Old school hobby shop

Astoria shops offer the full array of stores -- from modern and hip boutiques and organic markets to shops that literally take you back in time as they probably haven't changed in at least 40 years.  Rudy's Hobby & Art Store (35-16 30th Ave) is one of these time capsule shops and is definitely worth a visit! From hundreds of model train sets and parts to kits for building wooden planes, ships, and cars, this store has all the old school hobbies you would want and more (including the standard art supplies and puzzle sets)!  Streaming along the ceiling you'll also find completed model airplanes, which really adds to the atmosphere of the shop.  I can only hope that shops like this one will stick around even as Astoria continues to transform as a neighborhood.

Food Update #7

My parents came to visit last month and we got to try out some new restaurants that I wanted to share with you all as all were delicious and worth checking out!

Zenon Taverna (34-10 31st Ave): This is a wonderful Greek/Cypriot restaurant, which a really nice ambiance and delicious food!  You'll find all of the staple greek dishes and some unique additions from the Cypriot side. J and my mom got the mezedes platter, which was a sampling of  8 cold dishes and 8 hot dishes.  It was SO much food and all very delicious.  My dad and I each got soups (I of course got the greek lemon chicken soup (they call it kotopoulo me rizi at this restaurant) and split a huge kebab platter with many different types of meats/seafood/veggies).  We also of course got some delicious saganaki (fried cheese) that they actually lit on fire at the table, which is unusal in New York!  All in all, a really great place to get Greek/Cypriot food and a place we're sure to eat at again!

Sanfords (30-13 Broadway): This diner is an institution in Astoria as it opened as a coffee shop back in 1922 and has been around ever since!  Today the menu offers more inventive twists to the standard brunch menu and everything was well-made and tasty.  The menu is huge (you can order off the breakfast or brunch menu during brunch times).  One caveat is that it is a small restaurant so the line can be quite long.  We luckily got a table within 15 or 20 minutes, but the hostess informed us that it is often over 1 hour and they're packed between 4am to 6pm.  So plan accordingly but do check out this place!

Tournesol (50-12 Vernon Blvd, LIC): While this is actually located in Long Island City, it is still nearby and such a great french bistro that I had to share!  The ambiance is very intimate and inviting and the food was delicious.  Each dish was prepared perfectly and the atmosphere made for a great dining choice.  Be sure to check this place out if you're in LIC!

Those are the food updates for this roundup, but hopefully I've whet your appetite for the next food update!

Christmas Day Tradition

As tradition goes, Christmas Day for me consists of a movie and chinese food.  This year things didn't go quite as planned as the movie we trekked into Manhattan to see was sold out when we got there ("The Artist" at the Paris Theater).  But we turned around and came back to Astoria to at least follow-through on the dinner portion of the tradition.  We decided to watch a movie at home (to at least keep with some of the movie tradition) so we ordered delivery from a nearby chinese restaurant.  It was our first venture into chinese food in the neighborhood (usually we make the trek to Flushing, Queens which has a huge china town), but I'm happy to report that we now have our chinese go-to place in Astoria!

Fatima's Halal Kitchen Authentic Chinese Cuisine (25-25 Broadway): You can't go wrong with this restaurant -- all of the favorites and more are found on this huge menu.  Plus the meat was very tender and very high quality (which unfortunately isn't always the case with chinese restaurants in nyc).  We had the kung pao chicken and garlic shrimp, both were delicious and very well priced.  We will definitely be back for more from Fatima's, perhaps next time going there for dine-in.

And as for the movie half of the tradition, we watched "A Serious Man," which is a very dark comedy by the Coen brothers (we liked it and thought it was very well-made and interesting).  We'll catch "The Artist" in the coming weeks as well!

Burger madness

Burger joints are, apparently, a popular choice for restaurateurs opening up new places in Astoria.  While I thought we had to be nearing saturation on burger centric restaurants (we have at least four within 5 blocks of our apartment and that excludes all fast food chains), I learned today that a Five Guys Burger & Fries is planning to open in the coming months in Astoria.  While I definitely welcome the restaurant (very tasty burgers) and enjoy all of the other Astoria burger restaurants that I've tried thus far, I do have to stop and wonder... why so many burger joints?!

Christmas decorations, Astorians gets decked for the holidays

While many businesses and apartments get into the Christmas spirit with decorations, I don't think I've seen this many lights on a single building (more than half the balconies are decked out) since moving to New York.  This just happens to be across the street from my apartment so I've watched over the past month as more and more balconies become fully decorated in lights.  We'll see if they have a timely removal after the holidays are over!

My menorah candle lights may not be competing with this quite yet, but by the 8th night it may be a different story!

The corner bakery

I'll get to the post in a second, but first, an apology to my readers for my long lapse in writing.  While I wanted to write posts, life got in the way for the past month (vacation, holidays, etc.).  I'm back though and looking forward to sharing many more observations and experiences from the melting pot!  Here is the first:

One of the many gems of Astoria is the plethora of small bakeries scattered throughout the neighborhood.   Of course, each one caters to their country or origin so we have bakeries that specialize in Italian, Greek, and Turkish delicacies, to name a few.  The one on the corner of our block (Il Fornaio), boasts wonderful homemade pastries and breads (all baked each morning on premise) and while the store itself is very small, the two benches outside are always filled with locals hanging out (sometimes for hours on end).  It's a great local spot and each day when I pass it reminds me how great it is to be an Astorian!

Holidays are coming

Despite the warmer weather this week, Astoria knows the holiday season is around the corner!

Holiday lights along 30th Ave (for as far as the eye can see!)

Food Trucks Galore

Gourmet Food Trucks have become a big fad in the city over the past couple of years.  Starting in July, Queens got its very own food truck lot (43-29 Crescent Street)!  I haven't had the pleasure of visiting it myself yet as they're only open Monday-Friday from 12-3, but lucky for me, most of these trucks frequent the blocks around my office in Manhattan so I still get the opportunity to try them out.  I look forward to venturing over to the parking lot one of these days though to check out this conglomeration of gourmet food trucks!

Socrates Sculpture Park

Socrates Sculpture Park, located at the intersection of Broadway and Vernon Blvd, is an amazing outdoor exhibition space and neighborhood park.  Located along the east river with breathtaking views of the Manhattan skyline, the park exhibits rotating large-scale outdoor sculptures and offers many community programs throughout the year (like the Halloween Harvest Festival and a weekly farmer's market).  The park was transformed from a landfill and illegal dump site into its current park and artist space in 1986 and is now a neighborhood institution.

Some pictures below from the current exhibition of emerging artists from the park's artist residency program:

Here's a shot of the farmer's market in full swing:

Snow in October?!

Yes indeed.  An early winter storm graced its presence on the east coast yesterday and we had snow falling all day (albeit a very wet slushy snow).  We got about 2 inches here in Astoria as you can see in the image below. Hopefully this isn't a sign of an early winter and is just a fluke storm!

An afternoon at the Museum of the Moving Image

The Museum of the Moving Image is a definite stop on any Astoria tour.  The museum, which is located at 36-01 35th Ave, is dedicated to all things film, television and visual media.  The permanent collection walks you through the history of the medium and where it stands today with lots of interactive and hands-on components.  For instance, a praxinoscope, which is a series of images placed inside a cylinder that you can spin to see move, arcade games from the 80s, including Frogger(!), and really old TVs where the screen is about the size of an iPad but the body it sits in is as large as a china cabinent!  Times have definitely changed.

In addition to their interesting permanent collection, the museum is currently exhibiting Jim Henson's Fantastic World, which is running until January 16. It's a great exhibition that details the life and creative geniusness of Jim Henson. From doodles to muppets to interesting clips and interviews with Henson, the exhibit gives you a great sense of the man behind the puppets. They also have a 9 minute video that Henson made called Time Piece (only running until November 16), which is a really funny/quirky surrealist short film that Henson made and is a really fun clip to watch.

Be sure to check out the museum next time you are in the area!

Astoria's own beach!

Who knew there was a beach in Astoria?!!  Yes, it is on the east river and there is a sign posted stating that you shouldn't swim, bath, or have bare feet (not your typical beach rules), but it's a fun little find nevertheless!  And it boasts great views of the Manhattan skyline, which can't be beat!

Halloween Harvest Festival

We went to nearby park favorite Socrates Sculpture Park (full post on the park to come) yesterday for the Halloween Harvest Festival.  It was quite an event!  Lots of cute kids and dogs(!) in costume and halloween games/events to keep everyone entertained.  While we were there, we heard some poetry reading and music performances from a local youth organization called Urban Art Beat NYC, which is a great organization that helps underserved youth explore and understand art and host many programs in the area and around NYC.  We also witnessed the canine halloween costume contest, which was definitely a unique experience :)  Overall a fun event in the park and definitely got us in the halloween spirit!

Watching a local teen express himself through poetry

Food update #6

Time for another food round-up!  Here are some highlights from recent food adventures in Astoria.

Roti Boti (27-09 21st St): Authentic and tasty Pakistani food.  The restaurant was busy and I think it's safe to say we were the only non-Pakistani or Indian diners.  We've been told that this place is a hotspot late at night with taxi drivers.  And for good reason!  You order at the counter from hot tray options and then can dine in if you want, which is what we opted for.  The food was very good and reasonable prices - we had kofta kebab, chicken tikki masala, daal and of course rice, naan, and mango lassi to accompany it.  Delicious and we will definitely be back for more!

Astor Bake Shop (12-23 Astoria Blvd): This cute off-the-beat coffee shop/bakery and brunch spot is quite a find!  The chef-owner has worked at many of the big name restaurants in Manhattan and decided to venture out on his own with this bake shop.  We came for brunch, but will definitely be back for coffee (roasted locally in Brooklyn) and sweet treats.  For brunch we had an amazing egg/cheese/bacon sandwich and an unbelievable stuffed french toast with orange cream and fresh strawberries.  A true hidden gem that we'll be frequenting often!

Jerusalem Pita House (25-15 30th Ave): This hole-in-the-wall middle eastern restaurant is a great find as well.  You can't go wrong with their menu items - we've had falafel sandwiches and shawarma sandwiches so far and both were quite delicious!  Perfectly seasoned and made with fresh veggies and hummus.  When I'm not heading all the way to Little Egypt, I will definitely be fulfilling my middle eastern cravings here!

That's it for this time.  Stay tuned for future adventures in eating our way through Astoria!

Waterfront Bike Lanes

The bike lanes along the east river on Vernon Blvd are so nice!  They follow the contour of the water and offer stunning views of the Manhattan skyline.  J and I took advantage this weekend and rode our bikes all the way to Prospect Park in Brooklyn and pretty much followed the waterfront the whole way thanks to the great bike lanes.  The views helped make up for the fact that a 20 mile bike ride may have been a bit ambitious for us, but we had a great time nonetheless and look forward to future rides along the river!

Astoria's "Unforgettable" Night in the Spotlight

Last week no parking signs went up on each of 4 street blocks near our apartment for the filming of project: Unforgettable.  Living in New York, I'm definitely used to seeing these bright multi-colored signs posted around, but never on more than 2 blocks or in Astoria.  Needless to say, it peaked my interest (not so much J, who not only isn't so much into celebrities, but also not into 4 blocks worth of parking being taken!) so I ventured over after work last night to check out what all the commotion was about.

I have to admit I was a bit disappointed that the majority of the blocked streets were solely being used for trailers and electrical hookups - not surprising as this is often the case and typically all you see of a movie set.  But I did see them filming and illuminating the night sky into what appeared to be broad daylight (I'm always amazed by that).  And lots of NYPD cars with their emergency lights blinking.  Turns out "Unforgettable" is a police homicide TV show!

Guess I'll have to check out this new show in a few months and see my neighborhood on camera :)  Hopefully it's depicting Astoria in a good light!

When craving anything Greek, look no further than Astoria grocers

Not surprisingly there are multiple Greek grocery stores in Astoria.  The closest one to our apartment is called EuroMarket and they sell everything greek that you could ever ask for (and a few other items from other European countries).

It's fun to walk around the store and try to decipher what the different products are plus browse the millions of options of cheeses, olive oils, orzo and pasta varieties, baked goods, drinks, and other sundries available at the market.

Most importantly, the olive bar is quite a mecca for olive lovers like myself!

[Update]: Is that safe?

Back in July, I posted a photo and message about some hanging electrical wire on our block.  I'm happy to report that as of two weeks ago, the wire has been secured and rolled up!  Now this had been hanging since at least when we moved in in mid-June so I can't be too excited that it took over 3 months, but better late than never!

Raising chickens indoors... in Astoria...

I'm going out of town to visit my family this weekend so there will be a slight lull in posts for a few days; however, for non-Jewish (or non-fasting at least) Astorians looking for a very unique experience on Saturday, you should definitely head to the Broadway branch of the Queens Library in Astoria for what has to be a fascinating and obscure lecture by a couple who are raising chickens in their Astoria apartment for fresh eggs.

Source: Nicholas Fevelo from NY Daily News Article (listed below)

The three hens apparently have the run of their one bedroom apartment excluding the bedroom and lay two eggs per week, not too shabby for them!  But the couple does admit that the hens poop everywhere... Not sure how smart that is given the size of NYC apartments...!

Apparently the couple, Robert McMinn and Jules Corkery, give lectures on city chicken-keeping at local libraries and urban gardens so hopefully I can catch a future talk of theirs as it is definitely a unique idea!  To read the full news article, click here.

For those keeping Yom Kippur, hope you have an easy fast.  Look out for a new post Monday when I return!

Sidewalk cafe dominance

The New York City Economic Development Corporation issued a report on sidewalk cafes in NYC and it turns out that Astoria takes the cake for most unenclosed sidewalk cafes outside of Manhattan!  Our neighborhood boasts  43 cafes (a whopping 15,000 square feet)!  The next closest outer borough is Williamsburg, Brooklyn with a mere 15 sidewalk cafes (3,600 square feet).

Additionally, in looking at individual restaurants, Athens Cafe (a local favorite of ours for greek frappes) comes in at #4 in NYC with its 936 square feet of sidewalk space!  Pretty impressive!

Read the full report here.

Welling Court Mural Project

This past May and June, the Welling Court community partnered with Ad Hoc Art (a Brooklyn based organization for artists, including street artists) to bring together over 40 street artists to paint murals along several city blocks.  The artists spanned 50 years of graffiti art and the result is really impressive, vibrant pieces of art.  The walls are courtesy of some industrial buildings and car mechanic shops, which only adds to the appeal of the artwork.

Definitely a must-see site in Astoria!  If interested, visit 11-98 Welling Court (corner of 30th Ave and 12th St) and also check out the Two Coves Community Garden while you're there!  Some pictures to illustrate the project:

Rediscovered Mexican breakfast pastry!

J and I traveled to Mexico City back in 2009 and discovered these amazing pastries that we had never seen before called pan dulce.  Basically it is a sweet bread with a sprinkling of sugar on top and it's delicious!  We had it several times while there and since we've been back, I've had cravings for it occasionally, but never expected to fulfill them until my next trip to Mexico.

Lo and behold, half a block from our apartment is a Mexican bakery (Temascales Deli & Bakery, 25-22 30th Ave) and what do you think I found in the window display??  You guessed it!  Pan dulce!  The bakery has tons of delicious tortillas, pastries, and other mexican delicacies that I'm sure we'll be sampling over the coming year.  They also have a full-service restaurant that we're dying to try so I'm sure you'll be hearing about this place again on a future food update!

But in the meantime, I'd just like to thank Astoria for fulfilling all of my random food cravings!

Green thumbs of Astoria

J and I stumbled upon a really nice community garden called Two Coves Community Garden when walking on 30th Ave west of our apartment the other day.  The garden was filled with individual plots and a well-cared for community garden section.  There was an abundance of different plants that ran the gamut from veggies, herbs trees and flowers.  I'd say the most commonly seen items were zucchinis (flowers in bloom), tomatoes, peppers (both hot and regular ones), marigolds, and squashes (including some large pumpkins that would make great jack 'o lanterns later this month!).  It turns out that the garden has been around since 1998, but has recently been revitalized to its current state with over 200 members and a wait list of 1-2 years.  Learn more about this great green space here!

I hope to attend an upcoming "guest community gardener" day so I can help out and get a green thumb too!  For now, taking a tour and showing you these pictures will have to do!

The entrance to the community member part of the garden

Zucchini flowers

Food update #5

It's been some time since my last food update, but nevertheless we've been checking out some great places around the neighborhood.  Here are a few that I wanted to share:

SugarFreak (36-18 30th Ave): Very fun atmosphere and delicious Louisiana style food.  This small restaurant with very kitchy and eclectic decorations is always packed and for good reason!  We had some delicious and unique cocktails and spicy shelled peanuts to start with at the bar while we waited for our table.  For dinner, we had, in traditional Louisiana fashion, jambalaya and blackened catfish.  Both were made to perfection and we can't wait to come back and try out their brunch and the rest of the dinner menu!

Linn (29-13 Broadway): Amazing sushi in an eclectic restaurant setting.  The setting is very modern with all white walls, tables and chairs further accented by a wall screen displaying soundless movies (when we were there it was a surfing related video).  We opted for a sushi dinner, but there was a full japanese menu that sounded great as well!  The sushi was high quality and very delicious!  We will be back!

Mt. Olympus Bagels (33-15 30th Ave): We're always in need of a good bagel joint and this place seems to fit the bill.  The bagels are very doughy and large and they have a smattering of cream cheese varieties to choose from.  It appeared to be a Greek-run establishment and most of the clientele (also Greek) seemed to be regulars as they didn't even need to place an order to get the bagel & coffee they desired.

Il Bambino (34-08 31st Ave): All I can say is wow!  Paninis have been brought to a whole new level at this restaurant with its plethora of cheeses, meats, and spreads--all brought together in unique combinations.  The atmosphere can't be beat and there is even a cute garden patio (unfortunately it was drizzling when we went so we opted for indoor seating).  It took a long time for J and I to make our decisions on what paninis to try, but I don't think you can go wrong.  We opted for a "pass the hash" panini (garlic roasted potatoes, chorizo, truffle aioli, scrambled eggs, and parmesan) and a "sweet ass" panini (prioscutto, fig spread, taleggio cheese). Both were delicious and we have many more paninis to try in the future!

That's it for this time.  Stay tuned for the next round-up of recent eats!

Guess it's a good thing fall is coming...

One of the main restaurants that J and I go to get our frappes has been shut down by the health department... and upon further investigation, I discovered that they were shut down last November as well for violations that added up to 128 points!  This time around it's only 61, but 4 of the 5 are critical (in red)...

Sanitary Violations

1) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation.

2) Appropriately scaled metal stem-type thermometer or thermocouple not provided or used to evaluate temperatures of potentially hazardous foods during cooking, cooling, reheating and holding.

3) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility's food and/or non-food areas.

4) Insufficient or no refrigerated or hot holding equipment to keep potentially hazardous foods at required temperatures.

5) Facility not vermin proof. Harborage or conditions conducive to attracting vermin to the premises and/or allowing vermin to exist.

I'll be honest, the violations don't seem that out-of-the-ordinary for NYC (at least the pest related ones), but I guess it was worse than others!

All I can say is good thing fall is on its way since I don't know how much more time we'd have to sit at this outdoor cafe and drink a cold beverage.  Luckily one of our other main frappe locations not only has outdoor seating with heat lamps when it gets cooler out, but also an A rating from the health department so I can rest assured that my frappe season isn't quite over yet :)

The latest addition to my morning walk to the subway

Ladies selling tamales!

This past week there has been a new addition to the street corner on my two block walk to the subway in the mornings.  A folding table with two ladies selling authentic tamales and coffee out of a big thermos.  J had a chance to try them and found them quite delicious and very spicy!  I'll have to take a turn soon too :)

The lines to buy them are quite impressive too!  So much so that they're drawing competition and a second table was set up across the street from the original tamale stand.  Picture to follow soon.

Love this neighborhood!

A look at the Queens Library

I recently had the pleasure of going to the Queens Library for the first time and I've quickly been converted from the New York Public Library.  I was surprised to learn upon moving to Astoria that the Queens Library system is independent of the New York Public Library system.  Apparently the latter only covers Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island (Brooklyn has its own library system).  The reasoning behind this I've learned is that the Queens and Brooklyn libraries existed prior to the consolidation of the five boroughs and chose to remain autonomous after the conversion.  The Queens Library (which has 62 locations in the borough) is the second largest library system in the country (first place, not surprisingly, going to the New York Public Library system) and holds a whopping 6.6 million items.

I was very impressed when I walked into the Broadway Branch the other day to pick up a book for my next book club ("Summer without Men" by Siri Hustvedt).  The library was of course packed with people of all different ages, races and nationalities -- to be expected in Astoria -- but what was startling was the modernity of the library.  Queens Library, it turns out, is one of a few libraries in the country that uses a check-out system that includes Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and is the world's first library system to have a truly full-service self-checkout kiosk.

RFID is an amazing technology whereby micro-thin radio transmitters are placed into every library item and when a user places their books (yes, plural, up to 16 books at once) on the check-out pad, the system automatically picks up the transmitters and checks the books out to the user.  It's a pretty crazy concept when you see your books pop up on the screen after placing them on what seems like a regular mouse pad and I was quite impressed.

In addition, the Queens Library has all of the benefits of online accounts that the New York Public Library has (putting books on hold, getting notifications, etc.) so, all in all, I think the Queens Library may have the New York Public Library beat!

UN recommended Astoria dining spots

As all New Yorkers know too well, mid-September marks the opening session of the UN and midtown east Manhattan becomes a nightmare for a few weeks (security, traffic, you name it).  In honor of the event, the New York Post decided to talk to a few UN missions of smaller countries to see where they recommend dining to get their local cuisine.  Not surprisingly, Astoria was mentioned a couple times!

Astoria recommendations include:

• "Cyprus: Ask Tasoula Manaridis, director of Cyprus Tourism, for a dining recommendation, and she’ll point you to Zenon Taverna, a Greek and Cypriot restaurant (34-10 31st Ave.). Manaridis especially recommends the Cypriot meze — small dishes served by the dozen (Zenon offers a 16-course meze menu for $19.95 per person.) Stand-outs include spice- and pork-laden sausages, not to mention grilled halloumi cheese."
• "Bhutan: Call the Bhutan mission to the UN and the officer who picks up will tell you that there are zero authentic Bhutanese eateries in NYC. But, he goes on, there is a sushi spot where you can order off-the-menu Bhutanese cuisine if you call ahead. New Sushi Q (25-03 30th Ave) will whip up spicy, chewy phaksha sikam (dry-cured pork sauteed with chilies) and a specialty called emadatse (mushrooms and green chilies in whey)."

J and I haven't eaten at either place yet, but I assure you it's now on the top of our list!  Stay tuned for an update.  To read the full article, click here.

Astoria vs. Panajachel

The electricity setup in Astoria is not totally unlike developing countries.  Case in point:

Taken in Astoria, Queens:


Taken in Panajachel, Guatemala:














In fact, one might argue that Panajachel's electrical wiring may have a bit of a better layout out than the jumbled knot of wires seen throughout Astoria!

Public health measures in Astoria

The MPH in me loves seeing signs like this one (spotted next to Henry Thoreau Elementary School on 30th Ave):

Sign reads "No idling: Asthma Free School Zone"

Astoria grocery stores big fear

Grocery stores in Astoria apparently have a real fear of grocery cart theft.  Not quite sure why I've seen almost all grocery stores with this security measure here, but no where else in NYC... Go figure!

US Open taking place in Queens!

Okay so technically the US Open takes place in Flushing, Queens and my blog is about Astoria, but I get to digress because I just went to my first match this week and had such a great time that I wanted to share.  And hey, it's still Queens at least!

Anyway, we actually didn't think that we'd be able to go as the weather forecast had an 80% chance of rain on Monday night, but we lucked out and had a great time!  Not only did we watch the very heated match between Caroline Wozniacki (ranked 1) and Svetlana Kuznetsova (15) who were neck in neck the whole time (Wozniacki won), but also got to see some mixed doubles in the side courts.  All in all a great event and definitely makes me want to pick up a racket and play tennis!

30th Avenue preparing itself for a big street fair!

The 30th Avenue Street Festival will take place today (9/5) from 12-6 and run on 30th Avenue from 29th to 41st street.  Looking forward to walking around and checking out the stands (and hoping that it doesn't get rained out)!

New train tracks arrive!

Guess it was time to replace some of the train tracks on the subway line (N/Q) that runs through Astoria!  The MTA has been closing our subway station during the weekday and on some weekend days all summer long and I think we're finally finding out what they're up to!  New train tracks:

New tracks being lowered onto the elevated train

New tracks awaiting delivery to the train track via a big crane

Quite crazy to see them bringing in totally new tracks with a crane!  Hopefully after this weekend they'll be done with this project and I look forward to a smooth ride on the new tracks :)

The best burek in town!

Last night we tried a Balkan restaurant (Djerdan Burke, 34-04 31st Ave) that boasts that it has the best burek in town.  And it does (sample size=1)! Neither of us had eaten a burek before, but it's delicious!  Somewhat similar to spanikopita and burekas, this dish has a thin flaky philo dough shell and can be filled with several different items (cheese, spinach, meats).  According to an article that was framed on their wall, in Sarajavo restaurants specializing in bureks are analogous to pizza places in New York.  Who knew!

We opted for a cheese burek and coupled it with a yummy beef goulash dish that was perfectly spiced.  Definitely will be coming back here to try other bureks and Bosnian specialties!

If your goal was to get a sample of all the major lineages on Earth on a single street, where would you go?!

Graphic: Oliver Uberti and M. Brody Dittemore, NG Staff

Astoria of course.  Well, that is if you are on a National Geographic assignment to retrace human migration since the dawn of time and then test whether you can find all of those genetic lineages on a single street.  That is exactly what Spencer Wells and his team did as part of their Genographic Project.

Read the full article here, but the basic gist is that this team spent four years traipsing the globe to find all genetic marks from hundreds of indigenous groups in order to retrace the migration paths of human existence.  After collecting the DNA samples, they decided to see if spending an afternoon on 30th Avenue in Astoria during a street fair would provide them with a sample of each of the genetic lineage that they had found during the course of their work.

Lo and behold, 193 volunteers later and they came very, very close to succeeding their goal.  Just one genetic lineage was missing from the sampling, which was the lineage of a Khoisan hunter-gatherer tribe in southern African (who had apparently diverged from modern humans over 100,000 years ago).

While Astorians may not have any Khoisan blood, I'm still impressed by this result, but not surprised that they chose 30th Ave as their study location!

Four stars

I saw 4 stars tonight on my nighttime stroll in Astoria!  That's 3 more than I've ever seen in Manhattan :)

Irene irks Astoria

A huge tree that fell half a block from our apartment, even lifting up the cement!  Amazingly the car next to it was hardly damaged.

So far the storm (which has been downgraded from a category 1 hurricane to a tropical storm as of 9am this morning) has brought rain, wind, and some damage to our fair city. In Queens 25,000 people are without electricity, but luckily Astoria itself has seemed to fare okay (knocking on wood as we may still a second wave coming our way).

Astoria's blowin' in the wind

Hurricane Irene is on her way up the east coast and we're bracing ourselves for a wet and windy rest of the weekend.  Our apartment building was spared from being on the zone list (albeit 2 blocks away from where Zone C begins), but regardless I'm sure it will be an interesting night and day tomorrow watching the storm unfold! To everyone in the path of Irene, stay safe and dry!

Well, at least retailers in NYC will meet their month-end quotas!

Irene is ensuring that New York retailers are meeting their month-end quotas by gracing us with her presence this weekend.  I ran a few errands after work and couldn't believe the lines!  First I waited 25 minutes in a line at the drugstore where people were stocking up on water, first aid kits, and snacks and then stopped by my grocery store to pick up a few items for dinner and waited a whopping 30 minutes in line (the 10 items or less line no less). As packed as that grocery store gets, I've never waited more than 5 minutes in line!  Both stores were more packed than I'd ever seen them and people are definitely heeding the city/media's advice to get prepared.

Hoping that Irene decides to change her plans for the weekend!

Census tract 281=most diverse place!

Census tract 281, which is a 3 block area in Jackson Heights, Queens (from 83rd St. to 86th St.), is officially the most diverse census in the city.  With 21 languages spoken and 51 different countries represented, I think it's safe to assume that this census is probably the most diverse in the country, let alone the world!  More than 70% of residents speak a language other than English, including (but not limited to) Spanish, French, Russian, Hindi, Chinese, and Tagalog!  All in 3 blocks no less.

What a fun area for exploration :) J and I often venture to Jackson Heights for its great dining options, but I think a specific trip to this census tract is in order!

Food update #4

Tierras Colombianas (3301 Broadway): Huge restaurant and menu offering a wide variety of Columbian foods.  I got the Bandeja Campesina (country plate) which was filled with every quintessential Columbian food group (meat, beans, rice, plantains, avocado, a unique bread made of corn, and topped with an egg) and J got a delicious fried chicken platter that came with similar sides.  You can't go wrong as there are so many delicious options, very large portions, and unbeatable prices! We will undoubtedly be back to make headway on this enormous menu :)

Harissa (34-05 30th Ave): Delightful mediterranean/North African restaurant serving traditional middle eastern and North African cuisine.  It looks like a takeout place at first glance, but there is table service in back.  We got the single front table that overlooks the sidewalk and it was a perfect evening to sit and enjoy the atmosphere of Astoria life.  This time around we stuck to their middle eastern offerings, but their North African options and breakfast menu sounds outrageous as well so we'll be sure to come back for a tasting of all of that.  Very reasonable prices to boot!