Good eating, and not just Greek classics, in Astoria’s heart
The low-rise homes and tree-lined streets of Astoria, Queens have always given the area a wonderfully homey vibe. These three neighborhood eateries — all an easy walk from the N train at 30th Ave. — do the same. From Russian coffee cake to quiche lorraine, there are dozens of international baked goods to tempt you at But the five-year-old cafe is also one of the only places in the city to sample the distinctive baked goods from the country of Malta, a small chain of Mediterranean islands between Sicily and North Africa. At Leli’s — owned by Emanuel Darmanin, whose family runs the wholesale Melita Bakery in the Bronx — the best-sellers here reveal culinary links to several continents, thanks to Malta’s long history of colonization. There’s pastizzi, or flaky pastries ($2.25) filled with ricotta, spinach and cheese, or ground meat and peas. And there’s quassatat ($2.50), chubby pies stuffed with ricotta or a mix of tuna and anchovies. You’ll also find crackly topped, soft-crumbed loaves of Maltese bread, made with a mix of wheat and rye flours; and “honey rings,” crunchy circular cakes filled with molasses laced with citrus and spice. Those, says manager Karim Hadjeb, are “the first thing people from Malta ask for.” Leli’s Bakery & Pastry Shop: 35-14 30th Ave., near 36th St., Astoria; (718) 626-8090
NIf you think the “under new management” notice at the five-year-old means things might be slipping, nothing could be farther from the truth. Instead, says new owner Panagiotis Peikidis, now almost everything at the Greek cafe is made from scratch, thanks to his mother Lemona Peikidou.
Peikidou — who has been cooking professionally for years in Greece — is typically in the kitchen downstairs, baking everything from her cheese or spinachstuffed pies with house-made olive-oil crust ($3.75), to dozens of Greek desserts like galaktoboureko, or custard and cream filled pastry in honey-syrup; or ravani, a syrup-soaked coconut cake. (Most sweets are $3 to $3.50.)
Peikidis — a former video game programmer who grew up in both Astoria and in Greece — also hopes to soon expand the menu with more traditional Greek food. And for fans of the old Cafe Boulis’ freshly fried loukoumades — a slightly lighter, circular riff on Greek doughnuts with honey and powdered sugar — rest assured they’re still on the menu. (Six for $4, 12 for $8, 24 for $15.)
Cafe Boulis: 30-15 31st Ave., near 31st St., Astoria; (347) 229-9597
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