I’m skipping the {pastel de elote} post today (don’t worry, I’m not leaving out that recipe – it’s coming up at the end of the week) to talk a bit about my life in New York.
It’s taken me a while to get back on track around here (the blog, I mean). Since the move from Miami, settling down in New York has been quite an experience in so many senses, and I surprisingly, for some reason or another, haven’t stopped to write about it. Emotionally it’s been quite the ride – living by myself for the first time has been mostly sweet, but sometimes sour too. New York is full of wonderful, amazing things. It’s unlike any other city I’ve lived in – Mexico City, Florence, Boston, LA or Miami – and I love it because of that, but it’s a tough city as well, mostly for those who aren’t native New Yorkers. I think it’s sometimes like a love-hate relationship. You love it one day, you dislike it the next. It gets lonesome, and you feel the need to leave sometimes – visit your family, go away for the weekend, and recharge.
Finding your favorite spots in a new city is part of making it feel like home – that coffee shop where you enjoy sitting down with a macchiato while devouring a book or reading the newspaper, or that restaurant where you love dining out with your friends every Friday. Exploring New York and finding my my own has been quite the adventure. The city is full of good (and bad) restaurants. There’s the expensive, overrated stuff. There’s the “secret gems”. There’s also the tourist traps. There’s everything here – and that’s what makes eating out in New York so great. After a few months of living here I finally feel I’ve found my spots, and I can’t wait to start sharing them with you.
I am also fortunate to be living here because I’ve had the opportunity to enroll in my first two food styling + photography courses. One took place a couple of months ago at the ICE – and another one is coming up this month (so excited for that!).
So going back in time a bit – let’s talk about this workshop. It was taught by two great food photographers – James Peterson and Jamie Tiampo – and food stylist, Laurie Knoop. The workshop was 3 days long and quite intensive. It was very hands-on, which was great, but I found it was too basic for me at times – not because the workshop was bad at ALL, but because I surprisingly already knew a lot of the stuff they were talking about, mostly about photography.
However, I did learn a bunch of stuff about food styling, more technical stuff about photography like tethering, and I think most importantly – I was exposed to working in a group again. In the past few years, while starting up my own business, selling my kitchen prints online, and working on my blog, I’ve been working mostly by myself. I love the freedom and flexibility that gives me – but this has a huge downside. I’ve forgotten that sometimes I have to give in when working with others, especially if we don’t have the same taste and eye for a final product (in this case, our final photo) – and that is something I have to keep in mind. It was great to be reminded of this.
