Delsia “Deisy” Morel has been cooking Dominican food in Washington Heights for so long that her regulars still call her personal cellphone to place orders.

On a recent Monday evening, she jotted down one of those orders: arroz con habichuelas blancas (rice with white beans), bistec encebollado (beef with onions), ensalada verde (green salad). She hung up and ladled steaming saucy spoonfuls from the wells of her warming counter into round, tin containers.

The operation has come a long way since Morel and her sister Marilu started a lunch takeout business out of their apartment in 1998. The sisters opened their “restaurantcito” Marilu & Deisy in 2007 and the small, cash-only spot on Audubon Avenue remains a local go-to for Dominican classics and customs. Her sister retired a few years ago,

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