NYC DTF
She had dumps like a truck, truck, truck
Over the weekend my friends had our annual Friendsgivingmas celebration and it was everything. I’m incredibly #blessed to have amazing friends who also happen to be amazing cooks, so all of the food fuckin slapped. We all made food items from countries that started with the first letter of our names; I made Equatorial Guinea Succotash and also cooked Lorenzo’s Laotian Laab. We ended up with pupusas, 3 different types of meatballs, apple cake, and so much more. My absolute angel of a friend Jina also made everyone cookie boxes to go and my quality of life has since improved exponentially. We did a white elephant exchange of regifted items and also convinced everyone to play goofy games that we found on tiktok - it was perfect.
Lorenzo took a day off of work last week to join me on an adventure to Luna Luna - the popup art amusement park that you’ve probably been seeing ads for all over the city. And like any adventure with Lorenzo, good food was a must so I made sure to grab us a reservation at Din Tai Fung. It was a good day.
Also a good day - Sunday December 8 because Carina became my 17th paid subscriber! #18? Could be you 😏
Lorenzo and I had been wanting to try the NYC Din Tai Fung since it opened. We had actually had DTF in both Shanghai and Chengdu when we were in China years ago and while Lorenzo loved it, I thought it was just fine. Don’t get me wrong, the food wasn’t bad, but the dumplings I had at street stalls just made more of an impression on my taste buds. DTF is a Taiwanese chain that opened to much fanfare over the summer and we were both curious to see how the NYC outpost would stack up. But we can’t talk about DTF without talking about a different NYC icon: Mars 2112.
It was the year 1998 and themed restaurants were at an all time high: Hard Rock Cafe, Rainforest Cafe, Bubba Fucking Gump. We didn’t want to eat food unless the walls around us were absolutely bursting with tchotchkes, animatronics were singing to us, and dishes had kitschy names like rasta pasta. In that landscape, it made complete sense to open a Martian themed restaurant, complete with a flight simulator entrance, actors in Martian costumes, and an immersive experience like no other. I went there for a friends birthday party in those early years before the place became a den of broken dreams and closed in 2012. I’m telling you this because DTF opened in the old Mars 2112 space! As excited as I was to try those famous international soup dumplings, I was equally excited to see what happened to the space that once housed an intergalactic dining destination.
There were (sadly) no remnants of the Martian topography left in the plaza. Instead of entering the restaurant through a flight simulator, you’ll enter it through an aboveground glass cube that was supposed to be an Apple store that never came to be. After descending the spiral staircase (likely another Apple leftover) you’ll see that the walls no longer glow Martian red and are instead full of tasteful geometric patterns in black and gold. The place’s past has been completely erased and sanitized, which would unfortunately be a omen of the meal we were about to have.
DTF is probably most well known for their soup dumplings, which also happen to be an all around favorite food item of mine. All of their restaurants feature a large window that puts their chefs on display so you can watch as each dumpling is filled and formed with it’s customary 18 pleats. The XLB (xiao long bao) are a BFD (big fucking deal). So I’m sorry to say that I have to agree with this NYT review: the soup dumps were not great. I’ll give them points for the wrapper being thin yet durable (we only popped one that had been left in the basket for too long and started to dry out) but the filling was very bland and barely soupy. I love the sensory experience of biting a tiny hole in the dumpling wrapper and using my mouth to suction all of the soupy goodness out, but these left me unfulfilled because there was so little soup in them. The pork that was inside also tasted far too delicate and had none of the delicious umami I’d expected.
In addition to the soup dumps, we also ordered the sweet and sour ribs, garlic string beans, pork fried rice, and chicken rice cakes; we didn’t particularly enjoy any of them. The ribs were way more sweet than sour, though the meat was pretty tender and came off of the tiny bones nicely. The string beans had barely any garlic flavor and were a bit undercooked. As for the fried rice and rice cakes - I’m pretty sure I could make them better myself. They also lacked anything in the way of flavor or seasoning. I ended up topping the rice cakes with the table chili oil, which actually had a really nice flavor profile and vastly improved the dish.
As we were eating, we began speculating as to why this DTF was not like the rest. And then it hit us - this DTF was not for us. Looking around, the dining room was filled with families and tourists. The whole environment and menu is inoffensive enough to please the palette of a midwest mom and her picky kids, while also providing a “nice” venue for a pre-Broadway or birthday dinner. It seems to me that this DTF prioritized serving the locale’s demographic over serving authentic food. And honestly, they’ll probably do well because of that. No one eats at the Times Square Olive Garden because it’s good - they eat there because it’s there.
If you want a good soup dumpling, go to Joe’s Shanghai. For good rice cakes (and XLB actually), try Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao. I will literally cook you better fried rice in my apartment and you don’t even need a reservation.
I had been seeing subway ads for Luna Luna for months and after looking into what the hell this thing even was, I knew I had to visit. I’m very picky when it comes to art and Luna Luna felt right up my alley. I find it difficult to connect with art when all I’m invited to do is look at it - I need to be invited into the world it not only lives in now, but also once inhabited during its creation. I had a feeling Luna Luna would do that for me and I was not disappointed.
Luna Luna was originally conceived of as an art theme park by artist André Heller. He sought to create his own “Luna Park,” which became a common term used for amusement parks back in the day as an homage to Coney Island’s own Luna Park! Heller dreamt of inviting artists - some well known and others not so much - to help him create his park. He managed to wrangle 30 artists to create merry-go-rounds, ferris wheels, and funhouses including Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Roy Lichtenstein.
Luna Luna was meant to be subversive right from the start. You aren’t supposed to touch a Basquiat, let alone ride it into the air, and there you were, being asked to do both. The whole concept of the park played with visitors’ expectations of what art could be, something that I think we sort of take for granted now. Someone recently bought a banana taped to a wall for $6mil. Banksy brought art quite literally to the sidewalk and also famously destroyed their own art (or maybe the destruction was the art?). Also: everything about NFTs I guess. As Heller once said: "Art should come in unconventional guises and be brought to those who might not ordinarily seek it out in more predictable settings." Luna Luna brought art to the masses and also provided some catharsis to those who missed out on the whimsies of childhood because of war. And somehow motherfucking Drake is responsible for unearthing all of the remnants of the park that had been sitting dormant in shipping containers for nearly 35 years.
Luna Luna is currently on view at The Shed near Hudson Yards and it’s absolutely wild to me that after going up two escalators I was able to walk into a space that housed an entire carnival (not all of the original rides were able to be salvaged, but they got a lot of them). You can’t ride the rides anymore and I’ve read a lot about people complaining about this, but I think you still get the full experience just walking through the space. Every so often the lights in the space will flash, the music will change, and all of the attractions come to life. If you can ignore all of the phones that are suddenly lit up to take videos, it’s pretty easy to imagine yourself at an actual carnival. All of the rides and pavilions feel so large in the space and it’s quite easy to get swept away as the music swells.
That said, there are a few attractions you can go into. There’s a glass mirror maze by Lichtenstein you can wander through (just be sure to walk slowly so you don’t run into any of the walls). Dalí’s Dalidom is a large mirrored funhouse dome you can walk inside to experience your infinite self. You can also marry anyone (or anything) in Heller’s Wedding Chapel. And although none were present when I was there, Poncili Creación, a Puerto Rican art collective, has performers and giant puppets roaming the space to “bring some fucking imagination into it.”
One of my favorite carnival rides has always been the swings. I love the feeling of gently bobbing around in circles, feet off the ground, stomach gently dropping as the ride goes up and down. It would have been very cool to ride Kenny Scharf’s swings, but I think this ride was displayed in such a way that it was easy to imagine yourself soaring around in one of the little colorful chairs. The swings and the accompanying music varied from bright and cheery to dark and ominous and I absolutely loved the dichotomy. I think carnivals and theme parks can really toe that line of whimsy and terror (depending on your opinion of clowns) and I appreciate that the atmosphere provided me with multiple ways to experience and interpret Luna Luna.
I understand that the Luna Luna we have today isn’t a 1:1 recreation of the Luna Luna Heller originally imagined, but I think it’s still an exhibition very worth seeing. Learning about the history of the exhibit and how all of this came together (and fell apart) was told really well through timelines and videos around the space. I think folks sometimes get very possessive over art and only want it to be interpreted and experienced in one way, but the thing about art is that once it’s out there it sort of doesn’t belong to you anymore. And I think my favorite kind of art, whether it’s a movie or a painting or whatever, is the kind that can be experienced in different ways depending on my mood and the details I happen to focus on in that moment.
Luna Luna is open at The Shed through Jan 5. I recommend buying the cheapest $44 ticket because the higher tiers don’t really give you much else. You’ll get to skip some lines which might be nice if you’re going on a peak weekend day, but the crowd on a Friday really wasn’t too bad. And I also don’t recommend going upstairs to the Butterfly Bar. Aside from offering overpriced drinks, it provides you with a vantage point above the exhibit that you might think you want, but will actually ruin the grandeur of the experience by giving you a bird’s eye view I don’t think you should have.
Xanadu is hosting a Skate Party for the girls, gays, and theys on Dec 19. They’ll have a queer vendor market onsite for those last minute holiday gifts and they’ll be raising funds for Bushwick Ayuda Mutua.
Studio 45 in Bushwick would like you to decorate candles and drink hot chocolate with them on Dec 19. You’ll “paint” the candles using colored wax and tickets are offered on a sliding scale from $30-40. Pair this with Tiny Arts Supply’s Watercolor Holiday Card workshop and you’ve got the makings of a great gift.
If you want to plan ahead to welcome the new year with a Polar Plunge at Coney Island, be sure to register today! The plunge is free, but for a $50 donation you’ll get a beanie that your head will likely want after a dip in the cold water.
The Strand is on strike! Workers are asking the owners of the beloved bookstore to pay them more than minimum wage so they can, you know, afford to fucking live.
I’m a big fan of the Morgan Library and I just learned that they’ll be having a really cool Winter Family Fair this Sat Dec 14! They’ll have the original Charles Dickens manuscript of A Christmas Carol on display while folks dressed up as the characters stroll the space and perform.
Tons of galleries in Harlem will open their doors this Sat Dec 14 for the Harlem Art Stroll. Registration is free and you’ll receive a digital map of all participating galleries.
If you’ve tapped into your inner birder, consider joining the NYC Bird Alliance for their Annual Bird Count this Sun Dec 15. What began as a tradition of shooting as many birds as possible has thankfully turned into a much kinder count of as many bird species as possible.
I’m just a girl, sitting in front of a screen, asking someone to sponsor my participation in this adorable AF Tea Set Handbuilding Course at Bushwick Ceramics.
The Met just announced that they’ll be constructing a new wing to house their 20th-21st Century art! It’ll be designed by Mexican architect Frida Escobedo—the first woman to design a new wing in the Museum’s 154-year history.
I visited one of my favorite museum, MCNY, recently and they had QR codes everywhere with the absolute sickest offer - $25 for one year of unlimited admission. It comes with other benefits too, but what a freakin deal! I should note that admission for NY State residents is always pay what you wish and regular admission for anyone else is $23, but this might end up being an amazing deal considering a year long membership is usually $80.
I miss this last event every single year and for once I’m finally planning ahead! St Nicholas Church in the East Village will be hosting their Annual Cookie Walk this Sat and Sun. You get to buy a large or small box upon arrival and peruse their tables of 75+ types of cookies. You can stuff your box with as many cookies as you want and as long as it closes, the bounty is yours! Say hey if you see me there on Sunday 😉 🍪
Last call for Holiday cards + NYC polaroids for my paid subscribers! 💌
1) Choose a photo from an existing adventure, or challenge me to find something new for you! Seriously, pick any location or any landmark and I’ll go there to snap a cool pic for you.
2) Send me your address via this form to receive a fun surprise in your mailbox 📝 📬
