Arepas Everywhere

Cafe Drake has often before sung the high-note praises of Latin American cornmeal cakes known as arepas, first sampled in the 1980's in Caracas, Venezuela and later hitting perfection both in the East Village and South Beach, Miami (those in the late 90s, olive-studded and layered with chorizo, hot and charred from a grill off Washington Avenue, are still the all-time faves). Recent Good Fortune had us find them freshly made and sold from a bodega in Jackson Heights, Queens. See above what we did with those arepas . . . namely, heated gently in a cast iron skillet then paired with slow-cooked dried pinto beans, grape tomato salad, capicolla, ricotta salata, salt and pepper cashews (thanks, Mummy!) and homemade green tomato pickles amongst other delicacies.