When I walked into El Cocotero, a small Venezuelan restaurant in Chelsea, and ordered the El Venezolano Sandwich, the waitress refused. "You don't want that as a sandwich," she said, "you want it as an arepa." I decided to order both and see for myself. More

I had not heard of or read about El Cocatero. Even googling it shed virtually no light on the restaurant. But Serious Eater Michele Humes shamed me into paying a visit there for the crispy green plaintain sandwich, patacones maracuchos, and goat. Even better, it was a mere ten minutes from Serious Eats World HQ. More