A Global Feast in an Unlikely Spot: Lancaster, Pa.
'This small city, best-known for its Amish and Mennonite communities, is a welcoming home for immigrants, refugees and their cooking.
LANCASTER, Pa. — Lancaster Central Market, a patchwork of stalls neatly encased in a Romanesque-style downtown building since 1889, has long been a bustling hub where the area’s large Pennsylvania Dutch population sells the fruit, meat, baked goods and other foods produced on farms outside the city.
These days, though, something different is in the air.
The heady scent of spices from the beef samosas at one stall, Rafiki Taste of Africa, mixes with the tang of onions and pineapple being chopped for salsa at Guacamole Specialist. The low growl of sugar cane being crushed into liquid can be heard at Havana Juice. A Puerto Rican flag hangs near the cash register at Christina’s Criollo, where empanadas and sweet plantains are on offer.
“Malala was here not too long ago,” said Omar Al Saife, 65, the owner of Saife’s Middle Eastern Food, referring to Malala Yousafzai, the young Pakistani woman who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for her fight to guarantee girls the right to an education. A framed photo of her and Mr. Al Saife hangs in his stand.
For ages, Lancaster has conjured up images of the horses and buggies, dairy farms and rustic bakeries of its Amish and Mennonite people, who believe in living simply, many of them eschewing modern conveniences like cars and electricity.
And in the last few years, the city has drawn notice for a boomlet of upscale bars, breweries, restaurants and art galleries. In 2016, the New York Post proclaimed Lancaster “the new Brooklyn.” Even in the old Brooklyn, you can spot people sporting T-shirts with the logos of Lancaster businesses.'>>>
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/23/dining/lancaster-pennsylvania-restaurants.html?