Please
excuse my absence from the blogging world. I’ve been recovering from my
whirlwind trip to New York City and getting back into the San Francisco groove
of things.
About a month ago, I flew over to that beautiful Big Apple in the east, NYC,
to window shop for journalism grad programs, reconnect with old and new friends
and family, and EAT EAT EAT.
The
two journalism grad schools I looked at were Columbia University’s GraduateSchool of Journalism and NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. The
professors and students at both universities were quite welcoming, and I
greatly appreciated how open and generous they were with their time and
knowledge. At both institutions, I sat in on magazine-specific classes and was
pleased to find my interest in the mag-world reinforced by the riveting content
and exciting rhythm of the class discussions.
At
NYU, students shared their “service pieces,” basically lists of briefly described
suggestions for certain themes; themes that ranged from Indie Print Magazines
to Chicken and Waffle restaurants in NYC. Then at Columbia, I observed a class
that produced the university’s online arts and culture magazine, “Starring
NYC.” The students went around explaining to the instructor and their peers
what new stories they were researching and writing that week, e.g. watching an
unusual theatre showing of the cult movie “The Room” and interviewing the fans
or attending a pop-up art gallery located in a freight elevator that included
the shoe thrown at George Bush Jr.’s head in Iraq. Talking to professors, like
Dale Maharidge at Columbia and Meryl Gordon at NYU, was also encouraging. I had
almost forgotten how eager professors are to help young, aspiring anyone’s find
their way in the world.
Besides
grad-school window-shopping, I also did plenty of vintage shopping (major find:
a real leopard-fur belt from the 50’s for $50 at a flea market eee!) and
restaurant-going. The theme of my eats seemed to be Asian, specifically noodles
mmm. Ever since I was a child, noodle soup has been my main comfort food.
Slurping up those long strands of heaven in a steaming pool of perfection can
satisfy me like no other eating experience, especially in cold March weather.
With
Karen, a law school student at Columbia and my little turd of a friend from
middle and high school, I tried the Kamo Namban, a bowl of homemade soba with
medallions of sautéed duck and Tokyo Negi (Green Onion) at Sobaya, a Japanese restaurant
in the East Village near NYU. The duck wasn’t as tender as Chinese roasted
duck, but the meal was tasty all the same. Another day, my cousin David and his
Taiwanese girlfriend, Ariel, took me on a trek to find the Excellent Pork Chop House, an
authentic Taiwanese hole-in-the-wall tucked away in a tiny Chinatown alleyway.
I was amazed by the prices, considering it was NYC. For the three of us, it was
only $30, and we ordered a ridiculous amount of food due to our hunger from our
long journey from the Upper West Side. The pork chops were juicy and flavorful
and the Beef Stew Noodle Soup was rich with Chinese spices and beefy goodness. I
was glad Ariel, a Taiwanese food connoisseur, knew exactly what to order- her
Chicken Leg over Rice was amazingly tender and moist.
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| Excellent Pork Shop House Meal |
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| Ariel and David |
Ramen
is apparently a craze in NY, with restaurants like Ippudo and Totto
requiring 2- hour-long waits even on weekday nights. Luckily, my lovely friend
and old neighbor in Paris, Jessica, and I snuck in early before the dinner rush
and got a couple of seats at a communal table in Ippudo. The “original silky
‘Tonkotsu’ (pork) soup” was not falsely advertised. The broth was surely silky, probably from the pork fat, but it also made my brain feel like
its synapses were filling with fat. Service was friendly- I chuckled a bit
when the non-Asian waiters and cooks yelled greetings at us enthusiastically in Japanese. Finally, on my last night, Karen joined me
again for yet another bowl of noodle soup- this time at Jin in Harlem near Columbia. Not
quite as silky as Ippudo’s broth, Jin’s ramen noodle soup still held its own
with slices of bamboo shoots, chicken, and half an egg on top.
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| Ippudo's "silky" Tonkotsu ramen (blurry because of the poor lighting or my cloudy vision due to the richness) |
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| Me and Jessica |
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| Miso Ramen at Jin |
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| Karen, my little turd |
I filled in the
non-noodle gaps with trips to the Shake
Shack, Sushi
Yasaka, two places I would recommend for a mouth-watering burger and frozen
custard or an artful omakase of the sushi chef’s selection. For quintessential NYC food, I went to Bagel
Talk, the place where Zabar’s buys
their bagels, Ben’s
Pizzeria, where the comedian Louis C.K. apparently frequents, and Katz's Deli, known for their famous Pastrami Sandwich.
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| Mini-Omakase at Sushi Yasaka |
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| Sausage and Egg on an everything bagel at Bagel Talk |
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| Cheese Pizza at Ben's Pizzeria |
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| Katz's Deli, home of the best Pastrami sandwich I've ever tasted |
While
I love San Francisco and the Bay Area in all its foodie glory, I can see myself
living in New York for a while, working on a journalism degree and eating my
way through the Big Apple. We’ll just have to see where this long noodle we call
life takes me.
