First Taste

We arrived in New York early in the morning and took a long subway ride into the city. Even though the train was full of people: workers on their way to work, children on the way to school it was hard to stay awake. My blurry eyes still drooped and my head wobbled from side to side. It was, after all, the middle of the night on the West Coast and the rocking movement of the train was so relaxing.

Coffee, I thought. Coffee will save me. Coffee and breakfast. But where?

M. had a vision. There is a famous and trendy restaurant in New York called Momofuku that serves yummy big bowls of raman and other Asian inspired gourmet delights. Recently they opened a bakery. The bakery, we heard, served strange and wonderful treats like sandwiches with pork belly and green curry banana bread. What a perfect way to wake up and say hello to NYC.

So we went to the Momofuku/Ssam Bar Bakery, stared in awe at the rows of cookies and pies and ordered (what else?) but the egg and pork belly bun and a generous slice of the green curry banana bread. There was no hot coffee, which was a problem, but the food was so wacky and the moment so surreal that it almost didn't matter. Coffee is not that hard to find, but it is not every day that you get to eat a fat slice of subtly spiced banna bread that tastes a bit like breakfast and a bit like an exotic vacation all in the same bite.