Search for ‘Dave Cook’ (13 articles found)
Dutchie
No, not Jamaican; the colors of the awning are all wrong. This tiny storefront serves takeout food from Suriname, a South American country whose colonial heritage is still evident in the names of many menu items. Listen to the pronunciation of garnalen as often as you like; for any but native Dutch speakers, the precise sound of that initial consonant may prove elusive. It’s easier to stick with English and order the shrimp sandwich ($4), modestly sized but given bulk by potatoes that are curried with the crustaceans — the spiciness has a sweet undercurrent — and complemented by crunchy pickles.
Dutchie
125-09 101st Ave. (125th-126th Sts.), Richmond Hill, Queens
718-354-8353
Theaters get my popcorn money, but a go-bag from Sockerbit beats movie-house candy concessions anytime. Case in point: rabarberpinnar ($3.25 per quarter-pound), “rhubarb sticks” of flavored licorice with a firm, extra-lemony filling. The colors and flavors at this Swedish shop are nearly equalled in number by the variety of sizes, shapes, and textures; customize your own candy assortment, and you’ll still know which is which after the lights go down.
New York PSA, 2013. Photo by Dave Cook.
Milca
Milca (12 fl. oz., 99 cents) tastes much like cherry soda, but in the absence of any real fruit flavoring, that subtitle describes the contents as well as any. La Morena Latino Americana, 3391 Mission St. (Eugenia Ave.-Godeus St.), San Francisco, 415-648-0114, (From an August 2011 visit)
Humphry Slocombe
Hidden happy hour at the ice cream parlor: “Jesus juice” sorbet (red wine and Coke) and “secret breakfast” ice cream (Jim Beam and toasted corn flakes, two scoops total, $3.75). Humphry Slocombe, 2790 Harrison St. (23rd-24th Sts.), San Francisco, 415-550-6971 www.HumphrySlocombe.com (From an August 2011 visit)
Mexicatessens
La Borinquena, in Oakland, Pepito’s, in Richmond, and Belmar and La Palma, in San Francisco, each self-identifies as a “Mexicatessen.” (The hyphen hops around, and sometimes is absent altogether.) It’s a meme that I’ve seen replicated only in the Bay Area, without affectation.
Mexicatessens
San Francisco Bay Area
(From an August 2011 visit)
Zhen Zhen Porridge
The queue shapes up in early morning and lasts through lunch. Zhen Zhen’s smooth-textured rice porridge comes dressed with chopped spring onions, fried shallots, preserved radish, and, at the diner’s option, an egg. Orders can also incorporate the likes of chicken, century egg, frog, or sliced fish, or one can opt for basic porridge with a plate of raw fish salad (all told, S$4.50, about US$3.35 at the time). Also shown: one of Zhen Zhen’s trays, marked with a ribbon so it returns to the right stall.
Zhen Zhen Porridge, Maxwell Food Centre, stall 54, Singapore. Closed after lunch and all day Tuesday.
Edward B. Hittleman Brewery
The Hittleman name was added to the facade only after other figures had made their mark. Edward Hittleman bought this building in the 1920s and renamed it after himself, but he was limited to producing near beer until the end of Prohibition. After a couple of decades of proper brewing and at least two changes of the brewery’s name, the enterprise closed shortly after Hittleman’s death, in 1951. The brewery was arguably more successful during its first half-century, though few insignia remain from those early days. On the Mesorole St. side, but less prominent than the former “ice plant” and the decorative barrels and firkins, are a pair of archways bearing the letters “O” and “H” in their keystones. These are surely the initials of Otto Huber, who built the bottling plant shortly after the Civil War and whose family operated the business before selling to Hittleman. And on the smokestack above, “VD” points to F.H. Von Damm, like Huber a German immigrant, who reportedly operated a nearby grocery and whose family “went into the wholesale animal feed and fertilizer business.” Perhaps they also helped supply the young brewery.
In 1988 this building bacame the first home of the Brooklyn Brewery, now well-established in Williamsburg. Twin Marquis, a maker of noodles and like products, now occupies the building, but brewing is not gone and forgotten: In a cooperative venture, Bruce Cost’s rightfully celebrated ginger ales are also bottled on the premises. They may be free of alcohol, but they’re a potent pairing for any spicy chow you might send their way.
Edward B. Hittleman Brewery
Bushwick Pl. at Meserole St., Bushwick, Brooklyn
