I grew up Hindu in Texas, putting Christmas lights up in September.

A few years ago, I was in autumnal New Jersey, looking up at the festive stringed bulbs, too.

“It’s pakka home,” my cousin says in Tamil, mouth full with dabeli sandwich, face lit blue and red and green, using the word that extremifies anything.

My cousin lived in a smattering of the largest cities of India, from the north, where they speak Gujarati, to the cosmopolitan middle, where they speak Hindi, to the southern tip, our Tamil motherland. A few years ago, she immigrated to Jersey City, the place with the highest concentration of Indians in the Western Hemisphere.

Today, her in-laws are visiting, fresh off the flight from Kerala. And in New Jersey’s Journal Square, specifically the stretch around Newark Avenue known as India Square, all kinds of immigrant generations like ours — and more — exist. Desi folks arrived here en masse in the 1970s, and they’re still arriving today. Moreover, though it’s named India Square, this community center is a haven for a diversity of South Asians, from Bangladesh, to Nepal, to Pakistan.

But to many, it doesn’t matter where you come from: regardless of religion and homeland, lights are put up in early fall. It’s time for Navaratri and Diwali: the post-monsoon celebration of autumn, a time to celebrate light and goodness.

It takes only about 20 minutes to get Journal Square via the PATH train from the West Village and an eight minute walk to get to the action on Newark Avenue. You should go. You should also eat in the neighborhood: on one block, you can get yards of sugarcane juiced straight into your cup; fish butchered in Bengal’s best; over 70 types of dosa; living biryani history of the Mughal Empire; and much more. Here’s where I love right now.

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When I first met Chef Kolawole Ajayi, the owner of SUUYAR in London, he was shouting. His shouts had meaning—

"Meat on fire!" meant: Put his marinated beef on the grill.

"Let it go!" meant: Serve the plated meal to the guest.

"Who is working with me directly?!" meant: One of his employees needed to come to him immediately.

But one cry didn't make sense to me: "STOP SLEEPING ON MY DESTINY!"

Chef Kola's destiny is not only to make suya, but to sell it. “My destiny is to draw people from around the world to Peckham, to try my suya,” he told me. He's been grilling the marinated beef, cooked slowly over charcoal, in Peckham since 2018. He learned it from the Hausa—one of the ethnic groups of Nigeria, who invented the dish—over 20 years ago. But Kola’s version is different, modified to bring the best out of British beef, with a "suya pepper" completely his own, mixed on the streets before your eyes. "I'm an Aries," Kola told me. "And Aries is fire sign. And I'm working with fire. I love it."

Watch my latest documentary, on Chef Kolawale Ajayi’s SUUYAR:

As always, below the fold is a behind-the-scenes look at making the video:

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At People & Food, our goal is to change where folks choose to eat. Away from the chains and VC-backed restaurants that most publications and influencers are covering, and towards the small eateries and mom-and-pop businesses that we all love and want to preserve.

Our list of pop-ups and events is curated with that mission in mind. If you see an event that deserves a mention and aligns with our mission, please drop us a line and we’d be happy to add it.

This is a monthly column, and we will be updating it as we learn of more events. Thanks for your support. - Rob, Angela, Sangita and Alexa

November is coming in hot with a crossover of epic proportions: Halloween on Saturday leading in to the New York City Marathon on Sunday (with an extra hour added in between). It’ll be a non-stop party all weekend, and we’re sharing some of the best pop-up bites along the way.

Later in the month, the focus turns to community-driven dining experiences for Thanksgiving, as well as the first events of the holidays! No matter how you slice it, it’s going to be an exciting food month all over the city. Here's what's on our radars so far.

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“And now, the moment you’ve been waiting for…”

A hush settled over the crowd gathered in Sunset Park, an intergenerational kaleidoscope of faces. A drummer began to pound on the barrel-shaped tanggu, slowly at first then gathering speed. As the resonant beating crescendoed, the lion dancers on stage began to toss lettuce into the sky, symbolizing the spreading of prosperity to onlookers.

With a flourish, a new sign was unveiled beneath the street markers for 8th Avenue and 60th Street: Brooklyn Chinatown. A deafening cacophony of firecrackers ensued.

The Origins of Brooklyn Chinatown

Sunset Park has always been a working-class neighborhood due to the jobs created by its industrial waterfront. It drew a large number of Scandinavian, Irish, and Italian immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries until the shuttering of the Brooklyn Army Terminal in the 1940s caused many inhabitants to move to the surrounding suburbs, and the local housing sector to crumble.

When the Immigration and Nationality Act was introduced in 1965, banning discriminatory quotas based on nation of origin, New York City saw its first wave of Chinese immigrants since the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Manhattan’s Chinatown became increasingly crowded, largely due to the influx of Fujianese immigrants, and many Cantonese-speaking residents began to move to Sunset Park, from which Canal Street was directly accessible via the N train.

Eventually, the Fujianese community followed suit, establishing a “Little Fuzhou” enclave in Sunset Park that has exceeded the original Manhattan enclave in size. And while 8th Ave has long been known as Brooklyn Chinatown colloquially, last Friday’s ceremony held incredible significance to many locals.

“For generations, Chinese immigrants, including so many Fujianese, have built their lives, business, and community here,” the Fuzhou Sisters recently shared. “Today we celebrate not just a name, but a home we’ve built together.”

In honor of this momentous occasion, and of 8th Ave’s layered history of Chinese immigration, we’re sharing a guide of some of our favorite spots to eat and drink in Brooklyn Chinatown.

Bamboo Garden

📍6409 8th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11220

When Chinese immigrants first began arriving en masse in Brooklyn in the late 70s, pushing dim sum carts was an accessible job that didn’t require them to speak English. However, as the previous generation ages out of the physically and mentally demanding job with nobody to replace them, traditional pushcart dim sum is becoming a dying art.

At Bamboo Garden, you can still fill up on classic dim sum delicacies such as har gow (Cantonese shrimp dumplings) and siu mai (open-faced pork dumplings), stacked high in bamboo baskets and served hot from steaming carts. One block over, East Harbor Seafood Palace (📍714 65th St, Brooklyn, NY 11220) always attracts a crowd. Arrive early on weekends to avoid the lines and bring cash.

Rice Noodle Cart

📍 Corner of 8th Ave & 61st St, Brooklyn, NY 11220

💵 CASH ONLY

Cheung fun, or steamed rice rolls, is another popular breakfast dish originating from the Guangdong Province in southern China. And while you can get your fill at the aforementioned dim sum restaurants, few places make it better than this unassuming food cart, simply named Rice Noodle Cart.

The cart itself is so nondescript that you could easily walk past it without noticing, except that there’s usually a crowd around it. The main attraction is the house special rice roll, which is made fresh-to-order with ground pork, eggs, bean sprouts, and corn, bound together by a thin layer to glutinous rice.

For me, this humble cart’s rendition of cheung fun shines because of the saline crunch of Chinese pickled veggies sprinkled throughout. Ask for extra soy sauce and sriracha to ensure your deli tub of rice rolls is saturated with flavor.

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Here’s a perfect end to a weekend in the Western Catskills: travel south on Route 97 toward Interstate 84. For forty miles you’ll cruise along the Delaware River past picnic spots, bald eagle lookouts, and antique stores, until the road climbs high above the river to a section known as the “Hawk’s Nest.” It’s one of the most scenic roadway vistas in the state. Just as you start grinning like a happy dog in the wind, your soul hungry for small town life, you’ll shoot out of the forest and onto a block of 1930’s homes with big front porches. You’re in Port Jervis. Welcoming you on the right, is a small, boxy old tavern called Len and Jo’s Pizzeria. I urge you to go inside.

Like all great old pizza taverns, it’s split between a bar side and a restaurant side. On the bar side, from open to close, five or six men drink Busch Light, sunglasses on their heads, as the rhythmic buzz of televised Nascar lulls them into quiet tranquility. Occasionally, another arrives and tries to rouse the group with insults before ordering a beer and joining the meditation. On the restaurant side, young and old gather in booths under shelves lined with antique model trains and pictures of race cars. Almost everyone is eating half-sheet pans of a curiously brown and extra crispy pizza.

As you sit in a back booth, you’ll notice the snarling taxidermied boar’s head and several buck’s heads mounted on the wood paneling and wonder “Do these people have guns?” and they might. In any case, when you’re approached by a waiter you are made to feel welcome. That’s especially true if your waiter is third-generation owner Jeremy Markle.

Middle aged, wiry, with short brown hair, he projects a calm, earnest cheer, even with 24 pizzas in the oven and 12 hours of work on the clock. He says, “The mixed pizza is the most popular.” It’s extra brown because it is made with a mixture of American and mozzarella cheeses. “The whole thing tastes like the crispy bits of cheese that fall on the pan when you make a grilled cheese sandwich,” Markle says. They also serve an all-American cheese pizza, an all-mozzarella cheese pizza, the Len and Jo’s special (a sausage, pepperoni, onions, mushrooms, and anchovy pizza), and the first new pizza in many decades, the hellboy: a mixed cheese pie with pepperoni and hot honey.

Markle says, “On a busy night, we can serve a hundred pizzas an hour, just eat in and take out; we don’t deliver.” This is a feat for a tiny tavern. Also, despite the bar only seating about ten, Markle proudly claims they go through more kegs of Busch Light than anywhere in the Hudson Valley (he saw a distributor’s data sheet).

Of course, order the mixed pizza and a pitcher of Busch Light, (or if you must, Yeungling) and settle in. After eating a few narrow rectangles of this deeply satisfying pizza, and washing it down with beer, you’ll tune into Nascar or basketball, and have a hard time getting up. Way out at the edge of the wilderness, the hideaway has drawn and maintained clientele with this simple formula since 1943.

Len and Josephine Sarro, an Italian American couple who lived next door, first converted the old auto mechanic’s shop into a pizza tavern that year. They developed those American cheese pizzas during the stateside mozzarella shortage of World War II. At the time, Port Jervis was a railroad hub, with twenty lines running through town. Railroad workers, joined by Catskill mountain hunters, racecar drivers, and mechanics, packed the restaurant every night.

Markle’s parents bought the place in 1973. He said, “It’s funny we ended up working our whole lives in an old auto shop. My dad was a top Ford technician and I’m a mechanic by trade, too.” That’s the condensed version. Markle has been a pizza maker, racecar driver, competitive ballroom dancer, athlete, and stage actor, performing in such roles as “Lenny” Of Mice and Men, and “Atticus Finch” in To Kill a Mocking Bird while learning automotive welding at Adirondack Community College. When he returned home from college, he resumed racing cars professionally while working alongside his parents for twenty years.

Only when Markle’s parents handed over the keys to the restaurant in 2005, did he turn over the keys to the race car. Markle frankly revealed, “by the time I took over I had thirteen concussions and two comas.” He said, “One time I flipped my car on the front stretch, but flips aren’t that bad; they absorb the impact. The worst was when I ran right into the wall.” The menacing cars in the photos surrounding the bar are called “big block modified dirtracers.” The unwieldy, super-high-horsepower style of racing developed just after World War II in upstate NY. It is popular around the Northeast and Canada, but especially in Orange, Ulster, and Sullivan counties of New York. Today there are far more race car drivers at the bar than railroad workers. Markle still keeps trophies around the place, but driving, like most of his life’s vocations, has been stripped back to reveal the oldest one: cook.

Markle says, “Really, I’m the President, CEO, dishwasher, and cook.” He works twelve to fifteen hours a day, preparing all of the dishes he and his parents learned from the Sarro’s. The menu goes beyond pizza. The Markle’s are not Italian (they are German and Irish), but the Sarro’s taught them to make antipasti, eggplant, veal for scallopini and cutlet, sauce for homemade lasagna and the pizza, and dough. Markle still butchers a leg of veal each week, the same way Mr. Sarro taught him, and he still makes all the pizza dough. He said, “I use a dough roller that’s been here since the 50’s. The whole process takes three days—the temperature and humidity have to be just right—so when we run out of pizza it’s a problem.”

Markle’s three teenage kids, thus far, are not thinking about the business. Markle aunts, a couple of whom were working there for fifty or sixty years have retired, but Markle is still going strong. He maintains the recipes and most of the fixtures himself, and when he’s short staffed his regulars know the rhythm well enough to throw on an apron and join the dance.

The place isn’t just his inheritance, it’s the town’s inheritance. Every sign and symbol in the place says, “this is ours.” Patrons raced the cars in the pictures, their parents hunted for the bucks on the walls, and their great-grandparents worked on trains like the models overhead. For generations, those bar stools and booths have been a place to rest, where every social and somatic need is nurtured. Passing through, you might wish you had a comforting home base that’s endured through the ages. Still, it’s nice to feel full and welcome, even if it’s just for one long afternoon. - Mike Diago

📍 Len and Jo’s
186 W Main St, Port Jervis, NY 12771

Mike Diago is an award-winning food writer, home cook, and High School Social Worker living in the Hudson Valley.

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“In the whole of New York City, there may be only 10 still working in the old style way,” is what Stephen Li told me about Cantonese BBQ in our first interview. I was surprised: Surely, there are still ducks hanging in the window throughout the city. Was there not a line every day at Wah Fung? Didn’t we just get a new BBQ spot, Hay Hay Roasted?

How can there be only 10 restaurants making Chinatown’s most iconic dish?

We were sitting inside of Great NY Noodletown, a landmark of Chinatown standing on Bowery since 1964. The rumor about Noodletown is they pay only $1 a month in rent. For years, they were open until 4 AM, giving it cult status among chefs like Anthony Bourdain. Stephen told me it’s the oldest restaurant in Chinatown; that’s not true. Wo Hop and Nom Wah are older. But it is possibly the oldest traditional Cantonese BBQ restaurant in Chinatown.

I was able to get clarity on the $1 rent, the mystery of why Cantonese BBQ is disappearing, and much more in my latest YouTube documentary:

But wait! There’s more!

Gabriel and I filmed another behind-the-scenes vlog. It’s behind a paywall to help fund the production of these videos. We discuss:

• How I got connected with Noodletown, and how I became (possibly) the first person to ever film in their kitchen

• How I screwed up this production, and what I’ll fix going forward

• Our next video that I shot in London 2 weeks ago

• And at least one snide comment about the James Beard awards

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At People & Food, our goal is to change where folks choose to eat. Away from the chains and VC-backed restaurants that most publications and influencers are covering, and towards the small eateries and mom-and-pop businesses that we all love and want to preserve.

Our list of pop-ups and events is curated with that mission in mind. If you see an event that deserves a mention and aligns with our mission, please drop us a line and we’d be happy to add it.

This will be a monthly column, and we’ll update it as we learn of more events. Thanks for your support. - Rob, Angela, Sangita and Alexa

It’s impossible to think about the month of October without bountiful harvests coming to mind. That certainly seems to be the theme of this month’s food events guide, which features NYC’s first mooncake cinnamon rolls in honor of the Mid-Autumn Festival, a fungus festival, a fall pachanga, and so much more!

Lao Home Kitchen Meets Brooklyn Backyard

“It is inexplicably difficult to find Lao food in New York City. But once a month, Anita Pathammavong’s parents, Saychareunsouk and Melissa, drive four and half hours from Virginia to Brooklyn in order to share traditional Lao dishes with those who seek it out.”

Now’s your chance to try the bright, zesty, punchy flavors of this underrated cuisine at Heunkuoa, which translates to “home kitchen” in Lao. Read more about this family-run, labor-of-love pop-up in our latest article below:

When: October 2 & 3, 4:30 PM — Sold out
Where: Troost (📍 1011 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222)
How to Attend: Just pull up.

A Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration

Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional harvest celebration in several East Asian cultures. Welcome to Chinatown is taking Gotham Park for a jam-packed weekend of food, festivities, and fun for the whole family! Look out for some of our favorite vendors including Anna Ye Tea, Nine Treasures Creamery, and more.

When: October 2—4, 1 PM—7 PM
Where: Gotham Park (📍 1 Rose St, New York, NY 10038)
How to Attend: Just pull up.

Bake Your Stress Away…

During Mid-Autumn Festival, it is common to eat mooncakes, which symbolize family reunion and unity under the full harvest moon. Less common, but certainly no less delicious, is NYC’s first ever mooncake cinnamon roll (!!!) along with other Hong Kong-inspired delicacies on the menu at this exciting pop-up.

When: October 3, 11 AM—3 PM
Where: Harbour Kafe (📍 172 Borinquen Pl, Brooklyn, NY 11211)
How to Attend: Free RSVP here.

Pure Sourcery

Eat Sourcery is a purveyor of heirloom spices from small family farms in India. For one day only, they’re teaming up with Brooklyn Granary and Mill for a bakery showcase that highlights heirloom spices baked with fresh, stone-milled flour. Pair it with the Kerehaklu SL9 from Driftaway Coffee for a perfect start to your Monday morning.

When: October 5, 7:30 AM—Sold out
Where: Brooklyn Granary & Mill (📍 240 Huntington St, Brooklyn, NY 11231)
How to Attend: Just pull up.

Wine by the Glass (from one of Rob’s favorites!)

From Instagram: “Next week we’re lucky to have Alejandro Narváez of @forlongwine joining us from Cádiz for the night… Forlong works organically with the grapes and chalky albariza soils of the Jerez region, making wines that take some very fun detours from what you might normally expect from southern Spain.”

When: October 7, 5:30—Close
Where: Place des Fêtes (📍 212 Greene Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238)
How to Attend: Reserve here, walk-ins welcome.

Gentle Time Farm to Table

From Instagram: “After a summer of collaborations with chefs, growers, makers and herbalists we admire, we move into fall FRI 10.9 with @gentletimefarming, a trans and queer owned cooperative growing culturally significant East Asian vegetables for Asian communities and the diaspora in New York.

Through cooperative farming, mutual aid and their work alongside Choy Commons, they are helping build a more equitable, community-led food system rooted in food sovereignty, cultural continuity and care. This dinner arrives at the close of their growing season, marking the end of months of planting, tending, harvesting and sharing.”

When: October 9, 6:00 PM
Where: Public Records (📍 233 Butler St, Brooklyn, NY 11217)
How to Attend: Reserve here.

The Fungus Festival is Back!

From Instagram: “On Sunday, October 11, Fungus Festival returns to The Battery, bringing mushrooms into nearly every corner of the park.

From fascinating talks and hands-on workshops to fungal art, films, food, fresh mushrooms, and plenty of family-friendly activities, there’s a lot to discover.”

When: October 10, 4:00 PM—6:00 PM
Where: The Battery (📍 New York, NY 10004)
How to Attend: Just pull up.

The Great Astoria Bake-Off

Try dozens of baked goods and crown Astoria’s new Star Baker for a good cause! Proceeds benefit the Astoria Food Pantry. Tickets are pay-what-you-can at the door, via electronic or cash payment (Suggested ticket price: $20). Please also bring any non-perishable food items or sanitary supplies to donate to the pantry.

When: October 11, 4:00 PM—7:00 PM
Where: Astoria Food Pantry (📍 25-82 Steinway St, Astoria, NY 11103)
How to Attend: Just pull up.

From Tacos to Tahdig

Worlds collide as the famed taquería from Austin touches down in NYC for their cookbook tour, linking up with Chef Chintan Padya of Unapologetic Foods for a panel moderated by Nadia Chaudhury. Food and drinks provided by Dhamaka.

When: October 15, 6:00 PM—9:00 PM
Where: Essex Market (📍 88 Essex St, New York, NY 10002)
How to Attend: RSVP here.

Good Neighbors Community Bake Sale

This Saturday, over 40 bakers are joining forces in Greenpoint to raise funds for One Love Community Fridge. From Instagram:

“All proceeds will go to @onelovecommunityfridge, an organization that works to eradicate hunger, food insecurity, malnutrition, and the stigma associated with all three, through an integrated, multi-generational, and inclusive movement that centers access to fresh foods, nutrition education, and sustainability.

They have redirected over 5 million pounds of food to help feed those in need in New York City. You may be familiar with their sidewalk fridges located around the city, which allow neighbors to help give back to those in need within their community.”

When: October 17, 12:00 PM—Sold out
Where: Index Space Greenpoint (📍 698 Manhattan Ave, 3rd Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11222)
How to Attend: Just pull up.

A Little Fall Pachanga

You already know we’re big fans of Los Hermosos, one of only a few molinos in New York State. Read about the places preserving the tradition of Mexican masa, and then go taste the difference nixtamalized tortillas make at this fun Upstate shindig!

When: October 17, 1:00 PM—Sold out
Where: Across from The Meat Wagon (📍 22 Jansen Ave, Kingston, NY 12401)
How to Attend: Just pull up. Event flyer here.

Mariachi Night!

If you’ve read Alexa’s piece defending a popular $10.50 Innwood breakfast burrito, then you already know that G’s Coffee Shop is deeply invested in their local community. One example of that is their upcoming mariachi night, in partnership with and benefiting the Good Shepherd’s Men’s Club. Stop by for good food, good music, and to support a good cause!

When: October 17, 6:00 PM—10:00 PM
Where: Good Shepherd Auditorium (📍 620 Isham St, New York, NY 10034)
How to Attend: Tickets can be purchased at the Good Shepherd Church Rectory or at G’s Coffee Shop (📍 634 West 207th Street, NY, NY 10034)

• $30 Adults

• $15 Children 12 & under

• $35 At the Door

Indigenous Peoples’ Day Ain’t Over!

From Instagram: “As we celebrate 7 years of Urban Indigenous Collective, we’re gathering around food, culture, creativity, and the people who nourish our communities. Come hungry, support our vendors, and celebrate with us!”

Look out for Lakota Fry Bread and Puerto Rico On The Go, who will be the food vendors for the shindig.

When: October 17, 8:00 PM — October 18, 2:00 AM
Where: Please Space Studio (📍 610 Smith St, Brooklyn, NY 11231)
How to Attend: Get your tickets here.

A Simmer Series for Soup Season

October = cold weather = soup season, and the folks at Bé Bếp have got you covered with their weekly “Simmer Series”. This coming week’s drop includes end-of-season harvests of kabocha, young ginger, and winter melon from @gentletimefarming.

When: Sign up by 10/18 to be included in the next delivery
How: Sign up here.

A Puerto Rican Tasting Menu

For two nights only, Chef Anthony Nichols is bringing the flavors that he grew up with to the dinner table. In his own words, it will be “Puerto Rican tradition, told through fine dining technique” over seven courses.

When: October 22 & 23, 6:00 PM — 9:00 PM
Where: Chef’s Dinner Table (📍 132 Mulberry St, New York, NY 10013)
How to Attend: Get your tickets here.

Chinese Home Cooking in the Hudson Valley

From Instagram: “hudson valley! we are so excited to announce that this friday, oct. 23, we will be bringing casa kang to the public for the first time EVER.

We’ll be at water street market’s fourth friday event in new paltz from 6-9 pm serving a simple menu of authentic chinese recipes inspired by home cooked meals from 姥爷 (lao ye), chef fio’s grandfather ❤️”

When: October 23, 6 PM — 9 PM
Where: Water Street Market (📍 10 Main St # 501, New Paltz, NY 12561)
How to Attend: Just pull up!

And Lao Home Cooking in Greenpoint

If you saw our piece on Heunkuoa earlier this month and wish you could’ve attended the pop-up, now’s your chance! The Pammathavong family is taking over Lise & Vito this weekend and the menu looks delectable:

And if you haven’t read the article yet, check it out here:

When: October 23—25, 2 PM — Sold out
Where: Lise & Vito (📍 126A Nassau Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222)
How to Attend: Just pull up.

An Arab Autumn Block Party

Sandos, sounds, and sahlab are on deck at this autumnal celebration in Red Hook hosted by boutique Syrian catering service Lammeh. Make sure to RSVP so they know how many sandos to make!

When: October 24, 3 PM — 6 PM
Where: Record Shop (📍 360 Van Brunt St, Brooklyn, NY 11231)
How to Attend: Free RSVP here.

Ridgewood Community Garden Harvest Festival

From Instagram: “Mark your calendar, the Ridgewood Community Garden Harvest Festival is Sunday, Oct. 25! On the agenda: harvesting our sweet potatoes and winter squash, making scarecrows and corn husk dolls with our corn, singing in the orchard, potluck and a raffle for prizes from local businesses…prizes will be announced in the coming weeks 🌽🎃🍏🍂!!!”

When: October 25, 11 AM — 2 PM
Where: Ridgewood Community Garden (📍 61-01 Tonsor St, Ridgewood, NY 11385)
How to Attend: Just pull up.

Sake & Dumplings!

Our friends @Falansai are popping up at Kato Sake Works for an afternoon of “Lemongrass beef dumplings in pho broth, lamb & beef bao, and vegan veg tamales, all $10, with sake pairings from the Kato team.”

When: October 25, 2 PM — 5 PM
Where: Kato Sake Works (📍 379 Troutman St, Brooklyn, NY 11237)
How to Attend: Free RSVP here. Walk-ins welcome.

Comfort Food 🤝 Malaysian Sauces

From Instagram: “If you’ve followed Ramro for a while, you may know that we started as a hole-in-a-wall comfort food operation called FoodStruck. Even after we pivoted, that place holds dear and near in our heart. Thanks to @mamalams, we are bringing FoodStruck back for a day on 10/25! We’ll have chopped cheeses, fried chicken thighs, loco mocos and more.. featuring your favorite small batch Malaysian sauces!”

When: October 25, 3 PM — 11 PM
Where: Ramro (📍 30-93 38th St, Astoria, NY 11103)
How to Attend: Free RSVP here.

A Family-Style Calabrian Dinner

If you’ve been following Rob for a while, you know that LaRina is home to some of his favorite pastas in the city.

And now, for one night only, @chefsilviabarban will bring Calabria to Brooklyn around the table of Casa Rina. Enjoy “a curated calabrian menu as well as a demonstration on how to make Fileja, Calabrian traditional pasta, from scratch!”

When: October 29, 3 PM — 11 PM
Where: LaRina Pastificio & Vino (📍 387 Myrtle Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11205)
How to Attend: Get your tickets here.

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It is inexplicably difficult to find Lao food in New York City. But once a month, Anita Pathammavong’s parents, Saychareunsouk and Melissa, drive four and half hours from Virginia to Brooklyn in order to share traditional Lao dishes with those who seek it out.

On a warm summer evening in late July, I was among those chasing the complex flavors of this underrated cuisine: bright, zesty, punchy from a fermented fish sauce called padaek, herbaceous from the abundant use of lemongrass, mint, cilantro and kaffir lime leaves.

My pursuit had led me to the backyard of a bar in Greenpoint, nose running from spice, eyes watering from the smoky grill beside me. Behind the grill, Saychareunsouk smiled congenially while turning freshly prepared sai oua (Lao herbal beef sausage). Next to him, Melissa wore an expression of extreme focus as she deftly prepared thum mak hoong (Lao papaya salad) with a mortar and pestle.

This was Heunkuoa (pronounced “hyun-kwa”), a monthly pop-up hosted by the Pathammavong family.

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“We’re the only Indian restaurant to ever have charcoal tandoors in our kitchen in Manhattan,” declares executive Chef Karan Mittal of Ambassador’s Clubhouse in a video published by Eater in May.

Cooks flutter around the kitchen’s tandoors: waist-high, cylindrical clay ovens in metal cases, meant for sticking in meat skewers, or slapping naan on the walls. At their bottom glows red-hot charcoal, which bake, grill, griddle, and smoke in an earthy concert. Mr. Mittal stresses that charcoal tandoor flavor is non-negotiable to the culture of Punjab, the northern Indian state. These days, most restaurant tandoors in New York run on clean-burning gas instead.

The glitzy Ambassador’s Clubhouse arrived in NYC earlier this year, a second to its original in London. There is allegedly a 12,000+ person waitlist; headlines brandish it “one of the hardest reservations in New York.” The restaurant is no underdog: a $100+ million hospitality group backs their claim of pioneering charcoal singularity in Manhattan.

But I’m hearing a different story about charcoal tandoors sitting in Rego Park, at Tandoor Restaurant. Opened in 1989, it’s one of New York City’s oldest, still-operating Indian eateries. Across white tablecloth from me is the spry Vinnie Kumar, Tandoor Restaurant’s original and current owner (who laughed when I asked for his age).

“I came here in 1976 from New Delhi,” Mr. Kumar reminisces, looking out the window. “Back in those days, every restaurant in New York was charcoal.”

“Oh my God! I remember Gaylord restaurant on 58th Street…with a glass window for their tandoor. Line outside at 5 o’clock. LINE!” he emphasizes, flinging his arms towards the end of the block.

Gaylord’s 1974-opened Midtown East outpost was a franchise from New Delhi, steps from Central Park. And they weren’t the only Indian restaurant showing off their tandoor like a zoo animal to gawking New Yorkers of the 70’s, who were curious what this “igloo-shaped,” charcoal-heated oven could make.

A year later and a few blocks south came the spot Tandoor (not to be confused with Mr. Kumar’s later Queens joint), “put[ting] on a floor show behind a glass wall.” On the Upper West Side that same year came Indian Oven, whose owner fondly called their “glass enclosed kitchen…a total performance drama.”

These three mid-seventies-born spots with glassed spectacle seem to be amongst the earliest charcoal-powered tandoors in Manhattan restaurants. All have since closed.

The rise of tandoors in NYC was thanks to charcoal

Clay ovens in the northern Indian subcontinent can be traced back almost 5 millenia, burning wood, charcoal, even dung. However, tandoors in restaurant kitchens are pretty cosmopolitan.

What’s considered to be the first Indian restaurant in New York City opened in 1913. Ceylon India Inn was near Times Square, brought to life by a Sri Lankan immigrant. There didn’t seem to be a tandoor in his kitchen at the start; he served rice and curries closer to Sri Lankan and southern Indian fare.

Only after the late 1940s did “tandoori chicken” become a buzzword on Indian menus. Freshly independent India’s new northwestern border with Pakistan forcibly split the region of Punjab in half, and many Punjabis were pushed to the Indian capital city, New Delhi. Here spawned famed restaurants like Moti Mahal (1947) and Bukhara (1977), who popularized à la minute, char-kissed skewers and breads for urbanites drawn to rustic, “frontier-style” cooking.

The tandoor craze then hit New York City. First came ‘tandoori’ spice blends that mimicked clay-charcoal oven flavor without the actual ovens. Then came drum-shaped clay vessels: critically, shipped empty and efficiently from India, easily filled with charcoal stateside. New Delhi cooks trained on charcoal tandoors immigrated to staff Manhattan kitchens. By the late 70s, charcoal tandoori chicken and naan were “typical” of and almost interchangeable with the word ‘Indian’ in New York, dotting numerous menus. Even Ceylon India Inn, by this time sold to and renamed by a Bengali family, added the earthen oven to their repertoire.

When imported tandoors cracked during transit and daily use, the restaurant Indian Oven called upon Manhattan-based ceramicist, Ron Levy, to craft unglazed, barrel-shaped vessels that could house charcoal. He succeeded. Word spread through the restaurant community of Mr. Levy’s quality; by 1989, he became “the leading manufacturer of tandoor ovens in America.”

What happened to NYC’s charcoal tandoors?

Most commercial tandoors sold now, including those from Mr. Levy’s legacy business, Homdoor, are inset with a propane burner. A sales representative of the company told me that he’s not in touch with any New York restaurants still using charcoal tandoors in their kitchens.

A different representative from Tandoor Morni -- one of the first manufacturers to achieve North American safety and sanitation certification (known in the industry as CSA & NSF) at the turn of the millennia -- tells me that they only make gas-powered commercial tandoors.

Mr. Kumar, the vibrant owner of Tandoor Restaurant, tells me that he switched his kitchen’s tandoors to gas in the mid-90s; indoor charcoal tandoors are nowadays “not possible” and virtually “illegal.” He cites the Smoke Free Act, passed in 1995 to limit indoor public smoking, for shifting how NYC thought about health and the environment. In the past decade, further Air Pollution Control Code has limited multiple kinds of solid-fuel cooking appliances in commercial kitchens, from wood-fired pizza ovens to charbroilers.

Multiple chef-owners I spoke with echoed this same feeling of having their hands tied. Chef Hemant Mathur, who has had a founding hand in almost a dozen tandoor-focused spots around town, explains that there are “strict fire safety regulations, ventilation requirements, exhaust systems, grease management, ash disposal, and multiple approvals from city agencies [the Fire Department, Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Buildings, to name a few]. All of those add cost…gas-fired tandoors became the practical choice.”

Chef Suhrob Mullojonov of the Uzbek restaurant Shashlik House tells me that the price of just the electrostatic precipitator filter -- which goes between the hood and roof exhaust fan, sucking up smoke and particulate matter -- can start at $70,000. Insurance companies will ask charcoal-using restaurants to cover not just their unit, but the entire building, because “charcoal is more hazardous than gas.” When Mr. Mullojonov opened his now-closed location on Cortelyou Road, permitting errors with his charcoal cooking system earned him a $20,000 ticket. Now, having painstakingly learned the systems, he operates one of New York City’s few restaurants with a charcoal tandoor and grill, which he must keep in a separate kitchen area than his gas tandoor. Still, Mr. Mullojonov chooses to cook his delicate samsa pastries in the restaurant’s gas tandoor, which he credits as having steadier flames.

On top of these costs, there’s the hurdle of rent that has to be eaten while work is undergone. Many restaurants don’t have this luxury. Ambassador’s Clubhouse was able to take 9 months to source their charcoal tandoor, attain UL listing (a customized health safety certification), as well as receive licensing for hoods backed up with fire suppression and tracking. A representative for Ambassador’s Clubhouse declined request for comment.

Fortunately, “fuel is only one part of the equation” to Mr. Mathur. An alum of Bukhara’s kitchen in New Delhi who moved to New York in 1994, Mr. Mathur had to make do with the gaseous landscape he was given. He went on to be dubbed “the Yo-Yo Ma of tandoors.” And like him, there are many more tandoor craftspeople who pay attention outside of charcoal: clay wall care, wall-sticking technique, creative ingredients, and on, and on.

It is as evident as ever that our city is full of folks fighting to keep tradition alive while time moves fast.

And the chronicles of these tandoors are part of an ancient story much larger than just South Asia. From Indus civilization, clay ovens to cook bread and meat played telephone with many other cultures: the Irani tanoor, Uzbek tandir, Georgian tone, and more. All genres of tandoor restaurants in New York have colorful histories of how they got their ovens in the first place, navigating charcoal restrictions, and leaving marks on staff forearms. But I’ll save some tales of shared humanity for the next installment of this tandoor rabbit hole.

For now, here are six South Asian tandoor-focused New York restaurants firing tastes honed by history and newly dealt cards.

Read more

“People say it’s hard to do the right thing,” Stephan Madias, owner of Wario’s Beef and Pork, told me during our first interview. “But I think they’re just pieces of s***.” I’d just spent the day in the kitchen with his team. It was 2024, his sandwich shop had been open for 4 years, and not a single member of staff had left or quit.

“Leaders eat last” is Stephan’s guiding principle. But this was all relayed to me over FaceTime. When I decided to film at Wario’s Beef and Pork—on an unplanned but very fulfilling trip to Columbus, Ohio—he was on his first vacation in 8 years. Upon hearing I was interested in filming, he offered to end his vacation early and fly straight back to Columbus. I countered and offered something I never offer: We could do the interview over the phone. The video generated a cool 1.5 million views on Instagram.

But this meant that 2 years later, when Steph picked me up at the airport, it was our first time meeting in real life. I wondered: Has this place that I’ve built up in my mind still as high quality and as earnest as I remember? Do leaders still eat last?

Stephan is a swarthy, bearded gentleman who speaks slowly, in an almost monotonous tone that can be read as sardonic—but is more often sincere—wearing a backwards trucker hat. He’s Greek and Lebanese, but he’s also noticeably from Cleveland. His license plate reads: COLDCUTS. His coffee sits in the cup holder—4 espresso shots over ice that he makes at home. Adding the price of the cup, straw, and lid, he has costed it out at $1.30. Drinking one of these made me see the interconnectedness of all things; Steph seemed to have no reaction.

Over the next 3 days, he drove me and my crew around Columbus, showing us each facet of his business. First, to Goood Friends, led by his collaborator Chef Tyler Minnis. He served us their riff on french fries, called sidewinders, paired with a soft, double-creme burgundy cheese. My editor, Gabriel—normally a remote worker—took a bite and declared he needed to come along on every shoot from then on. Tyler and his team fed us very well.

Then to Matija Breads, the bakery that makes a few hundred “sticks” a day for Wario’s; Steph’s recipe for a semolina hero bread. Owner Matt Swint tacked on a focaccia for us to have at dinner, as we left with the truck full of semolina.

Then to the Hungarian Butcher, where Steph was smoking a lamb for a sandwich special. The Hungarian Butcher himself, Dan Varga, laid out a bunch of charcuterie for me to try: Culatello, duck pastrami, escargot terrine. A gourmet feast had found me, as it often does, in this most unexpected of places.

And finally, to Wario’s itself. The kitchen crew welcomed me back, chiding me for still not having been to Oaxaca, and teaching me their sobrenombres, or nicknames. It felt like a homecoming, even though I was standing in their way as they drizzled housemade cheese-whiz, deep-fried baskets of chicken cutlets, smashed potatoes, and turned out tickets faster than I’ve seen any other kitchen do.

One man, Zeferino, greeted me like an old friend. He was on the line last time I was here; now, he’s the Executive Chef of the company. “He was the first employee,” Steph told me. Zeferino has 5 siblings—plus his wife—that work with him at Wario’s.

Everywhere we went, Steph introduced me to his people. “It doesn’t matter what the f*** I know,” he told me. “If I can’t get people to buy in and teach them how to do it, it’s really not worth anything.” Leaders still eat last at Wario’s.

I captured all of this and more, in the first of a biweekly series of long-form videos featuring the chefs, street vendors, and hot dog specialists I’ve long championed on my channel. I know why I chose Columbus Ohio to kick it off. But you’ll have to watch to see:

Below the fold, I’ve included a behind-the-scenes video that we recorded while filming the documentary. I’ve also attached a map of all of my recommendations for Columbus, Ohio. Thanks so much for supporting the channel. Much more to come.

Read more

At People & Food, our goal is to change where folks choose to eat. Away from the chains and VC-backed restaurants that most publications and influencers are covering, and towards the small eateries and mom-and-pop businesses that we all love and want to preserve.

Our list of pop-ups and events is curated with that mission in mind. If you see an event that deserves a mention and aligns with our mission, please drop us a line and we’d be happy to add it.

This will be a monthly column, and we’ll update it as we learn of more events. Thanks for your support. - Rob, Angela, Sangita and Alexa

Summer is giving way to fall, and September is shaping up to be an exciting month for food enthusiasts in New York. Our calendars are overflowing with exciting events over Labor Day Weekend — and that’s just the first weekend of the month! Here is a curated list of food events for those who care just as much about the people and culture behind a dish as the food itself.

A Rare Chance to Eat Lao Food in NYC

There is a dearth of Lao restaurants in New York City, but once a month, a lovely couple drives up from Virginia to visit their daughter, and the family invites you to the table to feast. I had the chance to try the bright, zesty flavors of Tham Mak Hoong (Lao papaya salad) and the spicy smokiness of the handmade Sai Oua (Lao herbal beef sausage), and can’t wait to go back! - Angela

When: September 4, 5PM—10PM; September 5 & 6, 2PM—8PM
Where: Lise & Vito (📍 126A Nassau Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222)
How to Attend: Just pull up.

Astoria’s First Ever Brasil Fest

31st Ave Open Street, Astoria’s volunteer-run public space on 31st Ave from 33rd to 35th Street, will be hosting its first ever Brazilian Independence Day Festival with vendors selling traditional foods and artisanal goods from across Brazil.

When: September 5, 2PM—7PM
Where: 31st Ave Open Street (📍 34-02 31st Ave, Astoria, NY 11106)
How to Attend: Just pull up.

Seafood and Sungolds

Burnt Orange Honey is launching a brand new supper club in collaboration with Chef Dan Mollitor, and “Italian comfort foods with a fine dining edge” are on the menu. From Instagram: “It’ll be a beautiful bon voyage to summer and celebration of a very special ingredient”

Five courses. BYOB. Somewhere in Fort Greene.

When: September 4, 7:30PM—10PM
Where: Location TBD (somewhere in Fort Greene)
How to Attend: Get your tickets here

Can I get a Chinese Cheeseburger?

From Instagram: “Mr. Jong was born as a homage to the lowkey brilliance of Americanized Chinese fast food - our ancestors adapted flavors of homeland to an American palate - and built homes then families then stability for the next generations to flourish (thats us!). What better vehicle to show this off than a mf Chinese Cheeseburger???”

When: September 4, 4PM—10PM (or sold out!)
Where: Little Island (📍 Pier 55 at Hudson River Park, Hudson River Greenway, New York, NY 10014)
How to Attend: RSVP here for event updates

¡Carne Asada y Pachanga!

Our favorite nixtamalized tortilla taqueria is popping up and popping off at Upstate kombucha shop Yesfolk. From Instagram: “They’ll be keeping the kombucha flowing, we’ll be keeping the tacos coming, and trust us when we say the two make a pretty damn good pair.”

Read more about Los Hermosos, one of very few molinos in New York in Alexa’s article below, and then go taste their tortillas made from fresh corn masa for yourself!

When: September 5, 4PM—7PM (or sold out)
Where: Yesfolk Tonics (📍 1467 5th Ave, Troy, NY 12180)
How to Attend: Just pull up.

A New Bodega is Born

Bánh xèo. Viet coffee. Bánh bò. Need we say more?

When: September 5 & 6, 11AM—4PM
Where: 📍 117 Grattan St, Brooklyn, NY 11237
How to Attend: RSVP here.

Un Verano en Nueva Yolk

I’ll never forget the first time I tried lucuma at a local market in Lima. I had never experienced such a rich flavor and custardy texture in a fruit before. It makes perfect sense as a frozen treat, and Pri Aguilar has captured its essence beautifully with their ice cream brand Nueva Yolk, which honors the flavors of the LATAM + Carribean diaspora.

Their first drop also features the flavors of charred summer corn and huacatay, a fragrant Peruvian herb also known as black mint. - Angela

When: September 6, 12PM—4PM
Where: Nimbus (📍 383 Bridge St, Brooklyn, NY 11201)
How to Attend: Reserve here.

Little Island, Big Names in Baking

Some of the city’s biggest names in baking are participating in Our Little Bake Sale, a fundraiser hosted by pastry chef Natasha Pickowicz. All proceeds from the bake sale go directly to Make The Road NY, a Queens-based non-profit that builds the power of immigrant and working class communities across NYC.

When: September 6, 3PM—5PM
Where: Little Island (📍 Pier 55 at Hudson River Park, Hudson River Greenway, New York, NY 10014)
How to Attend: Buy your tickets here. One $10 ticket = one baked good.

From Bengal to Brooklyn

This Labor Day weekend, celebrate Bengal at Barzakh, from Bangladeshi barbecue to a documentary screening of a dream called khushi about the Rohingya exodus to a performance to a live performance by local band Teentara featuring a guest sitarist. Nostalgic snacks served throughout the evening!

When: September 6, 2PM—8PM
Where: Barzakh Cafe (📍 147 Utica Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11213)
How to Attend: RSVP here.

Palestinian BBQ for the Olive Harvest

From Instagram “We are throwing a good ole fashioned Palestinian-Lebanese mashawi cookout! All proceeds supporting @faz3a_pal’s efforts during the upcoming olive harvest in Palestine.”

When: September 7, 2PM—Sold out
Where: Sauced (📍 331 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211)
How to Attend: Just pull up.

Black Tradition Meets Kashmiri Flavor

From Instagram: “in my family, we love us a summer cookout. and what better way to pay homage to my heritage than to remix a few cookout and wazwan classics?”

When: September 7, 5PM—9PM
Where: Wadadli (📍 419 Putnam Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11216)
How to Attend: RSVP here.

Korean x Filipino Kamayan

For one night, Chef Anton Dayrit of Tradicionale and Chef Jae Lee of Nowon are coming together to bring the culinary traditions of their respective cultures to the table, creating a true fusion of flavors served Kamayan-style.

When: September 9, 5PM
Where: Tradicionale (📍 156 9th Ave, New York, NY 10011)
How to Attend: RSVP here.

Royal Bengal Motor Club & Friends

From Instagram: “RBMC is extremely honored to present our all Bengali all star vendors for our first ever pop up. With Bengali snacks, desserts, drinks, clothing Henna, jewelry, and prints all done by Bengali artists. And a suprise fusion Bengali Onigiri with our good friends from @myrtlewombat and @stovetopsaj”

When: September 12, 1PM—6PM
Where: Myrtle Wombat (📍 581 Myrtle Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11205)
How to Attend: Just pull up.

Cookies from “The Town of Tea”

Ceon, a baker from Nishio, Japan is popping up at Land to Sea for one day only. Nishio is famously known as “the town of tea,” and Ceon is bringing that heritage to Brooklyn with a lineup of cookies featuring specialty matcha sourced straight from home.

When: September 12, 11AM—1PM
Where: Land To Sea (📍 402 Graham Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211 )
How to Attend: Just pull up.

Summer’s Never Over

at Lise & Vito, where Chef Agness Kim, sous chef at Sunn’s, is popping up with Korean takes on classic dishes that celebrate the last of summer. Kimchi & Spam mac salad, Shin ramyun hot chicken sandwich, honey poached pear, and more are on the menu!

When: September 12, 5PM—Sold out
Where: Lise & Vito (📍 126A Nassau Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222)
How to Attend: Just pull up.

A Momo Crawl and an Urgent Plea

Jackson Heights’ annual momo crawl is back for its 14th year with over 30 Tibetan and Nepali vendors serving $1 momo samples.

On a more somber note, the organizers have recently put out a call for donations to the Tibet-Nepal Border Relief efforts following the devastating landslide and floods in the region. Please consider contributing to the relief drive here.

When: September 13, 12PM—5PM
Where: Diversity Plaza (📍 73-19 37th Rd, Jackson Heights, NY 11372)
How to Attend: Get your passport here.

It’s Paw Paw Time

From Instagram: “If you’ve been curious to try this incredible native fruit… or if you already love them and want more…now is your chance. Our two trees are bursting with fruit and dropping ripe treats every day! We have more than enough to share and would love for you to have some.”

When: September 13, 2PM—6PM
Where: El Garden (📍 118 Jefferson St, Brooklyn, NY 11206)
How to Attend: Free RSVP here ($5 suggested donation)

Funky Laziza Lebanese Cookout

From Instagram: “Come join us for our first Lebanese Cookout on Sept 13th, from 3pm - 10pm. Expect charcoal grilled spit roasted lamb, yoghurt marinated chicken wings, and the usual suspects of falafel, funk, fries and good times from Laziza… This is what family is about and what us Lebanese kids will remember about our childhood. Family, Friends, Music and most definitely, Good Food.”

When: September 13, 3PM—10PM
Where: Laziza (📍 306A Malcolm X Blvd, Brooklyn, NY 11233)
How to Attend: Free RSVP here

Not Their First Rodeo…

The ultra-popular Palestinian arayes pop-up is back for one last weekend. What are arayes? Think a delicious meat-filled pita sandwich originating from Lebanon, and served hot and crispy off the grill at Rodeo in Crown Heights. Get them while they’re hot, and while they last (which won’t be long)!

When: September 18, 6PM—Sold out
Where: Rodeo (📍 1134 President St, Brooklyn, NY 11225, Stati Uniti)
How to Attend: Just pull up.

Cơm tấm and Chè

From Instagram: “Summer is not over until we say it is!!!

Pull up for some cơm tấm and chè! Good food, good people, and an excuse to eat outside before the season changes.”

When: September 19, 1PM—Sold out
Where: Hudson Wilder (📍 142 Plymouth St, Brooklyn, NY 11201, Stati Uniti)
How to Attend: Just pull up.

Food Crawl for a Cause

From Instagram: “We’re raising money for Nepali flood relief this New York Climate Week by photowalking through Jackson Heights.

We’ll stop at various Nepali restaurants along the way to sample a variety of Nepali dishes. Join us for an afternoon of street photography and portraiture of us eating momos.”

When: September 20, 3PM
Where: Meet at Threading Place (📍 38-91 82nd St, Elmhurst, NY 11373)
How to Attend: Just pull up. $5 donation suggested.

Cheese Omakase? Sounds Gouda!

12 courses of cheese. Need I say more?

When: September 20, 6PM—9:30PM
Where: Frank’s House (📍 133 Clinton Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11205)
How to Attend: RSVP here.

An Apple a Day…

Because nothing screams fall like apple-picking in the Hudson Valley.

From Instagram: “ORCHARD TOURS ARE BACK!!! Join us for a guided tour of our 2-acre Ancram, New York orchard featuring over 150 rare, unique and historically significant apple varieties. Each ticket includes 5 pounds of apples, picked during the tour. Some of the unique varieties we grow include Pitmaston Pineapple, Kandil Sinap, Black Oxford, Hidden Rose, Niedzwetzkyana, Sweet 16, Frostbite, Lincolnville Russet, Kidd’s Orange Red, Red Devil and Garden Royal.”

When: Saturdays in September, 2PM
Where: Hudson Valley Apple Project (📍 1066 County Rte 27a, Ancram, NY 12502)
How to Attend: Book your orchard tour here.

Thank you for reading! If you found this piece valuable, consider subscribing to be notified of more New York stories about People & Food.

I needed a burger. But all the ones near me are smashed, or just near to it.

Smash burgers falls in the “want” category for me. Sometimes I want a double garlic smash from Milk Burger. Sometimes I want to walk into Rolo’s right at 5, get my seat at the bar, get a cocktail, and order the famous burger with the dijonnaise and the long-hot. Sometimes, even, I want a Shake Shack. Usually when I’m at JFK.

But when I need a burger, those just won’t do. So I went to Donovan’s Pub.

It’s insane that I’d never been to Donovan’s. When I first moved to New York, I spent most of my weekend nights boozing and eating curry fries at Molly Bloom’s in nearby Sunnyside. Donovan’s is like a Chekhov’s gun that has finally gone off, and it shot me directly in the fucking heart.

I admit I went in with skepticism. I don’t rate Minetta Tavern’s burger very highly. Corner Bistro isn’t a favorite of mine. Joe Jr. has sadly taken a turn for the worse. Those bigger, juicier grilled burgers just seem to have some unpredictability. When Johnny Novo began his burger series, I sent him my burger starting 5, to give you an idea of my taste:

Read more

“OMG. We need to go!” and “Should we make a reservation?” glowed brightly on my screen after Lucas Sin and Camden Hauge announced their first Lok Kee pop-up this summer. I’m lucky I acted fast, as it sold out within days.

Lucas and Camden’s reputations precede them. Lucas, a Hong Kong native, chef, and James Beard-award winning video host, and Camden, the entrepreneur behind China Wine Club and Shanghai-based Happy Place Hospitality Group, are the husband-and-wife duo behind Lok Kee, a modern take on the 1950s-style cha chaan teng.

“Lok Kee is a cha chaan teng—my favorite type of restaurant in the world. I’ve been thinking about it for a good amount of time now,” Lucas shared. “My hope is to open a cha chaan teng in New York City… [it] is currently manifesting as a pop-up, but we’re working towards that goal.”

Cha chaan tengs are Hong Kong’s casual tea cafes, blending Cantonese cuisine with external influences. “It is an internalization by Hong Kong people for Hong Kong people of the many influences that came into Hong Kong, whether that’s from British colonial history, Southeast Asian trade, or just contemporary things that Hong Kong people are interested in,” Lucas explained.

NYC has seen a rise in their popularity recently, but some establishments in Manhattan’s Chinatown, like M Star and S Wan, have been around for over two decades. The Western influence is apparent in offerings like Hong Kong-style French toast, macaroni soup, or scrambled eggs and toast. Traditionally, though, they’re in a league of their own, with robust menus of over 100 options to choose from.

There are potential plans to take over the pop-up’s current location, M Star, which has been in the neighborhood since 2003. But the official opening dates are fuzzy.

“The future of Lok Kee is undetermined,” Lucas explained. “This is one of these more delicate types of situations that is a little bit more complex—not like we’re building a restaurant from scratch, right? So when it comes to inheriting a restaurant or even building a restaurant that already exists in a community, the timeline is a little bit nebulous.”

Although Lok Kee is in its early stages, I wanted to share some observations from a very exciting meal I had there last Friday. This was not a comped meal or invitation.

Read more

It’s quiet at first. But a few sips in, this tea begins to taste like chocolate.

Unmistakably, I’m drinking hot chocolate, the kind thick and ripe from a semisweet bar and not much else. I’m in middle school, unwrapping a truffle from the jar on my teacher’s desk, letting it melt on my tongue, not another thought in my head. I’m blistering on a cacao farm on the equator, chewing a dark, fruity nib, smelling trees and earth and 2016.

But really, I’m in a tucked-away tea counter in Nolita, of all places. It’s a rainy Monday, and I’m trying Korean hwangcha.

“It’s fun,” chuckles Hyun Lee, co-owner of T Shop.

Lee and I are sitting low and close, across the shop’s wooden, four-seat counter, nestled in our own, tiny, cabin-like world. She sets out what look like pine needles, if they changed color in autumn, onto a celadon dish. Nimbly rolled, these are tea leaves from Hadong, the sandy, southern coastal county of South Korea.

With hot water, the leaves go into a thin-walled, lidded porcelain bowl. Soon, strained into glass, the brew reveals itself. Lee pours me most of the buttery, yolk-colored steep — almost fatty and meaty — and also a bit for herself, in a Ferrero Rocher-sized teacup. We’re sipping. And because we’re sipping, our cheeks are smiling at each other, on their own accord. In deft choreography, Lee brews once, then twice, and then I realize we’ve drunk the chocolatey leaves four (or is it six?) times. I see the caffeine and her ambient bossa nova radio dancing samba together in front of me, and then I feel their rhythm throughout my body, from my cheeks doing their own silly, awkward thing, to my gut warming up and greeting its friends, to my fingertips entering an uncontrollable jazz hand state of mind. Now, we’re all dancing together. I am gleefully, undoubtedly, colorfully tea drunk. Is this even tea?

New York City has a plethora of thoughtful places to drink loose-leaf brews and boba hailing from China and Taiwan, as well as matcha from Japan. But T Shop is one of only a few shops in the city serving Korean teas: a genre that is much less talked about, and one that evades neat definition.

Read more

At People & Food, our goal is to change where folks choose to eat. Away from the chains and VC-backed restaurants that most publications and influencers are covering, and towards the small eateries and mom-and-pop businesses that we all love and want to preserve.

Our list of pop-ups and events is curated with that mission in mind. If you see an event that deserves a mention and aligns with our mission, please drop us a line and we’d be happy to add it.

This will be a monthly column, and we’ll update it as we learn of more events. Thanks for your support. - Rob, Angela, Sangita and Alexa

It’s officially August in New York and our calendar is popping off with exciting openings, pop-ups, parties, and festivals! With so much going on, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with figuring out what to eat and who to meet.

That’s why we’ve compiled a curated list of food events for those who care just as much about the people and culture behind a dish as the food itself.

NYC’s Next Big Cantonese Restaurant (Continues to) Pops Up

For the entire month of August, you can try Manhattan’s newest cha chaan teng from Chef Lucas Sin: Lok Kee. Lucas is a Hong Kong-born chef and outspoken champion of Cantonese cuisine; his upcoming book is literally called Cha Chaan Teng and pays homage to the comfort food from Hong Kong’s iconic diners.

Lok Kee is only popping up for dinner for right now, and taking reservations via DM.

When: Thursdays—Saturdays in August
Where: M Star Cafe (📍 19 Division St #1, New York, NY 10002).
How to Attend: DM @lokkee.nyc to reserve!

ACHG Kitchen x Uncle’s Thai Food Ice Cream Party

When: August 1, 2026, 12PM—sold out
Where: FF&E (📍 109 Montrose Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11206)
How to Attend: Just pull up. More info and flyer here.

Back-to-Back Cultural Celebrations in Poughkeepsie

The Hudson Valley Caribbean Festival and the Oaxacan La Guelaguetza Festival are running on the same weekend in Poughkeepsie. Combine either festival with a tour of Oaxakeepsie — use Alexa’s guide here.

The Hudson Valley Caribbean Festival
When: August 1, 2026, 12PM—8PM
Where: Waryas Park (📍 Poughkeepsie, NY 12601)
How to Attend: Free tickets here!

La Guelaguetza Festival
When: August 2, 2026, 12PM—7PM
Where: Waryas Park (📍 Poughkeepsie, NY 12601)
How to Attend: You can just turn up. Full info here.

A Native American Frybread Pop-Up Debuts in Bushwick

From Reddit: “My name is Raini and I’m a member of the Lakota tribe. I realized theres been a gap in indigenous foods available so I decided to start my own frybread stand! Complete with toppings such as honey, powdered sugar, and three different types of jelly!”

When: August 2, 2026, 12PM—sold out
Where: Maria Hernandez Park (📍 Brooklyn, NY 11237)
How to Attend: Check their Instagram for full details.

Limited Chamorro Food Drops on the Border of Brooklyn and Queens

Our friends over at Taste Buds featured Pacific Fried last month. He specializes in Chamorro food (a foodway that Julian Mu stumbled upon in the Portland, Oregon episode of Martinez and Mu).

When: August 2, 2026, 6PM—8PM
Where: On the corner of Wyckoff Ave and Putnam Ave (📍 Brooklyn, NY 11385)
How to Attend: He is highly encouraging pre-orders. Instructions here.

A Danish Cookie Tin With Actual Food in it!

But it’s still not Danish cookies.

Join Sewing Tin for a “supper club experience that blends South Asian flavors with with modern cooking techniques, pushing the boundaries of contemporary cuisine while staying rooted in nostalgia.” Inspired by the iconic blue Danish butter cookies container that many immigrant families have adapted into a sewing tin.

When: August 2, 2026, 6:30 PM—10:30 PM
Where: Maxwell Tribeca (📍 135 Watts St, New York, NY 10013)
How to Attend: Book your tickets here.

A Study in Shellfish

Atelier Vivi, normally a culinary school for kids, is teaming up with Aqua Best, Chinatown’s family-run fishmonger known for sourcing straight from fishermen, to host their first tasting and cooking workshop for adults! Whip up mignonette from scratch, get a chowder simmering, and then let the expert from Aqua Best guide you through a fun tasting of oysters and clams.

When: August 4, 2026, 6:30PM—8:30PM
Where: Place des Fêtes (📍 212 Greene Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238)
How to Attend: Reserve your spot here.

Another Pop-Up for Seafood Lovers

From Baja California, México to Lima, Peru. Coming soon to both sides of the East River.

Baby Oyster @ Babysips
When: August 4, 2026, 6PM—9PM
Where: BabySips (📍 176 Rivington St, New York, NY 10002)
How to Attend: Just pull up. More info and flyer here.

Baby Oyster @ Lise & Vito
When: August 9, 2026, 4 PM—sold out
Where: Lise & Vito (📍 126A Nassau Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222)
How to Attend: Just pull up. More info and flyer here.

Malaysian-Inspired Detroit-Style Pizza

Experience Detroit pizza like never before, starring laksa-inspired coconut curry + sliced fish ball and roti canai-inspired coconut curry + potato. Grab a slice, grab a beer, and enjoy the concerts happening across the street at @culturelablic!

When: August 8, 2026, 2PM—6PM
Where: Rockaway Brewing Company (📍 46-01 5th St, Long Island City, NY 11101)
How to Attend: Just pull up.

A Pop-Up Taqueria with Nixtamalized Tortillas in the Capital District

We’ve mentioned Los Hermosos before in our round-up of authentic tortillerias in New York State. Now there’s two opportunities for you to try them out.

Los Hermosos At Wolf Hollow Brewing
When: August 1, 2026, 5PM—8PM (or until sold out)
Where: Wolf Hollow Brewing Co (📍 6882 Amsterdam Rd, Schenectady, NY 12302)
How to Attend: Check their Instagram for full details.

Los Hermosos At Nine Pin Cider Works
When: August 8, 2026, 5PM—7PM (or until sold out)
Where: Nine Pin Cider Works (📍 929 Broadway, Albany, NY 12207)
How to Attend: Check their Instagram for full details.

For Example: A Summer Bakery

When: August 9, 2026, 11AM—2PM
Where: Land To Sea (📍 402 Graham Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211 )
How to Attend: Just pull up.

A Vietnamese Cookout in Williamsburg

Cơm tấm (broken rice) is the star of this pop up by Ăn Xôi at Pete’s Candy Store. Read Angela’s article about the team behind this Vietnamese pop up, as well sister brand Vân Vân, and then check out this backyard cookout!

When: August 15, 2026, 4PM—Sold out
Where: Pete’s Candy Store (📍 709 Lorimer St, Brooklyn, NY 11211)
How to Attend: Preorder here.

“Sagra Del Pomodoro” Tomato Celebration

Join Edgemere Farm Works for an all-day, hands-on tomato sauce jarring event celebrating Italian heritage, family, friendship, and community. Each participant will receive one 16oz jar of tomato sauce as a thank you. Molto bene!

When: August 16, 2026, 9AM—12PM and 12—3PM
Where: Edgemere Farm (📍 3-85 B 45 St, Far Rockaway, NY 11691)
How to Attend: Free to attend with RSVP.

No. 1 Old Bay Taste Takes Ridgewood

From @minimartnyc: “@sholtesy aka NO 1 OLD BAY TASTE is coming with the heat Sunday 8/16 12pm. Chicken fried steak sandwich?! Hush puppies & crab cakes?! A collab breakfast burrito?! Come hungry, it will be dynamite!”

When: August 16, 2026, 12PM—Sold out
Where: Mama Yoshi Mini Mart (📍 17-11 Grove St, Queens, NY 11385)
How to Attend: Just pull up. Cash only.

Get Your Filipino Flavor Fix

From Instagram: “We’re bringing fresh Filipino ensaymada pastries in flavors like mango, buko pandan, ube halaya, calamansi, macapuno—and that’s just the sweet side. Enjoy NYC’s best pandesal rolls, baked fresh.”

When: August 16, 2026, 1PM—5PM
Where: Kings County Brewers Collective (📍 381 Troutman St, Brooklyn, NY 11237)
How to Attend: Preorder here.

Vietnamese Tea Tasting in Chinatown

When: August 16, 2026, 2PM—4PM
Where: 📍 7th Floor, 27 E Broadway, New York, NY 10002
How to Attend: Just pull up.

A Celebration of one of Hanoi’s Most Iconic Dishes

From Instagram: “Running it back with one of Hanoi’s most iconic dishes: Chả Cá Lã Vọng. A meal built around all the little details we love: from mắm tôm sourced from Thanh Hóa & our house made mẻ (fermented rice), to an unapologetic amount of fresh dill & scallions. [It’s] not an Andy pop up in NYC w/o his caramelized fish sauce wings ofc…”

When: August 18, 2026, 5PM—9PM
Where: Mắm (📍 70 Forsyth St, New York, NY 10002)
How to Attend: Just pull up.

Sushi Somewhere in Brooklyn

Tokyo Sushi Academy alums are coming fresh from sushi school and straight to Greenpoint to serve a variety of seafood dishes, including tuna tostada, a nigiri sampler, and kaisen maki. And if that’s not enough of a treat, they’re serving ice cream sandwiches for dessert!

When: August 21, 5:30PM—Sold out
Where: Lise & Vito (📍 126A Nassau Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222)
How to Attend: Just pull up.

Bridging Heaven and Earth with Ice Cream

From Kaya Toast to Malted Toasted Rice to Black Sesame Cookies & Cream, Nine Treasures Creamery’s latest drop is “bridging heaven & earth with ice cream 🍨”.

Nine Treasures Creamery @ Upstate Stock
When: August 22, 2026, 1PM—4PM
Where: Upstate Stock (📍 2 Berry St, Brooklyn, NY 11249)
How to Attend: Reserve here.

Nine Treasures Creamery @ Threes Brewing
When: August 23, 2026, 1PM—3PM
Where: Threes Brewing (📍 333 Douglass St, Brooklyn, NY 11217)
How to Attend: Reserve here.

Summer Tea in Prospect Park

From Instagram: “This year marks our 8th Summer Tea @prospect_park since 2019! 🍵🌿

In this time of change, arts and culture in our communities are where we continue to find inspiration and meaning.”

When: August 23, 2026, 11AM—3PM
Where: Prospect Park (📍 Brooklyn, NY)
How to Attend: Free to attend. RSVP required.

Try the Sour Candy of the Melon World

The Bonny Melon is a rare Taiwanese cultivar, prized for its sweet-sour flavor and climate resilience. For one day only, cool off with freshly sliced bonnies from @natoora_northamerica.

From Instagram: “Here at Yun Hai, we love to champion Taiwanese agriculture and traditional foods. Our interest isn’t only what’s happening in Taiwan, but how Taiwanese growers and agriculturalists make waves in our world. This melon is one of those ways.”

When: August 23, 2026, 12PM—3PM
Where: Yun Hai Shop (📍 170 Montrose Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11206)
How to Attend: Just pull up.

The Dusky Kitchen x Hana Makgeolli Dessert Pop-up

James Beard Award-winning author Abi Balingit is popping up at Hana Makgeolli with Filipino- x Korean-inspired takes on citrus olive oil cake, cantaloupe granita, and tiramisu (including makgeolli, of course).

When: August 23, 2026, 2PM—6:30PM
Where: Hana Makgeolli Brewery & Tasting Room (📍 201 Dupont St, Brooklyn, NY 11222 )
How to Attend: Reserve here.

🌠 Cẩm Release Party with Sông Cái at Lai Rai 🌠

From Instagram: “Sông Cái is a distillery, winery, and fermentation lab located in Hà Nội with a mission to tell a story of Vietnam’s places, people, and cultures by highlighting the country’s heirloom and native ingredients 🇻🇳.”

They’re joining the fine folks at Lai Rai to celebrate the release of their new sweet purple rice wine ‘Cẩm’, and you can try it too!

When: August 24, 2026, 6PM—10PM
Where: Lai Rai (📍 76 Forsyth St, New York, NY 10002 )
How to Attend: Just pull up.

An Evening with Dame Grace Young in Chinatown

Grace Young is a Chinatown advocate who has been featured on Rob’s channel. She’ll be joined by Grand Tea Imports — also featured by Rob — at Hop Lee… also featured by Rob. (Grace helped Rob produce his Chinatown series).

When: August 25, 2026, 6:30PM—8:30PM
Where: Hop Lee Restaurant (📍 16 Mott St, New York, NY 10013)
How to Attend: Buy tickets here.

Running it Back in Chinatown

Last month, the beginner-friendly Welcome to Chinatown Run Club officially hit the pavement, jogging three mile through Chinatown while discovering local small businesses, such as Double Crispy Bakery. And soon they’ll be running it back, so stay tuned for the event flyer.

When: August 26, 2026, 6PM
Where: Welcome to Chinatown HUB (📍 115 Bowery, New York, NY 10002)
How to Attend: Free to attend. RSVP required.

A Rare Taste of Burmese Cuisine in Williamsburg

You don’t have to go to all the way to Bay Ridge to taste Burmese food in Brooklyn, because Baby Lay Kitchen is popping up at Land To Sea.

When: August 28, 2026, 4PM—7PM
Where: Land To Sea (📍 402 Graham Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211 )
How to Attend: Just pull up.

An End of Summer Fling

Presented by Interwoven Collective: “This will be our very first night market, bringing together an incredible group of vendors, artists, and small businesses for one unforgettable night in Chinatown to end the summer off right!”

When: August 29, 2026, 5PM—10PM
Where: Welcome to Chinatown HUB (📍 115 Bowery, New York, NY 10002)
How to Attend: Free entry. RSVP for a free raffle ticket.

Hồng Dao Dinner Club

From Instagram: “Southern and Vietnamese cuisine share roots in innovation and making something amazing out of (almost) nothing… we’re excited to experiment with the fusion of these two vibrant traditions and share the results with you!”

When: August 29, 2026, 6PM
Where: Greenpoint (📍 exact location is shared once a ticket is purchased)
How to Attend: Reserve your spot here.

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When I arrived at G’s Coffee Shop early on a Sunday morning, the diner was already packed. Located in Manhattan’s northernmost neighborhood, Inwood, the tiny shop has become surprisingly popular after topping seemingly every list of New York’s best breakfast burritos.

I squeezed inside to place my order before waiting on the sidewalk, listening for my name over the buzz of the chaotic crowd.

I grew up on the border of El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juaréz, Chihuahua, where burritos are eaten for breakfast every day. But this was unlike any burrito I had grown up with: a behemoth, layered with egg, homefries (we don’t have those in Texas), cheddar cheese, avocado, and chorizo. It must have weighed at least a pound.

I took a bite. It couldn’t be further from what I’d known or expected, but the salsa—one of the make-or-break ingredients for me—was balanced, spicy, and familiar. The eggs were perfectly cooked, the homefries added just enough crunch, and the chorizo tied everything together.

The burrito didn’t taste like home, but the people behind the counter welcomed me like I’d been coming to G’s my whole life. That’s how they are with everyone that walks through the door.

The price of this celebrated, massive breakfast burrito? Just $10.50. If it were up to the Angel family, who have owned G's since 2005, the breakfast burrito would still cost $8.99. As I learned on many subsequent visits, they have always prioritized people over profits.

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Fresh corn masa ground on a volcanic stone. Mole from Oaxaca. Handmade memelas. Papel picado adorning the restaurants. All are familiar to me, but I’m not in Mexico—I’m in Poughkeepsie.

Poughkeepsie, in New York’s Hudson Valley, is an unexpected hub for Oaxacan food and culture. According to a 1995 report, migration began with just one Oaxacan man from the rural community of San Agustín. Now, with much of Poughkeepsie’s Mexican community tracing its roots to the southern state, the city’s Oaxacan identity is impossible to miss.

“The Oaxacan community has made meaningful contributions to the economic growth, culture, and strength of our city,” Poughkeepsie Mayor, Yvonne Flowers shared.

Those contributions become especially apparent to me as I walk along Main Street.

Just four minutes from the train station, I’m greeted at El Azteca by a giant skeleton in a sombrero. From there, my walk unfolds past family-owned Oaxacan restaurants, a super market stocked with all sorts of dried chiles and other Mexican staples, and storefronts displaying signs that read ENVÍA tu DINERO (“send your money”) in bold print. Those remittances reflect the close ties many residents maintain with family in Mexico—they ultimately reflect 10.3% of Oaxaca’s GDP.

All around me, bits of “Oaxakeepsie” are on full display, existing in a space beyond borders.

“I have spent 25 years here,” says Belen Martinez, owner of Cocina Oaxaqueña. “Both Poughkeepsie and Oaxaca are my home.”

Mariela Lavariega, co-owner of Tortillería Allison, expresses a similar sentiment. “Your roots are wherever God takes you, so I consider both places my home. Poughkeepsie is such a magical place with beautiful, supportive people. People come in with their traditional Oaxacan clothes and immediately they treat you as if they’ve known you for a long time. We welcome everyone with open arms.”

In each business I visit, I see stacked copies of La Voz, a bilingual newsletter produced by Bard College that highlights Hispanic news and culture across the Hudson Valley. While browsing an issue, I learn about Poughkeepsie’s annual Guelaguetza festival—a celebration of Oaxacan heritage featuring local businesses, music, dance, and traditional performances.

The word “Guelaguetza” comes from Zapotec, one of the widely spoken indigenous languages of Oaxaca, and refers to the reciprocal exchange of gifts and services—a reflection of the community-centered values that define the celebration. Originally a pre-Hispanic ceremony honoring Centeótl, the goddess of corn, the festival has evolved into Oaxaca’s most celebrated cultural event. Today, that tradition lives on in Poughkeepsie with the same fervor and pride.

“La Guelaguetza in Poughkeepsie is more than a festival, it’s the living expression of the Oaxacan diaspora in Poughkeepsie and the Hudson Valley,” La Voz’s managing editor, Mariel Fiori, shares. “You feel it in the music, the dances, and especially in the food, from the many Oaxacan restaurants along Main Street that carry these traditions year-round. The festival strengthens a sense of belonging and connection in the Hudson Valley, inviting everyone to become, even if just for a day, part of that shared cultural experience.”

This year’s Guelaguetza will occur on Sunday, August 2nd from 12-7PM at Waryas Park Promenade, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601.

Getting There

Poughkeepsie is approximately two hours from New York City by Metro-North or Amtrak. The businesses featured in this guide are located along Main Street, just a five-minute walk from the train station. The 2-mile route outlined here is walkable, though Uber and Lyft are also widely available.

What To Order

If you want a taste of Oaxaca, you’ll need to look beyond tacos, tortas, and quesadillas. The dishes below showcase culinary traditions that stretch back millennia and remain central to Oaxacan cooking today. Offerings you will find throughout the restaurants, with elements imported directly from Oaxaca include:

• Moles: rich, complex, savory-and-sweet sauces typically served over chicken alongside beans, rice and tortillas

• Memelas: decadent corn masa cakes topped with a layer of beans, Oaxaca cheese, and an optional protein

• Tlayudas: large, crisp corn tortillas imported directly from Oaxaca, layered with refried beans, asiento (pork lard), lettuce or cabbage, avocado, meat, Oaxaca cheese, and salsa

Stop #1 — Tortillería Allison

From the train station, work up an appetite by walking 16 minutes down Main Street to arrive at Tortillería Allison. The interior is adorned with papel picado, or decorative perforated paper, much like the streets of Oaxaca during celebrations. Warm earth tones and children’s cartoons playing on the television immediately put me at ease, reminding me of a family member’s living room.

Angeles (Mariela) Lavariega and Jesus Lavariega are the husband-and-wife team behind Tortillería Allison. After Mariela immigrated to the United States, she struggled to adapt to the food, and she and her father long dreamed of opening a true tortillería. When the pandemic hit, Mariela and Jesus lost their sources of income and, with three growing children to feed, faced serious financial uncertainty. During this period of uncertainty, Mariela revisited the dream she had shared with her father.

“When you try tortillas in the United States, it’s a completely different product than what you’re used to in Mexico,” Mariela explains as Jesus operates a traditional volcanic stone molino, or corn mill, producing high-quality tortillas from locally grown New York corn. “That’s what we want to do—we want to bring back the original, authentic flavor that people long for. The connection we provide to people’s homes and roots is something very beautiful.”

By bringing back tradition, the tortillas at Tortillería Allison have a deeper, more robust flavor that is reminiscent of roasted corn with subtle minerality from the alkaline cooking process. Rather than being an accessory to a dish, it becomes an essential component. The loss of that flavor has a long and complex history; you can read more about the businesses preserving the tradition of Mexican masa here.

Together, Mariela and Jesus brought that dream to life in 2021. They offer traditional Oaxacan staples like memelas and tlayudas. It’s ambitious to order both, but I do it anyway, further doubling down with one of every agua fresca: horchata with cactus fruit, tamarind, and hibiscus. Clearly I’m carried away by being somewhere that feels familiar.

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They call it Cascade Locks, but this town on the banks of the Columbia River used to be called Whiskey Flats. That’s the name on the sign of the local tavern, which is one of the few buildings on the main strip, along with a couple of breweries, a post office, and a fish market. The population? Less than 1,500.

“It’s hard to keep a secret in a little town like this,” Terrie Brigham tells me as we drive along Wa Na Pa Street. “But I kept a few. Back in the day.”

Terrie and her sister Kim are the owners of Brigham Fish Market here in Cascade Locks. Although fish have been sold in this area by Native fisherman for generations, it’s often been a side-hustle; Brigham is a rare Native-owned brick-and-mortar business. “Every fisherman that comes down here from summer to fall, that is their own business,” Terrie says. “They sell under the bridge—and we do the same thing when we’re down at the scaffold, out of coolers.”

We’re overlooking the swift-flowing Columbia now, looking at the scaffolds. “One thing that people need to know, these are property. This is my family’s property,” Terrie says. Looking towards the Bridge of the Gods in the distance, scaffolds dot each side of the banks. They hover above the water, some in better condition than others. During the season, native families perch here and fish on their scaffolds, as they’ve done here for millennia. Sometimes tourists try to fish off of them, which Terrie hasn’t always taken kindly to. “We built them. We’ve put the blood, sweat and tears into every one of them.”

Talking to Terrie, you get the sense that she’s used to defending her rights, her property, her culture. As if at any point, they could be lost. Back at the market, she points to pictures on the wall. “Those are pictures of Celilo,” she says. Celilo Falls was a major trading hub and gathering place for over 15,000 years. In Native languages it was called Wyam, which referred to the sound the rushing falls made. The sound faded in 1957. “When they put the Dalles Dam, it backed up all the water and it buried her."

She points to another picture, “That’s where the village was flooded to,'“ she says. “It’s still there, above the railroad tracks. It’s the oldest living inhabited village in North America.”

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There aren’t really palm trees on Staten Island.

But quietly, their sap runs the dessert world of the borough’s Sri Lankan community, one of the largest in the US.

More specifically, the king is kithul, the fishtail palm. Native to Sri Lanka, the trees tower over the island, with drooping bouquets of ochre, fruiting blossoms. During the spring, tree tappers climb the trunks, cut off the ends of the flowers, and collect the sweet, clear, resiny sap that oozes out over days. When boiled, the sap becomes a deep amber, butterscotchy treacle that is floral and funky at once.

Kithul treacle is not maple, honey, nor molasses, but its own flavor. The stuff is distinctly Sri Lankan, existing about 2000 years before sugarcane was introduced to the country by colonists. At the end of last year, the know-how of kithul tapping was named to UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage.

Despite “having a place in the oldest records” of Sri Lanka, kithul has been deemed “in need of saving,” reports culture journalist Vidya Balachander for NPR. An aging population of tappers, youth emigration to more profitable industries, and monoculture-led deforestation have led to a decline in the cultivation of this labor-intensive tree.

“It’s hard to find here,” tells me Lokesh Kumaravel, a host at AA Lankan’s Cafe on Victory Boulevard, who grew up in Colombo, Sri Lanka. “And the kithul [treacle] we have here tastes so different from home.”

For Sri Lankans in Staten Island today, kithul treacle comes in glass bottles, which are imported to grocery stores like New York Lanka and JNY Lanka. From there, it’s stirred into bold cups of black Ceylon tea and transformed into sweets at restaurants across Victory Boulevard. If you’re eating in the borough, here are four desserts starring kithul treacle, keeping its heritage alive:

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