The Hot Issue, Summer 2018
It’s difficult to craft an editor’s letter even under ordinary circumstances. It is practically impossible amidst the sadness we at Edible Queens have experienced this week. Anthony Bourdain’s death affects us at our core. After all, he revolutionized culinary storytelling.
Bourdain snuck us backstage in the restaurant world in a manner that transcended anything most readers ever experienced. Moreover, he pioneered an approach to writing about food that bridged anthropology, sociology and history, using imagery and language that reached a multitude of generations and ethnicities. He brought us into unfamiliar territory and made it exciting, interesting and, above all, real. In effect, he inspired the format of writing that Edible Queens aspires to do each and every issue. And for that, Anthony Bourdain, I thank you.
Bourdain’s passing comes on the heels of another horrifying story. Our Food Spotting subject, Richard Eng, the creative chef and guru behind Black Label Donuts, was a victim of a savage crime that (as this issue goes to print) leaves him in critical condition, fighting for his life. I first met Richard at one of our Meet & Greet events last year. His soft-spoken, gentle nature belied his ardent passion for one simple thing: doughnuts. On the night we met, we ended up seated around a large, oval table for an impromptu dinner at Dumpling Galaxy in Flushing. Eng sat directly in front of me and we spoke effortlessly about our pasts, interests and dreams. Plates of dumplings and sautés were passed around family style. At the end of the night, I remember turning to EQ’s editor, Abby, and our editorial assistant, Malia, and remarking how especially grateful I felt for my newfound food community.
Community is what EQ wants to help nurture among all of us who don’t shy away from diverse cultures or exotic tastes. Sarah Zorn in “Frankly Speaking” explores how multi-cultural a humble wiener can be. Pineapple and crushed potato chips? Yep, that’s thanks to my native Colombia. This and more so whimsically photographed by Yvonne Albinowski made me wish I could reach into the page and take a bite.
Our stories are enriched by both words AND images. In our In the Kitchen piece with Thomas Chen, the mastermind behind Tuome in the East Village, writer Melissa Kravitz chats with Chen about dumplings and chicken feet, revealing the many challenges encountered along the way. Through Matt Furman’s lens, we see more than a simple snap of Chen. We see grit, flash, satisfaction; and are escorted in, front and center, to his Flushing den. Lucky for us, Chen shared a recipe for those tasty dumplings that grace the cover of this, our “Hot” Issue.
That authenticity is the hallmark of what we strive to do. In “Estrella Naciente (Rising Star),” Michelin-starred Chef Cosme Aguilar, the bad boy behind Casa Enrique, wants to debunk everything you think Mexican food is and have you taste what Mexican food actually is. Look into his eyes and you can’t help but see a man who knows exactly where he comes from, where he is today and how much it took to get there. “Every day we have to try to be better and better without losing what we started,” says Aguilar. Both writer Devon Walsh and photographer Albinowski capture that essence. They dare us to imagine, and they succeed in showing us, the uneasy path from Chiapas to Long Island City.
And what happens once we have arrived to where we are each meant to be, even if just temporarily? What do we long to share that connects us back to our respective homelands? Contributor Max Falkowitz finds suja—that butter tea beloved and sought out by many Bhutanese—in a spot better known for its felt-topped tables and cues than a welcoming pot of tea. At Weekender Billiards, Falkowitz eloquently states that the earthy suja is the “brewed essence of the mountains”—in other words, the taste of home.
We are, in effect, all travelers. The more fortunate of us actually visit destinations outside of our day-to-day; others are able to experience far-flung places through either reading or viewing the many travelogues available at out fingertips. For me that was precisely the gift Bourdain gave us. He knew all too well that food goes beyond nourishment: It is the agency of memory, tradition and, by extension, damn good storytelling.
Claudia Sanchez | @claudiasanchezmahedy
Edible Queens | @ediblequeens
Black Label Donuts | @blacklabeldonuts
Dumpling Galaxy
Chef Cosme Aguilar | @chefcosme
Casa Enrique | @casaenrique
