Two years ago, I sent the first newsletter for Between Bites. I was excited, I was heartbroken, I was dealing with personal matters, and I was uncertain. Uncertain about things ranging from where my love life was going, to what my career would turn into.
I released a few newsletters and then “life” happened. Which I think is a better excuse to say, I procrastinated. Hard. So hard that Between Bites went into a year-long hibernation and is finally coming out of its slumber. Similar to what a bear looks like after months of science-justified napping, Between Bites too, is looking a bit rough, but she will get it together and so will I.
The first ever newsletter I wrote for this publication was about a big shift in my life.
I was about to move from New York to London, had broken up with my then-boyfriend and was saying goodbye to all of my closest friends.
So we are back, a year later. What happened?
I moved to London, worked at an amazing wine bar called the Nook with two of the best people I have ever met (shoutout to Lale and Gus), learned about wine and food, discovered great restaurants (shoutout to Grove House Tavern ft. Mondo Sando and Dishoom), finished my Master’s degree, fell absolutely crazy in love with a man, moved back to Istanbul, moved in with said man I fell in love with, broke up with him, moved back to the mainland, moved into my own apartment, started a crazy-demanding but extremely rewarding job, re-instated 20’lik, finally found a hairdresser that cut my hair the way I liked it, caught like 6 sinus infections, found the only store in Istanbul that sells Oatly milk, formed new friendships, rekindled old ones, experienced a new wave of political turmoil in Turkey, and now, I am in New York to visit friends and attend one of my good friends’ weddings. Whew. That was a lot. We will get into some of that in the following newsletter.
So while all of this was happening, you know what did not change? The excitement I felt for food. My eating habits would change, and some days my breakfast, lunch, and dinner would consist of back-to-back coffees, but one way or another, food was always a constant.
Now, back in New York after what feels like an eternity (3 years), I feel more inspired than before. I could never put my finger on what exactly it was about this city that made me fall in love with it so madly, so deeply, so intensely. Or what it was about it that awoke my need to discover, to taste, to see every last bit of it — not that that could ever be possible– there are between 17,000 - 27,000 eateries/restaurants in NYC. I tried calculating how many years it would take me to get through all of them. If I were to eat out for all three meals a day, it would take me… 24 years? Does that sound right? Anyway…
As I question these things that I should probably be journaling or talking to a psychologist about, I just wanted to officially welcome you back to this newsletter. It has been a long break, but similar to a slow-cooked brisket, it might just be worth the wait.
And just like any grandmother recipe, sometimes you have to not think about it too much, play it as it lays and hope that your fingers add enough magic to make the results purely delicious. So we are changing our tune here at Between Bites a little bit. Some weeks it will look exactly like it did before: it might include segments like Where Are We Going?, Eavesdropping, Sounds from the Kitchen and The Rundown. And some weeks it will just be a brief note. Because it does not always have to be complicated. This is a past conversation I had with a fellow Substacker and more importantly, a friend Elle (follow her newsletter here).
So anyway. That was it.
🫒 Thank you for tuning in! See you all next week. 🫒
Yasmin