My neighborhood  Sunnyside can’t be called a mecca for food but there is a place I visit when I don’t cook at home or travel across to the city! About a year ago our  neighborhood experienced a nasty blackout widely reported, some of it’s victims like me were luckily able to get something to nosh on at this eatery down the street from my apartment building ! Soon I was making  friends with the owner and chef as well as most of the staff of my local watering hole, Quaint.

The Chef and I have since become friends when I gave him some sour dough, this cemented the  cooks bond and hopefully infected him with the baking bug!

John McGrath has been at the helm since the original opening Chef decided to cut loose just at the tail end of the infamous blackout last year! Tim Chen the owner has had his moments of doubt and I keep encouraging him to let his hair down or ya-ya’s out and let John cut loose with some of his more upscale menu he was making at Bliss restaurant where I first tried his food! Just recently they were awarded  best new restaurant from Time Out 2007 for Queens, an upsurge in business and a really honest kind of cooking make for a great night out in Queens!  This “quaint” restaurant is really a a breath of fresh air and gives some hope for local places in all neighborhoods where Manhattan isn’t the only choice!

The other night I spent some hours sipping wine and eating some fine cooked salmon as well as snapping some shots of the crew. The onetime bartender bartender John who I had met when the restaurant was in crisis during the blackout was there with his family,he was leaving to head back to his home state. When I first met  first John he said he didn’t like sourdough, so I showed up in the blackout during my insane 90 F baking marathon I would bring in a loaf or two for the guy’s, that would be served at our table and amongst the staff! We will miss his kind welcome at the door and his willingness to slice the loaves and participate in the noshing of the handmade bread!

Thanks Tim, Veronica, John, Katie, Lucas and the rest of the guy’s at Quaint

Quaint