- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Toddler among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Kovacic stars as Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Thousands march for Palestinians ahead of Oct 7 anniversary
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Toddler crushed to death in migrant Channel crossing
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
- Schutt, Mooney help Australia beat Sri Lanka in Women's T20 World Cup
- Liverpool extend Premier League lead with win at Palace
- Djokovic 'shakes rust off' to make third round of Shanghai Masters
- 'Imperfect' PSG fighting on all fronts - Luis Enrique
- Struggling Pakistan look to thwart adaptable England
NY's Queens borough offers a world of flavors, even amid pandemic
Across ethnically rich New York, you can easily dine on food from 100-plus countries. Or you can just go to the borough of Queens, where an incredibly diverse food scene is thriving even in these pandemic days.
Located across the East River from Manhattan, Queens has benefited from steady immigration that has built up a fabulously varied culinary stage.
"Of the five boroughs, Queens is the one with the most diverse population... with over 100 ethnicities, by my count," said Robert Sietsema, a food writer for Eater.com.
He said nobody knows the exact number of communities, as immigrants keep coming in.
"Tibetans and Nepalese have recently arrived in Jackson Heights, for example," he said, referring to one of the most vibrant neighborhoods of this borough of nearly 2.5 million people.
Indeed, a journey through Queens is an exotic feast of flavors, aromas and textures, its offerings expanding even as the pandemic has hit New York hard.
This month alone four new restaurants opened in Queens, serving food from Turkey, Hong Kong, Singapore and Italy, according to Eater.com.
And the situation is fluid in this most dynamic of cities as neighborhoods and their culinary offerings constantly evolve.
The visitor to Queens will find everything from Colombian arepas to Greek moussaka, hummus from Lebanon, and Brazilian feijoada, a hearty stew of black beans, beef and pork.
- Keeping track -
In 2015, Instagram influencer Andy Doro set himself the goal of touring the world -- culinarily speaking -- by eating his way through as many ethnic restaurants in New York as he could. He got stuck at 145 countries.
"It's very easy to get to 100," he told AFP, but "now, you know, I've been stuck in the 140s. I'm at 145."
And a good number of them are in Queens.
Doro showed off some favorite spots on a tour through the borough's snowy streets, starting in the heart of Jackson Heights.
The area once attracted many people of Colombian origin, and now has become "a big center for a lot of South Asian and Himalayan countries -- so Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh," Doro said.
At tiny Yun Cafe, 25-year-old Yun Naing, a recent arrival from Myanmar, said she keeps her cuisine authentic by importing ingredients -- tea leaves, chili powder and more -- from back home.
"Burmese cuisine is special," she said, "because we have a lot of strong flavors."
Other Queens neighborhoods have their own rich offerings, such as the Chinatown in the Flushing area farther east -- known to the world as the home of the US Tennis Open.
Locals say it rivals that of the better known one in Manhattan, boasting myriad eateries representing many regions of China as well as the increasingly popular cuisine of South Korea.
P.Costa--AMWN