Help! I'm Traveling with...a Bushel of Blue Collar Melodramatic Main Characters
Are you looking to feast with a bushel of blue-collar workers, or swoon over dessert with your main character clique?
FOOD
The “Help I’m Traveling with…” series is a soul-search for “the right spot.” I plan restaurant outings with loved ones by contemplating my relationship with them. I aim to recreate a moment in time through the chef’s expression. An oxtail plate from your favorite fast casual Jamaican spot versus an oxtail plate at a fine-dining restaurant looks, tastes and feels different. It’s not always this plate tastes better. The textures evict a different feeling; the scents bring you to different places. Their choice to bring out the astringency of allspice more than the woodiness of thyme creates a different memory. Enjoying food with loved ones is a carefully curated experience where I share how much I appreciate them through the artistic expression of the chef. The fact you’re having this exact plate, made with these highlighted ingredient and textures means something to me.
“I brought you to this restaurant because the chef focuses on warm spices and it reminds me about the time you stood in line with me in the toils of winter with thick gloves and hand warmers so I can take notes at the back of my favorite late-night show.”
“I brought you try this dessert because this lemon tart is more sharp and surprising than it looks, and its flavor reminds me of your quick wit and flexibility.”
“I brought you here, because this tea tower is dramatic as hell, and I can’t help but think of the time we rehearsed our scenes so much that we began to hate the characters we were playing.”
I love you means that I will learn to see you in everything that brings me joy.
Bushel of Blue Collar Workers
Every apocalypse team needs three people that know how to work a chainsaw. Some of my favorite moments in the last few years of my life includes going out to eat with my blue-collar homies. I’ve had the most fulfilling meals and the funniest conversations sitting on grass with grit all over my boots eating the thickest sandwich I ever had while staring out at a skyline. Blue-collar workers have seen some wild shit and I’ve seen their love in: hefty meals that make me feel alive, food that restore me from the brink of exhaustion, and meals that taste three times better when you got five other people eating it with you.
This one goes out to the folks with melodramatic main character homies. The anime protagonist who’s slightly reckless with bright colored hair, interesting fashion or maybe just a wild-ass storyline that can only be explained by an omnipresent writer with a knack of making people suffer. I’ve seen these loved ones in bright flavors, intricate presentations or multi-layered food experiences where I walk out emotionally transformed by a meal.
"Damn bitch. Whenever I go out with you, my money flies out the window."
My dear friend and I are here for the matcha afternoon tea at Cha-an's Tea House. A savory sweet presentation where every delicacy is carefully curated to compliment matcha's earthy flavor and aroma. My long lavender trench, coated the ground as soft clanks and warm giggles warmed up to the white walls. I admired the kitchen attendants' gentle concentration; their hands carefully swishing little treats from the counter to caddies.
An attendant approached our table holding a steel tower stacked with savory starters. My homie peaked out from the sides like obsidian angel wings. I reached for a nibble of the smoked salmon resting on a bed of rice as they placed a kettle filled with green tea beside us. Cup by cup, we poured into each other. Between bites my friend unveiled the sourness packed in the last few years. From separate ends of our city, we learned that being prepared for trauma won’t make our shattered glass invisible.
The kitchen attendant interrupts our reflection to replace our tower with a multi-layered gift box. We watched them disassemble red and black box with gold flowers shooting up the sides, as green-tea tannins became tethered to our taste buds. The more we try to evict the sorrow from our tongue, the more it steeps into the story. The boxes unbosomed a multi-compartment bento filled with matcha jellies, custards, tiny cookies and more in an array of intricate shapes and surprising flavors. We reflected on last year's losses while creating cavities in our sweet and savory pastries. In between bites of rice laced with pickled plum we plotted on what we could grow in the places that felt hollow.
I'll admit it, sometimes I crave attention. The best way to get it, is to impress your blue-collar coworkers with a delicious plate. Reader, whenever you think of me, know that I do most things fashionably. During our lunch-break, my blue-collar homies and I rolled up to KJUN in a truck for our pick-up order. In the driver's seat with my mob wife black faux-fur, psychedelic purple opera gloves and geometric shades; then picture my homies in the back with their Carhardt puffer glory, luxuriant flannel and scaborous steel-toe boots. We scuffled against the midtown grain, danced through a valley of midtown horns, and scoffed at scantily conscientious drivers on our way towards the KJUN queen.
The best way to enjoy KJUN's honey butter chips is to make sure you have one bougie friend, a bushel of blue-collar workers and a place to be in 20 minutes. The crisp from the chip curbs the rush of the city. In each bite, the sweet glaze collides with fractures of salt. It's a filling accompaniment for a side caviar and a luxurious spritz. If you're looking for something with more sustenance you can get the fish n' chips; you get two thick pieces of delicious, delicately fried makegolli to pair with the supreme honey crisps. One of my favorite memories with these chips was back when I worked in television. I had a box of emotional support honey butter chips at my desk on the days I knew I'd forget to eat. I would waltz to the box between arduous tasks. Whenever I peered in through the flaps the scent would heal me. I'd stuff three chips in my mouth then run off to do a script run, come back stuff a shatter more chips into my mouth then speed off to carry a huge prop to the set. KJUN's honey butter chips dish will remain in your heart whether you're the anime antagonist with a gaudy collection of trench coats, or the reliable bruiser in a DND campaign.
