I have the BEST and most amazing friends and family. Except Will, that guy's a douche. Things started out rather interestingly, as I arrived in JFK to find that an 18-year old bottle of Jamaican rum had broken in my bag during transit. Smelled nice, but quite unfortunate. That mishap was counteracted by the generosity of the woman I sat next to on the plane from Montego Bay. She is a resident of the upper west and paid for my cab from JFK to 110/Broadway. Gotta love the bubble.
I arrived in NYC with three goals:
1. Do well on MCAT
2. Chill with friends
3. Eat good food.
The following is a day-to-day on my doings. I place weight on food, because that was 99% of what I thought about.
Monday: Milano Market take out with Brother / Reunion with the W 108 crew.
Tuesday: Yale Club Dinner with Father / Squash extravaganza
Wednesday: Sake Bar Hagi (yum) with Jennifer.Sit
Thursday: Biryani Cart (seriously, ridic.) on a solo lunch promenade in Midtown
Thursday: Korean BBQ courtesy of Joseph K. Song. Absolutely amazing Beef Brisket / Spicy Pork / Kalbi. I cannot express how much I dug this meal.
Friday: Yale Club (revisited) with Father, Brother, and Eleina. Lots of crab legs and asparagus.
Saturday: MCAT.
Later Saturday: Legit lamb shank. Sunny Haft. Zoe Fonseca. Poetry bar (For whom the bell tolls...). Ginger Man. Potato Chips. Some random diner at 5 AM. Jenn: A-game performance.
Sunday: Recovery. At least 18 hours of sleep logged in the books.
Monday: Williamstown, MA / Kopy chill time.
Tuesday: Choice Eats with Bill and Jenn. How is unlimited free food/wine/beer/liquor only $35? Honestly. Great deal. Good thing too, because of the $$$$ to be dropped the next day.
Wednesday: Chelsea Market Lunch with Weiler. Grape gelato = yum.
Wednesday: PDT, Momofuku Ko, Artichoke.
(Tuesday/Wednesday = Best 48 hours of food when? Oh, ever.)
Thursday: Roti Roll with Gregory Valentino Puppione. Chill time. I got sick.
Friday: MSTRKRFT. Bounce Low... Bounce High... A bar tab far too large to talk about.
Saturday: Celebration of Jenn's birth. Krik Krak Haitian. I remember this being fun.
Sunday: Central Park Promenade with Joe/Polo/Jenn. Levain Bakery cookies = yum.
Sunday: The Mill Korean with Brother. Sushi and goodbyes.
Monday: Flight delayed. Arrive home late.
Additionally, I beat my brother at his NBA video game (progress?), ate Chipotle/Pinkberry, and gained 9 pounds (mission 3 accomplished).
I also got some kimchi/nori/shin ramyun back to Jamaica without it ruining all my clothes. Awesome.
Special props to Jenn/Joe for hosting me for a few days and everything that goes along with it, and extra special props to Jenn for compiling what I will always remember as one of the best food-related agendas of all time. Super props to Polo for finally helping me find a guitar!
Thanks to all who made my two weeks in the States awesome! Sadly there are a few of you who I never got to see, and hopefully next time around we can work something out.
Much love,
Tommy
