All Hail the Queen, Liza Queen that is

We popped into the Queen’s Hideaway here in Greenpoint the other day and were reminded of why it is fun to go out to eat.

First, it’s about the food – pure and simple. Liza Queen is here to cook for you. She’s not here to strut around in front of movers and shakers, or to pose for a photo, or to line up interviews. She is in the kitchen cooking whatever it is she feels like cooking that day, and by God that’s all we can ask.

Savory, flavorful, daring and somehow poking fun at gourmands who like to chatter about the newest flavors and this and that fusion, the Queen’s hideaway looks at food and its preparation as part of the joy of life, and that is the one and most critical detail that is often missing from a buzzed-out restaurant. Rather than worry about the PR, Queen worries about the food, and this care and the joy that she puts into it carries over into all aspects of the way that she runs her business.

Let’s talk a minute about the joy of food. It’s been a long time since Irma Rombauer first published her cookery bible, simply titled “Joy of Cooking”, over seventy years, to be sure. It’s time to revisit the notion of joy and the role that it plays in food.

Joy seems like a simple thing, but it is not. Day to day, how joyful are we? How often do we feel like singing at work? How often do we look out the window and say, “I am so glad to be here,”? Not often enough. And when we go out to eat, how often are we planning to really find joy in sitting down to share a meal with someone?

The Queen’s Hideaway reminds us of the joy of breaking bread together, and in sharing truly well-prepared food with those we love.

Tags:   joy, liza queen

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Posted on 10/23/2005 ( Permanent Link )
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