Native Dish

In the Amazonian rainforests of Pucallpa, Peru, Jimmy Lozano and his cousins once ran a "Warique" -- Quechua for a hidden, informal restaurant -- from their home. His grandmother taught them many of the family's time-honored staples, many of which involved barbecuing, which was popular in their region. In search of better job prospects in the food industry, Jimmy made the decision to move to America in 1994 and happened upon Jackson Heights, Queens, where fellow South Ameri...cans lived. In 2004, while working for a Kosher catering company in Brooklyn, he met his future wife, Maria Rodriguez, a native of the coffee lands of Manizales, Colombia. On a honeymoon trip to Peru, Jimmy exposed her to his home country's culinary diversity, often influenced by many other cultures that immigrated there. It opened them to the idea of opening a restaurant together 7 years later. Warique Restaurtant first opened its doors on the Upper West Side in 2011 to rave reviews, moved to Astoria a few years later and relaunched in Jackson Heights in 2019. The special feature dish on the menu from Jimmy's family, Arroz Chaufa de Cecina, has become the restaurant's claim to fame. It combines smoking of thin pork strips with the Chaufa (Chinese-influence) style of fried rice wok stir-frying. Topping it with Jimmy's zesty Peruvian Aji Verde green sauce adds a kick to the dish's smoky character, and pairs perfectly with a purple corn Chica Morada drink.

Seeing many Filipino restaurants in their beloved neighborhood of Elmhurst, Queens and a lack of Filipino bake shops, three friends and Philippines natives opened "Kape't Torta" on Queens Blvd in 2019 (literally translated as "Coffee and Pastries."), helping homesick Filipino-Americans enjoy a slice of home. Many Filipinos enjoy are the familiar taste of Pandesal bread (bread with salt; pan-de-sal), a simple round breakfast roll often covered with breadcrumbs that's dunked i...n Barako (strong Filipino) coffee. They also enjoy the sweet taste of Ube Purple Yam (known as Halaya or Jalea). Following trends back home, Kape't Torta offers a unique take on the Pandesal that combines Ube yam in its dough and filling and cheddar cheese, called Ube Cheese Pandesal, combining sweet, salty and savory flavors together worthy of being dunked in a morning cup of Barako. See more

Two East Village restaurateurs from Thailand offer a spicy stir-fried chicken recipe typically served in their hometown’s street markets. #terrathai #thailand #trang #nativedish #bangkok #kuakling

A couple decades back, Thai natives Karuna Wiwattanakantang and Norawat Margsiri (Aung and Poon) came to the United States to study business and economics. To put their studies into practice, they opened a restaurant in Boulder, Colorado in 2013 that would mirror the many dishes served in their home town's street food stalls, which was uncommon in Thai cuisine at the time. It was an inopportune time, as the Colorado floods occurred shortly after opening, but their business ...thrived. Seeking more diverse pastures, they came to NYC in 2019, and signed the lease to an East Village storefront the next year, only to open during the start of the pandemic. Through adjusting their business model to takeout and delivery, and with the support of devoted East Village neighbors and patrons, they continue to thrive in featuring reasonably-priced Thai-style street dishes, including one from Aung's Southern Thai hometown of Trang, stir-fried Kua Kling curry, which can be made of pork, beef, shrimp or chicken. Aung and Poon like the taste of chicken best, and infuse it with a savory fry paste made from turmeric, shallots, kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce and shrimp paste that offers a spicy sensation for the palette.

We’d like to thank Jenny Lam-Chowdhury of the blog Eating With My Five Senses for offering Spanish closed captioning on all of our episodes of Native Dish! As an educational service, she provides Spanish captions for many videos that promote cultural understanding through food. Please visit her website at eatingwithmyfivesenses.blogspot.com. For Native Dish episodes with Spanish captions, visit https://eatingwithmyfivesenses.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.htm

We're pleased to announce that our episode, Senegalese Poisson Yassa" was nominated this year for a New York Emmy Award!! Congratulations to our profiled subject, Chef Cissé of Harlem’s Ponty Bistro restaurant for showing us his favorite family dish, and to our hard-working team, including Ivan Peña, Patrick Ulysse, Tony Austin and Max Shuppert! Fingers crossed...

Check out the newest article from our friends at Culinary Backstreets, featuring the force behind Upi Jaya, Elmhurst's longtime Indonesian restaurant, Upi Yuliastuti and her daughter Tika. Whenever Native Dish features an immigrant profile of a Queens resident (or business), Culinary Backstreets will accompany it with an expanded article told from the subjects' point of view. The CB folks take a peek at Upi's very unique take on a signature Indonesian brisket, spicy Padang Rendang (Beef Rendang).

Thank you Luis Enrique Moncada Torrez for being the 1,000th follower! Sorry, no prize! But thank you for all of your help!!!!

As of today, we have 999 followers. While we think that number looks kind of cool and can symbolize many things including love, let's get it to over one-thousand! Will you be our new follower today?

Check out the newest article from our friends at Culinary Backstreets, featuring Jimmy Gurung and Raksha Thapa of Jackson Heights' Himilayan Yak Restaurant. Whenever Native Dish features an immigrant profile of a Queens resident (or business), Culinary Backstreets will accompany it with an expanded article told from the subjects' point of view. The CB folks delve deeper into Jimmy and Raksha's journey to America, and the ways they bring their taste of home to the masses here in NYC. https://culinarybackstreets.com//queens/2019/native-dish-5/

One day in 1995, Dakar, Senegalese-native Ejhadji Cissé woke up from a dream of living in New York City. He took this as a sign, and with his cousin Cheihk, immediately headed West to pursue a career in the culinary arts. Upon arriving and getting his bearings in Harlem's "Little Senegal" community, Cissé quickly entered the restaurant business, serving as sous chef for star chefs Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Daniel Bouloud. As his talents started getting noticed, he foun...d his way to the finals on the Food Network series "Chopped." He had dreams of opening his own Harlem restaurant, combining French-trained culinary excellence with authentic Senegalese recipes he grew up eating. Voila Ponty Bistro: a restaurant offering locals a taste of West Africa with a French twist. In this episode, Chef Cissé fries up Poisson Yassa, a favorite Sunday dish--one that families greet loved ones with: sea bass flavored with a familiar Yassa onion sauce of lemon, garlic, peppers, dijon mustard and olives. See more

Check out the newest article from our friends at Culinary Backstreets, featuring Gariganu Woodside, Queens residents Isha Sumner. Whenever Native Dish features an immigrant profile of a Queens resident, Culinary Backstreets will accompany it with an expanded article told from the subjects' point of view, now complete with a recipe readers can make from home (in this month's article, Coconut Durudia Tortillas). https://culinarybackstreets.com//queens/2019/native-dish-4/

Check out the newest article from our friends at Culinary Backstreets, featuring Jeannie Ongkeo (as profiled in our series) Elmhurst, Queens resident, Lao refugee and retired chef of Tribeca's "Mangez Avec Moi" restaurant. Whenever Native Dish features an immigrant profile of a Queens resident, Culinary Backstreets will accompany it with an expanded article told from the subjects' point of view, now complete with a recipe readers can make from home (in this case, it's Jeannie's recipe for Lao Papaya Salad). https://culinarybackstreets.com//queens/2019/native-dish-3/

We're pleased to announce that two of our episodes, "Fujianese Nian Gao Lunar New Year Cake" and "Mongolian Byaslag Cheese" were nominated this year for two New York Emmy Awards!! Congratulations to our profiled subjects Byambaakhuu Darinchuluun and An Chen, and to our hard-working team, including Stephanie Lui, Sue Handman and Max Shuppert! Fingers crossed...

Check out the newest article from our friends at Culinary Backstreets, featuring Queensite and Bukharian community organizer Manashe Khaimov (as profiled in our series), and his family's recipe for traditional Bakhsh green rice. Whenever Native Dish features an immigrant profile of a Queens resident, Culinary Backstreets will accompany it with an expanded article told from the subjects' point of view. https://culinarybackstreets.com//queens/2019/native-dish-2/

We are very pleased to announce that Culinary Backstreets--the global guide to local eats and cultural food tours, will expand on our Native Dish subjects as part of their Queens, NYC coverage. Whenever Native Dish features an immigrant profile of a Queens resident, Culinary Backstreets will accompany it with an article that delves deeper into the subjects' story, told in their own words. We are excited about joining forces and can't be thankful enough for their help in promoting NYC's immigrant cuisine! https://culinarybackstreets.com/cities-categ//native-dish/