Good morning, Monday. It's a great looking day in the big city and Fall is officially here. David got my cold this weekend so as he rested, Khan and I took the opportunity to take many long walks yesterday, where we couldn't help but notice how happy all the ladies looked, with their new Fall sweaters and cute blazers and scarves and boots. Chicks love fall and its new fashion opportunities. You know this.
In other news, before my cold transferred itself to my beloved, we had the chance to check out a Food and Wine event on Saturday night called "Tacos and Tequila". As we enjoy both of these things (and since we had free tickets), we went out and sat in traffic on the West Side Highway for about an hour and a half to get to the event. Once there, it was pretty obvious we should have hit up our pay-per-view and stayed happily on the sofa.
Let me paint a picture of it for you- picture every douche like object you know, with their female counterparts. Picture fake boobs, sky high heels, and Wall Street swagger. Then picture about 50 restaurants, serving lukewarm taco offerings, drippy affairs that are nothing more than mediocre, while alarmingly bright spotlights shine on everyone with their hot breath for no apparent reason. Then picture (or hear) a terrible DJ blasting the likes of Katy Perry entirely too loud. And if that's not enough for you, picture that the tequila component of the event (which became more important by the second) comprised about two of the 50 stalls, with lines ten fake tans deep to get a margarita. Oh, and then get this- it cost $250 a person to get in. Yup. I did however, enjoy the free Godiva truffles. Those were the best part, and they were neither tacos nor tequila.
I'm sorry if you are one of the poor schmucks that actually had to pay for this event. But when I think about it, it kind of serves said schmuck right. After all, tacos and tequila should be enjoyed on the cheap- isn't that the whole point? A taco is a humble food- it's not a food that screams celebrity chef (OMG Giada's in the ladies room! Oh, look- there's Bobby Flay. Holy shit! Spike Mendelsohn) nor should it. A taco and a margarita are best enjoyed in a low fi way in my opinion, which brings me to a bigger point about living in New York these days- why must everything be so damn overblown, disappointing, and expensive? I remember a time when I first moved here where there was no such thing as a rock star chef, and great restaurants had great food and that was that. Foodie culture always existed, but its dilution has caused complete mediocrity. I kind of got the feeling that everyone at this thing had free tickets however, because it was beyond jam packed in there and if it's true that anyone was silly enough to buy tickets to this, you probably left feeling like you had just been robbed. Not cool. Really, it's unfair to say all the food sucked, but what did suck was the event itself- no vibe, no coolness, nothing authentic to the experience. Why not just set up some taco trucks somewhere in the city with some great live music and let everyone enjoy them for a couple of bucks? Is it me?
I'm just tired of the commoditization and packaging of just about everything. I thought it would be fun to eat some free tacos and suck down some margaritas, but alas, I was wrong. Maybe I just miss New York before Bloomberg and all the money. Maybe I just hate how a taco is no longer a taco- it has to be some gastronomic thing/movement because being a taco nowadays is just not good enough. Or maybe I'm just old and disgruntled and probably should not eat a lot of tacos anyway and acknowledge that tequila make me a little mean. I don't know what the answer is, but the big lesson here is this- even free events like this are not worth it when you can't even get a drink. And if you're paying for an experience, then it's really up to the providers of said experience to make it bloody worth it. It's hard to believe that all of the taco hordes had ponied up $250 a person considering the state of things in this country right now. But then again, New York is a city that has become too much about one thing, and it ain't good tacos or free tequila. Money really does change everything, and it's not necessarily for the better.
Everything is feeling so manufactured lately in the New York theme park. I'm just looking for something real. I can't be alone in this can I? For now, I'm hanging on my sofa until something fun happens. You're welcome to join me. Cause that's what's up this craving something new kind of Monday in the 212. I know I'm channeling Andy Rooney today but whatevs. All the love. XO