I’ve been spending a lot of time in Times Square lately. Have you ever been to Times Square? Many New Yorkers have a love/hate relationship with it. Many of us often avoid it if we can. It’s just a zoo. But there are no cages. The wild animals are roaming freely…
Before my first visit to NYC, a wee little musical theatre major in St. Louis, MO, I had a post card of Times Square stuck to my fridge that my friend BrianPaul sent me. I didn’t need a vision board, I just looked at that card every day knowing someday I’d be there, LIVING the dream. Despite what I saw on television and movies, I kinda thought the whole city would look like that postcard.
My junior year of college brought me to New York City for the first time. In 1993, I suppose Times Square was a zoo back then too, but I loved it! All the lights, the people, the buildings covered in billboards advertising Broadway shows — It. Was. Glorious.
Shout out to my sister, Jules, and childhood bests, Janessa and Stephanie that continue to visit me in NYC!
And then I moved here in 1994, just 3 months after I graduated! I’d go to Times Square to the Equity Building for auditions, to see Broadway shows, to bring friends when they came in town to visit. I felt important. I was following my dreams in the city that I dreamed about as I gazed at that postcard.
I’m not quite sure when it happened, but Times Square changed, sure it was more safe, but it became a miserable destination. The animals were tamed a bit and the Square evolved from zoo to circus. LOTS more people, less places to walk, so much construction, cheesy characters in costume. This was not the place of my postcard dreams anymore.
Commercial restaurants moved in. Come on; you’ve traveled all this way from your hometown, you don’t need to eat at Applebee’s or Red Lobster when you come to NYC, do you? You can eat there when you go back home. The hub of New York City became a spectacle. I began to avoid Times Square. I think that’s when I knew I was a true New Yorker.
I never made it to Broadway as an actor, but my life has taken so many wonderful turns, I couldn’t possibly feel like I failed. I love what I do, I’m good at what I do, and I’m still doing it in the city that I love!
Life is funny. This summer I received an email from my fairy godmother of food opportunities, Jessica from Thomas Preti Catering, recommending me for another incredible opportunity in the food world.
Jessica put my name in the ‘Do you know someone who can cook for Hugh Jackman’s wife for 2 weeks?’ hat. She also put my name in the hat to be a brand ambassador for Stoneridge Orchards, my beloved dried fruit company I’m always talking about. Well wouldn’t you know Jessica put my name in a hat and got me and my food on BROADWAY?!?! Life is funny.
So, here I am, food consultant and specialty food provider for the new Lynn Nottage play Clyde’s presented by 2ndStage on Broadway. I’m in Times Square nearly every day! I am living the dream.
In order for Broadway to re-open, there are Covid protocols. Casts and crews are on testing schedules. Clyde’s tests every Tuesday and Friday. One day last week, I left the stage door dropping off sandwiches for that evening’s performance. The Helen Hayes theatre is on 44th street and I had to walk up to 50th to my testing site. I had to walk through the heart of Times Square. Ugh. I was annoyed by the circus.
As I was waiting at a traffic light I hear a woman say, “Let’s just take a minute longer to take in this view before going back to the hotel. Life is short. We may never see this again.” I followed her voice and turned to see her holding a man’s hand, their smiling faces turned upwards. I followed their gaze as I stood with them.
I looked at Times Square with new eyes. Or maybe old eyes. Eyes from 1993, eyes that belonged to that wee musical theatre major dreaming of Broadway. I saw my postcard. I took in the lights, the people, the buildings covered in billboards advertising Broadway shows — It. Was. Glorious.
One of The sandwiches I make for Clyde’s is scripted to be a tuna sandwich. One of the actors who eats the sandwich onstage doesn’t eat meat, so I make a chickpea ‘tuna’ sandwich. No one in the audience can tell! It’s truly a tasty vegetarian salad whether you’re going for tuna or not. If you are in NYC, come see Clyde’s! We are in preview performances right now, but opening night is November 23rd.
Chickpea ‘Tuna’ Salad Sandwich
29 ounce can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup finely chopped celery
1 cup finely chopped red onion
1 cup finely chopped parsley
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
butter to spread
2 baguettes, cut into thirds or fourths, depending on the size, and sliced open
pickled onions (recipe found here)
roasted red peppers from a jar, cut into 2 inch pieces
arugula
Place the drained and rinsed chickpeas into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to break up the peas into flakes. Just a few pulses is all it takes before it becomes paste. Don’t let it become paste!
In a medium bowl, gently mix the chickpeas with the other ingredients.
Butter each side of the baguette. this seals in the bread so it won’t get soggy, and hello - bread and butter is good. Press leaves of arugula into the buttered baguette pieces. Layer on the red pepper pieces onto the bottom halves. Spoon some of the chickpea salad on top of the peppers. Add pickled onions on the next layer. Take the tops of the baguette, buttered with arugula pressed into them, and gently press them onto the sandwiches, holding the sides so the filling doesn’t squish out..
Wrap them up and have a picnic!
