NEW YORK NEW YORK – Late this afternoon I got on the subway and headed for Elmhurst Queens. I’m joining a group of friends for dinner in a Taiwanese restaurant that’s so good that it has no English language sign. You really can’t tell what the name of this place is (unless it happens to be “Parking in the Rear”). Our organizer billed this as the “Best Taiwanese restaurant in North America”. Who would know? It might be. Just the right ambience of families eating off of formica tables. The food uniformly excellent, with the exception of stinky tofu, which to judge from its Wikipedia entry is a Taiwanese specialty. It really is stinky, smelling like a combination of your feet, days old garbage, and excrement.
Elmhurst has been a Taiwanese neighborhood for a long time – since the mid-50s. It’s safe, pleasant and clean. The sidewalks are crowded with Tiger Mom types with strollers. Pretty cool. And in the middle of it there is an old Dutch Reform church – this was the village of Newtown until the late 19th Century. Here are some pictures taken with my Leica Monochrom and my 1959 vintage Dual Range Summicron lens.
On this day last year: Faux Venini.
