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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2007 Stories by Robert Sietsema

• Bachelor pad

  published December 25, 2007

  Jersey City's Little India wasn't nearly as impressive 10 years ago. Chowpatty anchored the neighborhood back then, the top dog in a modest pack... More >>

• Duck mistaken for chocolate in South Ozone Park

  published December 18, 2007

  A friend who is perhaps too fond of playing the ponies called a couple of weeks ago to breathlessly report that, on his way to Aqueduct, he'd... More >>

• Frenching Sheep

  published December 11, 2007

  I love Porchetta. I don't mean the herb-stuffed roast pork sold by the roadside in Central Italy, though I love that, too. I mean the short-lived... More >>

• Floundering

  published December 4, 2007

  Wrapped in a red sheath dress that showed off her slim figure, the bride's mother took her place at the microphone under the ornate coffered... More >>

• Bull Market: A Restaurant Generated by Concept

  published November 27, 2007

  Traditionally, there are several ways to generate new restaurants. They can be inspired by timeworn cuisines or by the creativity of inventive... More >>

• Promising New Moroccan comes to Astoria

  published November 20, 2007

  The cheerful, round-faced proprietor met us in the doorway, clasping his hands in front of him. "We're serving the fast-breaking meal of Ramadan,"... More >>

• A Shrine to Pig Feet Opens in the West Village

  published November 13, 2007

  Manhattan has hosted its share of weird-ass eateries. One place obsesses on peanut-butter sandwiches (Peanut Butter & Co.), while another tosses... More >>

• Mexican shoebox on Williamsburg's Broadway challenges Sunset Park

  published November 6, 2007

  I had high hopes when I sauntered into Taco Santana, and not only because it called to mind a certain top-notch San Francisco guitarist. I'd been... More >>

• New Isaan Café Charges into Southeastern Astoria Spewing Chilies

  published October 30, 2007

  Food from the Isaan region has become the holy grail of Thai cuisine. But who can explain what it is? Fiery salads, certainly, in which pungent... More >>

• Bocca: Skip the Secondi and Save Some Dough

  published October 23, 2007

  As restaurateurs open successive places, they often get worse and worse. This worried me as I wandered westward along 19th Street for my first... More >>

• Burping up market-driven fare on East 7th

  published October 16, 2007

  You've got to troop down a dark stairway to reach Jimmy's No. 43, catching glimpses of codgers holding up the barstools in the sports bar... More >>

• More than Pupusas at Uptown Salvadoran

  published October 2, 2007

  The sign says Rincon Centro-americano ("Central American Corner"). It's part of a halfhearted attempt on the part of the restaurant... More >>

• Dreamy Moussaka at Bay Ridge Greek Taverna

  published September 25, 2007

  Nobody's sure who made the first moussaka. The Greeks claim the Arabs brought it to Greece in the Middle Ages along with eggplant. The Arabs... More >>

• On the Taco Trail

  published September 18, 2007

  What makes a great taco? Two pale corn tortillas, rendered warm and glove-soft by a visit to the griddle. A generous heap of meat that has texture... More >>

• Blonde on Blonde

  published September 18, 2007

  Poke around in any South Asian grocery in Curry Hill, Jackson Heights, or Richmond Hill, and you'll find bags of spices at one-tenth what you'd... More >>

• The Frying Game

  published September 11, 2007

  Our love affair with frying began in 1802, when Thomas Jefferson introduced the french fry to America. Potato chips were invented in upstate New... More >>

• Mama Mia!

  published September 4, 2007

  Anyone who perched at the counter munching the fried rabbit morsels served in a grease-stained paper sack at Hearth on Avenue A will be amazed at... More >>

• Art Bites

  published August 28, 2007

  Autumn is nearly upon us, and as the tourist hordes ebb the indigenous population (that's you and me) begins to crawl out of its shell, and one of... More >>

• Are We There Yeti?

  published August 28, 2007

  The pink electric sign said "Open," but when we craned our necks and cupped our hands to peer through the window, we couldn't make out anything.... More >>

• Getting the Last Laffa

  published August 21, 2007

  If you're accustomed to thinking of pita as a small cardboard wallet for storing your falafel, reconsider: Olympic Pita's pita is twice the... More >>

• Rotten Tomatoes

  published August 14, 2007

  Five years ago, when Fresh Direct trucks first hit the streets, certain people I knew—mainly lawyers and advertising types who worked hard,... More >>

• Little Dieterle

  published August 7, 2007

  I'm a big fan of Top Chef, but not of the food created on the show: Too much of it depends on weird combinations of faddish ingredients.... More >>

• Cuckoo for Cou-Cou

  published July 31, 2007

  Barbadian cuisine might be the most playful and good-natured in the world. This occurred to us as we chowed down on "ground provisions"—a... More >>

• Georgia Rule

  published July 24, 2007

  Four of us were hiding from the burning sun around two in the afternoon at Tamada ("Toastmaster"), a new Georgian restaurant in Sheepshead Bay,... More >>

• Coveting Clod

  published July 17, 2007

  In many respects, Hill Country is a reverent re-creation of Kreuz Market in Lockhart, Texas, the Lone Star State's most beloved barbecue. Kreuz is... More >>