founder - Xi’an Famous Foods
Like so many New Yorkers, I’m on this neverending mission to figure out what the best sushi restaurant in the city is. This is a journey I’ve been on since college when I won a gift certificate via an eating contest to one of those mayo-all-over-the-Philadelphia-roll spots. Needless to say, it was a real revelation when I finally graduated to legitimate omakase establishments. I’ve tried almost every spot in town at this point, and, while places like Masa are great, I find myself in the Lower East Side at Sushi Ko more than anywhere else. You can’t beat the quality and price combination that they’re working with. The chef (and owner) John Daley is extremely focused on perfecting his craft while simultaneously being this very relaxed, friendly guy. His willingness to impart knowledge about different kinds of fish makes the experience at Ko even more accessible. Super inspiring. Every time I’m there, I make sure to remind John that he’s completely ruined any other sushi for me.
I’ve been getting my hair cut by the same people at this salon since I was twelve. When I was younger, my family lived in Connecticut. Once a month, we’d drive into to the city to buy groceries and eat real Chinese food and all that. Obviously, those trips would find us in Flushing pretty frequently. Five Star was where we’d stop by so I could get my hair cut. I don’t know what it is about our head shapes and hair, exactly, but it’s impossible for me to get the same kind of cut I want at Supercuts or whatever, man. That’s just asking for disaster. So yeah, back in those days, I’d wait a month to get my hair cut at this one spot in Queens and I’d be good for a couple of weeks. Until about a year ago, it was six bucks for a cut, too. We’re at eight bucks now - huge jump. My guy always jokes about how I should bring back my orange, spiky hair that I had in high school.
Another cool thing to watch at Five Star is how the staff I grew up with have assumed managerial roles. Half their business is Latino folks, so most of the staff at the salon speak Spanish as well as Cantonese and Mandarin. I think one of them actually lived in South America for a while - it’s a trip to see all these Northern Chinese immigrants laughing and chatting with their Latino customers. That’s Flushing for you.
Damn, has anyone done this one yet? I gotta give a shoutout to Circle - it’d be wrong of me not to. Despite the negative press about it as of late, it’s still a place where I’ve had...who knows how many memorable nights with my friends. The nostalgia is real - I did a lot of growing up at Circle. It’s kind of an experience that every Asian kid in the city goes through, right? You line up in these ridiculous queues, try to get into VIP, pay a premium for that, then try to get your hands on a bottle of something for the table - just an absurd amount of hoops to buy into a vibe. But looking back on all of that stuff is how you start parsing out what’s really important in your life, you know? Not only do you realize how solid your real friendships have become, but you’re also able to start thinking about priorities and where you’re headed. Are you going to be about that life forever? Is there a balance you want to strike? Are you over it entirely? It’s kind of deep in a weird way! Shoutout to Circle. For real.
I think that independent businesses have a lot more room to be creative with their decisions. It’s not that large corporations don’t want to innovate, it’s just that they’re too unwieldy - you can’t turn that big of a ship quickly enough to match how quickly the audience moves now. That’s why you see big businesses looking at small businesses all the time for inspiration - we’ve had so many restaurant chains and franchises come by Xi’an over the past few years, trying to figure out what’s under the hood. So by supporting independents, you’re actually supporting people who push creativity in business forward every day of their lives. That’s worth a lot.
#ForNewYork