New Yorker Wandering Abroad

I've lived in New York City as a songwriter and performer for 11 years - more specifically in the often-labeled 'hipster' neighborhood of Williamsburg (in Brooklyn). I am not a hipster, FYI - although some have accused me of this. If hipster means someone who creates their own sense of fashion and does not operate through the main-stream norm in terms of culture and lifestyle, then yes my friend, I am officially a hipster. I am NOT a yuppie-turned-ebay-vintage-designer-clothes-shopping asshole with no taste for quality and a bad haircut to impress their wanna-be lawyer friends (other definition for hipster created by jealous onseekers of the original 'hipster'). Nothing against lawyers or e-bay shoppers, of course - I am just trying to make a point. I hope it's coming across given my history with the neighborhood..

More preferably, I claim to be a 'New Yorker' - especially having lived through Bloomberg's term extension, the last major blackout (complete with all-night fire grilling on the sidewalk and little to no looting), so-called 'Hurricane Irene' (which ended up being a tropical storm), and the all-too-dark memory of September 11th - which good friends of mine witnessed up-close as I was on my way to move into the city. I was thankful I hadn't arrived yet...

New York is both a wonderful and depressing place - it's loud and exciting, lonely and cruel, colorful (both in personality and creativity) and diverse beyond any other city I've known in terms of sheer numbers (of different nationalities and cultures within a confined space). This all can be both thrilling and overwhelming when you are a newcomer, depending on how you handle yourself while in its grasp. Truly, all possibilities are on the table - complete with disaster or triumph at the end. I've most recently described New York as a wonderful lover but a terrible wife. You want it again and again, but it won't take care of you. You must always fight for the right to enjoy her and survive her at the same time.

But onto the next phase - my travels as a musician have recently taken me further East to Europe, where I will be for the next 6 months. Stops will include Norway, the U.K. (London), The Czech Republic, Germany, France, Switzerland, Denmark (Copenhagen), and potential others. Having lived in New York City with so many diverse food options, a person can get quite spoiled - in fact, down-right snobby about food. But as we all know, New York is a land of immigrants - of people from different cultures everywhere, bringing traditions with them to create their own version of whatever their imagination ignites. This is what makes it such a wonderful place. But the traditions come from everywhere else, not New York.

So my contribution to this blog will be as a wandering traveller exploring local cuisine wherever I land - attempting to make a few of those dishes and perhaps adding my own New York flair to things as I go. Music is what has brought me here, but being the hungry food-obsessed girl I am, this will be a project close to my heart as to eat good is to feel good, and in turn is to live well! Buon appetito!!