Email Author Robert Sietsema

Awards

• 2011 - Association of Food Journalists Awards, published June 23, 2010

  "An Open Letter to Josh Ozersky"

• 2011 - AAN AltWeekly Awards, published June 23, 2010

  "An Open Letter to Josh Ozersky"

• 2011 - AAN AltWeekly Awards, published December 1, 2010

  "May We Interest You in Some Egg Fetus?"

• 2011 - AAN AltWeekly Awards, published December 8, 2010

  "Siam I Am"

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2006 Stories by Robert Sietsema

• Recurring Curry

  published December 26, 2006

  Trip across the concrete footbridge that spans the gulf between sidewalk and café, and—bang!—you're in Burma. Lace curtains... More >>

• A Restaurant With Balls

  published December 19, 2006

  Mofongo is the bedrock of Puerto Rican cuisine. Flaunting its African roots, this woody mash of fried green plantains is sweetened with pork... More >>

• Poacher's Paradise

  published December 12, 2006

  The hardest part of achieving culinary brilliance is knowing when to stop, I realized while gazing happily at my poached chicken. Normally, I... More >>

• Runaway Ravioli

  published December 5, 2006

  Babbo remains the hottest ticket in town. Patrons call months ahead for a reservation and wait for hours just to sit at the bar. You'd think... More >>

• Follow the Yellow Silk Road

  published November 28, 2006

  It's been nearly a decade since Silk Road cooking first appeared in Queens, at places like Registan—whose name hilariously recast Rego Park... More >>

• Wurst in Show

  published November 21, 2006

  No one can accuse the Germans of dining daintily. In fact, after sharing three appetizers, including a soup and a salad, the four of us were ready... More >>

• Meat and Greet

  published November 14, 2006

  When I went to high school in Dallas, we felt superior to kids from Fort Worth, a city we derisively referred to as Cow Town. It wasn't of much... More >>

• Use Your Noodles

  published November 7, 2006

  There's a brand-new noodle in town. It goes by the name of "peel noodle," a word combo that elicits an astonishing zero Google hits. Find it by... More >>

• Not Just Cheese

  published October 31, 2006

  "Hey, where's the fondue?" my date exclaimed as the apps began to arrive. There was a salad of butter lettuce and bacon ($9.50), each leaf coated... More >>

• Single White Wonton

  published October 24, 2006

  "This place is way better than Sripraphai," my Thai American friend proclaimed. She'd grown up in Los Angeles, where world-class Thai cafés... More >>

• Leave the Gun, Take the Marinara

  published October 17, 2006

  On April 17, 1972, a lone gunman appeared in the doorway of Umbertos Clam House—a gleaming new establishment in Little Italy—and... More >>

• Rice That's Enticing

  published October 3, 2006

  Sure, Noodle Bar has its forerunners. There's Republic, a consistently good Union Square establishment that slings Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese... More >>

• Change of Course

  published September 26, 2006

  François Payard is famous for his pastry. He started out as the pastry chef at Daniel, but in 1997 established his own Upper East Side... More >>

• Greasy and Sublime

  published September 19, 2006

  We sat stunned in the lovely back garden of Baci & Abbracci, our gaze directed at the cloudless sky. Up above wheeled hundreds of fawn-gray doves... More >>

• Broth-erly Love

  published September 12, 2006

  Treichville is a neighborhood in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, that bustles with open-air markets, transportation terminals, and nightclubs that commence... More >>

• Scaring Pigeons

  published September 5, 2006

  A phenomenon is taking place in the West Village. The old-guard French bistros are disappearing, and being replaced by—newer French bistros.... More >>

• A Chorus Line

  published August 29, 2006

  Even though stories still circulate about a dwindling Pakistani presence in the city, and even though Coney Island Avenue's Little Lahore seems to... More >>

• No Ass

  published August 22, 2006

  "This doesn't look like an Italian restaurant," my companion noted as I hunkered down on the red, wall-hugging banquette which ran the entire... More >>

• Neon Rainbow

  published August 15, 2006

  You might go just for the neon. Waves of it course across the rear wall, upon which a happy blue porgy and pink octopus dance, and orange Arabic... More >>

• Din and Dinner

  published August 8, 2006

  I was a giant fan of Andrew Carmellini's cooking at Café Boulud, so much so that I spent my own money there to celebrate special occasions,... More >>

• Goo

  published August 1, 2006

  The setting is a tent. Robed and bearded men sit in a circle around a cast-iron pot as flames lick the sides. Grasping gobbets of charred... More >>

• Sugar Shock

  published July 25, 2006

  "I don't think these stir fries are really stir-fried," observed my companion. "I think they were assembled from pre-cooked ingredients just prior... More >>

• Shooting Up

  published July 18, 2006

  Once you've tasted the searing, numbing, lemony-metallic flavor of Sichuan peppercorns, you'll never forget them. As one commentator wryly... More >>

• Remember the Spartans

  published July 11, 2006

  You come upon it unexpectedly as you near the point where Eighth Avenue dead-ends into the Gowanus Expressway, a rococo cream-colored cottage that... More >>

• Endangered Bird

  published July 4, 2006

  The cooking technique was brought to America by enslaved persons from coastal West Africa. Applied to chicken, it became the cornerstone of the... More >>