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| How Tamara Shopsin, Illustrator and Part-Time Cook, Spends Her Sundays | How Tamara Shopsin, Illustrator and Part-Time Cook, Spends Her Sundays |
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| In Tamara Shopsin's 2017 memoir, “Arbitrary Stupid Goal,” the illustrator and designer recounts growing up in Greenwich Village in the 1970s and ’80s, when much of her life revolved around the family business, Shopsin’s General Store. In 2007 the restaurant, known for its exhaustive menu and outspoken chef/owner (Ms. Shopsin’s father, Kenny), relocated to the Essex Street Market, where Ms. Shopsin, 38, still works the weekend brunch shift. She lives in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, with her husband, the photographer Jason Fulford. | |
| THE STELLA I get up at 8 o’clock, then I’ll make a coffee. The radio is always turned to WFMU. At that hour it’s “Burn It Down”; we love that show. If my husband is home, which he normally is, he’ll put on his uniform — a towel with a belt. He’ll make oatmeal and almonds with honey, and I’ll just eat an orange or something. Usually by the time I leave home I’ll have had two coffees, which we make with a mocha pot. It’s a nice mocha pot we got in Italy, this beautiful thing. We call it the Stella. | THE STELLA I get up at 8 o’clock, then I’ll make a coffee. The radio is always turned to WFMU. At that hour it’s “Burn It Down”; we love that show. If my husband is home, which he normally is, he’ll put on his uniform — a towel with a belt. He’ll make oatmeal and almonds with honey, and I’ll just eat an orange or something. Usually by the time I leave home I’ll have had two coffees, which we make with a mocha pot. It’s a nice mocha pot we got in Italy, this beautiful thing. We call it the Stella. |
| COMMUTE I like to be out the door by 9. I ride a bike, a green Schwinn Collegiate, and I don’t like to be rushing when I ride a bike so I’m always early for things. I think riding a bike in a rush in the city is a bad idea, but I think riding a bike in the city is the best idea. I love to ride, even in the winter. I wear ski goggles and I have lobster mittens and waterproof pants. I’m prepared. Ski goggles are my No. 1 tip for winter riding. | COMMUTE I like to be out the door by 9. I ride a bike, a green Schwinn Collegiate, and I don’t like to be rushing when I ride a bike so I’m always early for things. I think riding a bike in a rush in the city is a bad idea, but I think riding a bike in the city is the best idea. I love to ride, even in the winter. I wear ski goggles and I have lobster mittens and waterproof pants. I’m prepared. Ski goggles are my No. 1 tip for winter riding. |
| GRIDDLE I get to work by 10 or a little before. My brother Zack is the dude — like he does all the prep and setup and stuff and I get there and it’s just my job to work the griddle. I cook fast and then when it’s done I get to leave, I don’t have to stay around for the cleanup. But the cooking is very hard work. I work my butt off, I sweat. It’s intense. I can’t even pee. But when we’re doing it it’s like a dance. My twin sister Melinda is a big part of the restaurant. Sometimes she brings her daughter and the whole restaurant stops to yell, “Zazie!” | GRIDDLE I get to work by 10 or a little before. My brother Zack is the dude — like he does all the prep and setup and stuff and I get there and it’s just my job to work the griddle. I cook fast and then when it’s done I get to leave, I don’t have to stay around for the cleanup. But the cooking is very hard work. I work my butt off, I sweat. It’s intense. I can’t even pee. But when we’re doing it it’s like a dance. My twin sister Melinda is a big part of the restaurant. Sometimes she brings her daughter and the whole restaurant stops to yell, “Zazie!” |
| NO TIME TO THINK We close at 2 on Sundays. There was a time where I was just like, I felt seriously terrible because we were so busy. But now it’s much chiller. I actually love it when it’s really busy now. When there’s that crush of orders you don’t think about anything else, which is great because all week I’m doing this mental gymnastics with illustrations and projects and deadlines. In the kitchen, there’s no thinking. Once we’re closed, I’ll cook lunch for myself, whatever’s leftover. | NO TIME TO THINK We close at 2 on Sundays. There was a time where I was just like, I felt seriously terrible because we were so busy. But now it’s much chiller. I actually love it when it’s really busy now. When there’s that crush of orders you don’t think about anything else, which is great because all week I’m doing this mental gymnastics with illustrations and projects and deadlines. In the kitchen, there’s no thinking. Once we’re closed, I’ll cook lunch for myself, whatever’s leftover. |
| GO FOR THE TEA, STAY FOR THE BATHROOMS I get back on my bike and ride to 39th Street, where there’s this little tea place called Ippodo Tea that’s sort of hidden in a restaurant. I go to the counter and I get a matcha. I don’t really Zen out ever, I’m not a Zen person, but maybe I’ll call a friend while I’m there or I’ll just watch the strange humans who come for tea. Or I’ll practice my Italian. I go to Italy with my husband a lot because he has work there. I feel like at this point in my relationship with Italy, I need to take it to the next level. I need to be able to say more than thank you, please and hello, so I don’t feel like a scumbag. Another thing I like about the tea place is they have an excellent bathroom, one of the best bathrooms in New York. It’s like a Japanese toilet station. | GO FOR THE TEA, STAY FOR THE BATHROOMS I get back on my bike and ride to 39th Street, where there’s this little tea place called Ippodo Tea that’s sort of hidden in a restaurant. I go to the counter and I get a matcha. I don’t really Zen out ever, I’m not a Zen person, but maybe I’ll call a friend while I’m there or I’ll just watch the strange humans who come for tea. Or I’ll practice my Italian. I go to Italy with my husband a lot because he has work there. I feel like at this point in my relationship with Italy, I need to take it to the next level. I need to be able to say more than thank you, please and hello, so I don’t feel like a scumbag. Another thing I like about the tea place is they have an excellent bathroom, one of the best bathrooms in New York. It’s like a Japanese toilet station. |
| MANHATTAN ADVENTURE If it’s really cold I’ll go to the Morgan Library or a downtown art museum, but if it’s nice I’ll ride all the way up to the Jewish Museum or the Met Breuer or the Museum of the Moving Image, just to have somewhere far to ride. I don’t go back to Sunset Park until later because there’s so much to do in Manhattan. I have like a Swiss Army knife of things I want to do. Plus I’m chained to my desk all week so it’s good to be out. | MANHATTAN ADVENTURE If it’s really cold I’ll go to the Morgan Library or a downtown art museum, but if it’s nice I’ll ride all the way up to the Jewish Museum or the Met Breuer or the Museum of the Moving Image, just to have somewhere far to ride. I don’t go back to Sunset Park until later because there’s so much to do in Manhattan. I have like a Swiss Army knife of things I want to do. Plus I’m chained to my desk all week so it’s good to be out. |
| POPCORN I usually take a bath when I get home because I stink like hell from working at the store all day. Dinner is a wild card. One thing we like to do is have popcorn. Jason makes the best popcorn, on the stove. I will fight to the death for that popcorn. | POPCORN I usually take a bath when I get home because I stink like hell from working at the store all day. Dinner is a wild card. One thing we like to do is have popcorn. Jason makes the best popcorn, on the stove. I will fight to the death for that popcorn. |
| GOOD NIGHT We’ll try to be in bed by like 11:45 or midnight. I don’t stay up any later because I get late-night loony. | GOOD NIGHT We’ll try to be in bed by like 11:45 or midnight. I don’t stay up any later because I get late-night loony. |