Category Archives: Contemplations on New York Life

Babysitter cancels, and all back-ups are unavailable

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We had plans to have brunch in Ridgewood, Queens, this Saturday with my friend and her husband. They planned to leave their two kids at home with my friend’s mom while they caught up with us. When Chris heard this, he said that it felt uneven and that we should get a babysitter, too, so that we could actually enjoy brunch. I hesitated, but I figured it wouldn’t be the worst idea to have a different babysitting experience and get one during the day time. So I asked our usual babysitter several weeks ago, and she agreed to come.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work out. She texted on Tuesday, saying a “family emergency” came up, and she wouldn’t be available that day anymore. Granted, she could easily have lied and just got an invite to the Hamptons or Jersey Shore, but regardless, she was not going to be free, and that was all I really needed to know.

I immediately texted my second babysitter backup. She said she already had plans and wouldn’t be free until past 4pm. I told Chris this, and he contacted his babysitter contact, who ended up being out of town. Finally, I texted a former daycare teacher if she could babysit, but she actually works her regular job on Saturdays now! So we’re totally out of luck. In the end, we’ll have to take Kaia to brunch with us… and likely give her more screen time at the table than we’d ideally like.

Oh, the joys of lack of decent childcare options when you really need them!

Making banh xeo after 3.5 years and paying it forward with baby gear

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I hosted some friends over for lunch today and decided to make a Vietnamese meal. After spending the last two weeks eating a lot of Peruvian and Ecuadorian food, I was definitely feeling a craving for something Vietnamese. I thought about one of my favorite Vietnamese dishes, banh xeo, and decided that this would be the weekend I’d make it! I thought about the last time I’d made this dish, and I realized it wasn’t since November 2021, or just a few weeks before I gave birth to Kaia. Then, I also made it for a lunch I was hosting. During that lunch in this very same apartment, some friends came out from Long Island to drop off several boxes worth of baby gear they were either giving us as brand new (because they never got to using them) or lightly used. So, it’s been 3.5 years since I last made this dish at home. Then, I was welcoming friends over who were handing down baby items to us. This lunch, I am handing down baby items to these other friends, including the stroller that we used regularly for over 2.5 years. All these baby items are expensive and add up, plus they take up space. So, I was happy to give new life to a lot of these items, as well as clear space in my closets!

Then when I made banh xeo, I am willing to bet I made it in either my Scanpan (in other words, “fake” or “healthier” nonstick) or in a ceramic pan (also seemingly fake since the ceramic coating barely lasts at all!). This time was the very first time I was not using a nonstick pan; instead, I was using my carbon steel pan and was a bit wary of whether the crepe would stick and make a mess. But, I figured that since these are supposed to be my “forever” and “healthy” pans that I had to give it a try. If this works with banh xeo, then my next step would be to try out making my beloved banh cuon in them!

Somehow, I was able to get it. After a few tries, I was able to get the crepe to release itself from the pan, and the crispiness turned out well. I did experience some hot spots where some parts crisped (and almost burnt) more than others, but I realized that yes, I could successfully make banh xeo in my carbon steel pans as long as I had the heat calibrated just right. It just takes some patience; each banh xeo needs about 10 minutes of cooking time to fully cook through, crisp up, and properly release from the pan. As I kept cooking, I also got those beautiful lacy edges on the crepe that I love so much (and are particularly crispy!).

Banh xeo is a food to share. Whether eaten and wrapped in rice paper or lettuce with herbs, it’s a food that really makes eating a true “activity.” So I’m happy to make it for loved ones who can appreciate that it’s a labor of love, but also a labor of deliciousness.

Bay Ridge food crawl: Yemeni coffee and food, and Brooklyn Baklava

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Yemeni coffee houses have been popping up all over New York City in the last several years. We first learned about Qahwah House in Williamsburg, which has been expanding its footprint in Queens and also now in Manhattan, around the pandemic period. Then, Haraz Coffee House at Spring Street opened in this huge, luxurious corner space in downtown Manhattan. My friend is obsessed with it ever since since we went because she loves that it’s a coffee house that stays open so late. This is actually by design: many of these Yemeni coffee houses are open late as a safe, comfortable place for people to hang out and catch up given that it’s not in Yemeni culture (which is 99 percent Muslim) to go out and drink alcohol. And yes, these are actually places with space, with proper tables and chairs, for you to enjoy your coffee and socialize. Thankfully, they are not just teeny tiny places to grab coffee and go that have zero seats. Yemen is considered the birthplace of coffee, and so it’s been really fun and delicious to enjoy their coffee flavors and traditional brewing methods. The coffee and tea flavors are also adjacent to my favorite Indian chai flavors, as the traditional Yemeni style tea is brewed with milk, sugar, cardamom, and ginger. So it seemed only natural that I was going to like Yemeni coffee houses.

Today, we went out to Bay Ridge in Brooklyn, and we tried a new Yemeni cafe called Crafted Cafe, where we got a Yemeni style latte (espresso with ginger and cardamom), a honey whipped iced latte with whipped honey and cream, garnished with Varlhona cocoa), and a nutella croissant (to tide Pookster over since she seemed a bit hangry). The latte tasted exactly like it sounds and really hit the spot; I loved the spice flavors. Chris really enjoyed his honey whipped latte, which was carefully crafted and extremely luxurious in its texture and taste. We ate at a Mexican spot in their backyard, and then we ended our dining-in time with another Yemeni business, a restaurant called Yemenat. There, we had the foule, a rich starter of mashed fava beans with smoked ghee, which came with a huge, Yemeni charred flat bread; the lamb haneeth, or braised lamb shoulder over Hadrani rice, and a Yemeni sundae, which was a cardamom gelato over Abu-Walad crumble, topped with Samna caramel and hawaji almonds. For drinks, we enjoyed the aseer leem, a sweet limeade flavored with mint and milk, plus a pomenegrate juice (mostly to appease Pookster). I always feel like these outer borough restaurant meals we have are always the show-stoppers, the ones where literally every dish and even every drink we have is incredible. Everything we ordered here was delicious and noteworthy. The bread that came with the foule was a huge highlight, but it’s hard to say that was better or even less good versus the Hadrani rice, which had grains all perfectly separated and seasoned; the lamb was fall-apart tender and perfectly seasoned. I was pretty stuffed by the time we left, and we had ample food left over to eat the next few days.

We also stopped by a place we found last year when we came to Bay Ridge called Brooklyn Baklava. I am partial to this business vs. other Middle Eastern pastry shops in the area because they are not only friendly, but generous with samples. As soon as we came in, the woman behind the counter gave Kaia a little coconut bar, on the house! I asked about their sesame cookies, and the employee immediately opened a box of assorted sample cookies for each of us to take one and try. When she saw that I split one with Chris, she said we could take one each, and also insisted that Kaia get a cookie sample (we declined that, though). So I picked up a small box of the sesame cookies, and I couldn’t resist the maamoul cookies stuffed with pistachios I got from last year. “Maamoul” literally means filled” in Arabic, and it’s usually filled with date paste or nuts (usually pistachio or walnut). At Brooklyn Baklava, they are shaped like fat half moons. Maamoul are super delicate, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth cookies that are little symbols of hospitality and celebration in Arab culture. They are so delicate and buttery that each cookie is wrapped in paper for you to eat, as the creators are mindful that the cookie will literally shatter everywhere and cause a mess if not contained in the tiny paper bag! I forgot how good these cookies were. When we got home, and after my stomach had a few hours to rest and not eat, I decided I had to try one of these maamoul fresh. And as soon as I took one bite, I realized they tasted even better than I remember. They are so buttery and delicate; I got crumbs all over the kitchen counter. And the pistachio was mashed into this thick, delicious paste that was almost chewy, but definitely “not too sweet” and very nutty. The scent was like a mix of pistachio, sugar, and maybe rose or orange blossom? The cookies are not cheap, but they are most definitely worth it.

Bay Ridge is a delicious place. Every time we have one of these Saturday outings, I remember again and again how lucky and privileged I am to live in the diversity and deliciousness of New York City.

Missing magnets are found to add to the magnet boards!

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About halfway through last year, we had covered all three of the large magnet boards that Chris set up for us to display places we’ve visited around the world. Two are prominently displayed in our kitchen. The third is above the dresser in Pookster’s bedroom. We bought a set of two smaller magnet boards and were planning to hang at least one of them up this year. I gathered all the remaining magnets from the middle of last year through our Guangzhou trip this past January, hoping that Chris would put them on the fourth board and hang them up. Well, he didn’t do this, so I ended up taking all the magnets and tucking them away somewhere. When I went to go retrieve them after we came back from Guatemala in May, I realized I didn’t know where they were anymore.

So I combed through multiple closets and drawers, trying to see if I could remember where I’d placed them. It made no sense that I could lose them. It was a decent quantity (and thus weight) of magnets. This apartment is only so big, so there were only so many places where I could have put them. And while organizing Kaia’s things and setting aside clothes she’d outgrown to give away, I realized the magnet collection was in my camera box in her walk-in closet the whole time! I was victorious! I took them all out and laid them out, alongside our Ecuador and Peru magnets, and put them on the board for Chris to put up on the wall.

He put them up this late afternoon, and I went to admire all our new magnets of the last year. We have new magnets from Uruguay, Chile, and Argentina from last summer. We have a new one from Albany, New York, from last October. From our Thanksgiving trip, we have an Alsace magnet to represent Strasbourg. And from our side trip back from Australia, we have a Guangzhou magnet (we already had a couple Hong Kong magnets from 2015-2016’s end-of-year trip). It’s quite the collection of magnets since 2012 (and a couple before that, which I ABSOLUTELY NEEDED to display, such as my very beloved rotating Disney World 2010 magnet). And when I went through magnets from previous travels, I realized that I had a handful that were gifted to me of places I actually hadn’t been to — or at least at that time. I found a glass magnet a former colleague based in Santiago, Chile, had brought when he came to our New York office for training. I remember I had told him that I liked to collect magnets from travels, so he remembered this and gave this to me when he met me. The magnet has a outline of the long, skinny country, and the words “Chile Al Fin del Mundo” or “end of the world.” Granted, I hadn’t been to Chile at that point in time. But we did go last year, so I decided to place it on our fourth magnet board as an ode to him and his thoughtfulness.

Back from a 15-day vacation and home-cooked food is all I want

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Our Northern hemisphere summer trip is always our longest trip away without any home base. This year, we were away for about 15 days, which according to Chris, felt like a longer trip than last year given that we had an overnight flight form New York to Santiago in June 2024. It felt like a good amount of time to be away to feel like we really got to reset and be offline. But at the end of this trip, while I am always a little sad the trip is ending, I’m actually happy to come back home, get back into my daily routine of exercise, work, and cooking. The part I tend to miss the most when I am away from home for a long while is cooking. A friend of mine thought I was crazy when I shared this, but I actually do mean it: cooking is one of my passions, so when I haven’t made anything in a while, my mind and hands tend to feel a little idle. Maybe at some point in the future, we could do an AirBnB where I could have access to a proper kitchen, cooking equipment, and be able to buy local ingredients to cook. But until then, this trip will always mean that we’ll be eating out the whole time, even if “eating out” can simply mean going downstairs to our hotel breakfast.

For dinner today, I made sure to soak lentils and rice the night before so that we’d have dal and rice as our base. I thawed some frozen chicken and frozen tomato onion masala. I trimmed the chicken and cut it into smaller pieces for a Malaysian style curry using the Sambal Lady’s Burlap & Barrel curry spice blend packet. The tomato onion masala got used in the dal I made in the Instant Pot. I cooked some jasmine rice in the rice cooker, and then I made two salads: Chinese-style cucumber salad, plus an arugula salad with beets, carrots, tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, and toasted pepitas, tossed with a French-style vinaigrette. I also made a side of stir-fried bell peppers for the Pookster.

It always feels good to come back home from a trip and have home-cooked food that is less fatty, oil, salty, or sugary. I’m not saying all the food we eat out is salty, fatty, or oily, but well, you can’t really know what’s in your food unless you make it yourself. That’s what “home sweet home” is all about.

Shaxian Snacks – Fuzhou food

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Manhattan Chinatown is known for two large groups of ethnic Chinese people: the Fujianese (specifically those from Fuzhou, a city with many surrounding villages in Fujian province, and the Cantonese (my Chinese people). So many Fujianese immigrants came in the 1980s and 1990s to New York and created little communities around East Broadway in Manhattan Chinatown, as well as in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The area between Two Bridges in Manhattan Chinatown and Lower East Side is even considered “Little Fuzhou.”

Embarrassingly enough, even though I’ve been in New York City for over 17 years now, I haven’t really explored Little Fuzhou or Fuzhou cuisine very much. While I’ve eaten plenty of their dumplings and peanut/sesame noodles, I wasn’t sure what else to expect from their cuisine. But once Kaia started going to school in Manhattan Chinatown, I figured this was my opportunity to check out the Fuzhounese holes-in-the-wall in the ‘hood. One spot that stood out to me is called Shaxian Snacks on Grand.

Today, I ordered one of their lunch sets advertised on their menu. This consisted of a bowl of steaming hot, almost milky soup with a large handful of Shaxian bian rou, also known as Fuzhou style wontons. These are not the same at all in appearance, taste, or texture as the more famous Cantonese/Hong Kong style wontons. These are small, about bite or even half-bite-sized, and are really springy and bouncy in texture. The wonton skins are very slippery and almost translucent. I think there was just very bouncy pork inside. The soup was well flavored — it was most definitely made with pork bones and well seasoned, almost comforting in taste.

The second part of the lunch set was peanut sauce noodles, the Fuzhou way. These were also very slippery noodles, rice based, with a savory and slightly sweet sauce. The entire dish seemed so simple and humble but was really taken up a notch with the preserved, pickled minced vegetables that were sprinkled on top. Originally when I ordered it, I wondered if it would be too much food. But when I finished (all of it!), I realized that it was just enough and kept me feeling quite satisfied without feeling stuffed. And unbelievably, this was their special “combo meal” set, so it cost just $6.99, which is crazy and almost unbelievable given how much food I got, the high quality and really friendly service, plus the fact that we’re living in a high inflation period where most places are giving you less for more money!

In-store shopping experience for clothing/shoes: a rarity now

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Since Independence Day in the U.S. is quickly approaching, a lot of businesses are having early Fourth of July / summer sales. One of these companies, which I like and follow, is Allbirds. I actually have never bought anything from Allbirds before, but I do own a pair of their wool lace-up shoes that I was gifted from my company just over three years ago once we hit a business milestone. And, well, I love these shoes. They are so comfortable and cushy, even three years later. They are warm when it’s cold outside and just right heat-wise when it is warm outside. The soles can easily be removed, and they are machine washable, which gets me really excited (and wow, that makes me sound old/like a mom). This means that I don’t have to fret when they get covered in mud or anything nasty; I can simply remove the laces and soles and chuck them into the washing machine, then airy dry them, and they’re good as new! Though I will admit that three-plus years later, the traction isn’t as good as they were when they were actually brand new, but alas, that’s just wear and tear since no shoes could possibly last and be perfect forever. I have lost count of the number of times I’ve taken them on trips, and as soon as we get home, I happily throw them into our washing machine along with our other dirty laundry from travel.

So, Allbirds was having this 40 percent off sale, and I really wanted to replace a ragged pair of slip-on shoes I bought 5.5 years ago in Indonesia with Allbirds’ Tree Lounger shoes. I was pretty set on doing what I normally do these days when I buy any clothing or shoes: I was going to buy them online, assuming I could hit the free shipping threshold. But then I got concerned about the sizing. The last lace-ups I got were sized up to 7 when for sneakers, I am usually a 6.5, and they recommend sizing up since they don’t do half sizes. Would I be a 6 or a 7 for the Tree Loungers, which only come in whole sizes, as well? I would guess I’d be a 6, but I didn’t want to deal with a return if I was wrong. So I figured the easiest way to solve this would be to pop into their SoHo store, which is just a ten minute walk from Kaia’s school, to try them on. The fact that I was even thinking about this and mapping the store was a bit funny to me… because it made me realize how little time I spend shopping in brick-and-mortar stores for apparel and how much I just shop online, click to buy, and then wait for my deliveries to come to me (and inevitably, deal with potential returns later). I cannot remember the last time I had a real “shopping” outing to buy apparel!

I got to the shop later this afternoon. The store only had two other shoppers, and the employees were all very friendly and helpful. I was telling the salesperson helping me about my size dilemma, so she eagerly brought out a size 6 and 7 for the Tree Loungers and also some no-show socks for me to try on. My hunch was correct: I was definitely a 6. They fit like a glove! So I picked these up plus a pair of no-show socks (also on sale!), nixed the box because I didn’t want the bulk, and went on my merry way. Most places are digitized now, so I just asked for a digital receipt to my email. The salesperson told me in the event I needed to do a return, I didn’t have to worry about not needing the box (save some trees), so we were all set.

Even as I am typing this now, I still think it’s funny that this in-store shoe shopping experience felt so novel to me since I do it so rarely. And then I realize that Kaia herself has no idea what it’s like to go from store to store, trying on different pieces of clothing and footwear to see how they fit and if they will look good on her. Almost all the clothes I’ve ever gotten her have been purchased online, with thee exception of gifted items we’ve had to return and then had to use store credit to buy replacements. I have a feeling that in the coming years as she gets older, she will have even more opinions about what she wears and doesn’t and will start demanding to choose her own clothing… which may necessitate more in-store shopping experiences for all of us whether we like it or not.

True passion in local desserts in Ditmars / Astoria

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I half joke with a food-obsessed friend that if it weren’t for Kaia’s existence, most of my time outside of work would be spent thinking about what to eat, where to eat, and what I want to cook to eat next. This is not necessarily a total exaggeration: if you take a look at my Google Maps bookmarks lists, you can see that as of today, I have 672 bookmarked places I have either eaten at and enjoyed or would like to eat at (and have not been to) just in New York City across all five boroughs; some of that list is sprinkled with random independent bookstores, boutique shops, and houseware stores, but the vast majority is food. It seems like almost every day, I am adding yet another place I want to try to my list, whether it’s being recommended from someone on Instagram, Eater, The Infatuation, The New York Times, or a friend. Chris and I have a shared Melbourne, Australia, list of 299+ places. I also have created Google Maps lists for places we have visited (like Rhode Island or Guatemala) and will visit (Lima and Cusco, Peru). Each of those lists has at least 40 places bookmarked. No, we’re not planning to eat at 40-plus places in the several days we’ll be in each place. But hey, it’s good to have options depending on where exactly you are and what you are in the mood to eat.

Pastries by Anne is a dessert spot in Ditmars that I’ve had on my list for a while. It is owned by a Thai female chef who was educated at the Institute of Culinary Education and externed at Daniel. The main draw for me to come here was the Asian-flavored caneles. Anne has standard caneles available every day of the week, but on weekends, she chooses one special Asian-inspired flavor and adds it to her line-up of sweets. On the weekend we came, she had Assam (tea), and of course, I got one of these plus a standard one. She was actually at the counter, so we made some small talk. I asked if she had any other recommendations, and she steered me toward the pandan tiramisu, so I added that to my goodies and went on my merry way.

The Assam and regular caneles were insanely delicious, even when we had them about two days later. The texture and flavor were incredible; they were likely the best caneles I’ve had in New York City. the insides were custardy, almost spongy, caramel-like. The Assam tea flavor really sang! The only other caneles I’ve had that truly blew my mind were the ones we had in Bordeaux, France, the birthplace of the delicious canele, back in 2015, so it’s been a while since I really, truly was obsessed with a canele.

Unfortunately, I think I left the pandan tiramisu for too long. By the time I ate it later in the week, the mascarpone had already soured. This masked the pandan flavor completely, which was lost in the sourness. I was already messaging with Anne about how much I loved the caneles. She remembered me and checked in to see how I liked the pandan tiramisu. I was honest with her and told her it tasted sour, so I think something went wrong; maybe we didn’t keep it at the right temperature or eat it in time? Anne clearly felt bad; she apologized and said that anytime I could come out to Ditmars again, she’d remember me and give me a new cake. It was such a kind, generous offer. But given Ditmars is not too close to me, I couldn’t commit to when that next time would be.

The next thing I know, this morning, she posts on her Instagram that her storefront is CLOSING DOWN. She will be working as a consultant for premium airline catering, and so her kitchen will be open only for special orders, random drops, and pop-ups from the end of June onward. On the one hand, I was really happy for her as a small business to have a stable income stream and have her delicious flavors reach a broader audience. But on the other hand, I felt sad that I couldn’t just drop in whenever I wanted (selfish, I know. But when a girl needs her canele…). I messaged her to wish her well, and she said that her offer still stands: whenever I come out to Ditmars next, I can have the pandan tiramisu or any cake she offers on the house, and she’d definitely remember me and welcome me back. She said she was blessed to meet me and hoped we could keep in touch.

I was really floored. First, I already felt it was beyond generous for Anne to offer me a replacement cake, even if the error was on my side in not storing it properly or waiting too long to eat it. But then, she said I could have any cake, that she’d definitely remember me, and welcome me back anytime. She’s clearly a very talented and extremely humble and sweet person. She’s the small business owner you wish you could always, always support in any and all ways possible to ensure her success. How can you find fault in someone who is creative, talented, humble, and at the end of the day, just really wants you as her customer to love and savor what she is creating from the heart?

Showering at night vs. day vs. TWICE a day

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Before I started morning workouts, I always showered at night. This logically makes sense: you go out all day and get dirty from being out and about. And then you clean yourself before getting into bed. That keeps your bed cleaner and means you go to sleep clean. Yes, you sweat at night, but that’s a different type of “dirt.” Showering at night means that you wash away all the external dirt off you.

Then, my showering schedule completely had to change once I started working out in the morning. It’s crazy to think about it now, but I started this in early 2013, so that’s over 12 years of morning workouts for me! There was no way I was going without a shower after sweating buckets during an AM workout. I don’t think my colleagues would have appreciated that, nor would I have wanted to go around cloaked in my own sweat all day at work. So I’d shower after my morning workout and head off to the office. And at night, because I absolutely hate the idea of showering twice in a day (that’s a real first-world luxury I just could not bring myself to do unless it were totally, totally necessary), I would just forgo a shower and sleep… with all of the outside world I was exposed to dirtying my bedsheets. I didn’t love this idea, but again, I wasn’t going to shower twice a day. So if I wore sandals and had my bare feet exposed, I would always wash my feet (I suppose this is a very “Asian” practice) after coming home to prevent outside dirt on my feet from dirtying my floors or bed.

So today, it was extremely hot in New York. I was at the co-working space working today and did both drop-off and pickup for Kaia. As soon as I got back home, I knew I had to have a (second) shower. I was dripping in sweat and sticky all over. I hopped into the shower, quickly washed myself, put on my PJs, and we all had dinner together. I always feel a bit precious and uppity when I do a second shower in a day, but with heat like we’re having in New York this week (it’s going to hit 100 F!), this would be unavoidable unless I want to skip my morning workout (not happening).

I like warm weather. But i am not a fan of sweltering, 90s+ F heat and humidity. This two-showers-a-day-thing hopefully is just temporary.

Greenpoint – where all these cute little Japanese spots are popping up

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About three years ago, a spot called Dashi Okume opened in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. It was a place that aimed to be the only custom-made dashi place in New York City, if not the U.S. Okume is originally a dry goods wholesaler at the Tokyo Central Wholesale Market; it was founded in 1971, so it has a long history of creating “delicious food forever.” Okume has a restaurant component, as well as multiple Japanese-owned businesses in a large, warehouse-like shared space. Japanese toasters and electronics, ceramics, and skin/haircare are here. You can even buy fancy (and insanely sharp!) Japanese knives here. I’d been wanting to come here for a while, but I finally made it here yesterday after some time with Kaia at Space Club and lunch at Wen Wen.

As soon as we walked into Dashi Okume, I felt a bit intimidated. You see bins and bins of different dried fish and seafood, multiple varieties of kelp/kombu/seaweed, dried vegetables, and mushrooms. By weight, you have an assistant help you select which ones you want for your custom dashi, and once you are done, they take all the dried pieces into a combined basket and dump it all into this huge, industrial-sized grinder. It shreds everything into small pieces, then portions out your dried dashi into 15 or 30 different perfectly portioned bags. Each bag yields about 300ml of “first dashi” stock, which you can then reboil and make second or third dashi if you so wish for a slightly more diluted dashi.

I couldn’t really deal with this during my first visit; it seemed like too much to choose with not enough background on proportions for dashi creation. I am no Japanese food or dashi expert. So, instead, I went to sip tastes of their already-created dashi. They had about five different types. You can self serve samples, all piping hot. Who would not enjoy having free tastes of fancy, ready-made dashi?! Even if you didn’t care to cook, the taste testing here would be fun and delicious. Predictably, I ended up getting a pack of 15 bags of their premium dashi, which was very seafoody, umami, and potent.

New York City is a hard place to get bored in. It seems like every neighborhood has something fun like this to discover. I love finding and enjoying new things and places in my adopted home.