Getting to know this place, one restaurant at a time
In some ways, I can anticipate what I'm going to accomplish by doing this, but I also know there's going to be more uncovered here than I can even imagine right now.
It’s humid and drizzling, and I’m lucky to find a parking spot on Main Street during lunch hour.
As I shut my car door, I look down the street at all the storefronts, so many of them restaurants. I imagine the walls disappearing so that the street becomes just a series of outdoor kitchens, where we can see the countless cooks hard at work, producing everything from empanadas to ice cream cakes.
I fish a few quarters from underneath the folded bills in my wallet and slide them into the parking meter. Is 45 minutes enough? I guess it will have to be.
I enter Seoulville, a Korean restaurant that I’ve passed by hundreds of times and have just now finally made the time to visit. As soon as I open the door, a friendly man, who seems to be the owner, warmly greets me and guides me to the only table near the front window.
I order a persimmon slushie and dolsot bibimbap and look out the window, not focusing for too long on any one particular thing before shifting my eyes to something else.
When the bibimbap arrives, I drizzle it with gochujang, pile on the kimchi, and poke at the egg yolk with my chopsticks, allowing it to run over the vegetables and rice. The stone bowl keeps surprising me with how hot it is keeping the food, and I’m thankful for my slushie to cool down my mouth between bites. At the bottom of the bowl, I uncover the crispy bits of rice and keep searching for more.
“How is everything?” the man comes back to ask.
“It’s delicious! So good. I’ve lived in town for a year and this is my first time here,” I say with obvious disappointment in myself.
“Wow, really? We’ve been here eight years,” he informs me, smiling. By the way I’m devouring the food, I know he can see how much I love it.
As I pay the check and begin to leave, the man says, “See you next time,” his confident tone resembles that of a friend personally seeing me off from the entrance of their home.
In recent years, I've broadened my focus on health to include more than just nutrition and physical fitness.
One aspect of my health that I've been eager to develop further is my social connections, and it’s been on my mind a lot recently that I want to feel more rooted in the physical community that I live in. I’ve chosen to live in Somerville, New Jersey in large part because I love how vibrant the downtown is. There are countless places to eat, antique stores, a tattoo parlor, coffee shops, an arcade, a brewery, and so much more. Lately though, as I’ve been driving through town, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about how many of those places I’ve never even been inside.
As the summer unfolds, my intention is to deliberately explore and connect with my town, with a focus on its diverse food offerings.
I’m putting the guidance of Google reviews1 aside: I want to go to new places based on knowing that there is someone in my town who’s dedicated a large portion of their life to contributing something they’re passionate about to this community.
A quick review of my printout of the Somerville business directory reveals just over fifty food businesses, and I begin crossing off the ones I’ve already visited, and adding notes for places that I notice are missing.
For every week from now until Labor Day, I’ve chosen a food business that I want to visit. This feels like the kind of summer wellness goal that I can get behind… one that doesn’t involve activities designed to make my body look “better” in a bathing suit.
And as an introverted person who prefers to eat lunch imagining that I’m actually invisible, I’m also going to try to push myself to have more conversations, even if they’re just short ones. (If it’s an official “project” it is somehow easier for me…even though it’s a project of my imagination!)
On days when I have time to linger, I plan to also use this experience to just spend some time walking around town exploring other kinds of businesses too.
In some ways, I can anticipate what I'm going to accomplish by doing this, but I also know there's going to be more uncovered here than I can even imagine right now.
I often rely on Google reviews to find new restaurants, but this project is different because I don’t want to rule places out based on their star rating. I still plan to add my own positive reviews to the places where I have a great experience because I know it helps those businesses gain more customers. Here’s my review of Seoulville.
So many good places on your list! I live 5 minutes from downtown Somerville and love being close enough but far enough!
This is such a great idea! I, too, prefer to eat lunch at home (often alone, depends on the day). Getting out of my introvert comfort zone and exploring new places is a low-stakes way to add a bit of happiness to my life. Thanks for the suggestion - and enjoy this task!