For Dim Sum in Chinatown, Manhattan, It’s BYOCS (Dim Sum Cantonese Style Part 1)

First, I would like to wish a Happy Chinese (Lunar) New Year to all!  I hope that the year of the dragon is a great one for all of us (take a look at your 2012 dragonpredictions).

I had a buddy from Vancouver, British Columbia in town last weekend.  His parents are from the Canton province of China.  He’s a fluent Cantonese speaker and was up for some dim sum on a cold, snowy Saturday morning in Gotham.

My understanding is that dim sum is “Chinese brunch.”  You order many of the small dishes so that every member of the group may have a sample.  Drinking tea is also essential to the experience.  Dim sum is typically enjoyed with a large group of friends or family.  

One can easily find dim sum in three neighborhoods in NYC: Flushing, Queens, Bayridge, Brooklyn, or Chinatown, Manhattan.  The first two are in Mandarin speaking neighborhoods.  While I have had dim sum in Flushing, I am a real crank for dim sum with the Cantonese in Manhattan.  The Mandarin speakers are just too polite.  They will even explain to you in English what the dishes are if need be.   

Cantonese dim sum is more than just tasty steamed buns and dumplings.  The Cantonese version is an experience.  The Cantonese in Chinatown are not congenial, do not provide good service; in fact, they are just downright rude.  

Normally, when I have dim sum in Chinatown, I am accompanied by a large group of Asians.  There are usually Laotians, throw in a random Japanese-Hawaiian, a Chinese-Singaporean, a Filipino (A Bisaya speaker to be exact), and a Taiwanese Brazilian.  Add this up and what do you have?  Enough Asian faces that don’t speak a word of Cantonese and guarantees that you’ll be seating at dim sum waiting for a glass of water for a half an hour.

The key to avoiding all of this is to: BYOCS: bring your own Cantonese speaker.  With a Cantonese speaker, you are in the club.  You receive your food quickly.  The servers smile and tell jokes—of course, in Cantonese.  You can even tell the staff that the food isn’t fresh enough and you want your dishes freshly prepared!  All of this while the non-Cantonese speakers seated across from you are still struggling to get the attention of the lady pushing the dim sum cart.  

My favorite dim sum place in Chinatown, Manhattan is Oriental Gardens located right in the heart of traditional Chinatown—not the Chinatown that has encroached upon Little Italy or the Lower East Side.  With women pushing carts of dim sum and yelling out the dishes available on the cart, the place retains its Hong Kong like feel.  Couple all of this with an extremely rude staff that is ready to shun your order in English and you have a great Cantonese dim sum experience.  Suggestion: BYOCS.  

Cart filled with dim sum. 

Many thanks to Phil Lim, my Cantonese speaker for the day!  

One of my favorites: baked cha siu bao.  The roasted pork inside is deliciously. 

The baked bun must be accompanied by the steamed one. 

Lo mai gai (the lotus leaf wrap) is typically wrapped in a banana leaf when served in North America.

Unwrap the leaves and look what you have: sticky rice loaded with pork, shrimp, and chicken!

Turnip cake with shrimp and soy sauce.  Hot mustard as seen on the right can be added (I'll abstain).

Bolay tea is a must.

There are so many more dishes to enjoy at dim sim such as chicken feet or the Shanghai bun.  Take a look at the menu for more.  

Some History with That Cappuccino?

New York City is full of coffee houses.  There are the national chains: Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts.  And, of course, there are a plethora of small neighborhood coffee houses that serve cups of Joe.

I am not a regular drinker of this energy filled beverage.  Yet, the rich culinary and cinematic history of Café Reggio, coupled with its interior and ambience that can easily make one feel that he is in the first half of the 20th century has lured me to this café on a few occasions.

The exterior shot of Cafe Reggio located on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village.  

I relish in the fact that whenever I am sipping on a cappuccino at Café Reggio, I am sitting in the very café that introduced the drink to America.  For that reason, I always try to sit as close as possible to the first cappuccino machine in America on display.  

I wonder if the original machine was still in use when then presidential candidate John F. Kennedy gave a campaign speech in front of the cafe in 1959. 

     

While the original machine is no longer in service, Cafe Reggio's cappuccino is still quite pleasing.  

 

Cafe Reggio also boasts a strong cinematic tradition.  The café’s entrance appears in the movie poster of Next Stop, Greenwich Village (with a young Christopher Walken).

The entrance to Cafe Reggio is located to the left. 

Shaft stopped by in 1971. 

Issac Hayes recorded a song named after this small cafe. 

Francis Ford Copolla filmed inside of Cafe Reggio for The Godfather Part II (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffe_Reggio) for scenes between Young Vito Corlene and Young Peter Clemenza.

Interior shots show the early 20th century feel featured in The Godfather II.  

A Peculier Pub in the West Village

Last Saturday teased New Yorkers with a glimpse of what spring is like in Gotham.  The temperature reached 62.  Some New Yorkers brought their bikes and skateboards out for the day.  Others decided to do some shopping on Bleeker St.  

I, too, ventured out into the West Village Saturday, but not for shopping.  I wanted to try “the best beer list in NYC” at the Peculier Pub.  

The building that houses Peculier Pub is over 100 years old and was once a Bible shop.  Nowadays instead of reading Bibles, patrons are reading from a menu with more than 400 beers and an extensive list of cocktails (http://www.peculierpub.com/Pubmenu.pdf).

The bar of course carries the usual suspects which can be found at any bar (Brooklyn Lager, Yuengling, Budweiser, Stella, Blue Moon, and Wagner’s Cider), as well as an abundance of American craft beers which is currently a ubiquitous theme in the City.    

Whether you choose to drink an old favorite or possibly try some new favorites, the jukebox can provide fantastic background music.  Although I am still in search of a bar with a complete License to Ill album, selections from The Who, Dr. Dre, Frank Sinatra, A Tribe Called Quest, and The Grateful Dead suffice.
 

I am an avid fan of German wheat beers (as can be seen below with the Weihenstephaner I ordered), a Belgian every now and then, and the occasional Beer Lao (still have yet to meet a Lao person that likes Beer Lao) or San Miguel (Philippines).  It’s good to know that I now have a place in the West Village right around the corner from Washington Square Park where I can find all of these sections (if I have a bunch of cash; Peculier does not accept cards and you must pay for your drinks as you go).   

 

The Brooklyn Bridge: Film Poster Not Needed

The Brooklyn Bridge is unambiguously New York City.  Everyone knows it.  It’s even currently featured in a prominent auto insurance television commercial.  A film poster or scene from a movie is simply not needed here.  While my next trip to the Brooklyn Bridge will not be spurned on by a scene from a film, it will be due to tracking history. 

 A few years ago, The New York City Department of Transportation uncovered a nuclear fallout shelter near the main entrance ramp of the bridge on the Manhattan side (Fallout Shelter Discovered in the Brooklyn Bridge) .  I’ve seen fallout shelters signs in old public schools, but I have never physically been inside of one.  Even if I can’t enter the shelter, sitting there for a few moments and thinking of an era when a nuclear attack was a constant and real threat may help me to understand the Cold War era a little bit better.     

    

Tracing a historical trail is not in the cards today.  The current high in the Big City is 24 degrees.  Again, I am left to reminisce about warmer days.  And, this time, the beauty, mystery, and intrigue that the Brooklyn Bridge offers.   

Looking uptown to the Midtown Skyline.  Largest building is the Empire State Building.  Further north and to the right of the Empire State Building is the Chrysler Building.  

Looking south towards the Financial District. 

Oh To be outside Enjoying the View of The Queensboro Bridge (59th Street/Ed Koch)

Yes, it’s a new year, but the same winter air from last year still persists.  To be outside and enjoy the views from the Queensboro Bridge would be nice.  With the temperatures in NYC today hovering around 41 degrees, I’ll have to opt out of one my favorite spots to drink a coffee, reflect, and write in Italian or Spanish.  

I prefer the small park on 56th Street and 1st Avenue to admire the bridge in all her glory.  I learned about this location from Manhattan.  The scene served as the film’s poster image:

The cold inhibits me today, but I relish in the time I spent watching the bridge and looking out into the East River last summer:

From the Manhattan side looking towards Long Island City, Queens. 

Looking up the East River on the Manhattan side of the bridge. 

Yes, Woody, this really is a great city!