Peaceful Journey Anthony Bourdain, A Personal Message

First I would like to wish my brother in the written word, Anthony Bourdain, a peaceful journey.  As you read these words some time will have passed for all of us to process (or at least try to reckon with) his death, but as I write this his passing is only days old and the abruptness has left me stunned, shocked and a little melancholy.

Anthony Bourdain was my word hero, and my inspiration for creating both AfroPublica and this blog as a vehicle for sharing my thoughts and adventures in this world, and specifically when I write about food.  I will sorely miss his witty, sometimes caustic and always sarcastic takes on the state of the people and events that exist solely to divide us (or worse, bullshit us), and his pure love, appreciation, and awe of the things that unite us.  Say what you want, the man knew how to use words like a painter uses paint.

I read "Kitchen Confidential" during a period where I was working a "struggle job" as a kitchen helper/prepper/cook and bartender at a club in Louisiana.  Instantly I connected with Anthony Bourdain's struggle as related in the book and if you haven't read it yet stop right here and purchase it!

I make no excuses for that fact that this was a really dark period of my life and thanks to the club owner and his staff and family for helping me through that time by giving me an opportunity to work.  I was fresh off a nasty, expensive, and soul-sucking divorce and had lost everything I worked for in one big swoop.  Wife, house, dog, and eventually the job all fell victim to a nasty spiral of depression and despair.  And yet somehow reading Anthony Bourdain's words touched me in a way that helped me to see light at the end of a long and dark tunnel.  They even inspired me to break out the keyboard and write again.

Like Anthony Bourdain, I too was a soul in search of a place in the world after totally fucking up my life.  Through his words, I found out we both sought redemption for our sins and like him I found mine in a kitchen, and a keyboard.

Working the line in a kitchen is a place where everyone is equal, doesn't matter where you're from, what language you speak, who you pray to, what degree you have (or haven't) or what ethnicity you are.  All that matters is your skill at getting those plates (or drinks if you are a bartender) out to customers and serving a quality product fast.  Is that steak medium rare?  Those fries are done? And for God's sake where the hell is that salad?  The modern restaurant kitchen is the place to truly find what you are made of, and in the heat of those moments (literally), regain your soul.

Struggle jobs like kitchen and bartender work can really ground you.  They remind you what hard work really is and through that work you gain a deep appreciation for every nickel and dime you sweated, cursed and put up with shit for.  It's hard to properly frame the experience if you haven't done it, but its a tough, shitty and downright challenging way to survive, but also one of the most rewarding and genuine since your customers, your coworkers and often your boss will immediately give you feedback.  Drinks suck? You'll know it right away.  Food tastes like shit?  They will let you know on the spot.  You learn to take the compliments and the grief, the joy, and the pain, and it either will build you up or grind you to dust.  There ain't no HR dept in the kitchen!

But....

If you can overcome the challenges and actually make good drinks or food, man, the love you get from your customers is like nothing and nowhere else.  I spent a lot of years writing code to an anonymous audience of users and can recall maybe one or two instances where someone gave me actual feedback.  In the kitchen I was getting it every day!  That's just the nature of that business.


So to my brother in the written word I wish peaceful journey, may you finally have found the peace that seemed to elude you in this life.

So I Checked Out the Brandless.com Pop-Up Store

Recently, while taking a walk in the city, I ran across a pop-up store for the website Brandless.com.  Brandless is a fairly new entry to the online shopping market and their gimmick is they have a basket of 350 goods and everything on the site is $3, or some multiple of that amount (depending on quantity).

The front of the Brandless.com pop-up store

A peek inside the pop-up store

Everything $3 you say?

Yep.  And truth be told some of their products are quite good, at least the ones they had available to try.  Like anything purchasable online you have to really take a close look at what's being sold to find bargains.  Like other online stores, the key is to buy enough (or at the right time) to beat the shipping.   But if you are looking online for products that are GMO-free, feature natural ingredients fully stated in plain English on the front of the package and with environmentally conscious packaging you can definitely find some value here.

So what did I think? 
Overall their products were quite good, and depending on the product I can see a value in the quality and the social statement, but as I mentioned you have to shop carefully.  For some products based on the price and size/amount, you can do better locally.

Brandless.com snack station (granola and popcorn)

For example, one of the hits of the pop-up store was their snack display which let you try some of their popcorn and granola.  I gotta say, their granola was pretty darn good and at $3 for a 12oz bag not a bad buy at all compared to Whole Foods and other premium grocers.  At the pop-up store, they were selling their granola as a bundle, 2 bags for $6 (of course) and they had two flavors available: flax seed-blueberry and maple-pecan.  Both were delicious, and being a guy with Massachusetts roots and Southern history, the maple-pecan went fast.  Of note, there were actual chunks of pecan readily visible in the granola (this is always a good sign!).

Their popcorn was pretty good too, but at $3 a bag for between a 3oz - 5oz bag I felt it was overpriced.  You can do better at discounters like Dollar General and Family Dollar if you like popcorn, but there is no guarantee it will be organic and it will be chock full of artificial flavors.  But are you really choosing and eating flavored popcorn based on its health benefits? Really?

Brandless.com does offer some unique flavors to compensate for the value though.  I was given a variety selection containing: white cheddar, olive oil & sea salt and truffle oil with black pepper.   The white cheddar I liked the most, but the truffle and black pepper were actually pretty spicy with the taste of the black pepper pretty prominent.

My overall favorite item was the whole wheat animal cookies.  They were delicious!  And for animal cookie lovers (come on, admit it, you always loved them!) you won't go wrong.  The only downside is the plain packaging, I grew up with the classic Nabisco animal crackers and always was fond of the circus-themed box.

 

Here is a one-sheet listing the full range of their snacks, as you can see they offer a number of varieties, both common and uncommon.

So What Else Do They Sell?

Besides food, Brandless.com also carries a variety of household and beauty products.  These were not available for trying, though you could handle the packaging and smell, touch and feel some of them.   I buy my soaps and cleaning products locally so wasn't as interested in that.  If you are I highly suggest visiting their website for the full basket of products.

 

 

They also sell tableware, which they had mounted on a huge wall

The one thing I did not get to try because it was too crowded was their salsa and chips.

They were serving this at a makeshift bar but no one was leaving, this probably meant it was good.

Overall Impressions

•  If you shop carefully you can find some decent values here, especially if you are single or a couple.  The price/size/quantity is perfect for that but can get pricey quickly for a family.

• If you are a fan of organic, all-natural, non-GMO and environmentally packed products you will definitely find value here.
•  Everything I sampled tasted yummy, they definitely pay attention to the taste of their products
• I love the ingredient list in bold right on the front of the package in simple, clear English.  No need to decipher chemical lists.
• I actually liked the idea of the pop-up store sample and wish they did it in more places around the country to introduce shoppers to their website.

My Review of Whole Foods 365 Brooklyn

So I went to the Whole Foods 365 store in Brooklyn recently.  I was curious exactly what Amazon was up to by launching this brand.  Well, I found out. The Whole Foods 365 brand is an attempt to bring in new customers by offering lower prices, yet still retaining the Whole Foods quality and "look and feel".  Make no mistake about it though, this grocery is directly aimed at the millennial crowd.  It sits opposite an Apple store (on the other side of the block) and is in a pricey section of real estate in downtown Brooklyn, right outside Atlantic Terminal.

How do they do this?  From my observation, they have streamlined the product selection quite a bit, choosing to go mainly with store brands over other suppliers products.  The hot food line is still there, but the variety has been slimmed down (compared to the regular Whole Foods hot food selection).  Amazon branding, including ads for Amazon Prime, is featured near the registers on huge monitors (you knew that was coming, right?).

Pricing was (and this is totally subjective to the items I bought) a little lower than the regular Whole Foods, and slightly to considerably above Trader Joe's from what I saw.  Some items were reasonable (like sale items on veggies and fruit), but you have to pay attention to notice this.  Sale signs weren't blatantly obvious, just simple black & white signs.  The store was extremely well lit, clean and merchandised.  I saw a decent number of staff running around to answer questions also.  Items were easy to find and extremely well presented, especially the vegetables.

There are 20 registers, though at the time I was there (about 10 pm on a Monday) only 5 were open.  The line moved very fast though (still using the Whole Foods round robin method).  Where Whole Foods 365 shines is in the selection of organics and vegan foods.  Trader Joes just doesn't compare to their selection, though they try.  If you are a vegan then this is the place for you!  Even the hot food line and store prepared foods have a nice selection of organic and vegan items.

This store has two floors, the first, ground-level, has a variety of independent food vendors like a coffee shop, a bakery, self-serve beer and cider, and two other vendors that I can't remember what was sold.  The actual grocery is in the basement.

Overall I still prefer Trader Joe's for pricing, but I can say if you are a vegan or eat organics (and the price is not an issue for you) this will be the better choice.  Trader Joe's can't compete with the variety, selection, and atmosphere.

Street Photography 101 - My Equipment

Some of you may know, first and foremost I AM a street photographer.  I don't do weddings, babies, portraits or even worse, fucking pets.  No! No! And Hell No!  I'm a street photographer, and my beat is capturing events as they happen on the street.  Protests especially are fascinating to shoot because they present many different characters and action that happens spontaneously.

Living in NYC offers some unique opportunities since there is always something going on.  In addition, the city itself is a character, often the biggest character, in many of my photos. NY is a photographers city, offering some of the most (and fairly easily accessible) spots to capture the city and its residents in so many ways.

I love New York City, it is my home, my canvas, and my model.

A Little Background

So who the hell am I?  A little of my photography background and training is in order.  I started off as a film photographer and literally worked my way through college shooting for the Public Affairs office (thanks to your tutelage Bruce O'Hara!).  I did more than my share of shooting graduations, donations, celebrations and every other dog and pony shows surrounding and in support of that school.  At one point I was spending over 40 hours a week shooting events, then off to the darkroom processing and printing photos to be sent to donors, published, included in press releases, etc.

Needless to say, I burned out and crashed - - hard!  It was many, many years before I picked up a camera again.  By then photography had transitioned from film to digital, and with the tech advances in photography in the new millennium, piqued my curiosity.

Digital offered new ways of doing old things, and for those of us who grew up and learned with film, this has reinvigorated and reawakened a love for capturing the world through a lens -- again!

My Gear

First off, I rarely, if ever, buy new equipment.  Being in NYC you have access to some of the highest quality used gear the industry has to offer.  Adorama, B&H Photo, and Unique Photo & Video over in Jersey offer some seriously high quality used gear.   And if you are patient you can find top quality cameras and lenses for well under $200.

If I do ever buy new its always lenses.  Good lenses are highly coveted by photographers and many digital cameras use older film lenses quite well.

Something to note is that Adorama and B&H Photo are NOT open on Saturdays and close early Fridays as per Jewish custom, so if you plan on shopping with them do it in the week or on Sunday!

For cameras I used a combination of three (all bought used):

 

Canon EOS Rebel XSi
(Even though this is a small DSLR, it's much bigger than the other two below)

Panasonic Lumix LX5
(a point & shoot and the smallest camera of the bunch, my everyday camera)

Olympus PEN E-PL2
(this guy is also small, not much bigger than the Lumix above)

The Micro 4/3 Standard

For street photography, I can't say enough about the relatively new Micro 4/3 standard.  Why?  The size and weight! Lugging heavy, expensive equipment around on the subway and bus is no joke, and in NYC having lightweight gear allows you to be out on the street for long periods, with less wear and tear on you!  It also lets you hide your gear in times of "stress".

I have been to more than a few protests and rallies where anxious police will literally smash your gear if violence breaks out.  You can literally throw this puppy in a bag almost instantly and get the hell out of dodge.

So What About the Bag?
Yep, your bag is almost as important as your gear since it will protect your gear when not in use AND if you have room can be your mobile office.  Strategically purchasing your bag should not be done in haste.  I use a combination of bags depending on the weather, shooting conditions and gear choice.

I use this bag from Wal-Mart as my go-to daily bag.  For $13 bucks it's a steal.  It holds my camera, gear and a 15 inch Chromebook, mouse and assorted accessories.  You need to add a bit of foam padding to the bottom to protect your gear but it can pack a day's worth easily, including a laptop/tablet and accessories.  I use an APE case foam insert to protect my camera gear from bumping around and the elements since this backpack is rain resistant, but not rain or snow proof.

I also use this bag

This is the big boy, the Lowepro Flipside 300.  When I want to lug ALL the gear out for a serious day of shooting with various lenses, filters, tripod, etc.

My Work

Here are some street shots to give you an idea of what I capture through my lens:

Chess players @ Union Square Park, NYC

Praise dancers outside the Mariner's Temple Baptist Church in Chinatown

The 59th Street Bridge from Roosevelt Island

60th Street and Second Ave taken from the Roosevelt Island Tram Landing