Here at Rum & Blackbird, lunch is the most important meal of the day. The best way to do lunch? Make it a smorgasbord. Today we had a takeout adventure, visiting two completely different parts of Asia, from the comfort of the R&B headquarters in Hell’s Kitchen. We sampled Afghani cuisine from Ariana, and Japanese fusion from Ajisai. Our kitchen counter morphed into a colorful buffet, with everything from teriyaki and sushi to hand-pulled Afghani noodles and pumpkin curry. What did we like best? Read on:

 Alyssa’s Take: My top picks from our lunch adventure were the Spinach Samusa from Ariana and the Vietnamese Spring Rolls from Ajisai. For the Spinach Samusa I was expecting a crispy, Indian-style samosa, but was pleasantly surprised to receive a spinach dumpling more reminiscent of a mini-empanada. They were simple, and thankfully, not too greasy. The Vietnamese Spring rolls showcase the pan-Asian quality of Ajisai, where there is not only sushi on the menu, put pad thai and Indian pancakes as well. The spring rolls were the perfect summer appetizer. They were lightly fried and chock-full of rice vermicelli and funky black mushrooms. My favorite part of the lunch battle royal? Cross-cultural condiment pairings, like dipping the Afghan bread in the spicy spring roll sauce.

 Jamie’s Take: At first glance, the menu at Ariana looks like a million other falafel and kebab joints across the city. But if you dig a little deeper, there are seriously delicious Afghani specialties to be found. I was way into the Aushe Burida from Ariana—hand-sliced noodles, topped with yogurt sauce, garlic, mint, and ground beef curry. It was hidden away on the menu under the more standard-looking kebabs and sandwiches, so I’m glad we spotted it. The noodles were thick and springy, and the spicy ground beef was nicely tempered by the mint and yogurt sauce. It wasn’t the prettiest dish, but it sure was tasty. I also really liked the tender pumpkin curry from Ariana, even if it’s more of a hearty winter dish. With all the falafel and kebab joints in Hell’s Kitchen, I’d like to put in a word for the slightly more unusual offerings at Ariana—you just have to know where to look.

Ariana: 787 9th Ave.; (212) 262-2323

Ajisai: 615 9th Ave.; (212) 757-2688

For today’s installment of Meet the Team, we present intern extraordinaire Alyssa Maldonado, who’s been helping R&B with every step of the way. As a native New Yorker, she’s got the inside scoop on where to go and what to eat all over the city. Take it away, Alyssa!

Where did you grow up?

I spent most of my childhood in Astoria, Queens, around all the Greeks. Now I go to Vassar and my family lives in the Lower East Side.

Any hidden restaurant gems you can recommend as a native New Yorker?

Max on Ave B & 4^th St—no one’s ever heard of it, but it’s this little Italian place with a cute garden in the back. I like to eat outside. Also, I don’t know if this is necessarily a hidden gem but I love those Indian places on 1^st Ave near 6^th St. in the East Village—the ones with all the Christmas lights and the guys hawking outside. They’re ridiculous but so much fun—and they give you so much food!

What’s your guilty food pleasure?

It should be a guilty pleasure—but it’s not—ice cream. I eat all I want and I don’t gain weight from it. I gain weight from eating normal food, but not ice cream. It’s very bizarre.

What do you think the ideal walk-and-eat neighborhood is?

I would have to say the West Village, just for Bleeker Street alone. You walk up that street and get your bread at Amy’s, your ice cream at Cones, your cheese at Murray’s…[sigh]. I could walk that block for hours.

Have you ever heard of a bureka? A boreka? A boureka? A burek?

A boureka is a flaky, savory pastry that is usually filled with cheeses, meats and vegetables. Whichever way you spell the Middle Eastern delight, Gazala Place, nestled in Hell’s kitchen, is the best place to try one.

Gazala makes two versions of the delicious pastry, one with goat cheese and spinach, another with sundried tomatoes and goat cheese. What makes their boureka so special?

These bourekas are unique because of the freshness of the ingredients: the goat cheese and the pastry dough are made in-house, and the spinach is never frozen. Owner Gazala Halabi buys fresh yogurt to make into goat cheese, which takes four to five days. Her bourekas stand out because of the goat cheese filling—instead of the usual feta— giving these bourekas a rich, tangy center. The dough tastes deliciously buttery, but surprisingly is made only with olive oil. The flakiness of the pastry is achieved through a two-day process of refrigerating the olive oil, cutting it and rolling bits of cold oil into the dough. Though the boureka-making process takes days, it’ll only take you a few seconds of bliss to finish one.

 –Alyssa Maldonato

Now that you’ve met owner/founder Moira Campbell, it’s time to say hello to the rest of the R&B gang. We’re a small lot, but we’ve got a lot of personality! Today we’re chatting with Jamie Feldmar, editor/outer boroughs tour guide/ pork-lover extraordinare. Stay tuned for interviews soon with the rest of our team, but for now, here’s Jamie:

Q: Jamie Feldmar.  Jamers, Jamoooo, Jamster.  Where are you from?

A: Chicago.

Q: How long have you lived in New York and what neighborhood do you currently reside in?

A: Five years on the dot. I’ve spent the past three years in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, surrounded by old Italian men and kids in bands.

Q: What is your favorite neighborhood spot for eating out?

A: Fette Sau for BBQ and whiskey. Oh my god, it’s so good—you walk out of there and your hair smells like smoked meat for days. And Bahia for cheap Salvadoran tamales.  I also really enjoy going on ethnic eating adventures across the outer boroughs, to neighborhoods like Flushing, Jackson Heights and Sunset Park.

Q: One food you want, need, can’t live without?

A: Dumplings! Of all kinds. Chinese potstickers, Polish peirogi, Japanese shumai…I love them all. I’m a sucker for pretty much any kind of meat wrapped in dough.

Have we mentioned that it’s hot here in NYC? It’s HOT! Like, fry an egg on the sidewalk hot. And who wants eggs when it’s this sticky outside? Not us. No, we here at R & B prefer something a little cooler: the 1000 year old ice cream sandwich at tasting partner Xie Xie.

What, does the prospect of a dessert that’s been sitting for half a millenium not excite you? It should. Xie Xie’s Angelo Sosa’s (currently competing on this season’s Top Chef) dessert takes its name from a riff on the classic Chinese snack, a preserved hard-boiled egg that we can assure you is not nearly as refreshing as pastry chef David Andrew’s version. His is made up of caramel ice cream pressed between two thin cocoa wafers, and hidden within the ice cream is a stash of gooey, black, salted caramel. Refreshing? A thousand years can’t be wrong.