When one ethnicity does another...

quote:

Originally posted by rongmtek

OK- here's one I'll bet nobody else has seen.
In the mid-70's, I worked as a musician in Oakland, CA. I had a jazz trio, and one of our regular gigs was in a Jewish deli that had been bought and was run by the Moonies.
Although the vibe was occasionally pretty weird, I must admit the food was damn good. (They paid us 10 bucks each and a sandwich per night.)
Ron

What did you guys call yourselves back then---i may have seen yopu! I hired a lot of musicians and went out to see it all the time--i managed a bar in Berkely back then---the Odessy on San Pablo at University--and i did sound in a few other places.---and as for the topic----My cousins --the Titus's sell Great Pizza---and spagetti too---of course thier Moms name was the same as my moms---Santoro!!---never judge by its cover---or an ethnicity---especially here in the USA--by its name!

I also have a great crossover for you---wife is an anthropolgist by training and we spent a little over a year doing here PHD fieldwork--in Jamaica---on our anniversary we decided to go out some where for dinner and nfound a Chinese restaraunt in Savana LaMar--great place--run by third generation Chinese Jamaicans---the food was interesting--it was chinese in style---but denfinatly Jamaican Chinese!!!

Ok, back in the early 90's I worked at Norfolk International running an airplane cleaning company.
I lived over in Va. Beach and down the road from me was a chinese-Soul Food place, the name escapes right now though. Older couple, husband black, the wife Chinese. I kid you not when I tell you a combo meal might have sweet & sour pork ribs, stir fried collards, and fried rice with crispy fried fat back.

Wife and I went through last year on a trip and the place was closed down. But I have to admit to a 20 something who was tight on cash, the food was pretty good. Oh yeah, just remembered getting pork egg foo young with smothered pork chops. Damn I miss that place now.


Dennis in Cary

Dearfolk,
That last post is reminscent of the chop suey places -- there called Noodle Parlors -- that dot the ghetto streets of St. Louis.
There is some interesting bleedover like that in Atlanta: Asians cooking soul food along with eggrolls out on Cascade Avenue. Someone tells me that the best eggrolls in town come from such a joint; they also have kim chi (sp.?) on their menu, and it's popular.
What'll they think of next -- sweet & sour livermush?
A Blooming Idiot This Time Of Year, Ort. Carlton in Dogwoods Everywhere Athens, Georgia.

quote:

Originally posted by Tedbear

quote:

Originally posted by NYNM

We have these strange hybrids in NY:

Hispanics open pizza places

Greeks serve Italian food (or vice versa) I mean a "pizza and gyros" menu.

Japanese serve Hawaiian (well that is not such a leap, but we have hardly any Hawaiian in NYC).

And the strangest: Tex Mex places run by Asians (tacos, quesidillas, burritos)(there are many of these in NYC - cheap take out)

Usually the crossover isn't that good.

Is it similar for you?

In New Jersey, I have found that most of the "Japanese" restaurants are actually owned and operated by Chinese people. I found this out while dining with my former S.O., who used to take delight in translating the Chinese conversations overheard in these pseudo-Japanese joints.

Also, a very large percentage of the Pizzerias that have opened in NJ over the past couple of decades are actually owned and operated by Egyptians, and in a few cases, by Albanians. So much for authenticity.

You cannot tell a book by its cover.

I live in Southwestern Ohio - in the boonies - 60 miles from Cincinnati and 90 miles from Dayton. Extremely fine NY style pizza can be found at a handful of pizzerias in Cinci and near Dayton - one of the best is a pizzeria run by Albanians, a mom/pop/daughter/son family, in Kettering - Troni's Pizzeria and Restaurant at 1314 East Dorothy Lane. They have been there four years and fully converted a bakery/Italian deli/cafe run by an Italian family. They make about the best NY style pizza to be found in Greater Dayton:
http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/leadbelly/entries/2007/02/07/tronis_pizza_sa.html

In Cincinnati the very best bagels and bialys in the style and tradition of metro NY Kosher bagels may be found at Marx Bagels in Kenwood - a Northern suburb of Cincinnati. They are a Kosher bagel store/factory and deli and they are owned and operated by a Catholic family:
http://www.cincinnati.com/dining/marx/

quote:

Originally posted by susanll
In Memphis, the Pig and Whistle barbecue restaurant is owned by a Jewish family.

Susanll; Dearfolk,
In Anniston, Alabama, an excellent BBQ place on Quintard Avenue south of downtown is owned and operated by the Weinberg family. They see nothing whatsoever odd about it.
The most amazing such situation I ever encountered, though, was a BBQ place in White Bluff, Tenessee run by a Syrian (or was it Lebanese?) family. I think they were Christians, but they may have indeed been Moslem... I remember the man telling me that he didn't have to eat it to be able to sell it in good conscience.
Ramblingly (But Not Tonight, Except Here), Ort. Carlton in Superb Athens, Georgia.

Before I moved to D C in '85, I used to enjoy the dozen or so Cuban/Chinese restaurants in NYC. (Big Chinese labor population brought to Cuba the last few centuries- some moved to NY and took both cuisines with them.) Not fusion, but two separate sides of the menu. Also there were a few upscale French-Japanese places starting then; some with better ideas than others.

In this week's City Paper food section there was an article about our ubiquitous Mexican/Salvadoran restaurants. A contention is that many of the Salvadoran refugees who came here to escape the violence were quite poor and didn't really know anything of own their country's food culture other than eating what they raised locally on their subsistance farms, so they adopted the cuisines from the restaurants here in which they got jobs and added the pupusas that they knew.

A happy trend that I see in a few metropolitan areas is Indian restaurants serving Chinese food the way it is prepared in India. It gets a little confusing here, but chili chicken (Indian style) has become one of my favorite dishes.

We read the ongoing complaints from Japan about the lack of authenticity by so many Korean restaurants serving sushi. Traditional Greek run diners in the Northeast have served some of the best "American" comfort food for 100 years. Inner-city Chinese takeout places serve as much pizza, fried chicken, and hero sandwiches as anything else on their menus. To get along in many upscale restaurant kitchens you need to be able to speak at least three of four languages and swear in a dozen. For decades we refered to the food at many
fine dining establishments as "Continental"; usually a blend of French and Italian, but now a good question often may be, "Which continent?" What will we think of next, naming ground beef patties and sausages after cities in Germany and claiming them as America's national foods?

We are no longer a melting pot, but a stock pot that has been simmered and stirred to the extent that it is impossible to tell where some foods originated and of what some cuisines are composed. I try to sample it all and enjoy every minute of it!!!!!!

Happy eating, Chef Marty

PS. If you are in D C Easter Sunday, Join with the folks from The D C Dining Society For a banquet of $200 worth of foods and wines for the member price of $50 + t&t. Contact chefmartydc@aol.com for details, menu, and wine list.

quote:

Originally posted by chef marty

Before I moved to D C in '85, I used to enjoy the dozen or so Cuban/Chinese restaurants in NYC. (Big Chinese labor population brought to Cuba the last few centuries- some moved to NY and took both cuisines with them.) Not fusion, but two separate sides of the menu. Also there were a few upscale French-Japanese places starting then; some with better ideas than others.

In this week's City Paper food section there was an article about our ubiquitous Mexican/Salvadoran restaurants. A contention is that many of the Salvadoran refugees who came here to escape the violence were quite poor and didn't really know anything of own their country's food culture other than eating what they raised locally on their subsistance farms, so they adopted the cuisines from the restaurants here in which they got jobs and added the pupusas that they knew.

A happy trend that I see in a few metropolitan areas is Indian restaurants serving Chinese food the way it is prepared in India. It gets a little confusing here, but chili chicken (Indian style) has become one of my favorite dishes.

We read the ongoing complaints from Japan about the lack of authenticity by so many Korean restaurants serving sushi. Traditional Greek run diners in the Northeast have served some of the best "American" comfort food for 100 years. Inner-city Chinese takeout places serve as much pizza, fried chicken, and hero sandwiches as anything else on their menus. To get along in many upscale restaurant kitchens you need to be able to speak at least three of four languages and swear in a dozen. For decades we refered to the food at many
fine dining establishments as "Continental"; usually a blend of French and Italian, but now a good question often may be, "Which continent?" What will we think of next, naming ground beef patties and sausages after cities in Germany and claiming them as America's national foods?

We are no longer a melting pot, but a stock pot that has been simmered and stirred to the extent that it is impossible to tell where some foods originated and of what some cuisines are composed. I try to sample it all and enjoy every minute of it!!!!!!

Happy eating, Chef Marty

PS. If you are in D C Easter Sunday, Join with the folks from The D C Dining Society For a banquet of $200 worth of foods and wines for the member price of $50 + t&t. Contact chefmartydc@aol.com for details, menu, and wine list.

Interesting comments! The thing about Cuban-Chinese is that I understand that there are Chinese in Cuba itself who have restaraunts serving both Chinese (their culture) and Cuban (local culture) and then migrated to US (maybe just NY). Even tho they are hybrids, I count them as "authentic" because it it actually the migration to NY that is new.

I don't know if there are many (any) left in NY since so many good ethnic places have been pushed out and closed down by "fabulous" new places like, shall I say, Pinkberry. But the Cuban Chinses used to serve good, cheap food, like rice, beans and chicken, huge portion, $3.