ADD VEGGIE EMPANADAS TO YOUR NEW YEARS RESOLUTION
BY ERASMO GUERRA
Tuesday, January 13th 2009, 2:28 PM
Patricia Bernard and Luz Helena Bermúdez show off their healthy creations at Empanadas Café in Corona.
A little thicker around the waist, courtesy of all the holiday pork and tamales?
If you’re determined to eat healthier this year, you don’t have to give up Latino food cold turkey.
Here are a few options that might satisfy your cravings for favorite dishes while keeping your New Year’s resolution.
Empanadas Café (56-27 Van Doren St., Corona Park, Queens) opened in 2003 and offers 28 varieties of empanadas, including six that are made from organic, whole grain flour.
"The organic menu was developed three years ago and it’s something not available anywhere else," says Colombian Patricia Bernard, who owns the store with her sister Luz Helena Bermúdez.
With prices starting at $1.75 a bite, you’ll keep your wallet feeling healthy, too.
See The Article
The
Underground Gourmet
The Buck Stops Here
"For a deep-fried
empanada or a tropical ice pop, all it takes
is a dollar and a dream."
Empanadas can
be found in nearly every Latin American
country, and so can their deeply partisan
fans. When the Colombian owners of Empanadas
Del Parque opened what they’d hoped
would be a sort of United Nations of empanadas
last winter, they learned firsthand that
one man’s meat pie was another’s
poor substitute. "The difficulty was
in trying to please everybody," says
Patricia Bernard, who runs the business
with her brother, Jaime Bermudez, and sister,
Luz Helena Bermudez, both of whom have channeled
years of Manhattan catering experience into
churning out nineteen varieties of fried
empanadas from a Corona kitchen. After encountering
initial resistance, they sacrificed attempted
authenticity for full-blown creative license,
stuffing their spongy corn-flour and flaky
white-flour pies with untraditional ingredients
like shrimp, cod, spinach and ricotta, and
the ever-popular trinity of ham, pineapple,
and cheese. Made to order and served with
a spicy avocado sauce, the empanadas (a
deal at $1 apiece) ultimately won over a
loyal Latino clientele. (The location, four
blocks from the soccer fields at Flushing
Meadows-Corona Park, can’t hurt.) On
hot days, locals huddle over the freezer
case, excavating dollar ices and ice creams
made from tropical fruits like soursop,
guava, avocado, and mango. Judging by their
popularity, the Lemon Ice King of Corona
might finally have some competition. –Robin
Raisfeld
Restaurants/Queens
Empanadas
del Parque
Tabulating
your bill is a breeze at this tiny Corona
cafe where everything costs a dollar. That
includes the main course (fried empanadas,
made with either spongy corn flour or flaky
white flour stuffed with such untraditional
fillings as shrimp, spinach and ricotta, and
the ever-popular trinity of ham, pineapple,
and cheese), and extends to dessert (homemade
tropical-fruit ices and ice creams). –Edited
by Robin Raisfeld & Rob Patronite
Empanadas nada mas
La
Empanada Perfecta!
Empanadas
del parque se ha propuesto demonstrar
que la empanada - como si se tratara de
un plato de la refinada cocina francesa
- puede ser gourmet, chic y idelicioux! -Juan Fernando Merino
[Click
here to read full review]
"Helados
del Parque"
Como
no podíamos quedarnos con la tenteción
de anticiparnos a tan frío evento,
fuimos a Queens a una esquinta pachanguera,
donde, unos hermanos muy unidos nah creado
un nuevo estilo y sabor de helados donde
la imaginación es el limite. -Carlos
Bernales
[Click
here to read full review]
"These
empanadas are absolutely delicious...go
to Empanadas del Parque Cafe and
tell them that Dr. Joy Browne recommended
you." -Dr. Joy Brown, WOR Radio
Tempo Magazine
Trends Going Out/Restaurants
HOLY
EMPANADAS! Empanadas
del Parque is a year-old spot featuring
a dollar menu consisting of yummy empanadas
made with 20 different original fillings
to satisfy your every craving, from the
original beef empanada to the delicious"guava
and cheese" dessert. Everything you order
is made fresh while you wait. -Juana
Guichardo, NY Post | 
