Some limited scouting this afternoon yielded no results near the UN, so the southern tip of Roosevelt Island it is. 2:30pm is probably a more realistic estimate since I'm getting the food at 1:00 and don't want to rush out the door.

At my place in Hell's Kitchen, we have two rooftop tables, with umbrellas, offering space comfortably for eight people, and a few more if we squeeze a bit. We don't reserve the roof patio but it is rare to find other parties up there.

There's no view of the UN, but the neighborhood is multi-cultural. I work on Sundays so I can offer a narrow window through 4pm.

The weather may be hot, but if a rooftop patio works let me know and our host can PM the address.

bdync -If you don't mind, that would be great. Even with its great views, I'm pretty sure the FDR Park is without tables. This would also gives us the ability to warm up the food again if needed. Thanks ^

The timeframe should still be the same, and we're going to see about finding some kind of wine/spirit/soft drink from the general vicinity of Botswana, but no promises there.

So for anyone thinking of coming tomorrow, we're looking at ~2:30pm on a rooftop in Hell's Kitchen. PM for address and contact info.

Sitting here in Melbourne mid-winter after a days of rainy squalls and the heaviest snowfalls in the ski resorts for 25 years and my memory of but three weeks ago, I envy you guys.

Enjoy!

Sorry couldn't join you all - looking forward to the report!

Meal #22 - Bosnia & Herzegovina
 

The Balkan states are well-represented in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens, so a bit of location scouting was necessary in advance of our Bosnia & Herzegovina meal. I paid visits to Old Bridge and Djerdan before settling on Cevabdzinica Sarajevo, which was situated nearest to a subway station, featured the best array of Bosnian memorabilia on its walls, and was the most difficult to pronounce.

The food here was very tasty, but the staff really made the experience for our group of 4, which included first-timers austin_res and karung99. Though this was a counter-service establishment, great interest was taken in making sure we ordered the most authentically Bosnian items on the menu and that we subsequently enjoyed said items (I was told there were no culinary differences in the Herzegovina portion of the country). The restaurant doesn't serve alcohol or coffee, but one of the women insisted that we all have a cup of their employees-only coffee pot when we mistakenly thought it was available for purchase.

I'm sure this would have been a great place to watch one of Bosnia's games in the World Cup (as mentioned in this Times article I mentioned up-thread), but I didn't get a chance before the team bowed out. This is also another restaurant that is transit-accessible from LGA on a layover/delay - take the Q70 Ltd bus to Roosevelt Avenue, then 4 stops on a Manhattan-bound M or R train to Steinway Street and the restaurant is just a short block west of the station, on 34th Ave @ 38th St.

Photos:

http://i.imgur.com/n6eswSV.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/8WMzAsB.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/QJjMK3A.png
http://i.imgur.com/PSK23ia.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/c9dNQsh.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/WOHSAjT.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/USWLmOz.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/nL8zSPv.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/uVU2L9s.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/uqMzlQd.jpg

Meal #23 - Botswana
 

The UN is a big part of why a project like this is possible in New York, but I didn't expect it to become such an integral part of the process. If you've been following along you'll know that the search for Botswana's cuisine led me to their UN mission, where I met with a delightful woman who offered to prepare the country's national dish (seswaa) for us in her home if I could come pick it up. She also prepared a side of samp and beans, which she called stampa.

The weather was perfect for an outdoor meal, and bdnyc kindly volunteered the services of his rooftop and a bottle of pinot grigio (Sydney Ann, 2012). The seswaa, which I believe to be beef or lamb, was tender and juicy. The samp and beans wasn't particularly flavorful, but complemented the seswaa very nicely when the two were mixed together.

We didn't have enough FTers to finish everything, so we ended up taking the leftovers to the team at bdnyc's office, where the food and stories of the project were a big hit. The positive response from outside FlyerTalk has me again considering starting a blog for all this at some point.

Only a few photos from this one:

http://i.imgur.com/xGuqQEW.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/FkXJv0V.jpg
Samp and beans

http://i.imgur.com/7l4wNh0.jpg
Seswaa, remnants of

http://i.imgur.com/PvtcQHH.jpg
A post-it menu from the initial meeting with our chef

So when do you think you'll make it to "U"? ;)
http://nyti.ms/1qCxlQM

At our current pace, 03/26/2023 :)

Funny you should post that though; just the other day I had a half-hour conversation about Uzbekistan with my optometrist's technician, a native of Tashkent. I am now the proud owner of a business card with a hand-drawn map to what is apparently "best food in city," Uzbek or otherwise.

Anything planned for August?

Yes! It has been an even busier summer than I expected, leaving very little time to work on this. Brunei is next alphabetically, but I haven't had a chance to do my research yet. In the meantime we're going to have our Bulgaria meal next Saturday, August 16 at Trakia in Astoria (Queens). The plan is for dinner at 7:30pm, but we can tweak the timing if needed. Any takers?

I'm in.

As are we. ^

If y'all ever get together on a weekday, I'd like to join.

Looks good for me to do Bulgaria in Astoria 8/16.

BD