jerseyshorejohnny
Well-known member
The Ambassador of a Foodie Haven
WALL STREET JOURNAL
By CHARLES PASSY
Dec. 4, 2015 7:23 p.m.
As he led a young couple on a food tour of Flushing one Saturday last month, searching the Queens neighborhood for its best things to eat, Joe DiStefano paused to issue a warning.
“Do you need a fork?” he asked. “’Cause the tour’s over if you do.”
It was less an admonishment and more a statement of fact. Flushing is known for its Chinese restaurants, with offerings that range from fresh tofu to ox tongue and tripe with Szechuan peppercorns. To best appreciate all of it, Mr. DiStefano believes it is important to embrace it on its own cultural and culinary terms.
In other words, break out the chopsticks.
Queens native Mr. DiStefano, 47 years old, is considered one of the borough’s dining experts, sharing his advice and latest finds on his blog Chopsticks and Marrow, which he said attracts 8,000 monthly unique visitors. His fans range from the Queens Tourism Council to Andrew Zimmern, the host of “Bizarre Foods” on the Travel Channel.
Often roaming the borough’s streets wearing the New York Mets colors of blue and orange or sporting a baseball cap that simply says “Queens,” Mr. DiStefano is now expanding his online brand to in-person events.
In his food tours, he leads groups through the Chinese and Indian offerings in Flushing, the Tibetan and Nepalese ones in Jackson Heights, and the Indonesian, Vietnamese and Thai ones in Elmhurst. He has given private tours to such boldface names as Le Bernardin chef Eric Ripert and television personality Anthony Bourdain.
On Saturday, Mr. DiStefano, who lives in Rego Park, also is helping produce a one-day festival billed as “The Great Northeast Cheese Fest” at Flushing Town Hall. Although the event focuses on products from cheesemakers well outside Queens, there are local ties: M. Wells Steakhouse, the Michelin-starred Long Island City restaurant, and Descendant Cider Company, based in Maspeth, will be on hand.
For Mr. DiStefano, Queens is a foodie haven, with more than 5,000 restaurants, that is just starting to get the recognition it deserves. He sees its ethnic communities as its greatest strength: In November alone, he wrote enthusiastically about börek, a Turkish meat pie, at Turkiyem Market in Sunnyside; the fried-shark appetizer at the Nest, a Caribbean-Chinese dining spot in Richmond Hill; and the Russian-style chicken soup, which he dubbed “Siberian penicillin,” at Bear in Long Island City.
Mr. DiStefano is just as likely to explore street-vendor offerings or off-the-beaten-path destinations like Lhasa Fast Food, a Tibetan spot located in the back of a Jackson Heights cellphone store.
“It’s one of these things where you walk in and you’re like, ‘Am I in the right place?’” said Mr. DiStefano, adding that the place makes some of the best momo, a Tibetan-style dumpling, to be found.
That appreciation of all manner of foods doesn’t go unnoticed by those in and outside the borough.
“He’s responsible for putting Queens on the food map,” said Hugue Dufour, chef of M. Wells Steakhouse. He also appreciates Mr. DiStefano’s attention to the emerging fine-dining scene in Queens, especially Long Island City.
Mr. DiStefano’s readers credit him with leading them to some of their now-favorite spots.
Greg Gouras, a 28-year-old Queens resident, said he found out about the Chinese food courts in Flushing through Chopsticks and Marrow, and he now visits them regularly for his fix of fried dumplings and spicy noodles.
“These are places most people wouldn’t know about,” Mr. Gouras said.
Just as important, said Mr. Zimmern, is that Mr. DiStefano doesn’t try to glamorize Queens as the next “it” destination. Rather, Mr. Zimmern noted, the blogger’s emphasis is as much on the family aspect of the family-run restaurants he writes about or on the close-knit neighborhoods where they are located.
Mr. DiStefano “understands that food is a vehicle for people to interact,” said Mr. Zimmern.
Mr. DiStefano learned such lessons from an early age. Growing up on Long Island—his family moved there from Queens when he was 1—he marveled at how his parents tried to re-create the chow fun and sweet-and-sour pork they ate during visits to Manhattan’s Chinatown.
He found editorial work at food-related publications such as Supermarket News and Shopping Centers Today, but it wasn’t until he started posting on the popular food site Chowhound that he began to see the potential in writing about Queens’s dining scene. He launched Chopsticks and Marrow in 2013.
Between the blog’s advertising revenue and the money he generates through his other ventures, including a consulting role with the food-market operator Smorgasburg, Mr. DiStefano said he earns a respectable living and doesn’t have to rely on a day job, though he admits no one is going to get rich writing about food in Queens.
Tour attendees say they appreciate Mr. DiStefano’s no-nonsense approach to appreciating Queens.
“His attitude matches the borough,” said Daniel Jacobson, 23, a Manhattan resident.
At the end of a recent tour, Mr. DiStefano pondered a question he is often asked: Could Queens, which often takes a back seat to Manhattan and Brooklyn, be the true culinary jewel of the city, if not the U.S.?
In his best tell-it-like-it-is manner, Mr. DiStefano said: “I don’t know if it’s the best place, but it’s a damn good one.”
WALL STREET JOURNAL
By CHARLES PASSY
Dec. 4, 2015 7:23 p.m.
As he led a young couple on a food tour of Flushing one Saturday last month, searching the Queens neighborhood for its best things to eat, Joe DiStefano paused to issue a warning.
“Do you need a fork?” he asked. “’Cause the tour’s over if you do.”
It was less an admonishment and more a statement of fact. Flushing is known for its Chinese restaurants, with offerings that range from fresh tofu to ox tongue and tripe with Szechuan peppercorns. To best appreciate all of it, Mr. DiStefano believes it is important to embrace it on its own cultural and culinary terms.
In other words, break out the chopsticks.
Queens native Mr. DiStefano, 47 years old, is considered one of the borough’s dining experts, sharing his advice and latest finds on his blog Chopsticks and Marrow, which he said attracts 8,000 monthly unique visitors. His fans range from the Queens Tourism Council to Andrew Zimmern, the host of “Bizarre Foods” on the Travel Channel.
Often roaming the borough’s streets wearing the New York Mets colors of blue and orange or sporting a baseball cap that simply says “Queens,” Mr. DiStefano is now expanding his online brand to in-person events.
In his food tours, he leads groups through the Chinese and Indian offerings in Flushing, the Tibetan and Nepalese ones in Jackson Heights, and the Indonesian, Vietnamese and Thai ones in Elmhurst. He has given private tours to such boldface names as Le Bernardin chef Eric Ripert and television personality Anthony Bourdain.
On Saturday, Mr. DiStefano, who lives in Rego Park, also is helping produce a one-day festival billed as “The Great Northeast Cheese Fest” at Flushing Town Hall. Although the event focuses on products from cheesemakers well outside Queens, there are local ties: M. Wells Steakhouse, the Michelin-starred Long Island City restaurant, and Descendant Cider Company, based in Maspeth, will be on hand.
For Mr. DiStefano, Queens is a foodie haven, with more than 5,000 restaurants, that is just starting to get the recognition it deserves. He sees its ethnic communities as its greatest strength: In November alone, he wrote enthusiastically about börek, a Turkish meat pie, at Turkiyem Market in Sunnyside; the fried-shark appetizer at the Nest, a Caribbean-Chinese dining spot in Richmond Hill; and the Russian-style chicken soup, which he dubbed “Siberian penicillin,” at Bear in Long Island City.
Mr. DiStefano is just as likely to explore street-vendor offerings or off-the-beaten-path destinations like Lhasa Fast Food, a Tibetan spot located in the back of a Jackson Heights cellphone store.
“It’s one of these things where you walk in and you’re like, ‘Am I in the right place?’” said Mr. DiStefano, adding that the place makes some of the best momo, a Tibetan-style dumpling, to be found.
That appreciation of all manner of foods doesn’t go unnoticed by those in and outside the borough.
“He’s responsible for putting Queens on the food map,” said Hugue Dufour, chef of M. Wells Steakhouse. He also appreciates Mr. DiStefano’s attention to the emerging fine-dining scene in Queens, especially Long Island City.
Mr. DiStefano’s readers credit him with leading them to some of their now-favorite spots.
Greg Gouras, a 28-year-old Queens resident, said he found out about the Chinese food courts in Flushing through Chopsticks and Marrow, and he now visits them regularly for his fix of fried dumplings and spicy noodles.
“These are places most people wouldn’t know about,” Mr. Gouras said.
Just as important, said Mr. Zimmern, is that Mr. DiStefano doesn’t try to glamorize Queens as the next “it” destination. Rather, Mr. Zimmern noted, the blogger’s emphasis is as much on the family aspect of the family-run restaurants he writes about or on the close-knit neighborhoods where they are located.
Mr. DiStefano “understands that food is a vehicle for people to interact,” said Mr. Zimmern.
Mr. DiStefano learned such lessons from an early age. Growing up on Long Island—his family moved there from Queens when he was 1—he marveled at how his parents tried to re-create the chow fun and sweet-and-sour pork they ate during visits to Manhattan’s Chinatown.
He found editorial work at food-related publications such as Supermarket News and Shopping Centers Today, but it wasn’t until he started posting on the popular food site Chowhound that he began to see the potential in writing about Queens’s dining scene. He launched Chopsticks and Marrow in 2013.
Between the blog’s advertising revenue and the money he generates through his other ventures, including a consulting role with the food-market operator Smorgasburg, Mr. DiStefano said he earns a respectable living and doesn’t have to rely on a day job, though he admits no one is going to get rich writing about food in Queens.
Tour attendees say they appreciate Mr. DiStefano’s no-nonsense approach to appreciating Queens.
“His attitude matches the borough,” said Daniel Jacobson, 23, a Manhattan resident.
At the end of a recent tour, Mr. DiStefano pondered a question he is often asked: Could Queens, which often takes a back seat to Manhattan and Brooklyn, be the true culinary jewel of the city, if not the U.S.?
In his best tell-it-like-it-is manner, Mr. DiStefano said: “I don’t know if it’s the best place, but it’s a damn good one.”