Noodle Lane

By chance, or perhaps as part of some larger message from the Universe, I spent the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 witnessing other people begin new chapters.

Upon finishing culinary school, my friend Lane had been plotting to get into the food business for years. From trying to find a small store front to auditioning for food TV competitions to applying for a food truck license (a notoriously difficult task in NYC).

On Sunday, she made her auspicious debut at the Brooklyn Flea in Williamsburg. She had applied for a food vendor spot, successfully auditioned with a live cooking demonstration, and was approved to open her fledgling Sichuan noodle stand called "Noodle Lane".

Sunday, September 11, 2011. On the East River Waterfront, between North 6th and North 7th in Williamsburg. 10am to 5pm. The nearby L-train was jacked up, so I had to take the J train to Marcy Ave and make a longer pilgrimage to her debut.

Suffice it to say, the noodles were/are superb and sold out before 5pm. I personally found the "extra hot" to be completely manageable, although there is a chance she calibrated the heat to go easy on me and other hipsters. NOODLE LANE will be at the Brooklyn Flea in Williamsburg every Sunday, so I encourage you to try it yourself (if you're not vegetarian). You might even see me there if you're unlucky.

I'd intended to stay to the end to help them pack up but I had to deal with something else back at the apartment...

There's a big black reclining chair that had been taking up space in the apartment. The idea was to just chuck it out onto the sidewalk but my friend (Lane's worser half) had just told me about FREECYCLE: a website that aims to reduce waste by creating a forum where people can give away stuff for free.

I posted an advert for the chair on Saturday and got a response shortly thereafter. A mother of two who'd just moved to Queens. She thought her daughters would adore the reclining chair.

I emailed her back to emphasize that I lived on the top floor of a 4-story walk-up and she'd need to be able to get it down and transport it. Essentially trying to talk her out of it. She responded that she and her daughter were "moving machines" and would be ready for the task.

I ended up feeling a little bad about the idea of making this young mother and daughter duo carry this bulky chair down four flights, so I ended up carrying it down myself. (Which was less difficult than I'd imagined.) I even lifted it into the back of their SUV for them, where I saw they had two ACs (another Freecycle score). The daughter, who reminded me of Willow Smith, smiled at me and said, "You live in a cool neighborhood!"

I thanked them both and wished them good luck as they drove away with the bulky recliner that wasn't even mine. Maybe it was the beginning of something good for them.