetrot Gourmet tour of the place I call home, Queens, New York.

*** During weekends and nights, always check subway status for the #7 and all subway trains by visiting www.MTA.info. The #7 is undergoing a complete replacement of the signaling system, so weekend service is frequently disrupted. Furthermore, ongoing repairs in some under-river tubes  due to superstorm Sandy  also re-route trains onto different routes, so the train you you need take along 8th Ave, for example, might be running along 6th Ave instead.***

The borough of Queens, the world's boro, has been touted the most ethnically diverse urban area in the world. Who am I to argue? Different sources agree that almost 200 languages from just about as many countries are represented here. Nearly half of Queens’ residents claim a language other than English as their native tongue, with nearly a quarter of Queens’ residents claiming Spanish as their native tongue. And although there are several subway lines that go into this eclectic borough, the most interesting way, by far is the “International Express,” better known as the #7 train. Historically, the 7 went from Times Square to Flushing, but a few years ago it was extended to the west to Hudson Yards, a new development over the LIRR train yard, terminating at 11^th Ave and 34^th St, serving the Jacob Javitz Convention Center and the pleasure-cruise piers of the West Side. A popular feature about the line is, once it lands in Queens, it makes the rest of its run on an elevated track above the neighborhoods I will discuss here. And being an elevated track, sightseers like to ride the 7 just to see the resurgence of “street art.” Ironic how #GRAFFITI has almost become ‘cool’ in the new millennium.

The #7 train is a 3 track line beginning in Manhattan, passing through several distinct and unique neighborhoods, terminating in northern Queens in the pan-Asian enclave of Flushing, going past CitiField (the home of the New York Mets), and the stadiums of the US Open in Flushing Meadows/Corona Park (the home of the 1934-1935 and 1964-1965 Worlds Fair). It provides inbound express service (to Manhattan) in the AM hours and outbound express service for the evening rush, If you take the express out to Queens during the PM rush, the only return is local. Furthermore, the train can get very crowded, both directions and at any hour, day or night, despite its frequency. So if you are beginning your journey in Manhattan on the east side at 5^th or Lexington Avenues and going for the long-haul to Flushing and want to get a seat, it would be wise to ride west to Times Square to get comfy.

Once you are in Queens, the train makes its first stops in Long Island City. You may get off at Vernon/Jackson and walk west a few blocks to Gantry Plaza State Park along the long-abandoned industrial waterfront, now turned into innovative park space with million dollar views of the midtown Manhattan and the United Nations complex. (A gantry is a mechanism at the docks that lifts the individual containers off the ships onto rail cars). A popular photo-op of the park is the huge Pepsi-Cola sign, visible from the Manhattan side. Many new and deluxe residential towers are also found along the park. The East River is now not nearly polluted as it was back in the shipping days, so the piers are popular places to go fishing. In the park is a scaling table with a constant current of clean fresh water in a narrow channel. You can scale your catch, gut, eviscerate and fillet, as well, so you don’t have to muck up your kitchen at home. All the waste from the table flows directly into the river serving as chum to attract more fish. I wish I would have thought of that!

Smattered with older row-houses and renovated industrial and warehouse space turned condos and lofts, the proximity of this neighborhood to Manhattan, and the short commute involved, cold and dreary Long Island City is now a hotspot for the hip and trendy (and wealthy) millennials. Like its Williamsburg, Brooklyn counterpart, also along the waterfront, it is a hotbed of new and exciting eateries, BBQ joints, seafood shacks and re-vamped classic diners.

Continuing on the 7 train takes you to Queensboro Plaza, where the N and the W give the 7 a little peck on the cheek before they turn north to Astoria. The next neighborhood east is Sunnyside. Although, historically known as an Irish-American neighborhood, recent years have seen it turn into a more and more Irish one. Old-timers have kept the watering holes open, menus have been brought up-to-date, so these places would now be called “Gastro Pubs.”

A wrong turn on my part took me past The Butcher's Block, at 43-46 41^st St, just north of Queens Blvd. Access via the 40^th St/Lowery station on the 7, open 7 days, 8a-9p. When I saw it I immediately looked for a parking spot to take a look. Maybe they sold veal sweetbreads, I was thinking.  Just inside to the right is a deli case selling prepared foods which at first glance made it appear to be a kosher deli more than a butcher shop, so no sweetbreads. But the presence of a roast ham in the case was a more than subtle hint that this place is definitely NOT kosher. I was intrigued by the selection of cooked foods, and to the left the butcher case selling raw meats, sausages and the like. Aha, sausages. The best way to identify a culture is to explore their tube-steaks. And displayed very proudly I saw bangers, black and white pudding, rashers and pre-packaged fixin’s for a “full brekkie”. A slow stroll along the aisles reveals an abundance of grocery items from Ireland and the UK in general. Pre-packaged goods like treacle, Lyles Golden Syrup (try THAT on your buttered crumpets!), spotted dick and other “sticky pudding” items, HP Sauce, salad “creams,” self-raising flours for biscuits, scones and other breads. Branston Pickle, Bisto sauce granules, Byrd’s Custard Powder, rich Devon creams and hundreds of other items that would make ex-pats cry for Mummy.

Then the Superior Supermarket at 40-08 Queens Blvd, worth mentioning because of the huge selection of beer boasted in the front window. Also around that stretch of Queens Blvd or a short walk north, a there is a sprinkling of Turkish, Armenian, Japanese restaurants and markets and bakeries. Plus the fact that the neighborhood has more recently become the home of growing communities of Ecuadorean, Colombian, Chinese, Korean, Bangladeshi and Mexican immigrants makes Sunnyside an interesting destination for market-hoppers like me. So, get off the 7 train at 40^th/Lowery, pop into Taiyo Foods Japanese Grocery Store at 45-08 44^th St, or venture north to the Romanian Garden restaurant at 43rd and 43rd, then 1 more block north on Skillman Ave and 47th St is Turkiyem Market, a teeny cramped little market with a very friendly staff selling a few sweet and savory delectables near the register, all delicious and at very good prices. Something I recommed you sample the gözleme. Paper thin flatbread cooked on a griddle, filled with seasoned meat, spinach or cheese and folded secure to keep in the filling. It has a lovely silken texture that flops in your hands like a warm moist hand towel. They simply fold it up, place it in a plastic sac, ready to tear off little pieces as you continue to your next snack stop. You can then rejoin the 7 train at the next station, 46^th St/Bliss, back at Queens Blvd. to continue your globetrot.

Leaving the 46^th St/Bliss Station, the 7 train veers left onto Roosevelt Ave. Due east is the neighboring community of Woodside, with similarities to Sunnyside if only for the abundance of old-timers Irish pubs finding popularity with newly arrived Irish settlers. I advise you to hop off the train at the 61st St./Woodside station and begin walking east, following the ''el'' for the next few paragraphs, to save yourself multiple subway fares. Donovan’s Pub at 57-24 Roosevelt Ave, back-tracking from the 61^st St/Woodside station, has long been a neighborhood favorite for beer and burgers, along with Shepherd’s Pie and Fish & Chips.  Or walk further along its route east to 65^th St, then veer left onto 39^th Ave to SriPraPhai Thai Restaurant at 64-19 39^th Ave. (11:30am-9:30pm, closed Wednesdays.) OK. You will just have to take my word on this one until I publish my full review on this one later on. But the know-it-all dares say it is the best Thai Restaurant in the entire country, none barred. Has been for over 20 years! This formerly modest establishment used to advertise themselves on the storefront selling desserts and sweets with bright fluorescent lighting, formica tables and Corelle dishes has trebled in size, including an attractive backyard patio and fountain. The restaurant has stood through the slump years, lurking on a side-street of a poor immigrant area, during a time when no-one really knew what Thai cuisine was, and now finds itself a true destination in the neighborhood, which is now a hotbed of hipster and millennial locales. They only accept cash, so be sure to visit an ATM before you go, and take a little extra out because they have a marvelous selection of sweets, desserts and snacks to take away with you, after all, that was what put them on the map in the first place. Just across the street is a little Thai grocery store if you need to pick up some hard-to-find pantry essentials.

The Korean community that used to call Woodside home is dwindling as they move further east on the #7 train to Flushing, and further eastward along Northern Blvd. into the more affluent areas of Bayside and Little Neck, on the border with Nassau County, Long Island. Thus, Downtown Flushing and Northern Blvd. is lined with marvellous Asian eateries of all types: Dumpling Houses, Noodle restaurants and barbecue joints. Back in Woodside, there has always been an understated Filipino community, to the point, many refer to it as, "Little Manila," centered near the 61st-69th St. Stations on the 7 train. Just the appearance of the storefront sign at the Phil-Am Market, 4003 70th St, Woodside, at Roosevelt Ave. hints that the market has graced this location for decades. This little Filipino enclave was more a destination to ex-pat Filipinos than to foodies until the last decade or so, as Woodside has seen a surge of different types of restaurants, noodle houses, barbecues. There is even a Jollybee at 63rd St. and Roosevelt. This is a very popular (and quite yummy, I will add) fast-food chain specializing in burgers, fried chicken, spaghetti, halo-halo shaved ice with toppings and other Filipino delights. Like Mickey D's, the Colonel and mall-court spaghetti all rolled up into one, but better, all of it!

But here is the most intriguing thing about Woodside and its neighbor to the east, Jackson Heights. Side by side with its large Indian, Pakistani and Bangladesh communities, recent years have shown tremendous growth of a Nepali, Tibetan and Bhutanese community. Seriously, Bhutan? Seriously, Bhutan! I have always liked to say that in Queens you can find anything. But neither Nepal, Tibet not Bhutan had ever crossed my mind. But even these, what I consider the most remote places on the face of planet Earth, have an community in Queens, a home away from home. So, you might ask yourself, "What is Himalayan cuisine?" I invite you to look at a map. The cuisine of these countries is borrowed from their neighbors. You will see dishes that are innately Indian influenced with the spices used. The rice is decidedly Basmati, which originates in the foothills of the Himalayas, in India and Pakistan. Bok choy, tofu, pork belly, chow mein and other sautéed noodles, momos and other dumplings are a nod to their Chinese neighbors, while rich or bony meats like beef shank, pork ribs and pork belly, and soups made with real bone broth, rich in collagen, vitamin and other beneficial nutrients, is simply medicine for the soul to warm the heart on a chilly winter day. And although yak milk is not very stable for transport, several restaurants feature yak meat in sautés and serve yak butter tea. Hey! I will try anything once! I did, and it will probably be only the once.

I am sure you have seen many Mexican, Ecuadorian and Colombian restaurants by this point. Well, just a short trek further east along Roosevelt Ave takes you to the neighborhood of Jackson Heights. I will continue a new post beginning with this exciting neighborhood. A Ride on the #7 Train (Eastern Section) will follow.

If only the MTA would sell the unlimited One-Day Fun Pass once again. An unlimited pass is available for 7 days. Definitely worth the purchase if you ride the subway or buses more than 11 1/4 times. Stay tuned for my next article, A Ride on the 7 Train-Eastern Section. #7 Train

A Ride on the #7 Train (Eastern Section: Jackson Heights and Corona)

Follow me on the continuing journey through Queens, the World's Boro.

*** During weekends and nights, always check subway status for the #7 and all subway trains by visiting www.MTA.info. The #7 is undergoing a complete replacement of the signaling system, so weekend service is frequently disrupted. Furthermore, ongoing repairs in some under-river tubes due to superstorm Sandy also re-route trains onto different routes, so the train you need take along 8th Ave, for example, might be running along 6th Ave instead.***

The bridge linking midtown Manhattan with the boro of Queens has 3 names. The Queensboro Bridge. The  59th Street Bridge. And the newly dubbed Edward I. Koch Bridge (b.2011). (How'm I doin'?) It opened in 1909 helping to alleviate the overcrowding in Manhattan's east side tenement neighborhoods. Trolley service used tracks on the outer roadways until 1957, when the railway was removed.

In 1915 the IRT Flushing Line (#7 Train) opened serving Grand Central Terminal to Vernon/Jackson Station in Queens providing full service, Times Square to Flushing, including the express by 1927, causing the growth spurt that turned the sleepy colonial-era farm villages along the new train's path into the working class and middle class neighborhoods they remain today. The immigrant settlers of the day were primarily Irish and Italians, followed by Jewish, and Greek, et alia.

Incidentally, Germans had settled in Brooklyn and Queens since the days of the American Revolution. Hessians and other Germanic groups who were hired as mercenaries by both the British and the American sides. After the Revolution, many settled in the region, including the Dutch farmlands in today's Brooklyn and Queens. (Brooklyn and Flushing are both names derived from places in the Netherlands. Breukelen and Vlissingen).

But much of what had been developed until that time in big-brother Brooklyn in its building spurt following the US Civil War were elegant bourgeois neighborhoods with their rows of stately brownstones on pretty tree-lined streets, little-sister, Queens, provided a fresh alternative to the squalor and urban decay of inner-city tenement life for the working classes. And go there they did, and still do.

The Italians and Greeks have all but disappeared from Jackson Heights except for a few hearty elderly. The evidence of the Italians departure is the recently closed Italian Farms grocery store on 37th Ave. Evidence of the Greeks' former presence remains in Saints Constantine and Helen's Greek Orthodox Church. But fear not! Italian and Greek communities are alive and well in nearby Astoria. Moving in on their heels are large and ever growing communities of people from all over Latin America.

It is much easier to list which nations of Central and South America are not represented in Queens as a whole than to list which are. Costa Rica, Honduras, Belize (but there are Salvadorean, Guatemalan and plenty of Mexican), Panama (but there are plenty of Colombian), Suriname and French Guiana (but there is a very large Guyanese community in Richmond Hill/Ozone Park.

At any rate, the diversity of central queens is a mind-boggling microcosm, all radiating outward of the 74th St/Broadway stop on the 7 (Jackson Heights/Roosevelt Ave stop on the E, F, M or R trains). Assuming you walked along Roosevelt Ave from Woodside, you will approach the busy intersection of  73-74th streets, Broadway and Roosevelt Ave. This particular section is the center of a very vibrant Hindu, Sikh and Muslim community of settlers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet and again, Bhutan. Along 74th St is the Merit Kabab and Dumpling Palace (I would also call it a Biryani house, serving various versions of the Muslim savory basmati rice dish. In the front window various treats are on display, ranging from flavorful Sikh Kababs and other tandoor roasted meats; samosas, pakora and other fritters; paratha, puri and other breads.

Most Hindus are vegetarians, with varying degrees of orthodoxy (some being ovo/lacto, and some of the strictest, who will not eat anything of even a color that resembles red meat! eg.tomatoes, beets, cherries, etc.) Although now a Muslim Halal eatery, I remember when when the Merit was a fry-stand selling fried chicken, shrimp, scallops, fries and onion rings from this very modest establishment, but as New York always adapts to the changing times, the Merit has found a new purposeful existence. Similarly, the hot dogs carts are less and less as time goes by, being replaced by Halal food carts serving the very popular and tasty chicken on rice.

Continue further north along 74th St and you will find the Jackson Diner (34-47 74th St). Another neighborhood classic reworked to serve its changing community. It is now an Indian restaurant that serves a very popular lunch buffet. There are several Indian buffets in Jackson Heights, but this one stands out because of the additional feature of a Masala Dosa bar, making the legume flour crêpes with a spicy potato filling. Be sure to have a soothing Mango Lassi after the seething chilli assault on your tongue.

A few steps further north is Patel Bros supermarket, a full-sized marketplace with a lovely array or fresh vegetables, spices, frozen foods and other foodstuffs from the subcontinent. No meat is sold here. Shopping at an Indian supermarket is a great way to be thrifty. If you are gluten intolerant, there is a vast array of flours available to use that contain no gluten; if you are diabetic, or follow a low-carb lifestyle, many flours on-hand satisfy different dietary needs and restrictions. For example, health food stores sell buckwheat flour at very high prices. Indian stores sell kuttu flour very inexpensive. Chick pea (fine or coarse), lentil; mung bean; soya; oats; millet; semolina, (coarse for farina, halwah and bread; fine for bread and pasta); buckwheat (for Japanese soba noodle dough, or French "Gallettes de Sarrasin" or buckwheat crèpes); sorghum; corn meal (even fine ground corn flour, not to be confused with the corn flour as sold in the UK/Australia which is what we call corn starch here in the US, but all of it is available, as well); various grades of rice flour for different purposes); amaranth; chestnut (for Italian Castagnaccio), are all flours sold in Indian grocery stores at a fraction of the price online or in health food stores, and all but semolina contain zero gluten.  I like to try my hand at experimenting with different flours, making sweet or savory spiced crèpes to accompany leftovers. Then they're not left over anymore.

The neighborhood is also filled with many sweet shops and chaat shops, selling quick and inexpensive snacks. Continue to the corner of 37th Ave and turn right. You will actually be walking to the next stop on the #7 train, 82nd St/Jackson Heights, but it's a better choice then being rattled by the noisy elevated train every three minutes. Slowly, but quite surely, the neighborhood loses the spiciness of the sub-continent and takes on the sazón and sabor of Latin-America. There appears to be a preponderance of Colombian, Mexican, Ecuadorian, Peruvian, Argentinian/Uruguayan (don't tell people from either of these countries that I classed them together, but the fact is they argue over who invented the Tango and who are better grillmasters; 1-the famous Tango singer, Carlos Gardel was born in Uruguay, not Argentina, 2-the Tango is the heritage of the platense culture, shared by both countries along the Río del Plata, 3-the mixed-grill parrillada is gaucho culture, shared by Argentina and Uruguay equally; and both countries are represented here in Jackson Heights, both near Roosevelt Ave.) Bolivian, Chilean and Brazilian are limited, but present, and not too far, but Paraguayan, alas, is no-where to be found in Queens. But it just goes to show you, in my long career as Tour Guide and entire life as a New Yorker, the Paraguayans I have met I can count on both hands.

[Where was I? Oh, OK!] Another EXCELLENT Thai restaurant I have been visiting over 20 years now is Arunee (78-23 37th Ave). Then a little further on is La Boina Roja Steak House (Colombian; 80-22 37th Ave) I like to mention because of their extensive meat selections, moreso because of the carnicería (butcher shop) selling Latin cuts of meat and their house made Colombian chorizo sausage. This is another treat for those like me who like to browse foreign grocery stores. At 80th St turn right and head south towards Roosevelt avenue again. On the corner of Roosevelt and 80th St is Cositas Ricas. Colombian bakery and restaurant, open 24 hours! (Can I rent the room above the kitchen?) Colombian cuisine stresses rotisserie grilled or breaded chicken, fire grilled steaks, pork, fish and seafood, some wonderful soups and stews, delicious arepas, or corn cakes, some filled with meats and cheese. Admittedly, Colombian cuisine is quite heavy on starches like rice, potato, yuca and corn. And most Colombian restaurants pair the main course with starchy sides, but they tend to be lenient with allowing substitutions. So if you are following a carb-conscious lifestyle, fear thee not. Forego the rice, potato, yuca and arepas and ask for frísoles y ensalada instead. A particular favorite of mine are the Colombian bakeries and piqueteaderos (snack shops). A visit to a Colombian bakery to me is such a treat I will need to address in a separate post.

Continue east along Roosevelt Ave and pause at La Gata Golosa (The Gluttonous Cat), Colombian bakery & piqueteadero, at 82nd St. You are now at the center of Colombian life in the US. 'La Pequeña Colombia.' This corner is a transfer point along one of my possible commute routes home. I take the #7 train upstairs from Manhattan to 82nd St/Jackson Heights station where I connect to my bus home.  I come down those stairs above your head and hope the ladies on the corner have some goodies left for me to take home. Improvised shopping carts are rigged with little charcoal grills over disposable metal trays to roast fresh corn-on-the-cob, Mexican style, spread with mayonnaise, sprinkled with sharp and salty cotija cheese then sprinkled with spicy-hot ground chiles, squeeze of lime. Her friend next to her usually sells her homemade tamales right from the steaming tamalera sitting over similarly-rigged disposable trays. Hot on the spot! Occasionally someone is there selling tamales tolimenses, hailing from the Tolima department of Colombia. I have had Colombian tamales (tamales antioqueños) many times before. These are akin to the Venezuelan hallacas made with hominy meal (Masarepa or HarinaPAN) as the starchy base.(Mexican tamales are made from Nixtamal, or harina from nixtamalized corn (soaked in an alkaline solution.) This process gives the Mexican tortillas that special flavor not present in American corn meal, and also makes the corn more highly nutritious as the calcium hydroxide used frees minerals and vitamins from the corn allowing your body to absorb them more readily.) Tamales tolimenses are unique in that they use rice and also dried green peas, which ultimately have an effect  in reducing the carb content of the dough, even if just a little. And instead of being neatly folded into rectangular shapes inside a banana leaf, these are round fat discs bundled into a banana leaf then tied at the top, so you immediately see they are very very different. Tidbits of chicken and succulent pork filling make these treats a complete meal. Both Colombian tamales are in comparison much larger, and stress more the meat component than their Mexican counterparts. Often present near this corner is a lady selling obleas con arequipe. An oblea is wafer thin waffle-like cookie sandwich filled with dark rich arequipe (dulce de leche) spread. Certain to satisfy a sweet tooth, but not too decadent to send you into a repentent guilt trip.

A mainstay of "La Pequeña Colombia" is Casa Rivera, Latin-American market and butcher shop selling chorizos and meats (Latin cuts) at the butcher counter and a large array of grocery items from all over South America and beyond.Available here is a rather hard to find ingredient. "Guascas" (pron. WAHS-cas), a dried herb sold in little plastic packets, which is an essential ingredient for making Ajiaco Bogotano, a rich chicken soup or stew utilizing three different types of potatoes, considered one of the national dishes. And if you are like me, you will just buy this exotic ingredient and worry about how to use it later. There are plenty of Ajiaco recipes available online.

Incidentally, in recent years, young professionals and startups have been settling in Jackson Heights, as is done in neighboring Woodside as they find the relatively lower rents in central Queens more attractive than the trendier and more expensive neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Manhattan. I have noticed more and more caucasians with baby strollers walking 37th Ave, something completely normal, of course, that seems a bit out of place for the neighborhood, where many of the caucasians are elderly long-time residents. This is a trend I am noticing more and more. Many neighborhood locales are taking on a hipper vibe. This holds true for Arunee Thai's new 37th Ave location, and is most certainly the case for SriPraPhai back in Woodside.

Food trucks serving Ecuadorian food are abundant in the neighborhood as well, along Roosevelt Ave. If you are still hungry, just continue walking east. In the 80s and 90s streets you will find dozens of Mexican, Colombian, Ecuadorian and Peruvian to stave off the crave.

Notable natives of Jackson Heights include Lucy Liu, actor and comedian John Leguizamo. Corona, the next neighborhood along the #7 line, was also the home of Louis Armstrong. Corona was also mentioned in the Simon & Garfunkel song: "Goodbye to Rosie, the Queen of Corona. See you, me and Julio down by the schoolyard." I am sure there are plenty of Julios living in Corona, for along with a slowly dwindling Colombian and Cuban community, and a growing Mexican and Peruvian community, Corona is also home to a very large Dominican community. La Cabaña Antojitos (39-17 103rd St) is a casual and small but popular Dominican Restaurant in a neighborhood where Dominican restaurants are quite plentiful. An old-school Corona highlight is the Lemon Ice King of Corona (52-02 108th St), seen in the opening credits of "The King of Queens" TV show, featuring over a dozen flavors of the popular Italian Ices, all made on site. Across the street is an active bocce ball court. And a notable upscale Italian restaurant there as well is Park Side Rerstaurant (107-01 Corona Ave). While a bit of a trek from the #7 train, it is well worth it on a hot summer day, and it gives you a true glimpse of New Yorkers being New Yorkers. So, continue on the #7 train to 111th St Station, and walk south on 111th St, then walk back east one block at 51st or 52nd Aves. And, yes, that was Flushing Meadows/Corona Park you followed on 111th St. This was the home of both NY World's Fairs (1938-39 and 1964-65), and is the home to the US Open Tennis Tournament held late August to September every year. The park is also the home of CitiField, the stadium of the New York Mets baseball team. Riding on the #7 one more station will take you to the Mets-Willets Point station. From this vantage point the baseball stadiums are to the north, and the tennis stadiums are to the south. Next stop, Main St, Flushing. All aboard!! #7 Train

A Ride on the #7 Train (Last Stop, Main St, Flushing)

Travel to the End of the #7 train and Experience the Sights (and Smells) of Downtown Flushing

From Mets-Willets Pt. station the train travels over the polluted Flushing Creek, past a large shopping complex until it finally descends to the underground Main St Station. The bustling intersection of Main St/Roosevelt Ave. In colonial times this was called Vlissingen and was settled in 1645 as part of the New Netherland colony, but largely settled by the British. The word "Flushing" is an anglicization of the Dutch name. A notable historic detail about this sub-colony was that a letter was written in 1657 in Vlissingen by the numerous Quakers in the settlement pleading for religious freedom and the end of oppression. They were categorically chastised and pursued wherever they settled for their belief in not taking oaths or swearing loyalty to the King, and for refusing to participate in military service, as, for them, God is their only authority, and they vowed pacifism. This document is called the Flushing Remonstrance, and it is the first article regarding freedom of religion in the present United States. In 1662, John Bowne was arrested and imprisoned for allowing those rowdy Quakers to have their silent Meetings in his home. His wife was a Quaker. 

The Bowne House still stands at 37-01 Bowne Street, about 2 blocks from the Quaker Meeting House, at 134-16 Northern Blvd.  These places are an easy side-trip if you want to include it in your eating itinerary. Bowne was banished from New Amsterdam. He sailed to Ireland, then to England and then to Holland to finally make a plea with the Dutch West India Company. Immediately, the burghers in Holland wrote a letter to Governor Peter Stuyvesant in New Amsterdam ending the oppression of the Quakers and officially establishing religious liberty in the colony. This is the first example of religious freedom in the present United States. This was 1663, one year before the British took possession of New Amsterdam.

When you exit the train at Main St, walk forward, to what would be the front of the train, and take the long escalator on the right side up to the street. Forget that you see the large department store right there. Turn to the right of it and enter the New World Mall at 136-20 Roosevelt Ave. It opened recently, in 2011. This first stop is like a day-trip to Asia. The ground floor has a large Chinese supermarket with a dizzying array of fresh fruit, some exotic varieties like Rambutan, Lychee, Mangosteen, different varieties of Asian pears and melons when in season, and a similar variety of vegetables. At the back is a series of live fish and seafood tanks. The rest of the market is standard fare Chinese markets, if you are from New York. If not, you might take an hour or more strolling through the aisles looking at all the exotic ingredients and condiments. A few stalls along the wall by the fruit section and near the front entrance, by the cashiers sell a few tidbits you can buy and share.

Take the escalator up one flight and you are in the Chinese mall itself, small shops selling items from mainland China and Taiwan. One more flight up and there is a huge restaurant called, well, Grand Restaurant. It is a Dim Sum house for late breakfast through lunch hours, serving a full menu as well. I have eaten there several times and have never been disappointed. If you have never been to a Dim Sum meal, it is such a treat. Ladies push around different little push-carts selling the food. Everything is in small portions, kinda like tapas. There's a cart that carries the fried food: spring rolls, different dumplings and buns. There's a steam cart serving steamed food. Shu mai, tofu rolls or other filled pork or shrimp dumplings. There's a cart serving rice porridge. There's another selling desserts and sweets. It's nice to go with a few people so you can order lots of different dishes so that each of you has a piece. The portions are small, as are the prices, so you can order a nice variety and eat as much, or as little as you like. The ladies mark a menu card with each selection you make and that's how the bill is tallied. Popular custom is to order a large platter of noodles for the table and then the rest is Dim Sum. Communal eating is just fun! Yes, it's there if you want it, and it is one of the better places I have seen for Dim Sum. But the real draw for this place is the basement food court.

OK. So I am taking you to a mall style food court, yeah? Uh, no!! This is a mall style food court in a Chinatown, with 32 stalls serving regional foods from far-reaching provinces in China and other parts of Asia!! This is NOT your local take out joint serving Chop Suey, Moo Goo Gai Pan or Sweet and Sour Chicken; this is Chinese Chinese food. No Sbarro's Italian Eatery. No Mickey D's Burger King or KFC. No Orange Julius. No Sushi-Boy. No Cinnabon. No Subway. No Chick-Fil-A. Heck, there's not even a Panda Express!! So, take the elevator to the basement, or just double back down the escalators to the lowest level and you find yourself in the middle of a large cafeteria filled with Chinese people, speaking, mostly, Chinese (or only Chinese) holding chopsticks, slurping noodles from huge bowls of steaming soup, or huddled around a hot pot, sukiyaki or shabu-shabu. Maybe they have already slurped their noodles (it is considered completely respectful to slurp your noodles. It shows the cook, or your host/ess that you are enjoying your meal), and have moved to dessert in the form of a Boba sweet drink with tapioca balls, or a towering concoction of shaved ice snow with a large array of toppings. There is a Japanese stall serving teriyaki and yakisoba, mediocre at best. There is a Vietnamese stall.  There is a crêperie. Some stalls have the visual aid of laminated pictures describing their menu items. Some have no menu to show, and only Chinese characters, which is never helpful, (nor is it technically legal). I have voiced my opinion to those places saying that to come from a communist country to take advantage of our free-market system, only to exclude their western hosts by not having any information about menu items in English is wrong in so many ways, but my pleas fall on deaf ears. A favorite eatery of mine is the hand-pulled noodle stall where a chef well trained in his art cuts a chunk of dough off the block, kneads it then starts to roll it out into a thinner and thinner baton, folds, stretches, slaps on the counter, and does this repeatedly so that one hunk of dough-turned-dowel is ultimately stretched and pulled and folded, over and over again, until he has a fresh-pulled bunch of noodles that he tosses right then and there into the boiling water, to order, and within mere minutes, you have a steaming bowl of noodle soup to slurp yourself, or a quick stir-fry. Definitely browse all the stalls first. When I go, I like to see the actual food as it is being eaten by the customers. I explore the cafeteria floor browsing the tables and when I see something that catches my eye, if I say "Hey, where'd you get that stir-fried cut up lobster?", this may not help me. So, I just meekly beg their pardon for the interruption at their table, point at the dish, pan around with an open hand to the stalls and shrug my shoulders and open my hands in a questioning gesture. They always understand my body language and kindly point to the stall where they bought the dish. Whenever I eat there I ask for chopsticks. Many of the counter workers are teenagers. They chuckle when this westerner asks for them. I always respond by saying that I have been using chopsticks longer than they have. It always makes them laugh.

Exit the Food Court by taking the escalator up to street level, onto Roosevelt and turn left. Cross Main St at the corner. The next corner is Prince St. Turn right onto Prince St. This quieter pocket of the neighborhood has an array of authentic regional Chinese restaurants. Dim Sum (again), Shanghainese, Taiwanese, Thai, Malaysian, Vietnamese. Make the right turn onto 39th or 38th Ave and turn right again onto Main St. Go under the railroad bridge. There are several Chinese markets, not nearly as interesting as the one in the mall. You will pass 41-10 Main St (Xi'an Famous Foods), but you will pass this Xi'an Famous Foods because I am sending you to the original Xi'an Foods in the basement of the Golden Shopping Mall at 41-28 Main St. Find the entrance and go downstairs to Xi'an Famous Foods. The bazaar of cheap stores above effectively conceals the entrances to this little hole-in-the-wall food court down below. I use that term quite literally, and respectfully. This tiny 200 Sq Ft. (18.58 Sq M.) that puts out some of the most exotic Chinese food I have yet seen has now expanded to an empire of over 10 locations, in Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan, even in Chinatown, where he is teaching the Chinese what Chinese food really is!! 

Celebrities like Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern have featured Xi'an Famous in their popular TV programs. They have been mentioned in numerous articles in newspapers and by other famous bloggers like myself. I have three words to sum up Xi'an. Spicy Cumin Lamb. Xi'an is located in central China. Rice is not common in this cuisine. However, noodles are, but they are broader and flatter, hand-made on the premises. Meats are served in a soft bun. The food can be spicy, including spices and ingredients which may not be classically associated with Chinese food, as we are accustomed to seeing it. Like cumin. Like lamb. They also serve a few dishes using Tingly Beef. I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that 'tingly' refers to Szechuan Pepper Corns as one of the exotic ingredients because they leave a tingly sensation on the mouth and tongue. And the Shaanxi Province of China where the city of Xi'an is located borders Szechuan Province. I have often seen a large vat boiling on the back burner, cooking the stock for tomorrow. Another home-made bone broth!! The noodle dishes are offered either dry (dressed in sauce) or served with broth. You know which I'll have!   

One more stop before we head back on the #7 train. Find Main St and walk back the way we came, back under the railroad bridge. At the corner of 40th Rd is Happy Food (40-28 Main St). OK. After the food court at New World mall, this is my second place to go. After I do whatever I am in Flushing to do I ALWAYS stop here to take some nibbles home with me for a late night snack, as no one is hungry right now. This chaotic place has the ubiquitous roast ducks and roast pork hanging in the front window. Dozens of choices of prepared food, from stir-fried noodles and rice dishes, to deep-fried and sauced fish, and several excellent dim-sum items. You order a determined number of specific items (eg. rice and three ingredients) of the food in the hot trays; you order dim sum and dumplings individually. The total is written on a piece of paper. You go to the cashier to pay then pick up your order. There is a usually crowded seating area in the back where you'll have to elbow up next to your neighbor, if you are even lucky enough to find a seat. Let's face it. Look around you. Most of the customers are Asian, and you are eating where they eat. Chaotic as it is, this is the real deal! Again, no Chop Suey here.

And that's what's it's like in all of these ethnic enclaves we have visited along the route of the #7 train. No La Torita mock-ups of Mexican food, serving canned salsa and jarred queso dip. No mock-ups of any food. These are the restaurants of the people of all nations, serving people of all nations. How lucky am I to have all of this right outside my front door! #7 Train

Red Onion Sauce, (New York Hot Dog Cart Style)

Red Onion Sauce 

(New York Hot Dog Cart Style)

New Yorkers tend to take things for granted. Pizza. We never give it a second thought. We have our favorite spots, and they know us. Picky we are. We like it a certain way. Same with bagels. We have our favorite topping, everything, poppy seed, sesame, plain, egg, pumpernickel, raisin, etc. We have our favorite schmear. Plain, veggie, salmon, scallion spread. Whitefish salad, lox tomato and cream cheese. But, authentic New York bagels and pizza are hard to find if you live elsewhere. That's fine for people who are not from New York. But if you are a picky New Yorker who moved to Florida, or Arizona like some cousins of mine, sometimes you have a craving for the real thing, chain pizzerias, bagels in the plastic sleeve will just not do it, and frozen pizzas are out of the question. I admit when I lived out of New York, bakery sections in large supermarkets sold an acceptable bagel, and pizzerias that proudly proclaim "New York style," even some proclaiming they truck in New York water for authenticity (as is done in some bagel places outside of New York). At least they try. But we don't really appreciate the real thing while we have it, and are all to critical of what's available when we don't.

Pizza is an layering of three items: the dough, the sauce and the cheese, and the best quality of each MUST be used. The problem really stems from the sauce. It tends to be over seasoned in most places. See, there's this thing available in markets called "Italian Seasoning." Italians have never heard of it. [Nor have they heard of Italian Dressing for salads. The same with French dressing with the French, and Russian...] And Italian Seasoning has no place in Italian food. So, for the real sauce use the best canned tomatoes possible, garlic lightly sautéed in olive oil, salt, pepper, a few leaves of FRESH basil and if you must, a pinch, just a pinch of dried oregano, but the oregano would be more authentic lightly sprinkled on top of a cooked pizza. Seeing lots of dried herbs floating around a marinara sauce, or in a pizza sauce tells me it was not made by an Italian, rather someone who wanted to make it Italian with the herbs. Real New York pizzeria sauce is pristine red, fresh basil, and not bespeckled with Italian Seasoning. Feh!

So what about the onions, you ask? Don't worry, I'm getting there. We affectionately call the hot dogs sold from those carts "dirty water dogs." Their holding vessel is filled with water, heated with a propane tank and the hot dogs are put in to simmer, releasing their juices into the water, and as the day wears on, the water turns more and more a reddish brown, hence the name. My mom always said the hot dogs sold at the end of the day taste better than the ones early in the day because the juices released during their long simmer creates a stock that gets better and better. But those carts are dwindling away, for the Greeks and Italians who operated them throughout the decades have retired or passed on, and they are being replaced by Halal Food carts selling savory dishes from the Middle East; they do sell hot dogs, for sure, but if you ask for the onions (I have!), they use the commercial brands available in the refrigerated section of supermarkets, near the hot dogs in the case, so I carry on. Meh! Oh, and the hot dog brand for the carts is Sabrett, no other! Right next to the Nathan's hot dogs on supermarket shelves, but Nathan's hot dogs are grilled in the stores, not simmered in the dirty water, so, yes, Nathan's is great in its domain, and they do offer the saucy onions, but it's not the same experience as the carts. And if you turn on the grill to cook your franks and burgers, I will not get upset if you use the onions.

This is more method than a recipe, because I never measure when I make them. I was never given measurements. So here I will guestimate the ingredients if you are going to use 1 8oz can of tomato sauce. Uhm, maybe this will make 1qt of sauce? This method comes from an old family friend over 40 years ago. He was Italian and he told me how it's done. Tradition. Thank you, Tom Gallo!

Ingredients:

2 large Onions, peeled and sliced into 1/4in by 1in. pieces

2 Tbs Olive Oil

1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Sugar
1/2 Tsp Black Pepper
1 small 8oz can Tomato Sauce (not spaghetti sauce, not pizza sauce, the little cans. Get it?)
1 can Water

2 Tbs White Vinegar

A pinch, not to exceed 1/2 Tsp Italian Seasoning

Procedure:

Heat a medium sized pot or large frying pan on medium low for a minute and add the olive oil. Once hot, add the onions, salt, pepper and sugar. The salt and sugar help to draw out the juices and soften the onion. Sweat gently, (not sauté or brown) about 10 minutes until the onion is soft. When the onions are soft, add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a simmer (not a boil) and cook for about 30 minutes. If there is still too much liquid, turn up the heat a little, watch carefully, and let reduce a bit. If it becomes too dry, add a little water to keep from scorching. Put in plastic containers and freeze. This can be defrosted and reheated as many times as you need with no affect on quality. Simple and delicious. 

Enjoy! # NY Hot Dog Onions