NYC 24'
“One of the many benefits of being a party of 1!”
I like eating alone.
That is not something I ever would have said before today. The following was written in my notes app after a particularly exhausting New York City day during my trip in the Fall of 2024:
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I am in day two of my four day solo trip to New York City where I am staying in a room on the second floor. I am largely what I consider to be a foodie so it’s surprising to me that I have not eaten more than 3 things this entire trip so far. Even more surprising is that only one of those meals was actually uniquely from New York. My first stop after leaving my bags was Magnolia Bakery in Grand Central Station, my favorite place to get a mini cheesecake and the first place that I truly remember being uniquely New York.
I later discovered an L.A. location a lot closer to my parents house, but regardless, Magnolia Bakery was the first place where I truly felt like if I ate that, I was a real New Yorker. That being the goal and most sought after feeling. The idea of conquering the concrete jungle with the bite of a pastry was enough for me to savor that treat for many, many blocks and all along the Highline.
Back to the food. The second place I went to — after having the dawning realization that I actually hadn’t had any food for about 36 hours and also trying to find a cute brunch spot — was Jacob’s Pickles in the Upper West Side. After waiting around for a short 15 minutes I was able to snag a spot at the bar. One of the many benefits of being a party of 1! The meal was a solid 7. I would have it again but I also would not go looking for it. I got the something platter. The grits were like Mac and cheese went through a food processor, definitely Kraft. The sausage that was supposedly made in house was a little too symmetrical for my taste. Definitely missed my Baker & Commons in Elmwood.
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*Might literally go after I land at SFO, that’s actually a really good idea. Write that down.*
Anyways not amazed, but I thought, well maybe the namesake of this place is where it’s super power lies. Pickles. That being said, when I asked for a platter, one of each of their eight different variety’s of pickled preserves, I expected eight pickles. One pickle of each type. 1x8=8, no? Well when they shucking showed up with a huge bag with not one but two tupperwares full of pickles, I was floored.
Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, I said nothing, smiled and left. It was only on my walk to nowhere in particular about 15 minutes later that I realized that I now had an exceptionally large amount of pickles in my possession and only two more days in the city. As as pickle lover though, I was not too concerned with the fact that I was now responsible for lugging about 5 pounds of pickles through the city or the fact that I would seemingly be eating pickles for the rest of my trip.
Hours later after finally getting home I immediately went to go put my precious cargo in the fridge where I then discovered that whomever was at the hostel at that moment in time was definitely making use of the facilities. There was barely a little spot for my huge pickles collection to fit in the three industrial style fridges that were there.
After a haze of exhaustion and smoke, I took a nap for couple of hours and then woke up remembering my crunchy, briney treat that I had waiting for me in the fridge. After navigating the somewhat confusing and even more so in my current state of mental acuity — staircase, I finally made my way down to the kitchen basement and cracked open fridge number three. As I munched in the basement of this hostel in Brooklyn eating 8 different variety’s of pickles I realized that I did like eating alone, especially when I got to enjoy something they I genuinely like.
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I think that that was definitely one of the most memorable moments of the entire trip because I felt wholly and completely myself in that moment. After having worked so hard to get back to feeling whole and like myself and liking myself, it was incredibly gratifying to feel that work pay off in that moment. I think something in particular that I love about New York City is that I truly feel that there is always going to be a space to be yourself.
Whether that space is already there or you have to make it yourself is the better question. Looking back on it though, those pickles made it all the way back to SF with me and I was able to remake them into a delicious relish that I used with many many meals afterwards. I plan to use the leftover brine for my 2025 goal of perfecting the NA dirty martini!
