Ashok Kondabolu

  • Brooklyn's Most Legendary Pizza Hasn't Changed in 50 Years

    I took a trip down to Midwood to visit Domenico DeMarco of the famous Di Fara Pizza, which has been serving top-notch pies since the Johnson administration. It might look unassuming inside, but this is no dirty dollar slice joint.

  • Heaven Is the Food Court at a Suburban Japanese Supermarket

    I took a delicious snack tour of Mitsuwa, a huge Japanese supermarket and food court in New Jersey, and came out knowing a lot more about milky soft drinks and pickled root vegetables.

  • Brighton Beach Is a Paradise of Pickles and Cow Feet

    To learn more about the salty fish and cabbage that I'd briefly flirted with in my youth, I headed to Brighton Beach—a middle-class, heavily Jewish, and Russian-speaking neighborhood deep in the southern part of Brooklyn—for a bit of former Soviet...

  • I Tried and Nearly Failed to Understand British Food

    My first experiences with British food weren't spectacular, so I visited Myers of Keswick, a Manhattan grocer specializing in UK imports, to help me come to terms with pork pies, Branston pickle, and sticky toffee pudding from a tin.

  • South Indian Rasam Soup Recipe

    Drink this spicy-sour soup at the end of a meal, or serve with white rice.

  • The Best Mexican Grocery Stores Are Usually Hidden

    I'm a huge fan of secret grocery stores, piñatas, and Mexican food, which I was convinced didn't exist until reality recently proved me wrong. My friend, Mars Ostarello, guided me through a secret Mexican grocery store tucked inside of a deli.

  • I Explored New York Chinatown's Busiest Supermarket at the Worst Possible Time

    Saturdays are the worst for visiting a supermarket in Manhattan's Chinatown, but it was the only day my friend and Chinese grocery expert, Ho-Mui Wong, was available. While she showed me some everyday staples to a Chinese-American diet.

  • Stop Calling Grocery Stores 'Ethnic'

    I grew up in Jackson Heights, a diverse neighborhood with a variety of ethnicities, but I don’t get the word “ethnic” in terms of grocery stores. This is my column dedicated to exploring those air quote shops around the US.

  • Old Ladies in India are the Best Cooks In the World

    It's me, Dapwell, former member of rap group, Das Racist. I'm currently in South India hanging out with my grandmother, watching Indian soap operas, talking shit, and eating too much. Old ladies around here are still the best cooks in the world.

  • Old Ladies in India Are the Best Cooks in the World

    It's me, Dapwell, former member of rap group, Das Racist. I'm currently in South India hanging out with my grandmother, watching Indian soap operas, talking shit, and eating too much. Old ladies around here are still the best cooks in the world.