Tibetan New Year, Jackson Heights, Queens & The New York Times

A couple weeks ago I received a phone call from the photo editor at The New York Times to shoot a new story. She wanted me to visit two Tibetan restaurants and capture everything about their special dumplings - momos - handmade all night and stuffed with a variety of fillings for Losar, the Tibetan Lunar New Year celebration. The story printed just in time as festivities began.

Needless to say it was an exemplary experience worth repeating! In fact, I am eager to return to Phayul Restaurant, pronto. The quality of their food - and the owners who were so obliging and sweet - is worth getting to know better. Humble people with some really special things to share...

Dawa Lhamo, one of the owners, makes dumplings like these for much of the night

Hand-rolling the dough - supremely meditative to behold

Each kind of momo has a different shape

The red sauce is sepen - a homemade garlicky, fiery chili sauce. Foreground (cup) is a flavorsome beef bone broth

Left: Tsak sha la kor hot, a beef-daikon creamy broth that packs a punch...!

This scene tells the feeling well

Norling Tibet Kitchen, the second location for my shooting that night, is literally across the street from the Jackson Heights subway hub. Until recently is has been Chautari Restaurant, so if you know it by that name, you have found the right place. :) They're doing a variety of inspired foods - obviously Tibetan, but also some Indian to go with the dominant flavor of the neighborhood, and Nepalese cuisine as well.

Right: crispy vegetable pakoras with sepen

This scene looks like a still from a movie, I thought...

How lucky am I that I can go to amazing restaurants here in New York City, and some of the best international cuisine lies just a wee bit further in an oasis like Queens?? Take the train and do it now. And then write me and thank me once you have gotten your fill of momos and tingmo and all that is deliciously Tibet.