I hope this doesn’t come out wrong, but while COVID was a horrific tragic time for so many, I also look back to the time of the lockdown with a bit of nostalgia. There were so many exciting innovations happening – especially among the food and drink world.
One business that started during the pandemic sold Dominican-Asian burritos from a fire escape in Chinatown. You had to order in advance and then show up at the owners’ apartment where they would lower burritos down to you in a rope and bucket.
Since then, Forsyth Fire Escape have expanded to sell their burritos out of a food hall on the far west reaches of Chelsea. You no longer have to wait for the bucket to be lowered, but you do have to find your way all the way to the Olly Olly Market.
It’s a nice market with some interesting vendors, but it is a bit far out of the way and both times I visited, it was mostly a ghost town. But I finally got to try these burritos.
The story is fun and all, but it’s the burritos themselves that really have kept them going this long.
So obviously the wrapping here is much more than a tortilla. Taking from one of the owner’s Chinese heritage, they use a plump buttery scallion pancake. And then inside, the other owner’s Dominican roots shine with crisp peril (roasted pork) that was fatty, salty, and meaty; fried queso blanco; creamy guacamole; and a delicious sauce made from lemongrass and crisp chilis. It was spicy and sweet with a hint of mellow citrus.
This was no doubt a gut bomb and I promised myself I wouldn’t eat the entire thing, but wouldn’t you know it, it had disappeared from my hand a little too quickly. And unlike the “nostalgic” COVID lockdown era when I was only walking from my couch to the bedroom, I got to walk down the street to attempt to burn off some of those calories. Price: $14
| FORSYTH FIRE ESCAPE |
| 601 West 26th Street (between Eleventh and Twelfth Avenues), Inside Olly Olly Market Chelsea (212) 589-8185 |
| forsythfireescape.com |
