If it’s been a while since you visited the Long Island City waterfront — which sits just east of the 21st St. G train stop in Queens — you’re in for a surprise. The once warehouse-filled area is now home not just to sleek new towers and the stunning Gantry Plaza State Park, but plenty of great eateries and beverage companies like these.
Southeast Asian expansion
When Bangkok native Pentip Mulkern and her sister opened their Thai restaurant Tuk Tuk in Long Island City nine years ago, it was one of few places to eat in the neighborhood. While the first years were “a struggle,” laughs Mulkern, they grew so successful they eventually opened Cyclo , a sister spot with a Vietnamese menu.
Thailand and Vietnam share some ingredients and flavor profiles, says Mulkern, an Institute of Culinary Education graduate. But she also had the help of Saigon-born chef Hoang Lieng, the owner of V-Nam Cafe in the East Village and a former cook at Tuk Tuk. He offered to teach Mulkern everything he knew, she says, and so she and her head chef spent eight months learning at Lieng’s side.
Today, Mulkern’s staff turns out a short menu of Vietnamese favorites like bo luc lac, a big bowl of wok-fried beef dressed with oyster sauce and served with rice and sliced fresh cucumbers and tomatoes ($12), or banh mì sandwiches loaded with buttery pâté, sliced Vietnamese ham and several flavorful inches of ground roast pork ($9). There are also Mulkern inventions like the avocado and mesclun salad topped with sunflower seeds and honey-lime dressing ($6), once served as a special at Tuk Tuk.
Cyclo: 5-51 47th Ave., near Vernon Blvd., Queens; (718) 786-8309.
Third time’s the charm
Like the first two Sweetleaf coffee shops, the Center Blvd. branch takes the minutiae of making coffee very seriously. Owner and Queens native Rich Nieto is now learning to roast beans himself, while his baristas tightly control temperature, pressure, water quality, time and even measure grounds “to the tenths of ounces,” says manager Marc Garza.
Still, caffeinated drinks like the best-selling “rocket fuel” (ice coffee with chicory, milk and maple syrup, $4.50) are just one feature of the year-old cafe, whose mismatched antique interior stands in stark contrast to the shiny high-rise it calls home.
Not only does the shop have a short menu of snacks like paninis to go with traditional Sweetleaf treats like frosting-topped carrot cake ($4.75), but at 6 p.m., staffers “dim the lights and change the music,” says Garza, and the place becomes a craft cocktail bar. In addition to the beer and wine served all day, nighttime barkeeps make drinks like the Long Island City Special ($10), a mix of rum, Sweetleaf coffee liqueur, lemon juice and seltzer.
Sweetleaf Coffee Espresso Bar: 4615 Center Blvd., near 46th Ave., Queens: (347) 527-1038 .
Fill ’er up
The two-year-old Rockaway Brewing Co. might not be in the waterfront nabe that shares its name, but its roots began at the shore. Owners and friends Ethan Long and Marcus Burnett got their start home-brewing in the backyards of their Rockaways’ bungalows, and nearby food vendors were some of the first wholesale customers for beers like the subtly sweet Rockaway ESB.
Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily News Eating along the G Line. Vietnamese Iced Coffee at Cyclo on 47th Avenue in LIC, Wednesday, June 25, 2014, Queens, NY. (Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily News) Enlarge 
Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily News Eating along the G Line. Cyclo on 47th Avenue in LIC, Wednesday, June 25, 2014, Queens, NY. (Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily News) Enlarge 
Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily News
Eating along the G Line. Manager Marc Garza at Sweetleaf on Center Avenue in LIC, Wednesday, June 25, 2014, Queens, NY. (Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily News)
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Pouring a Vietnamese iced coffee at Cyclo (at center, the 47th Ave. exterior); Sweetleaf manager Marc Garza prepares a refreshment.
Now their hands-on nano-brewery — still just a stroll from a city waterfront — produces kegs distributed at a handful of craft beer bars around the city, and boasts a retail counter where you can buy 64-ounce growlers ($15, $23 with a refillable glass jug) and 32-ounce bottles ($7.50 or $10 with the bottle). It’s open from 3 to 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, and noon to 8 p.m. on Saturdays.
Rockaway Brewing Co.: 46-01 Fifth St., near 46th Ave., Queens; (718) 482-6528.
