Arepas Cafe

As much as we love the Museum of the Moving Image, it's not perfect --- mostly because you can't eat in its movie theaters. So, about to head into a loooonnnng movie set in chilly Russia, we had to fill up on enough stuff to make us not miss our typical popcorn-root beer-licorice noshathon. 

We liked our pernil arepa (top, Venezuelan roast pork) and pabellon arepa (bottom, with shredded beef and black beans) from Astoria's Arepas Cafe, and we tolerated the sharp brown sugar lemonade. But we loved the chicha, similar to horchata in its cinnamon milkiness, and the mini platter, full of smaller versions of tequenos (cheese sticks), cachapas (corn pancakes), empanadas, and fried yuca, plus creamy, yet spicy dipping sauces. This food was sunny and fatty enough to curb our cravings for candy. They didn't disappear entirely, but they did take a siesta.