Newsday (New York)
January 7, 2005 Friday
CITY EDITION
NEWS & NOTES;
An Armenian surprise waits in Flushing
BY JOSH OZERSKY. Josh Ozersky is a regular food reviewer for Newsday.
When you think of Flushing, if you’re anything like me, it is the
Orient that comes to mind: Korean places on Northern Boulevard,
Chinese regional near Main, the Mutton Man on 41st Street. But Sevan,
21-607 Horace Harding Expy., 718-281-0004, brings the cuisine of
Armenia to the mix.
Among the ethnic specialties are lahmajun, a kind of spiced,
thin-crust pizza with ground beef, onions, tomatoes and spices; the
dried beef called basturma; sujukh, spiced cured ground beef;
khinkali, Armenian meat dumplings; and a number of other Armenian
treats along with the hummus and kebabs.
There is also a big menu of entrees, all less than $9, including
grilled quail, marinated pork chops, sweetwater trout in “specialty
seasoning,” and a steak the owner tells me has been marinated for 20
days.
Sripraphai, 64-13 39th Ave., 718- 899-9599, everyone’s favorite Thai
restaurant, is closed for kitchen renovations until Jan. 19. Since
the place has been touted in the press, the tiny kitchen has been
overtaxed. The new kitchen will be faster and more convenient for the
staff in the restaurant that has beguiled the city.
The Modern, Danny Meyer’s long-awaited restaurant in the Museum of
Modern Art, is finally set to open – sort of. While the formal dining
room won’t start serving until later this winter, the more casual Bar
Room, 9 W. 53rd St., 212-333-1220, opened Wednesday with its own
menu. I would expect that the Bar Room, like the “tavern” section of
Meyer’s celebrated Gramercy Tavern, will be a fine restaurant in its
own right, and “casual” relative to the full-dress dining area. Meyer
hasn’t created a bad restaurant yet (Gramercy Tavern, Tabla, 11
Madison Park, Blue Smoke, etc.) so why should he start now?
Calla Larga, 247-63 Jericho Tpke. in Bellerose, 718-343-2185, is
worth a visit just for its fine, Istrian-inflected Northern Italian
cooking. But on Tuesdays and Thursdays, for $25, you can also have a
psychic reading for dessert, courtesy of his-and-hers mediums Gerald
and Rita. Reservations are suggested, although Gerald and Rita know
you are coming.
Carnivore alert! Anyone with a love of meat deep in their hearts will
want to mark Feb. 8 on their calendar. That is when Beacon’s, 25 W.
56th St., 212-332-0500, fifth annual Beefsteak will be held. What is
a Beefsteak? As immortalized by Joseph Mitchell in his 1939 essay
“All You Can Hold for Five Bucks,” a beefsteak is a wild, Dionysian
revel, an orgy of beef-eating where happy patrons can down endless
steak, lamb chops, kidneys and hamburgers to the merrily flatulent
sounds of a German oom-pah band. As in the classical tradition,
silverware will be optional – but satiation is mandatory. Call for
reservations; Beefsteak admission is $95, plus tax and tip.
Rumors of its death have been greatly exaggerated. It’s the Plaza
Hotel’s Oyster Bar that’s closing, not the 92-year-old Grand Central
Oyster Bar & Restaurant, as feared by loyalists.
GRAPHIC: Photo – The Bar Room is open at the Museum of Modern Art.