By Tammy Scileppi
Described as a former bawdy bad boy of the foodie scene, Emmy Award-winning celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain is still pushing culinary boundaries in his quest for global food offerings on CNN’s TV series “Parts Unknown.”
If you’re a fan, and have been enjoying his mouth-watering gastro experiences across different lands, you probably possess a hunger for the exotic and a thirst for adventure.
But you don’t have to globe-trot to discover delicious ethnic fare. This summer, why not set aside a few weekends to explore your own parts unknown right here in Queens? There are no continents to cross and no passport is required. Just take the No. 7 train and bring a hearty appetite, so you can partake in the bounty of diverse cookery that Queens’ neighborhoods are known for.
You can taste what authentic Ecuadorian, Chinese, Korean, Tibetan, Mexican, African and Latino home cooking is really like – served up the way it’s done back in the old country – without leaving NYC.
The new “Parts Unknown” season is filled with extraordinary tours of Spain, Laos, Antarctica, Oman, Trinidad, Portugal, and even Queens. The episode featuring Queens aired May 21, as Bourdain traveled through the borough, hitting several local hotspots.
On camera, New York City native Bourdain, 61, described the borough as, “a stewpot of neighborhoods filled with the languages, cultures, traditions and flavors of many lands,” and “an international crossroads.” He also acknowledged how hard the immigrants, who make up the backbone of the culinary scene here, have worked to make it in Queens and said he appreciated the challenges they face.
Bourdain’s first stop on his tour, where “the options are endless and every stop can seem like another country,” was 74th Avenue in Corona. He discovered “Little Ecuador” on the corner of Warren Street and Roosevelt Avenue, and tasted morcilla (blood sausage) with potato cakes, and succulent, crisp-skinned roast pig — known as hornado Ecuatoriano — served up fresh and hot from a street food vendor.
His next stop was dinner at Yu Garden Dumpling House in Flushing, where he enjoyed cold beef tripe, lion’s meatballs made with pork and ginger, and ground pork soup dumplings.
“Anthony’s team got to know us through an Indian rapper, who has been our customer for a long time,” said owner Kevin Zhu. It’s Heems of the Swet Shop Boys, who joins Bourdain for dumplings.
Other restaurants featured on the episode included: Geo Si Gi in Flushing; Neir’s Tavern in Woodhaven; Lhasa Fast Food in Jackson Heights; Brisas Del Mar in Rockaway Park; and Africana Restaurant in Jamaica.
The final lap of Bourdain’s journey brought the wandering chef to Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, where he met up with friend Laurie Woolever, a longtime Jackson Heights resident. The two co-authored a new cookbook titled “Appetites.”
Woolever was introduced to Bourdain in 2002 by Chef Mario Batali, for whom she was working at the time.
“Tony was looking for someone to help write his first cookbook, which is the kind of work I’d done with Mario,” Woolever said. “I had a proven cookbook track record, so it was a natural fit.”
Described as Bourdain’s ode to feeding his family and friends, and as a collection of his “imperfect memories” of childhood favorites, “Appetites” offers highlights from his extensive travels, as well as unique recipes and even suggestions for everyday dishes, like scrambled eggs and tuna salad. Readers who get bored with traditional cookbooks will appreciate the off-color language and wildly off-beat and entertaining photos.
“There’s a classic New York bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich, and a linguine and clams recipe that if you’re lucky, you’d find at some of the better Italian restaurants in New York,” Woolever said. “[There is also] a ma po tripe and pork recipe that’s an homage to the tofu version at Mission Chinese in Manhattan.”
After the episode aired, Woolever offered her take on Bourdain’s visit to the borough she calls home.
“The Queens episode gave viewers a taste of the rich culinary, political and cultural landscape of the borough,” said Woolever, who had spent some time working as a cook early on, and has been writing, mainly about food and travel, for various publications, since 1999. “There are so many cuisines represented in the restaurants, grocery stores and vendors throughout the borough, with the vast majority at a very reasonable price point. There’s enough fine dining, especially in Long Island City and Astoria, to satisfy that demand, and our street food is the best in the city.”
As his assistant, Woolever has accompanied Bourdain on one shoot per year since 2014. Highlights from their trips include spending hours on motorbikes in Hue, Vietnam, attending a bullfight in Okinawa, Japan, and spending several days in Kanazawa and Tokyo, Japan, although they were “just scratching the surface of the food scenes in those cities,” she recalled.
With the “Parts Unknown” episode airing, Woolever offered her own take on the culinary scene in Queens, starting with her homwotwn.
“Jackson Heights itself is a wonderland: great seafood at Oceanic Boil; delicate but spicy Thai at Kitchen 79; savory Colombian pastries at Casa de los Antojitos, the best in the neighborhood, in my opinion, because I think there’s lard in the crust; plus Table Wine, our excellent local wine and spirits shop,” Woolever said.
In other neighborhoods, Woolever said she recommends the assam laksa at Taste Good Malaysian, and the banh mi at Joju, also in Elmhurst. She also recommends Vesta and King of Falafel in Astoria, Venturo and Souk El Shater in Sunnyside, Bonuk in Flushing, and Spicy Lanka in Jamaica, among others.
