Moving is a rather frantic time. The most self-reflection that I usually do during a move is to wonder if I should keep this, if I should have bought that (ever), or how to get something back to a friend: in the end, it all goes out the door, one way or another. Right now I'm trying to finish my last project in New York, but I thought I should jot down a few thoughts at least about the things that I'll miss after five years in New York.
1. Food -- when I think back on all of my past loves and lives in New York, what I really think about is.... food.
My friend describes New York as a 'dining culture', which I think is correct but overly formal. Food really is, though, both the highlight and backdrop for a lot of one's life here, between working and running to and fro, and because it is a culture always striving towards personal customization and novelty, a great deal of time and energy is spent on picking the right place to eat and meet. Half of my friends, I've made because we hit it off in deciding where to eat.
So, I'll miss those long subway rides on food pilgrimages to the outer boroughs, such as the Kebab Cafe, Sripriphai, and Pearson's (now in Manhattan). I'll miss the frisson of eating with celebrties at Nobu, the ridiculous luxury of the $40 burger at DB Bistro, though my favorite experience still remains wildly splurging on a personal yet echt-Japanese meal at Sugiyama. I'll miss that slight thrill when you walk into a booked restaurant and they seat you anyway, as I have gotten away with many times at Lupa. I'll miss the weird food crazes that seem to come and go, like barbeque (that's 'cue to you), bubble tea, and cream puffs. I'll miss my favorite burger and beer bars, like Henry's, the Old Town Bar and Island Burgers, because they provided thousands of good, red-meat calories, pints of good beer, and a comfy home away from home. I'll miss the days that I just feel like going ethnic, and the trips to Kum Gung San, New Green Bo or Una Pizza Napoletana.
Sometimes, there are just those places that you wonder if they're worth the wait, like Tomoe sushi (the picture says it all), or worth the quirkiness, like Shopsin's in the Village -- but I'm pretty sure that I'll miss them, too. I'll miss snacks before a movie at the Film Forum at 'ino, brunch at Good, and odd-hour meals at Veselka. I will miss watching the snow fall from inside the Neue Gallerie cafe in winter, watching the sunset at the 79th Street Boat Basin in summer, or afternoon drinks, or tea and cake at the New Leaf Cafe in fall and spring.
Most of all, I'll remember the dinners with friends, dinners with dates, and dinners by myself. What I'll really miss here are the little moments of Proust that get sprinkled throughout life, when food overwhelms whatever else you were thinking about, and of really noticing it for the first time, and remembering that moment later.
(When I started this post, it was going to be about New York and not just food, but I got carried away by food. And now I'm hungry. More later).
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