Food Snob

Woman in prayer 1: click for more detail on fabric design.. it got lost in all its subtlety

Feeling... alone.
My mom, aunt and cousin left a few hours ago. They stayed for two nights and I went with them and slept in their hotel the past two nights, registering for courses at 8am in the morning on wireless downstairs in the hotel lobby in my pjs with my mom at my side reading the course codes out so I could type them out faster. It is all but shadows and dust.
The highlight of the weekend? We had a $600 dinner at Bouley- an inconspicuous restaurant that resembles a hobbit house. The most wonderful experience of that night was upon opening the large curved wooden door with a gold plated etched 'BOULEY' sign on the front, was the small entrance. The door leads to a small room where there is a row of slim wooden shelves with dozens and dozens of apples sitting there. The sheer act of opening the door allows the breeze to blow in, allowing you to catch the lingering fragrance of the ripening apples. It was absolutely divine because it was unexpected. Usually one expects to be first tantalized visually with the interiors of the space but to engage the olfactory was quite delightful.
To be honest the foie gras was too rich for my taste. Oh a tasting menu is when you choose from a specially selected assortment of foods that the chef decides upon that season/month/week/day. You choose your appetizer, entree and dessert and at nicer restaurants they give you sorbet to cleanse the palate and other additionals to keep your meal going like canapes and a variety of bread. Bouley had the most stunning assortment of fresh bread from olive oil to raisin to pepper to white asparagus.
Oddly enough my favourite dish from the entire menu was one of the free desserts they gave us. It came in a shot glass of raspberry crushed ice and a dollop of rose petal flavour ice cream. The ice cream tasted like perfume and the raspberry was so sour: on their own it was a little odd but when you ate them together, the warmth subtlety of the ice cream toned down the harsh, acute taste of the ice, making it into the most wonderful blend of flavours. Yeah, I had a Remy/Ratatouille moment right there. You could see the sparks flying behind my head:

Yep there it is in all its splendid melting glory.

Yeah I also took them to the restaurant I went with Robyn for my birthday. It brought back good memories. Sigh.



Fabric swatches

I am lucky. I am lucky to be living in one of the most expensive, cosmopolitan cities in the world. I am lucky to be a student studying and living here at the expense of my parents- not having to care about having enough money to buy food or watch a movie. I'm lucky to have parents who support my decision in my fashion major. I am lucky to be living the abnormal life of a college student. My definition of caf food is essentially the five hundred restaurants and cafes around me, my version of entertainment either a movie from the cinema across the street or dessert at the cupcake cafe or wandering the streets in Manhattan, my style of party being masquerade balls. New York is my campus, the people are the students and all that is in it is at my disposal. They say New York is so different from the rest of America, one does not know what to do with their self once they leave. It's "back to reality" beyond the Hudson river. And here I am accepting this as the norm.

God, I am so lucky.

On Snobbery
A friend once said to me, "Sam's taste in food is really picky. She knows exactly what she likes and doesn't like." I thought, whoa there, I eat Chinese food from First Markham! I'm not picky at all.
The fact of the matter is is that I love food. And I love well made/presented food. Food, beyond the basic functions, has now become a dressed up item in our culture. It has become a foundation for all social interaction. When you want to make a date less awkward, what do you do? Eat dinner. When you want to meet up with a friend what do you do? Get coffee. Food acts as a means of doing something and detracting attention from the self because everyone needs it to nourish their bodies.
New York has taught me to be well learned on food. I know good ramen from crap college ramen, I know where to get fresh milk which tastes a whole lot better than the stuff that's been refrigerated for a week before it arrives at your local grocery store, I know the foundations of a well made tiramisu from a bad one (and you can taste the difference), I know where to get authentic British fare served by the English themselves and not the fake stuff.
People can say I'm a food snob. But what really makes a snob? A snob with his pride removed, is essentially a coinnoisseur who understands a subject really well be it fashion, food, music, art or wine. He knows it far better and more intimately than other spectators. The line between snob and connoisseur is very thin: the snob is just a connoisseur with a puffed up ego.

So when it comes to fashion, I know more than the average person. I do not condone people for wearing crocs even though I think they're the most hideous shoes ever along with Uggs. In the realm of fashion I'm less judgmental about the clothes people wear than how I am with food. While fashion deals with the exterior in a general sense, I treat food with slightly more respect because it is essential to our bodies for nourishment and growth. Ever since I joined the gym I've become a little more conscious of what I've been putting into my mouth because if I worked that hard to reduce my calorie balance, if I'm gonna put eat, it better be good. Yesterday I went to a Knicks vs Magic b ball game and decided to have the whole junk food experience and felt a little sick after.
My former roomie and I were finishing dinner once and contemplating where to get dessert. She suggested just getting it at the cafe we were at already- she felt like having a ginormous cookie and just opening it, tossing the wrapper and gnawing at it. I, on the other hand, was pulling out my mental NYC dessert map within an eight block vicinity and trying to figure out where to sit down and enjoy a small dense creamy dessert. She laughed at me and told me the difference between me and her is that she is really into immediate satisfaction. If dessert equaled to sugar, she wanted it right away. It didn't matter what the dessert looked like or what it was made out of as long as it satisfied her sugar craving. I, on the other hand, when I want dessert, I want it to be good. I want it to look pretty as well as taste good. And if it looked pretty, I'd spend another ten minutes photographing it before actually touching it.

I laughed at her and told her I liked to eat with my eyes first. It's also how you burn calories, you spend a lot of time around it before eating it- it balances it all out. :P
That's the difference between me and other people. If I am going to eat, it might as well be good. And good does not equate to expensive. I love my First Markham food court and my Hainan chicken rice at Golden Phoenix. If it tastes good and looks appetizing, I'm in.