One trip to Albany to help pass the Taxi Driver Protection Act, one reggae-singing cabbie from Queens who really knows his way around a burrito, and one taxi driver who arrived in NYC via Alexandria and told me about a couscous platter in Little Egypt that's only available on Fridays...
I wasn't sure why the cop started flashing his lights at me when I turned left onto 72nd St. from Park Avenue, but I decided to let the hyperventilating bride-to-be in the passenger seat ("We're getting PULLED over?!") do the talking when he sauntered up to my window.
If you're wondering why the Empire State building is lit up in blue and white tonight, it's in honor of the Argentine bicentennial. I didn't plan it this way, but it seems only fitting to break down the latest quest for a great Argentine empanada in New York on the country's 200th birthday.
Did the Great Argentine Empanada Crawl (Queens version) lead to the golden empanada? Who will win the Passenger of the Month Award? Where do you eat that's not McDonald's when you're having an exceptionally slow taxi driving day and you don't think you can cover your daily lease fees at the garage?
"We had Sam Sifton's picture pasted all over the restaurant," my passenger said, "I recognized him right away. He came four times. I knew it was him every time."
My expectations were as high as my hopes when I met my co-adventurer at La Porteña, a butcher shop turned Argentine steak house in Jackson Heights, for another round of empanada testing last week. I'd heard rave reviews about their empanadas from near and far...
