Mamiko Otsubo is a good friend’s sister whose artistic journey I’ve followed since she was still completing her MFA in Yale. How happy were we to learn that she was going to have her first solo show in New York? The Horton Gallery is exhibiting Mamiko’s art from April 5th through May 5th. Here are some photos of the opening day that I took to capture the moment.
A shot from outside the gallery. Continue reading
I was visiting a friend in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn when I came across a bunch of laminated photos tied to the trunks of trees. Upon closer inspection I saw what looked like a school project to give trees fashion makeovers by some seventh-graders in the neighborhood. I only know this because some pictures were signed “7th grade” next to the name. I couldn’t find any information on the school project online so I decided to just take photos of it. It’s a neat concept for kids and I hope you enjoy it as well as I did!
Here are photos from my visit to 16th street between 7th and 8th Avenues in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn.
Every small town needs a go-to place for a nice meal, a restaurant that takes its time to create a unique experience for its diners, no matter how small the town is or how close it is to an urban center. Mrs. K’s Tollhouse does this for Silver Spring, Maryland. A short drive from DC, this historic building has been preserved from its early 1900s roots to a restaurant that has been serving treats for the past seventy years. The service was quick, warm, and friendly, and we thoroughly enjoyed the meal and the wine along with great company. Some treasures from that evening:
The Greek meatballs were juicy and full of meaty cumin flavors.
Our Vietnamese friend was on a mission during our trip to DC, and she would not be dissuaded. She loaded ice packs into the trunk in preparation for her haul, something I probably would have done if I believed a one-stop shop of Filipino goodies was in close proximity to a place we were visiting.
Eden Center
Eden Center is that kind of savior for the Vietnamese in Virginia. Housed in the rows of a beige and red strip mall were stores upon stores of freshly made delicacies and snacks, restaurants, salons and jewelry stores. We had lunch at Pho Xe Lua after which our friend went into a zone, raiding one store after the other for some treats you simply cannot find in New York.
Here are some photos of Eden Center’s treasures. Continue reading
Everyone needs to see the elderly person running a hole-in-the-wall restaurant. It’s as if their presence is an assurance of an establishment’s authenticity, or the continuance of its tradition. It is evidence that things have been done there in the same way for a very long time.
For Pho Xe Lua in Eden Center, the old man’s name is Toan Nguyen, who owns the place and serves diners daily. The walls are adorned with paintings of his image, awards and graduation photos of his daughter, much like many family-operated restaurants serve as the owner’s second home. Continue reading
