It is in cities and metropolises that entertainment is born. It is there and only there that people have the leisure and wherewithal to indulge their fantasies and to observe the polarization of the sexes over them.
Music Hath Charms… and the Elvis Effect
One does not need to be an ornithologist to know that male birds essentially have one of three paths to the females: Songs, plumage, and construction or provider skills. Perhaps the reason that human males feel intimidated is because human females can theoretically demand all three while the avian inhabitants of this planet are limited to one per species.
Male musicians have understood this ever since the beginning of city life in ancient times. Pindar and Ovid don’t tell us how Orpheus dressed, but the Urban Anthropologist is certain that his chitons were of the finest available fabrics, with gold trim and purple embroidery. The bards of the ancient world and well into the 18th century sought patronage from the wealthy in order to fit in with them and acquire their kind of plumage. If we buy into the theory that male creative geniuses do their best work when they are single in order to impress females we therefore can understand why talent agents want their male clients to be single. The illusion of their availability then becomes a bonus that works in their favor.
Movies and television have served to push the standard higher and higher. We can call this the Elvis Effect. It is no longer sufficient for an opera singer to merely have a beautiful voice; he must now also be matinee-idol handsome. The best current example is Juan Diego Florez, the Peruvian tenor who drew standing ovations last season at the Met in Il Barbieri di Siviglia. Vocally and physically he resembles the young Placido Domingo who at 66 is still handsome and in excellent voice. Both are appearing at the Met this season and the performances are mostly sold out. Ladies dressed to the nines will stand up and applaud discreetly in front of male escorts and friends, most of them of the mind that they are there solely for the music.
That has never been true, and we can prove it historically. The 19th-century composer and piano virtuoso Franz Liszt was the originator of turning the piano sideways so that the open lid faced the audience, enabling them to better hear the music. Cynics of the day wondered whether this wasn’t motivated by the other benefit Liszt gained: Enabling the females to see his incredibly handsome profile. Other musicians criticized the groupie behavior of these women who would steal his gloves and handkerchiefs, describing it as inappropriate and vulgar. More likely, they were envious. Liszt never married, by the way; he womanized well into old age through prolific years of musical innovation. As a post-script to his story, his daughter Cosima eventually married Richard Wagner, whose music is perhaps the most erotic in the entire classical repertoire.
The parents of the generation that crowned Elvis Presley King of Rock ‘n’ Roll were in abject shock at the frenzied behavior of females in his audience. The screaming, fainting, and approaches to the apron of the stage were incomprehensible to them. Of course, most would not have read biographies of the great composers and therefore would not have known about Franz Liszt’s groupies.
The Urban Anthropologist is too young to have been present at an Elvis concert, but sees parallels in the Latin music world. In Mexico the Elvis Effect probably began with Vicente Fernandez, who is El Rey in the world of ranchera music. He first recorded in the 1960s and, like Elvis, had a long string of successful films. At 67 years of age he’s still going strong, like Señor Domingo, and still photogenic. The next generation after him carries on this tradition and leading that group is his own superbly gifted middle son.
The charro singers of past generations were men of superior vocal ability and often affable personality. However, most of them pale in comparison to current ones of the Elvis Effect. Submitted for your consideration is the description of the latter-day Orpheus: Tallish, fair-complexioned, mostly European in appearance, with thick dark hair and strong masculine features. While the backup band’s uniforms are often cream-colored or light brown, Orpheus wears black. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that he is the supreme alpha male in that room. To be an ordinary male in the audience of Alejandro Fernandez or Pablo Montero is to be almost invisible.
As an advertising professional, the Urban Anthropologist loves to quantify things. While no math genius, it was not difficult to estimate that audiences of either of these modern Orpheuses are usually at least 75% female. Mexican ancestry is not required to appreciate their voices, best described as a blend of heroic, romantic, and sexy. They are best displayed in small to medium venues that make it possible to have the up-close-and-personal experience. One of the legends about Fernandez the Younger is about women throwing their bras onstage at his feet. This is a fact. Here the Urban Anthropologist must express pride at being a New Yorker, as New York women are more nervy than that. At the former Felt Forum they were handing them to him over the security rail, with notes attached to them. He read them all and one of those notes made him blush. One wonders what any woman could write that would bring a blush to the face of an international playboy whose sex appeal is so dangerous one wants to compose an opera about Dracula in order to cast him in it.
At a smaller venue more recently 93.1 Amor held an event starring Pablo Montero. In his black traje de charro, Señor Montero is a fairy-tale prince, graciously accepting felicitations and kisses from ladies who approach the stage. Some had flowers; an elegantly-dressed blonde of indeterminate age bestowed a huge bouquet of red roses for which she received a kiss from this handsome prince … and a hostile reaction from another female, one not bearing a floral tribute. Señor Montero’s voice is that ageless range that identifies him as the romantic hero from movies and the pages of novels. He may have become famous singing sad love songs but a man so gifted by the Muses will never need to be lonely.
The Body Politic
It is an entertainment truism that every murder investigation must involve at least one visit to a strip club. While this is clearly pandering to the prurient interests of the audience, the Urban Anthropologist sees a connexion. It is the same mindset that allowed prostitution to flourish in the shadow of the Roman Coliseum, where some men became sexually aroused by the sight of violence.
In the modern world strippers and “exotic dancers”, by the nature of their work, appear to be the ultimate available females. Many of them are surgically enhanced, courtesy of earlier patrons who pay for lap dances. Between them and the airbrushed images in the pornography some are addicted to, their images and expectations of women cannot be commensurate with reality. Mostly naked and blatantly coming on to their patrons, they make no pretense at interest in their hearts. The mostly insecure males who enter these establishments pay expensively for the illusion of sexual congress with these distant heiresses of Gypsy Rose Lee. Unlike Tony Soprano and Paulie Walnuts, however, most of these men have no real access to the full sexual favors of these women. Yet, to observe their behaviors one would think that all they need do is crook a finger and flash their cash.
Ah, there’s the rub. For while a picture of General Grant or Benjamin Franklin can buy them temporary company, it takes a great deal more of a different asset for long-term devotion which, most of the time, these men are not aware is what they truly want. The mental compartmentalization many of these men do degrades these women rather than admiring their sense of rhythm or athleticism; pole dancing isn’t easy, nor does it even look it. But how many men who patronize these establishments are bachelor partiers and how many do so for dissatisfaction with the women in their personal lives? We will never know, because we can never expect any of them to admit such a thing.
Thus, while women wonder and complain about and attempt to understand why the men in their lives turn to strippers or internet porn for sexual satisfaction, they are missing a very important point: Men pay these women to take away the power of other women to judge them. They fear the rejection of the women whose favors are bought with music or charisma. The Urban Anthropologist therefore advises all women not to fear the strippers and porn images, for they serve as the winnowing process in the mating game.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Alienation
WE’RE ALL CONNECTED… or are we?
We have all manner of technology that keeps us “connected” today but the ultimate irony is how distanced we are from each other. Probably 75% of the people you see on the street these days have cell phones and more than 50% are using them. Why aren’t they hanging out with the people they’re talking to instead of walking alone on the street? Have all our lives become the same multi-tasking events we do at our desks that we have halved our relationships with others? I remember once sitting in a restaurant and seeing three young women being led to a table. Each was talking on her own cell phone. To whom? And what was this doing to their shared dining experience?
Crackberries are all over the place. Yes, I said “crackberries.” Two people I work with are completely lost without theirs. A third is refusing to get one because “I get one of those and my life is over.” It’s become the ultimate electronic leash to one’s boss and office. Text-messaging is now a standard cell phone plan feature, and the Urban Anthropologist hereby predicts that all cell phones will shortly have Qwerty keypads to facilitate more text messaging. However, it’s very unlikely that whole words will make a comeback in the resulting messages.
IN STARBUCKS HALF THE CHAIRS ARE ALWAYS EMPTY
Except for the ones located in shopping malls, Starbucks is the antithesis of the coffeehouse of the beatnik past. In those days people would gather and read each other their poetry, debut their songs, even display their art. You never knew whether the table next to you would contain the next great artistic genius, the future pundit who would be a great talk show guest or columnist, the Urban Anthropologist whose essays on modern man would illuminate the current generation.
Nowadays the tables are typically occupied by solitary souls. The place at the other chair holds the book, notebook (paper or electronic) and the cell phone that optimally connects its owner to other (probably solitary) beings. Some of them are students preparing term papers or studying for finals. Others work, building websites. Others visit MySpace.com or feed their information addiction through surfing. One woman spotted recently was crocheting while watching a DVD, listening through headphones. All are solitary, with looks or body language that doesn’t invite intrusion.
Are these people seeking refuge from crowded households, escape from empty ones, or are they merely enjoying the air conditioning? It is rare to see pairs or groups hang out there, talking leisurely over the soy decaf latte.
VOICEMAIL AND OTHER FORMS OF PASSIVE AGGRESSION
Anyone who works in an office knows that voicemail and e-mail are grossly abused. How many times does a day the average white-collar worker play voicemail tag with clients or colleagues? How many of those times is it deliberate? Every website about office life inevitably has an article that says that the average office worker receives 300 e-mails a day and spends 4 hours dealing with it. Is this faster than talking to someone? How often have you read stories about people e-mailing the person at the next desk about whether they are phoning out or going out for lunch instead of just peeking over the cubicle wall to ask? There is also the joke about a family of three having 10 e-mail addresses. An old friend sometimes laments the lost art of letter-writing; the Urban Anthropologist is mourning conversation.
What would Oscar Wilde or George Bernard Shaw think of Instant Messaging? “The end of civilized discourse” would probably be the first comment. The abbreviated nature of this communication form is poisonous to the bon mots that make conversation memorable and quotable. It’s the next generation of newspeak, the short-attention-span quickbyte that puts a stake in the heart of good grammar, usage, and spelling. We’ve all also had voicemails longer than these.
The Urban Anthropologist refuses to be an apologist for it; educated people need to step back from techno-communications, pick up their pens, and write out invitations. Whether said invitations are for tea or cocktails is irrelevant; the meeting place almost equally so provided that conversation is the key element of the encounter. It would be very fitting for everyone with a local Starbucks and a few friends to commandeer the largest table in it for a regular gathering. With all personal technology turned off to avoid interruptions.
We have all manner of technology that keeps us “connected” today but the ultimate irony is how distanced we are from each other. Probably 75% of the people you see on the street these days have cell phones and more than 50% are using them. Why aren’t they hanging out with the people they’re talking to instead of walking alone on the street? Have all our lives become the same multi-tasking events we do at our desks that we have halved our relationships with others? I remember once sitting in a restaurant and seeing three young women being led to a table. Each was talking on her own cell phone. To whom? And what was this doing to their shared dining experience?
Crackberries are all over the place. Yes, I said “crackberries.” Two people I work with are completely lost without theirs. A third is refusing to get one because “I get one of those and my life is over.” It’s become the ultimate electronic leash to one’s boss and office. Text-messaging is now a standard cell phone plan feature, and the Urban Anthropologist hereby predicts that all cell phones will shortly have Qwerty keypads to facilitate more text messaging. However, it’s very unlikely that whole words will make a comeback in the resulting messages.
IN STARBUCKS HALF THE CHAIRS ARE ALWAYS EMPTY
Except for the ones located in shopping malls, Starbucks is the antithesis of the coffeehouse of the beatnik past. In those days people would gather and read each other their poetry, debut their songs, even display their art. You never knew whether the table next to you would contain the next great artistic genius, the future pundit who would be a great talk show guest or columnist, the Urban Anthropologist whose essays on modern man would illuminate the current generation.
Nowadays the tables are typically occupied by solitary souls. The place at the other chair holds the book, notebook (paper or electronic) and the cell phone that optimally connects its owner to other (probably solitary) beings. Some of them are students preparing term papers or studying for finals. Others work, building websites. Others visit MySpace.com or feed their information addiction through surfing. One woman spotted recently was crocheting while watching a DVD, listening through headphones. All are solitary, with looks or body language that doesn’t invite intrusion.
Are these people seeking refuge from crowded households, escape from empty ones, or are they merely enjoying the air conditioning? It is rare to see pairs or groups hang out there, talking leisurely over the soy decaf latte.
VOICEMAIL AND OTHER FORMS OF PASSIVE AGGRESSION
Anyone who works in an office knows that voicemail and e-mail are grossly abused. How many times does a day the average white-collar worker play voicemail tag with clients or colleagues? How many of those times is it deliberate? Every website about office life inevitably has an article that says that the average office worker receives 300 e-mails a day and spends 4 hours dealing with it. Is this faster than talking to someone? How often have you read stories about people e-mailing the person at the next desk about whether they are phoning out or going out for lunch instead of just peeking over the cubicle wall to ask? There is also the joke about a family of three having 10 e-mail addresses. An old friend sometimes laments the lost art of letter-writing; the Urban Anthropologist is mourning conversation.
What would Oscar Wilde or George Bernard Shaw think of Instant Messaging? “The end of civilized discourse” would probably be the first comment. The abbreviated nature of this communication form is poisonous to the bon mots that make conversation memorable and quotable. It’s the next generation of newspeak, the short-attention-span quickbyte that puts a stake in the heart of good grammar, usage, and spelling. We’ve all also had voicemails longer than these.
The Urban Anthropologist refuses to be an apologist for it; educated people need to step back from techno-communications, pick up their pens, and write out invitations. Whether said invitations are for tea or cocktails is irrelevant; the meeting place almost equally so provided that conversation is the key element of the encounter. It would be very fitting for everyone with a local Starbucks and a few friends to commandeer the largest table in it for a regular gathering. With all personal technology turned off to avoid interruptions.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Quick Bytes: Food In the City I
Whole books have been written on this subject. It’s a known fact that New York City is the restaurant capital of the world. Why, therefore, does the Urban Anthropologist feel the need to comment?
Because variety is the spice of life, the endless diversity of New York breeds more and more varieties of cuisine and venues types to buy or consume it in. If by magic all the chain establishments would vanish there would not only be higher quality places to eat in, there would be enough different ones to satisfy anyone. This entry does not purport to provide reviews so much as a bird’s eye view of the food scene and the purpose of each element. There is likely to be a later installment.
The Street I
Few people outside of New York are aware of this but we have The Vendy Awards. These are issued annually to street food vendors for the quality and uniqueness of their hot food products. Finalists in the most recent competition include masters of schwarma, jerk chicken, tacos, and falafel. Halal vendors have become very popular in recent times, providing schwarma, spicy chicken, or beef with rice and salad for as little as $4. The Food Network covers this scene and food critics have written up the fare from these interesting mobile establishments. Past winners and finalists have included vendors of Italian sausages, souvlaki, gyros, and baked potatoes with fillings. There are sellers of soup, Indian food, arepas, and German wursts. In Chinatown vendors sell egg rolls, pork dumplings, and scallion pancakes. Virtually all hotdog vendors stock kosher ones with all the trimmings.
Of course, the greatest variety of these vendors is to be found in midtown near the office towers such as Time-Life and the Empire State Building. Most of their foods can be consumed on the hoof, the preferred mode of travel in New York. Most vendors will wrap their foods more securely if you’re brave enough to take it back to your office and endure the disapproval at the aromatic atmosphere that happens as soon as you uncover your beef kofta. Lucky patrons in the Radio City area can find street benches and steps on which to sit and dine al fresco. This food scene has come a long way from mere hotdogs, knishes, and pretzels.
It’s also, curiously, still almost unique to New York. The Urban Anthropologist remembers an incident from years past in midtown. While queued up for a street vendor for an Italian sausage-and-peppers hero sandwich it was impossible not to overhear the following conversation between the two well-dressed gentlemen who were vendor’s next patrons:
“You’re really lucky to be able to get such food so cheap; we don’t have this in Chicago.”
“Really? I thought all cities had them.”
“Nope. I wish we did; lunch is awfully expensive.”
New York has the greatest variety of street food, including coffee and croissants in the morning and fresh fruit all day. Finally, what’s more New York than a knish?
The (Mostly Kosher) Deli Scene
These are not completely unique to New York, but are certainly not as numerous elsewhere. The Urban Anthropologist and colleagues once dined at the old location of the Second Avenue Deli with an advertising vendor who arrived with his counterpart from the Boston office. The New Englander had never had chopped liver or corned beef on rye as it was meant to be experienced. Our host ordered the Chicken in the Pot, which was a chicken soup with half a chicken on the bone, easily enough for three or four people. Using the extra rye bread from the appetizer, I made a second sandwich with the profligate excess pastrami in the one I ordered and took that back to the office later, along with the sour pickles left in the bowl. Two months later we got a call from this same vendor with a repeat invitation: His colleague was in town again and plotzing about how eager he was for another kosher nosh. It did not surprise the Urban Anthropologist that our host was hungry for this hearty food of his New York childhood. In his words, “That’s soul food, Mamma!”
Law & Order fans will recall Lennie Briscoe’s favorite “Pastrami on rye and don’t trim the fat” from the Carnegie Deli on Seventh Avenue. In the summer or during the holiday shopping season there is typically a forty-minute wait for a table at lunchtime. This can also be observed across the street at Benash’s and at the Stage Deli a block south. Most of these places have similar crowded interiors with autographed celebrity photos on the walls above eye level (as in about half of midtown eateries), but the attraction is the food. Pricey by daily standards, whether your pleasure is matzoh ball soup, chopped liver, potato latkes, or anything else, the food is delicious. The motto must be “Nothing succeeds like excess” because the amount of meat in a sandwich is astounding to all but a native New Yorker. At Benash’s a corned beef sandwich costs $13 and weighs more than a pound. As it is unwise to clean one’s plate, all waitstaff are prepared to box leftovers. Don’t forget the pickles; you don’t get ones like this anywhere else.
The Street II
“New York is a summer festival” in the words of a tourist campaign of years past. There are so many street fairs in New York during the summer and most are well-attended and noisy. There are ones that are specifically food-oriented and staffed by restauranteurs in the area, but in those that are mostly outdoor malls, virtually every fourth or fifth vendor will be selling street food.
The greatest variety of street food is likely to be found in Queens, the most diverse county in the state, where everything from halal to South American can be found. Italian vendors, probably the same ones to be found at Little Italy’s San Gennaro Feast in September, share the scene with Hispanic vendors, competing for share of stomach through a typical 7- or 8-hour event. In between shopping for cut-rate store items, silver jewelry, sunglasses, cosmetics, and even ethnic art, one can indulge the taste buds with hearty ethnic foods every few steps.
Sausage and pepper hero sandwiches ($8 average price) and fried calamari battle with empanadas, pernil, ropa vieja, arepas, and roasted corn with a variety of condiments not found in Anglo kitchens. Where else will you be able to sample corn with chipotle sauce, lime mayonnaise, or jalapeño-flavored butter? Other vendors provide Argentinean and Brazilian-style barbecue whose main item is skirt steak prepared over an open flame. Don’t forget the rice and veggies with that. This latter item doesn’t come cheaply; at $10 one could almost make the argument that another dollar can get you air conditioning and a waitress in the nearby Irish pub. Smart vendors of this fare provide folding chairs for their patrons, as this food requires a plate and a fork and a pause in the midst of shopping.
In Astoria, street fairs always include items from local Greek establishments including – but not limited to – gyros, souvlaki, spanakopita, and baklava. All served with pride and a smile to customers of all ethnicities. It is virtually impossible to not go off one’s diet at these events; you want to sample everything, so it’s best to do this with a friend. Many of these fairs also have vendors of pantry items like restaurant-size containers of dry spices, nuts and candy, and kosher pickles by the quart or half gallon like the ones in the deli restaurant bowls. If you're in New York from out of state, you need to try these.
It is always heartening to see how gastronomically adventurous New Yorkers are and while the Urban Anthropologist usually welcomes the end of the brutal summer heat, the end of street fair season sadly accompanies that.
Pizza
The Urban Anthropologist is not prepared to hunt down the ultimate New York pizzeria. Expert opinions on the subject differ on whether it’s Two Boots in the East Village, Patsy’s at the south end of Harlem, Grimaldi’s in Brooklyn, or any of the “Famous Ray’s” in Manhattan that were once the subject of a PBS filler documentary. All that anyone is prepared to agree on is that no New Yorker worthy of the name eats chain pizza.
A curious thing is happening in New York, however, with regard to pizzerias. While most of them still seem to have Italian names and use traditional Italian ingredients (pepperoni is still the most popular), the majority of their workers are now Hispanic. While this has not substantially affected the quality of pizza it has led to the phenomenon of hybrid establishments that offer Hispanic foods in addition to pizza and calzones. One such place on Astoria’s Steinway Street provides traditional Peruvian foods as a lunch special in addition to the now-common $4 two-slices-and-a-soda deal. With 93.1 Amor playing in the background. This would not have happened thirty years ago.
Bagels
No kosher or general deli in the city is complete without these incredible bread donuts, but you are still better off getting them in a specialty place, of which there are many. The flavors of bagels are as numerous as the fillings that can be put into them. The Urban Anthropologist favors salt bagels, well done. These are better than the pretzels sold on the street and in the ballpark.
These are breakfast staples with butter or cream cheese, but can also be found at lunch with cream cheese and lox. Most delis will have this on their menus, but will not offer the broadest variety of bagel flavors. If you want something other than plain, sesame, or poppy-seeded bagels, you need to find a bagel specialist. This can be more of a weekend treat, as most of these establishments are to be found in residential neighborhoods rather than near the office.
Fusion and Confusion I
Another modern venue type is the Asian-Hispanic combination. At the low end one finds takeout establishments heavy on the deep fry where one can order chips and burritos and chow mein that will be delivered by the same guy. So why do these places still have separate menus and separate names on them? The notion of two separate establishments is destroyed at the first transaction. Purists tend to avoid these places in the belief that the integrity of both cuisines is compromised.
New York also provides adaptations unlikely to be found elsewhere. Kosher and halal Chinese are available in various neighborhoods in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. Just pick up some Soy Vey soy sauce in the supermarket to match.
Fusion and Confusion II
Fusion cuisines may happen all over but the best ones in New York are in midtown. The China Grill on 6th Avenue is pan-Asian with influences from China, Thailand, and other countries. One of its signature items, however, is the Crispy Spinach: deep-fried spinach leaves that come out tasting similar to potato chips, therefore quintessentially American. The Peking Duck Salad is a must-have; the fried pieces of duck in a romaine-lettuce based salad with orange-ginger dressing is plentiful, delicious, and not as calorie-laden as so many other NY foods. The atmosphere is large, loud, and filled with the energy of midtown. Patrons are usually people who work in the area’s offices or ticket holders to the matinee at Radio City Music Hall.
Asia de Cuba, popular with the Urban Anthropologist’s colleagues, is another great destination for fusion cuisine… and atmosphere. The geometric Asian décor is offset by the musica tropicale played on the speakers. The calamari salad is similar in concept to the one on the menu at the China Grill except that it contains bananas and is served warm. Like most restaurants with fine food, it is difficult to eat quickly and leave, especially when the atmosphere is conducive to conversation and the desserts are delicious works of modern art.
There is something to suit every New York gastronome and time forbids mention of every possibility in one entry. Keep one thing in mind, however: If it’s not from New York it’s not a pizza, a knish, or a bagel. And probably not even a pickle.
Because variety is the spice of life, the endless diversity of New York breeds more and more varieties of cuisine and venues types to buy or consume it in. If by magic all the chain establishments would vanish there would not only be higher quality places to eat in, there would be enough different ones to satisfy anyone. This entry does not purport to provide reviews so much as a bird’s eye view of the food scene and the purpose of each element. There is likely to be a later installment.
The Street I
Few people outside of New York are aware of this but we have The Vendy Awards. These are issued annually to street food vendors for the quality and uniqueness of their hot food products. Finalists in the most recent competition include masters of schwarma, jerk chicken, tacos, and falafel. Halal vendors have become very popular in recent times, providing schwarma, spicy chicken, or beef with rice and salad for as little as $4. The Food Network covers this scene and food critics have written up the fare from these interesting mobile establishments. Past winners and finalists have included vendors of Italian sausages, souvlaki, gyros, and baked potatoes with fillings. There are sellers of soup, Indian food, arepas, and German wursts. In Chinatown vendors sell egg rolls, pork dumplings, and scallion pancakes. Virtually all hotdog vendors stock kosher ones with all the trimmings.
Of course, the greatest variety of these vendors is to be found in midtown near the office towers such as Time-Life and the Empire State Building. Most of their foods can be consumed on the hoof, the preferred mode of travel in New York. Most vendors will wrap their foods more securely if you’re brave enough to take it back to your office and endure the disapproval at the aromatic atmosphere that happens as soon as you uncover your beef kofta. Lucky patrons in the Radio City area can find street benches and steps on which to sit and dine al fresco. This food scene has come a long way from mere hotdogs, knishes, and pretzels.
It’s also, curiously, still almost unique to New York. The Urban Anthropologist remembers an incident from years past in midtown. While queued up for a street vendor for an Italian sausage-and-peppers hero sandwich it was impossible not to overhear the following conversation between the two well-dressed gentlemen who were vendor’s next patrons:
“You’re really lucky to be able to get such food so cheap; we don’t have this in Chicago.”
“Really? I thought all cities had them.”
“Nope. I wish we did; lunch is awfully expensive.”
New York has the greatest variety of street food, including coffee and croissants in the morning and fresh fruit all day. Finally, what’s more New York than a knish?
The (Mostly Kosher) Deli Scene
These are not completely unique to New York, but are certainly not as numerous elsewhere. The Urban Anthropologist and colleagues once dined at the old location of the Second Avenue Deli with an advertising vendor who arrived with his counterpart from the Boston office. The New Englander had never had chopped liver or corned beef on rye as it was meant to be experienced. Our host ordered the Chicken in the Pot, which was a chicken soup with half a chicken on the bone, easily enough for three or four people. Using the extra rye bread from the appetizer, I made a second sandwich with the profligate excess pastrami in the one I ordered and took that back to the office later, along with the sour pickles left in the bowl. Two months later we got a call from this same vendor with a repeat invitation: His colleague was in town again and plotzing about how eager he was for another kosher nosh. It did not surprise the Urban Anthropologist that our host was hungry for this hearty food of his New York childhood. In his words, “That’s soul food, Mamma!”
Law & Order fans will recall Lennie Briscoe’s favorite “Pastrami on rye and don’t trim the fat” from the Carnegie Deli on Seventh Avenue. In the summer or during the holiday shopping season there is typically a forty-minute wait for a table at lunchtime. This can also be observed across the street at Benash’s and at the Stage Deli a block south. Most of these places have similar crowded interiors with autographed celebrity photos on the walls above eye level (as in about half of midtown eateries), but the attraction is the food. Pricey by daily standards, whether your pleasure is matzoh ball soup, chopped liver, potato latkes, or anything else, the food is delicious. The motto must be “Nothing succeeds like excess” because the amount of meat in a sandwich is astounding to all but a native New Yorker. At Benash’s a corned beef sandwich costs $13 and weighs more than a pound. As it is unwise to clean one’s plate, all waitstaff are prepared to box leftovers. Don’t forget the pickles; you don’t get ones like this anywhere else.
The Street II
“New York is a summer festival” in the words of a tourist campaign of years past. There are so many street fairs in New York during the summer and most are well-attended and noisy. There are ones that are specifically food-oriented and staffed by restauranteurs in the area, but in those that are mostly outdoor malls, virtually every fourth or fifth vendor will be selling street food.
The greatest variety of street food is likely to be found in Queens, the most diverse county in the state, where everything from halal to South American can be found. Italian vendors, probably the same ones to be found at Little Italy’s San Gennaro Feast in September, share the scene with Hispanic vendors, competing for share of stomach through a typical 7- or 8-hour event. In between shopping for cut-rate store items, silver jewelry, sunglasses, cosmetics, and even ethnic art, one can indulge the taste buds with hearty ethnic foods every few steps.
Sausage and pepper hero sandwiches ($8 average price) and fried calamari battle with empanadas, pernil, ropa vieja, arepas, and roasted corn with a variety of condiments not found in Anglo kitchens. Where else will you be able to sample corn with chipotle sauce, lime mayonnaise, or jalapeño-flavored butter? Other vendors provide Argentinean and Brazilian-style barbecue whose main item is skirt steak prepared over an open flame. Don’t forget the rice and veggies with that. This latter item doesn’t come cheaply; at $10 one could almost make the argument that another dollar can get you air conditioning and a waitress in the nearby Irish pub. Smart vendors of this fare provide folding chairs for their patrons, as this food requires a plate and a fork and a pause in the midst of shopping.
In Astoria, street fairs always include items from local Greek establishments including – but not limited to – gyros, souvlaki, spanakopita, and baklava. All served with pride and a smile to customers of all ethnicities. It is virtually impossible to not go off one’s diet at these events; you want to sample everything, so it’s best to do this with a friend. Many of these fairs also have vendors of pantry items like restaurant-size containers of dry spices, nuts and candy, and kosher pickles by the quart or half gallon like the ones in the deli restaurant bowls. If you're in New York from out of state, you need to try these.
It is always heartening to see how gastronomically adventurous New Yorkers are and while the Urban Anthropologist usually welcomes the end of the brutal summer heat, the end of street fair season sadly accompanies that.
Pizza
The Urban Anthropologist is not prepared to hunt down the ultimate New York pizzeria. Expert opinions on the subject differ on whether it’s Two Boots in the East Village, Patsy’s at the south end of Harlem, Grimaldi’s in Brooklyn, or any of the “Famous Ray’s” in Manhattan that were once the subject of a PBS filler documentary. All that anyone is prepared to agree on is that no New Yorker worthy of the name eats chain pizza.
A curious thing is happening in New York, however, with regard to pizzerias. While most of them still seem to have Italian names and use traditional Italian ingredients (pepperoni is still the most popular), the majority of their workers are now Hispanic. While this has not substantially affected the quality of pizza it has led to the phenomenon of hybrid establishments that offer Hispanic foods in addition to pizza and calzones. One such place on Astoria’s Steinway Street provides traditional Peruvian foods as a lunch special in addition to the now-common $4 two-slices-and-a-soda deal. With 93.1 Amor playing in the background. This would not have happened thirty years ago.
Bagels
No kosher or general deli in the city is complete without these incredible bread donuts, but you are still better off getting them in a specialty place, of which there are many. The flavors of bagels are as numerous as the fillings that can be put into them. The Urban Anthropologist favors salt bagels, well done. These are better than the pretzels sold on the street and in the ballpark.
These are breakfast staples with butter or cream cheese, but can also be found at lunch with cream cheese and lox. Most delis will have this on their menus, but will not offer the broadest variety of bagel flavors. If you want something other than plain, sesame, or poppy-seeded bagels, you need to find a bagel specialist. This can be more of a weekend treat, as most of these establishments are to be found in residential neighborhoods rather than near the office.
Fusion and Confusion I
Another modern venue type is the Asian-Hispanic combination. At the low end one finds takeout establishments heavy on the deep fry where one can order chips and burritos and chow mein that will be delivered by the same guy. So why do these places still have separate menus and separate names on them? The notion of two separate establishments is destroyed at the first transaction. Purists tend to avoid these places in the belief that the integrity of both cuisines is compromised.
New York also provides adaptations unlikely to be found elsewhere. Kosher and halal Chinese are available in various neighborhoods in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. Just pick up some Soy Vey soy sauce in the supermarket to match.
Fusion and Confusion II
Fusion cuisines may happen all over but the best ones in New York are in midtown. The China Grill on 6th Avenue is pan-Asian with influences from China, Thailand, and other countries. One of its signature items, however, is the Crispy Spinach: deep-fried spinach leaves that come out tasting similar to potato chips, therefore quintessentially American. The Peking Duck Salad is a must-have; the fried pieces of duck in a romaine-lettuce based salad with orange-ginger dressing is plentiful, delicious, and not as calorie-laden as so many other NY foods. The atmosphere is large, loud, and filled with the energy of midtown. Patrons are usually people who work in the area’s offices or ticket holders to the matinee at Radio City Music Hall.
Asia de Cuba, popular with the Urban Anthropologist’s colleagues, is another great destination for fusion cuisine… and atmosphere. The geometric Asian décor is offset by the musica tropicale played on the speakers. The calamari salad is similar in concept to the one on the menu at the China Grill except that it contains bananas and is served warm. Like most restaurants with fine food, it is difficult to eat quickly and leave, especially when the atmosphere is conducive to conversation and the desserts are delicious works of modern art.
There is something to suit every New York gastronome and time forbids mention of every possibility in one entry. Keep one thing in mind, however: If it’s not from New York it’s not a pizza, a knish, or a bagel. And probably not even a pickle.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Solitario Soy
89.9 million American adults are unmarried. This is now 41% of US adults. 26% of US households consist of single people living alone, with urban centers like New York City boasting even higher percentages of single-person households (48% for Manhattan). Someone may have predicted this a few decades ago, but I don’t know that they understand the phenomenon and where it’s going. The Urban Anthropologist will now take a stab at it.
Singlehood wasn’t particularly easy until around World War II. Anyone who saw the PBS reality series 1900 House knows that. It took far too long to prepare food, clean house, and do laundry for anyone to have been able to do it for themselves during non-working hours. Only the very wealthy could have afforded to have enough servants to do these things for them. Technology came along and then it became possible to shop fewer times per week, prepare food in half an hour or less, and vacuum the carpets in less than an hour. Anyone who wanted to try their wings could do it if they could afford the rent, but it was still regarded as a temporary state until the right marriage prospect appeared on the horizon. Reliable contraception came along in the 60s. Humans have been having premarital sex and attempting to control their fertility since before civilization, but now it was possible to do so with peace of mind.
Of course, all that makes it much easier to be single in the modern world. We face such paradoxes because of it. Supermarket packaging is for families, not even couples. We pay school taxes for children we don’t have. Yet we tend to advance more easily at work because we take up the slack when our married and childed colleagues leave early (early is any time up to 6PM). At times this seems like the corporate world is conspiring to create two classes of people: Breeders and drones, the latter because after a sixty hour work week who has the energy to look for a relationship?
WHO ARE THE SINGLES WE OBSERVE?
Single and Productive
Your office has at least a few of these: Corporate drones whose free time becomes non-existent because their bosses know they can be persuaded to work later than marrieds or parents. They log sixty hours or more per week to earn bonuses, promotions, or praise from clients only to realize one day that it’s been five years since their last date, six since their last relationship, and ten since their last real vacation. They often have friends who are in the same position and they sometimes talk about this when they’re willing to let their guard down. The Urban Anthropologist once had a department head who eventually hired a department full of unmarrieds without children and is still wondering whether this was deliberate in the modern culture of overwork.
Another extreme is the single entrepreneur, who is often married to the company he or she creates. That person's workday usually never ends.
Single and Creative
It has been said that most male creative geniuses do their best work when they are single, in the name of impressing the female of the species. Is this why actors and famous musicians are more popular and successful while they are still single? There are a number of them who, despite the influences of their own cultures, remain single well into their thirties and forties. Of course, we can make certain assumptions: They can be extremely choosy because of their endless opportunities, they may enjoy the constant feast of fleshly temptation, the women they encounter may not want to compete with all the women of the world or… do they have as little time for real relationships as the rest of us? Are they married to their art as others are to corporate directives?
And to what degree are these corporate and artistic martyrs role models for the future?
Single Forever
Is lifetime singlehood a good or bad thing? The Urban Anthropologist feels that the jury is out on this issue. Singlehood happens for a variety of reasons from the socially awkward to the socially adept there is no single reason that it happens. Society may have looked down on the never-married and the divorced for as long as any generation can remember but it has always benefited from the existence of single people.
Modern singles fill deficits in tax rolls that support schools and other public works. Some individual singles within extended families help to pay for younger relatives’ educations. Special mention needs to be made of those to embrace careers like teaching, especially since in many important urban centers like my beloved New York these important professionals are grossly underpaid (which will be another article for another day). Many find satisfaction in their creativity, which has free rein out of the confines of relationships and their rules.
Many authorities still debate the psychological futures of children raised by single parents. Is singlehood in their future? Single mothers are no longer branded by society in the manner of Hester Prynne, but are their children any better off for that? Are there more single people today because there have been more single mothers?
Until someone figures it out, most single urban souls will continue in whatever balance of solitude and social interaction works for them, secure in the knowledge that they live in a time and a place where it’s possible without servants to interfere with our privacy.
Singlehood wasn’t particularly easy until around World War II. Anyone who saw the PBS reality series 1900 House knows that. It took far too long to prepare food, clean house, and do laundry for anyone to have been able to do it for themselves during non-working hours. Only the very wealthy could have afforded to have enough servants to do these things for them. Technology came along and then it became possible to shop fewer times per week, prepare food in half an hour or less, and vacuum the carpets in less than an hour. Anyone who wanted to try their wings could do it if they could afford the rent, but it was still regarded as a temporary state until the right marriage prospect appeared on the horizon. Reliable contraception came along in the 60s. Humans have been having premarital sex and attempting to control their fertility since before civilization, but now it was possible to do so with peace of mind.
Of course, all that makes it much easier to be single in the modern world. We face such paradoxes because of it. Supermarket packaging is for families, not even couples. We pay school taxes for children we don’t have. Yet we tend to advance more easily at work because we take up the slack when our married and childed colleagues leave early (early is any time up to 6PM). At times this seems like the corporate world is conspiring to create two classes of people: Breeders and drones, the latter because after a sixty hour work week who has the energy to look for a relationship?
WHO ARE THE SINGLES WE OBSERVE?
Single and Productive
Your office has at least a few of these: Corporate drones whose free time becomes non-existent because their bosses know they can be persuaded to work later than marrieds or parents. They log sixty hours or more per week to earn bonuses, promotions, or praise from clients only to realize one day that it’s been five years since their last date, six since their last relationship, and ten since their last real vacation. They often have friends who are in the same position and they sometimes talk about this when they’re willing to let their guard down. The Urban Anthropologist once had a department head who eventually hired a department full of unmarrieds without children and is still wondering whether this was deliberate in the modern culture of overwork.
Another extreme is the single entrepreneur, who is often married to the company he or she creates. That person's workday usually never ends.
Single and Creative
It has been said that most male creative geniuses do their best work when they are single, in the name of impressing the female of the species. Is this why actors and famous musicians are more popular and successful while they are still single? There are a number of them who, despite the influences of their own cultures, remain single well into their thirties and forties. Of course, we can make certain assumptions: They can be extremely choosy because of their endless opportunities, they may enjoy the constant feast of fleshly temptation, the women they encounter may not want to compete with all the women of the world or… do they have as little time for real relationships as the rest of us? Are they married to their art as others are to corporate directives?
And to what degree are these corporate and artistic martyrs role models for the future?
Single Forever
Is lifetime singlehood a good or bad thing? The Urban Anthropologist feels that the jury is out on this issue. Singlehood happens for a variety of reasons from the socially awkward to the socially adept there is no single reason that it happens. Society may have looked down on the never-married and the divorced for as long as any generation can remember but it has always benefited from the existence of single people.
Modern singles fill deficits in tax rolls that support schools and other public works. Some individual singles within extended families help to pay for younger relatives’ educations. Special mention needs to be made of those to embrace careers like teaching, especially since in many important urban centers like my beloved New York these important professionals are grossly underpaid (which will be another article for another day). Many find satisfaction in their creativity, which has free rein out of the confines of relationships and their rules.
Many authorities still debate the psychological futures of children raised by single parents. Is singlehood in their future? Single mothers are no longer branded by society in the manner of Hester Prynne, but are their children any better off for that? Are there more single people today because there have been more single mothers?
Until someone figures it out, most single urban souls will continue in whatever balance of solitude and social interaction works for them, secure in the knowledge that they live in a time and a place where it’s possible without servants to interfere with our privacy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)