South Ends and Bits

I've been living in the South End for almost a year now, but the gentrification thing still weirds me out sometimes. I've made peace with it, though not as much peace as Riles. When I confessed to being a gentrifier to my former soc prof and current soc idol last weekend, she said, "Well, who hasn't?" And then told me stories of her time in Philly, how she "got beat up a lot" and "always felt like I deserved it." Praying really hard that I neither get mugged nor feel like I deserve it any time soon.

On a slightly irrelevant neighborhood note, Taiwanese American chef Joanne Chang (who schooled Bobby Flay in a throwdown) has 2 establishments pretty much equidistant on either side of my place. And I hate Myers & Chang with as much passion as I love Flour Bakery & Cafe (much as I love-hate yuppies and their lifestyle). I went halfsies on 2 Flour sandwiches with Liz today (roast lamb with tomato chutney, arugula, and goat cheese; roast chicken with pickled jicama and avocado spread) and we both had the hardest time deciding which to eat first (I ended up alternating-- chicken, lamb, chicken, lamb) and last because they were equally heavenly. I might have shed a tear on the last bite. I might have prayed that Jesus hold off his return until I finished the sandwiches. It was so good that I want to write a couple more sentences just to make myself worthy of it. But who am I kidding? In the words of Billy Shakes, "You are not wood, you are not stones, but men. And being men, hearing the delicacies of Flour, it will inflame you, it will make you mad." Mad, but incredibly satisfied.