The old, gruff-but-lovable Trade Fair on Queens Boulevard has been turned over to Associated.

Honestly, despite its flaws, lack of style and over-crowding, we loved Trade Fair. We usually preferred shopping at Trade Fair over Key Food and The Natural. We found Trade Fair to have better prices and better selection.

The Last Trade Fair Show

 Sure, you could find obscure ingredients like “Newman’s Own authentic Turkish roasted pine nuts - or whatever - at The Natural, but why spend the extra money when you could find actual pine nuts from Turkey, complete with actual Turkish labelling and odball graphics, at Trade Fair for 30% less?

When you got home at <cough, cough> A.M. from a fun night out, and you realize you need milk, did you really want to pay an extortionist’s rate for milk at Duane Reade? No, of course not. What you could do is walk over to Trade Fair, open 24-7.

When you were planning that extra-special dinner, and wanted to try being Mario Batali or Wylie Dufresne, could you just waltz into Key Food to get a goat’s head, or pig’s ears? No. You went to Trade Fair.

Well, not anymore.

Associated's grand opening

Associated seems to be in the middle of its make-over, and the first thing you’ll notice is the shortened hours! What is this “closes at 10 pm” business?  Hopefully that will change.

This year, there are 2 Kew Gardens, 7 Forest Hills and 4 Rego Park restaurants are participating in the October 5-15, 2009 Queens Restaurant Week!

If you don’t know the drill, participating restaurants are offering a prix-fixe dinner menu of soup/salad, entree and dessert for $25 per person, or lunch menu at $25 for 2 people. (beverage, tax and tip not included.)

Unlike most other neighborhoods, many of the FoHi places are offering the $25 menus over the weekend! In case you’re free tonight and want to stay local, Irish Cottage, La Vigna,  Buenos Aires Tango, Garcia’s and the Family Restaurant are offering it tonight — as well as Simply Fondue in Atlas Park, in case you’re feeling charitable.

Truthfully, we like to broaden our horizons during Restaurant Week and go somewhere out of the nabe. The spouse and I just spent about an hour perusing the menus and calling nearly every place on the list of this October’s Queens Restaurant Week, only to discover that about 90% of them are only offering the specials Mondays thru Thursdays.

I used Google to find the list, which states in the introductory paragraph,  “From October 5 – 15 enjoy Greek in Astoria, French in LIC, Italian in Bayside and Asian in Flushing with restaurants participating from all over the borough.”

When I went to the Discover Queen homepage, I see this text:

“From October 5th – 15th (Monday through Thursday) enjoy Greek in Astoria, French in LIC, Italian in Bayside and Asian in Flushing with restaurants participating from all over the borough.”

In any case, we’re probably going somewhere in Astoria or Bayside tonight. We’ll let you know where we go.

So, dear readers, what are your strategies and hints for going to a Restaurant Week venue? Have you found any great deals? Or is it just a “salad-rubber-chicken-cheesecake” disappointment?

Here’s another catch-up restaurant review: We went to aged in late June this year, and we were not impressed.  The bottom line is, if you’re going to spend $70 on a porterhouse steak,  don’t bother going here.  If you want to have good steak in Forest Hills, go to Buenos Aires Tango near the firehouse (which we reviewed last year), or, even easier, simply walk next door to Cabana and get the bistec with chimichurri sauce.

As you know from reading this blog,  we are steak people. Vegetarians we are not. As mentioned, we’ve reviewed Buenos Aires Tango and P.J.’s Steakhouse (before it morphed into a “grill”) on this blog. We cook a lot of different types of steak at home, but during the boom years of the early 2000’s, my spouse and her colleagues set up a “round robin” of sorts, taking each other out to various steakhouses around NYC.

I was lucky enough to tag along,  and we got to sink our teeth into some of NYC ’s best (and not so best) steaks: Peter Luger’s, Uncle Jack’s, Wolfgang’s, Ben and Jack’s, craftsteak, Landmarc - Time Warner, and our current favorite, BLT STeak.

We know the drill, we know our steak.  We believe there should be a “wasted meat” fine imposed on people who order steak “well.”

We were  cautiously optimitstic about aged. Unfortunately, it’s not a very good value for steak. The service was bland, the bread was bland, and probably the biggest culinary crime at aged was that the steak was bland. I needed to salt my steak. How is that allowed?

We also thought it was weird that they served their wines in GINORMOUS glasses and that they used floor tiles as wall tiles. And, they have NO WEBSITE. How can you operate a restaurant in NYC in the 21st Century, on the “restaurant rows” of an upscale, “famous” neighborhood and not have a website?

Given the mediocre food, and touch of nervous insecurity you feel from the staff, it just seemed like the place is guilty of committing a common mis-step of FoHi restaurants: trying too hard with nothing to back it up. If you come here for the outdoor seating, wannabe-glamorous atmosphere, or happy hour wine deals, I hope you enjoy. If you come here for steak, stick a fork in it, it’s done.

Another NYC 1950’s landmark is being scooped up by Southern architectural preservationists.

The Daily News reports today that Jay Dee owner Amnir Yelizarov has not only closed the historic Jay Dee bakery, but is selling off the architecturally-significant components to preservationist entrepeneurs Pat Miller and Joel Owens.

Rego-Forest Preservation Council’s leader, Micheal Perlman, met with Mr. Yelizarov, but could not convice him to save any of the features intact.

Miller and Owens bought the venerable Cheyenne Diner and will add Jay Dee to their dream of recreating a back-in-time town in the south.

Whatever your opinion about Jay Dee’s products or the closure, I’ll miss the plaster cakes, colors faded by the sun, and the tiny plastic ballerinas that I always coveted as a child.

(Photo from Etsy)

On the occasion of a particularly nice accomplishment at work last month, my spouse took me out to celebrate and we decided to try MoCA.

Not the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, the Museum of Computer Art,  the Museum of the Chinese in the Americas, nor the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. Not even the Moca Bar and Lounge in Harlem.

Yep, on a slow and frigid Tuesday night, we dined at the pimped up, tricked out, feng shui’d, pan-Asian addition on FoHi’s “Restaurant Road.” I know some say it’s not “all that,” and we still think that Jade is better, but we had a very pleasant experience. The prices were high, but the food was tasty, the service was lovely, the decor was bizarre, and the tables were red.

Bravo to Moca for their stroke of genius: red-lit tables. Everyone looks good in soft, red lighting. You, your date, even your 80-year-old grandma will look rosy-cheeked and healthier.

First we started with soups to take the chill off of the night’s cutting wind. Both the Tom Yum Gang (Thai spicy shrimp soup) and the chicken soup with wontons were great! Sure, we’ve had these soups before many times at many venues, but these were definitely superior. The shrimps were large (and de-veined!!), the ingredients were fresh, the wontons delicate, and the noodles were tied in a cute little twine bundle.

The main courses were heavy-handed, but maybe that’s just us. I had a taro basket of seafood, and I thought the sauce was too sweet. But, again, the seafood was fresh and the taro basket was good. Next time we go, I think we’ll stick to appetizers and sushi.

“MoCA shines like a 1000-watt bulb in a darkened room, eye-catching in the already bustling shopping center.” - Citysearch review of Hewlett MoCa

“It’s hard to miss MoCA Asian Bistro, which looks bright enough to play understudy in Vegas. ” - Newsday review of Hewlett MoCa

Sure, we were among the eye-rollers who scoffed at yet ANOTHER pan-Asian restaurant in FoHi, not to mention one that’s, <shudder> from the suburbs. Hewlett, no less! There’s no denying that the decor is - how shall I put this? - unique. The rotating palm tree in the center of the dining room and the glass towers filled with water are not items you see everyday.

Stick to the appetizers and fun cocktails, and watch your budget. You’ll enjoy MoCa if you start out small.

Check out this fun, social and yummy event coming to our neighborhood! Green Drinks is coming to Queens. And Queens Green Drinkers get amazing 2-for-1 specials on the full array of organic wines and beers at Tierra Sana!

6:00pm - 9:00pm
at Tierra Sana in Forest Hills
100-17 Queens Blvd at 67th Road

In case you don’t know, Green Drinks is a pro-environment drinking club. Or maybe it’s a pro-drinking environmental club? Either way, it’s an informal networking group for folks that are environmentally minded.

From their Facebook page: “Come and we’ll introduce you to some of the other like minded folks in and around Queens. If we’re lucky (which is likely) we’ll cross pollinate make new friends, catch up with old ones, and maybe even sprout an idea or three. Since this is a new little experiment for our borough, please help get the word out and tell your friends about it! Heck, why don’t you bring them?”

Here’s their Facebook Page. You can send them an email here to get their newsletter.

Queens Green Drinks has planned four more get-togethers so far in 2009. This edition of Queens Green Drinks is sponsored by Green Phoenix Permaculture.

Green Phoenix Permaculture is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of and application of regenerative ecological design into our every day lives and the world around us. We’ve been rocking the Hudson River Valley with classes, workshops, and a full demonstration site featuring two forest gardens and a naturally built timber frame strawbale farm house since 2005. We work with a garden in Brooklyn and host a sustainable living action-learning group and meetups in Manhattan. Now we’re riding the green wave into Queens! Now forming local groups to learn and practice living well with each other and the earth, even in the big city.

Autumn on Austin Street is coming to a close, and my foot is not completely healed yet! Argh, 12 weeks and counting. Nevertheless, I did manage to take a little stroll around Austin Street to check out the scenery on an unseasonably warm day.

Speaking of fall, Rouge has officially fallen off Restaurant “Road.” Anyone know what’s going in that space?

 “La vie sans rose…”

Great colors in the falling leaves of the Bradford-Callery Pear trees.

But don’ t blink! Since the Feds are bailing out the turkeys this year, we’re jumping from Halloween to the Winter Holiday Shopping Season. Do not stop at Thanksgiving, go directly to Christmas!

The snowflakes have been strung across Austin Street…

…and the winter blossoming of temporary closeout stores is starting already.

Fox’s? U-bet!

The only thing that’s not turning white and wintery is the nursing home on 110th Street and 71st Road. Hooray! One less horrid white-brick building! Great face-lift.

Hmmm, would that make this a “phlog?”

Not much color - foliage or otherwise - to photograph this week. Most pics here are simply confirmations of the new stores popping up around the area, plus some intriguing bits of scenery around the nabe.

Halloween fun in front of Renegade salon. I hope your haircut doesn’t come out scary!

Pink Tree in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month

The Tap Room (the old “Cafe Moda”) - open for business, just in time for football!

Overheard: “That’s cool, but I can live without one more sports bar in my life.”

Site of new Fro-Yo competitor, OKO (where ColdStone Creamery used to be.)

Dollar Chic on chic Austin Street. Gimme LotLess anytime…

“This has nothing to do with the bailout! Really.” - TD Waterhouse buys Commerce Bank

New and improved Broadway Bakery on 71 Road! Still great coffee and cleaner equipment!

коли под наемThe new GameStop location on QB and 63rd Road, next to gas station, north side.

Menorah on top of T-Bone diner. Was this ALWAYS there, and I just never noticed it?

Boooo! I can’t go to this because my bum foot is KILLING me today, but you should go and have a drink for me!!

I’m having trouble posting images and other media (I’ve already had to retype this twice), so here’s the boring copy-paste about the event. Go have fun!

It’s Queens Membership Month here on the homefront of the TA Queens Committee and we’re having a party!

Come join us in an LIC penthouse and look out onto panoramic views of NYC

Thursday, October 23rd from 6:00 - 9:00pm.

Location:  47-40 21st St LIC, Queens, 10th Floor
(map<http://maps.google.com/maps?q=21st+%26+jackson+avenue+long+island+cit…>).

Directions: Plaxall is located on 21st St, just south of Jackson Avenue in
Long Island City.  It is three blocks along Jackson Avenue from the bike
path exit of the Pulaski Bridge.  By train: G train to 21st St, exit
at 21stSt & Jackson Avenue and walk ½ block south on 21
st St.  Or take the 7 train to Hunters Point Avenue and walk ½ block north
on 21st St.

For the month October only, we managed to finagle a special membership deal for all Queens residents (or employees). Ready? It only takes $20 for Queens residents renewing or becoming a new member. But, that’s not all..

$20 at the Queens Member Party gets you:
*Admission to the penthouse party at an exclusive location
*TA membership with all the benefits
*Open Bar & Food
*Free Raffle for a mountain bike, Summer Streets flair, messenger bags, and more.
*A chance to see and own the new limited edition I Bike QNS t-shirt.
*Free valet bike parking at the event

P.S. This is being co-sponsored by the Queens Chapter of Green Drinks - an environmental organization that likes to go to happy hours and bars. Or, is it a drinking organization that likes to support the environment? You decide!

It was a decent burger in a pleasant, friendly but small setting. Cooked exactly medium rare with yummy carmelized onions, goat cheese and a nice set of fries. That about sums it up!!