Amistad’s ‘David Flynn Huerta Upfront NY Report’.

Between the dizzying number of presentations over the course of my week in New York City, I ate enough to stay well carbed, caloried, and fatted up until mid-summer. With the exception of New Orleans, no other city can turn me into an overnight gourmand. It seems that every step in Gotham is fraught with temptation: Ray’s Original Pizza calls to me from nearly every corner, mystery meat and yoghurt sauce wrapped in pita bread draws my attention, hot dogs and knishes and kebabs keep me coming back for more. And this year I finally discovered the Papaya Dog. I know I’m about 15 years late on this phenomenon and I didn’t go to the original Grays Papaya uptown. I went to a knock off joint in the West Village. But knock offs in NYC are usually okay, after all who can tell me the difference between Original Rays and Rays Original? Anyway, these skinny Papaya franks are no bigger around that the fat crayons they used to have in kindergarten. But beware, they are extremely addicting. Piping hot, with a slightly tough resistant skin, you can’t have just one. I tried, but ended up walking back two blocks to get another (two).

I had several memorable meals while I was at the upfront this past week including heart-stopping pastrami on French bread at Katz’s (Ludlow St.), some heavenly scallops at a place on Houston called Le Quinze, a Cuban sandwich from the food court at Grand Central Station that I smuggled into Shea Stadium (they lost), and various variations on the NY taco, the scrambled-egg-on-a-roll. But the highlight of my own private food festival was a late night stop at It’s a Dominican Thing on W. 19th St. 212-924-3344. Here’s the thing about at It’s a Dominican Thing, it’s not in Washington Heights, it’s in the heart of Chelsea and it’s partly owned by Daija Arias, a charming Dominican thing who also happens to be a veteran of our business. Before opening her restaurant, Daija’s thing included new business development for Univision, Telemundo, Gems, and I don’t remember where else. She gave all that up, spent over a year researching the restaurant business before opening at It’s a Dominican Thing with her partner Eva Martinez who runs the kitchen.

“We wanted to take advantage of the fact that we (dominicanos) are in the news, we are everywhere,” she says referring to people like Pedro Martinez of the Mets, Miss Universe, as well as artists and writers such as Julia Alvarez who are getting national attention. In fact, each table at It’s a Dominican Thing is themed and showcases Dominicans in sports, the arts, writers, designers, etc.

The food is hot, welcoming, and delicious. My companion and I shared un chin de todo which is an appetizer plate with a little of everything including some chicken wings, codfish fritters, fried cheese (!), croquetas de pollo, pastelitos (of course) and quipes which are round balls of beef and wheat. We also had some terrific Dominican sausage.

Suffice to say the food was great, the wine list was very good with lots of Chilean choices and the whole experience was warm, inviting, and inexpensive. If that wasn’t enough, the quisqueyas will charm you with their pretty smiles and attention. I’m adding It’s a Dominican Thing to my “must see” list for my next trip to New York.

Thank you Daija.