Taste Life: May 2007

Peace Out Bouley

So, I got fired/quit my job at Bouley. I really didn't like it there at all. I had been working 80-85 hours a week! On salary even. The chef gave me a two week notice because I don't ask enough questions. It's funny though because when you do ask questions, you get screamed at. The whole place was a big Catch-22. The other guys told me to not take it personal, because he threatened all their jobs too. He does it "to motivate you" and see if "you really want it". Well, I didn't really want to work there, so I told myself I would quit. When I went to talk to the Chef, he said I wasn't really fired and that I could keep my job. I said, "that's cool, but I quit." I haven't been working for almost a week now, and I'm loving it. I've gotten to know my roommates, check out the city, and just relax. I have an interview lined up Tuesday at Jean-Georges. It's one of the top three restaurants in the City and very highly rated. Wish me luck. Pray for me. I would really like to work there.

Di Fara's Pizza

Someone that Sammy works with has a relative that is going to be in New York visiting for about six weeks. We're the same age, so we figured it'd be fun to take her around the city. It was great practice for my French. We took her all the way out in Brooklyn to eat at the best Pizza place around. We got all turned around on the subway, so it took forever. When we finally got the pizza...she didn't want any. Women.

This place is awesome. It is so good because there has been one man making the pizza for the past thirty or so years. His name is Dominick. He immigrated to the US in the seventies and opened a pizza shop. He is literally the only guy that makes all the pizza every day. The crust was a little off when we were there (when I say off, it wasn't bad. It was great, but it's usually a little better), but the sauce is freakin delicious. He also grates all the cheese directly onto the pizza, and then clips fresh basil on top. It takes a while for him to make each pie, but boy is it worth it

Here's Dominick. The pizza legend of Brooklyn.

Silliness, as usual. That's Sammy, my roommate on the left. He's a great guy. We're actually really similar, so it makes for a pretty fun apartment.
Here's Aurelie, the French girl we were showing around town. She's pretty cute, but camera shy I geuss.

The Brooklyn Bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge is really amazing. Above traffic, there is a wooden plank walking path. When you walk out on the bridge you get an amazing view of the city. Sammy and I go jogging over the bridge at night time when there's no one out. It's really cool

This is a view of the Manhattan Bridge from the Brooklyn Bridge with the City in the background. See the Empire state building?

Yankees vs. Red Sox

My roommate Sammy is a huge baseball fan, and he bought tickets to the Yankees vs Red Sox game a while back. The guys he was gonna take couldn't make it, so myself, Ray (one of the guys who used to live in our apartment, but just got married), and Ming went with Sammy.

Inside Yankees Stadium there is a small area called Monument Park where there are plaques with busts of all the great Yankees of the past. Here's Ray with the Babe.

Ming fell asleep during one of the best parts of the game. It was really funny. We messed with him a little. I mean he was out cold. Everyone was jumping up and screaming, and he slept right through it.

Chess

That's my roommate, Sammy, on the right and one of the guys from our fellowship, Ming, on the left. They play a lot of chess. It gets really serious. It is hysterical, because Sammy beats Ming a lot, but there is alway something that was the problem. The lights weren't bright enough, he didn't see a piece, the timer messed up. Usually they are pretty even, but Sammy's been on a winning streak. We play too, but man do I suck. We usually catch a couple games in the night time.

Washington and Central Park

Here's the Washington Arch in the early evening. I'm still figuring out how to use my camera better, so I was playing with the shutter speed and all.

Here's a picture of Midtown from inside Central Park. I came out to these rock formations to see if anyone was bouldering, which is like rock climbing but side to side. It's really hard. There wasn't anyone out that day.

Adios Grandma

I've had my car for almost seven years and I'm finally letting her go. One of my buddies from the CIA drove it out to Columbus to give it to my brother. I named her grandma, just cause it sort of looked like a grandma car at the time. Look at the front bumper. Someone stole my California liscence plate off the car when I was in Jersey. Crazy. I look pretty nerdy in this picture, but I geuss I am.

Washington Square Park

We live really close to Washington Square Park. It is a cool place to hang out, especially on the weekends. I love to check out all the different types of people.

There are always musicians playing. Just like these guys here; but this particular day I had dual entertainment. Musicians on the left and two people practicing their light sabers on the right. Wierd.

Here's another musician. He likes to play inside the dog run. I don't really know why. It smells like poop in there.

There are about twenty built in chess tables where a lot of old guys come out and play. There are also people who play for money. You basically bet the person you're playing and the winner takes the cash. People play twenty dollar games all the time. I just watch though.

Here's a street performer. He was pretty cool. He would move around like a robot and make sounds whenever people put money in the basket.

My Place

We live on a really sweet, tree-lined street in the West Village. Ours is the brown building in the middle. It doesn't look that great from the outside, but it is pretty awesome.

Our apartment hosts a Home Church that meets up every Monday night. It is a huge blessing to have such a great group of believers in your home. It is a responsability though, because the meeting is essentially in the room that Sammy and I share. So we can't be slobs. At least not on Mondays.