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Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1119718
M A D E S I M P L E . M A D E R I G H T . ground-floor spot inside the Africa Center at 110th Street, Teranga makes a convincing case that African food is comfort food, just as the restaurant's website says. Walk into this welcoming, airy space, and you're greeted by the gentle sounds of harps. While a few employees work behind the counter, patrons quietly eat grain bowls or ndambe (sweet potato and black-eyed pea stew) at the roomy communal tables. Others sip Ethiopian coffee or bissap (a beverage made from hibiscus f lower), sitting in one of the chairs in front of wide windows that look out at the city. Customers order at the counter fast- casual style, where they can see the menu options simmering in colorful casserole dishes right before their eyes. Go for a "market plate," and you have your choice of one base, one main, and two sides. Bases include attieke, or fermented cassava cous- cous, and jollof fonio, a West African grain in a spicy tomato broth. A main could be nbambe, free-range grilled chicken, or roasted salmon with Moroccan spices. Sides listed are kelewele (spicy fried plantains) and black eyed peas salad, among others. Prices range from $10 for an all-vegetarian plate to $12 for chicken to $14 for salmon. If a grain bowl is what you're crav- ing, Teranga serves up three, including yassa yassa, a sweet and tangy grilled chicken with Liberian rice. There's also fu-fu, made with savory red palm plantains and peanut sauce. The grain bowls can be mixed and matched; prices run from $10 to $14. The snack menu (all $6 each) features sombi (coconut rice and honey roasted mango pudding) and thiakry, or millet and yogurt with candied hibiscus. Teranga 1 2 9 0 F I F T H AV E N U E Teranga is hardly the first restaurant to serve Pan African cuisine in New York City. But thanks to its Fifth Avenue location at the northern end of Central Park, it might be the most accessible. Launched in February by chef Pierre Thiam in a 500-square-foot The snack selections are typically $2 to $5 each. Candy and Poky chocolate are sold in plastic bins near the counter, as are sundries like batteries. It's all part of Peach Mart's Asian- inf luenced convenience store concept and, judging by the crowds of people posing happily for selfies, the place is winning over many fans. PHOTO: ESTHER CRAIN 44 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com store tour Esther Crain is a NYC-based freelance writer. (Read more Store Tour on p. 147: Industry City: A Food and Cultural Experience in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.) Summer Fancy Food Show Booth #2637