Lobster Roll Hints At Life Again, Is A Real Tease
Today is Thursday, May 7and I am writing this from Brooklyn, NY where the stay-at-home order will expire in a little more than a week on May 15. After 55 days in quarantine, the impulsive and vulgar part of my mouth says “Thank F-cking God.” The realistic and tempered part wonders “Yeah, but what does that mean?”
My friend Ralph owns the Red Hook Lobster Pound which is one of the handful of businesses still open for takeout and delivery. I went over there to meet Ralph for other business and piled into an Uber with a warm, fresh, and tender lobster roll in my lap when we finished. My God, it was like the clouds had parted and sunshine and rainbows poured out of the sky. But it was not without somber news.
The restaurant industry estimates that 40% of small businesses will shut down. Those that do survive will have to maintain 50% capacity for who knows how long to maintain social distancing. New Yorkers don’t have cars to order pick-up from their favorite spot uptown, and some residential neighborhoods like Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights in Brooklyn don’t have many local restaurants to choose from. We’re getting used to cooking everyday even if we’re getting sick and tired of it. My favorite bagel spot in Queens that produced a thick bagel with a deep chew might be closed forever. And who knows which businesses will reopen in Chinatown? I promised to introduce a friend to Chinese beef jerky, which I now realize might never happen. It’ll take more than tip fundraisers to keep our favorite small businesses running.
When I parted ways with Ralph he told me to eat the lobster roll on the way home in the car. “There’s nothing worse than a cold, soggy roll,” he said.
There’s nothing worse than asking someone you trust to prepare a meal that has the possibility of arriving cold and soggy to your kitchen table at home. Honestly, yes, there are worse things in the world, but food is about sharing, love, community, and nurture. Takeout is about survival: Having a need to feed oneself without the time and resources to do it. One thing my Chinese aunt harps on about is that “we live to eat,” not the other way around.
Eating that fresh lobster roll in the back of my Uber made me feel like a princess. It felt like such a luxury, and definitely was. But I would have walked home in the rain if it meant I could sit down at a table with Ralph with lobster and a beer. Ralph built the tables in the restaurant himself. He’s been getting fish delivered from Maine since the beginning and would even drive up three times a week to get it himself when he started. That’s love.
Households that have a regular small business takeout night for dinner seem to have it right. We are adapting to a lifestyle shift for ourselves and we ought to keep our small business friends in mind.
When I got home around 6, washed my hands, and kicked my shoes off, I felt something that I had not felt in two months: The feeling of coming home after a day at work. The difference, though, is that I’ve evolved into a freelancer who works 16 hours a day. Home used to be a sacred place and I absolutely never took work home, let alone work from bed. (Author’s note: I am writing this from bed) Home was the exception to my schedule and this city was the rule. Restaurants across town were my kitchen and prior to March 15 I had cooked at home just a handful of times this year.
I miss her a lot. The city, I mean. When the time comes to go back into the shop every day, there might truly be nowhere to go after work except home. Where I suspect I would continue working. I have found small joys in quarantine but this taste of outside life leaves me aching for more. As the sun lingers in the sky and the weather gets nicer, it’ll be a treat to loiter on the sidewalk with a lobster roll in hand. C’mon New York, I’m ready to eat you up!
In the meantime I will continue looking for the easiest ways to make delicious meals at home and try not to gauge how much weight I’ve gained from absolute idleness.
