vip in the city

A matter of perspective

Around the corner at The Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, the shop had sold out of their popular Almond Cookie, Don Tat (egg custard tart) and Black Sesame ice cream flavors after a busy holiday week. Boo!

As we perused the dry erase board for an alternative, we could have chosen from among Lychee, Durian, Pandan and Zen Butter (peanut butter ice cream with toasted sesame seeds) listed under “Regular” flavors. Under “Exotic”: Chocolate and Vanilla.

Reminds me of HSBC’s “Your Point of View” ad campaign.

And on the topic of wordplay, I read today that Dave Eggers‘s nonprofit youth writing workshop and tutoring center, Park Slope-based 826NYC, is hosting a fundraising tournament on Saturday, January 19, 2008: Scrabble for Cheaters. When I forwarded the list of “cheats” for charity to my partner-in-crime (you know who you are, ahem!), he was “outragedqxz” by my revisiting of 15-year old indiscretions. Current price tag on our past peccadillos: $400.

Tags: Chinatown, ice cream

New Year’s dinner at ABC

FMBJ and HS had flown into New York for just 36 hours — White Plains, to be exact — so how could we not seize upon the opportunity to meet them on New Year’s Day?

We piled into the car to fetch them from Westchester, and then back down to Manhattan for dinner. On the drive in, HS peppered us with questions about NYC pizza, bagels and Jewish delis; I wondered if she was ever-so-slightly disappointed when we ended up in Chinatown on her one night in the city.

The restaurant at 34 Pell Street was known as Danny Ng Restaurant until late 2006 when the chef and several members of the serving staff moved on to open Amazing 66 at 66 Mott, where they’ve since generated lots of good word of mouth. 34 Pell’s post-renovation incarnation was redubbed ABC Chinese Restaurant, which seemed somehow apropos for tonight’s gathering.

It’s been ages since we ordered an entire peking duck. These days, I get my fix from the occasional buffet visit or from Corner 28 on Flushing’s Main Street, where individual roast duck — not true Peking duck — sandwiches are sold out of a sidewalk window for 75 cents apiece, which inevitably lacks the pageantry of tableside carving and assembly.

This dish wasn’t even on the menu; we asked the waiter for a recommendation. He described it as “Chinese Prime Rib.”

Lobster with Ginger and Scallions — second time in one week:

Chinese Garlic Fried Chicken:

Not pictured: a not very politically correct (and somewhat oversteamed) Chilean sea bass, a delicately flavored silken tofu and shrimp dish, sauteed pea shoots, and a house special fried rice. Eight dishes in total: an auspicious number for an auspicious new year.

Tags: ABC Chinese Restaurant, Chinatown, Peking duck