I have a friend who is notoriously bad at pronouncing non-English food words. These mispronunciations aren't common but they still amuse me: "fay-ta" for feta, "pan-setta" for pancetta, and "beckamel" for bechamel.

Also, I nearly pull my hair out when I hear people say chez "pa-nee" for Chez Panisse because they think dropping all "s" sounds is what you do with French names.

And I totally agree with EWSflash about habanero.

Attention New Yorkers who are looking for fresh masa: Hot Bread Kitchen in East Harlem (at La Marqueta on Park Ave & 115th) sells fresh masa made from blue, yellow, or white corn. It's only available on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and you have to call ahead to order it for $3/lb.

Thanks everyone! I ended up ordering from Holland Court.

I just tried Hale & Hearty's Senegalese chicken soup today and would love to make something like it at home (especially on cold, snowy days). Looking forward to trying your recipe, thanks!

And Oren's on Broadway and 112th

The coffee bean has a few locations on the UWS too.

There's also a Luke's Lobster on S. William St. for lobster rolls.

It's out of the area you'd like, but Glaser's on 1st Ave and 87th is cheap and pretty good.

How about the Horsebox on Ave. A and 14th? They don't serve food but you can bring your own. Lots of takeout options.

I recommend both kinds of noodles. They have liang pi (cold skin) which uses wheat flour and rice flour, I think. The hand-ripped noodles are wheat noodles. You can get them with pork or spongy wheat gluten pieces. There is a pork burger too if you don't like lamb but want a burger (it's ok... meaty and cheap).

Yes! I recently made a stop there as well after seeing recommendations from other chowhounds.

Awesome! Glad I could help.

Hong Kong Supermarket on the NE corner of Elizabeth and Hester. The fridge case on the far right wall toward the back of the store has a huge selection of tofu products, including shredded dried tofu (豆干絲, dòugānsī).

Agreeing with most of the other reports here... Breads are really good, pastries are all right. Brioche was good too.

Baguettes are $2.75, and they have one kind (baguette Monge).

Stuffed peppadew peppers! http://www.thekitchn.com/afternoon-sn.... Also, gougeres or bite-sized savory biscuits with herbs, cheese, etc.

Sounds delicious! How about substituting chorizo for crumbled sausage in stuffing?

I was going to say the same thing that rockfish42 pointed out: genetic engineering (splicing "foreign" genes into an organism's DNA) and selective breeding (picking out certain animals to mate with each other, based on desired traits) are two different things. One has to be done in a lab and the other has been around since humans figured out how to domesticate animals. Commodity corn, soy, and cotton are genetically engineered in the U.S. (and GMO salmon is under review), but that's about it.

Cascabel (Mexican) on 2nd Ave and 80th has vegetarian tacos and lots of vegetarian sides and appetizers to choose from. Beyoglu (Turkish) on 3rd Ave and 81st also has lots of un-boring veggie options.

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Beyoglu
200 E 81st St, New York, NY 10028

+ another 1 for pears! Pizza with thinly sliced pears, blue cheese, walnuts/pecans, and arugula is a favorite in my home. My local pizza place also does thinly sliced potato with gorgonzola and a few basil leaves.

Thanks for the suggestions! Incidentally, this video is planted in the sidebar for me: http://www.chow.com/videos/show/chow-...
Good targeting by the web team :)

Thanks for all the suggestions! We ended up going with Huntington Catering Co. and were very, very happy with everything. Good food, very reasonable prices, and the entire staff was so friendly and great to work with. I felt like my guests and I were in great hands. Highly recommended!

I just heard back from Auntie Em's and unfortunately, they're not available on my set date. Bummer! I've edited the original post.