Just days before leaving for Seattle, I completed and published my first video project. In the months leading up to my cross-country move, I had the idea that I should do a final lap at the ten spots I’d miss most. I wanted to remember and document this and decided narrating over video would tell this story best.
Working with video had intimidated me for years, so I stubbornly stuck to photography and writing. I knew that I needed to practice in order to strengthen that creative muscle, but nothing had inspired me to put in the work til now.
The easiest part about this project was choosing the ten places. What I found most challenging was getting over my own awkwardness about filming myself eating, talking into a camera in public, and explaining to the restaurant staff what I was doing. A lot of this was due to my personal distaste for coming off as an obnoxious influencer type. I never fully got over my reluctance with talking in front of a camera while strangers were around, but I did become more comfortable and relaxed as I ticked my way through the list. I could see this in the footage as there were notably fewer disfluencies (ums and uhhs) and other nervous ticks.
During the editing process, I assumed I’d feel uncomfortable with the sound of my own voice but never did. Instead, I never really thought about how the person on my screen was actually me from a few hours earlier. I’m not sure why that is, but it’s not because I put on a persona that was untrue to me. I wanted to keep it pretty understated, obviously I wasn’t going to beg people to smash that subscribe button.
Similarly, I wanted to keep the filming equipment as simple as possible. I entertained the idea of a special mic that would cut down on wind noise, but quickly became overwhelmed trying different equipment and even ruining some footage. I was spending more time on the the hardware and not enough on the content (or other important things like packing for the move). I told myself that only if I got more seriously into this, then I could justify the additional expense.
Someone suggested I do this in Seattle to document the dining scene there. I doubt this would happen. The reason this topic was compelling to me was because of the relationship I had to the city and its food scene. Doing this as a new transplant to Seattle would lack all of the nuance and cultural awareness that comes with being a native or long-time resident. The restaurants would be just another place to eat, unlike these ten in NYC where each spot is a trigger for personal memories from my past. I’ll miss them the same way I’ll miss my friends.
Also shooting food videos is work. There’s not a lot of fun in holding a camera to your plate instead of enjoying it fully or pointing it around a restaurant when other people are trying to eat. I was happy to put a spotlight on these locations though, especially after the pandemic. Also, I now have no worries about these places getting longer lines since I’m outta here!
I was most touched by the reaction from the Reddit r/nyc community (see here). I’ve been a part of that group for years and they can be quite critical, especially when it comes to food or self-promotion. Everyone was so sweet and supportive with their comments. For several of them, it made them nostalgic for NYC. Someone who was moving out said they’d try this list as well while they packed their things. Mostly it was a lot of people wishing me well and agreeing with my picks.
Overall, I felt pretty happy with how this project turned out. I’m glad I put in the work and not quit halfway through (as I was tempted to do early on). I’ll mostly like play around with making other videos.