There are currently 7 parts in this blog series. If you haven’t read Parts 1–6, please read those before reading Part 7; the series follows the order of Todd’s first NYC explorations beginning in 1977.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

A True NYC Food Adventure: Part 7

Exploring SoHo on My Own

Such a Different Neighborhood

If you read #6 you know that my friends and I came across SoHo by mistake. We only walked around in SoHo for a short amount of time before heading back to the Village. There was something I saw that drew me to come back to SoHo alone so I could see what it was all about.

The first thing I noticed were cobblestone streets and different architecture. It’s not like I was looking at the architecture in the village back then; but I did immediately see the differences. Some of the streets had buildings with larger windows, the facades had a lot more detail, some had columns, and a lot had what seemed some type of factory. I couldn’t tell if people lived on the floors above the first floor, or if the entire building was commercial. There were also the buildings with the fire escapes that were similar to the ones I saw in the village.

Finding Food and Feeling Out of Place

At that point in time, I was not interested in architecture, it was just something I observed. My goal was to find interesting food shops that I could show my friends on our next trip in. As I started my search for lunch, I came across a bread shop like Zito’s. This one was called Vesuvio’s. It seemed older than Zito’s and they had about 5 different types of bread. The woman behind the counter didn’t seem friendly so I didn’t ask her any questions. I bought a loaf of Italian bread and was on my way.

A few minutes later I saw what looked like a small grocery store. I walked in, looked around, and then ordered a ¼ lb of salami. The guy behind the counter was very happy to see that I had bread from Vesuvio’s. He said the salami will go great with that bread!

Now I needed to find a place to make a sandwich and eat. As I walked around, I noticed that there weren’t too many kids in the area, and it was Saturday, and that seemed odd. I didn’t know if I should stay in SoHo or go to Washington Square Park to eat. As I was thinking about it, I came upon a small playground with kids. So, I felt it was OK to stay there. I found an empty bench and made myself a giant salami sandwich.

As soon as I started eating two people sat down on the bench and asked if I was going to eat the whole sandwich. The first thing I thought is that they wanted me to share the sandwich. I said I was going to eat half and bring the other half to my dad. At that point it didn’t seem like they wanted a piece of  my sandwich. I think they felt it was odd that I was eating an entire loaf of Italian bread with salami by myself. They said you must be hungry. I said yeah and got up and walked away. I got a bit nervous and felt it was best to leave. I think they were just amazed to see a skinny kid eat such a huge sandwich.

After eating the entire sandwich, I needed to get something to drink. At this point I had no idea where I was. I saw a few people go inside what looked like a restaurant. That seemed like a good place to ask someone where I was. As I walked in, I noticed it was a café and decided to sit and order a coke. There weren’t many people in there which was good. I asked the waitress where I was, and she said New York City young fella. I wanted to laugh but didn’t, she knew that I was a kid out of place compared to the other people in the café. She might have even thought I was a runaway (I didn’t think about that back then).

I drank my coke and left. As I was leaving, I asked the bartender if the café was in SoHo, and he said yes. Ten minutes after I left had to use the restroom. I then tried looking for the café I had the coke in but no luck, I never saw the name or the street it was on. As you can tell I was a bit rattled from the two people that asked about my sandwich and the waitress that told me I was in NYC. Because I was stressed I didn’t take any notes and felt I needed to calm down and find a restroom.

I saw another grocery store, bought an apple, and asked if the guy behind the counter if there was a public bathroom I could use. The guy behind the counter called for someone to take me downstairs to the bathroom. Great, another basement! The basement was kind of dark, and there were a bunch of people working down there, which was good to see. The guy said that bathroom was over there. I peed and got the hell out of there!

Calming Down and Seeing SoHo Differently

My solo visit to SoHo was stressful. At that point I decided to walk around and just look around, unless I ran into a cool food shop. As I walked around, I became calmer and started to relax which was necessary, or I would have headed home. Before I knew it, I saw bunch of people standing on the sidewalk in front of a store. I looked through the window and there were also a bunch of people inside. From what I could tell they were looking at pictures on the wall. I walked across the street to observe from there what was actually going on. There was a sign that said something gallery. At 15 I had no idea what a gallery was, obviously it was an art gallery.

I decided to walk across the street and go inside. No one asked me anything and I was able to look around. From what I could tell the artist was in the gallery describing certain paintings. I overheard her talking to what seemed like her friends. Everyone in the room was in their thirties or a bit older (from what I could tell). I only stayed for about ten minutes because it felt like it was a hundred degrees in there!  I also felt uncomfortable because everyone was dressed in black and I was in jeans and a flannel shirt.

Why SoHo Felt Different

At that point I realized that SoHo was completely different than the Village. There were some similarities, but more differences, and those things stressed me out. I was also alone which didn’t make things easier. I was really confused when I started walking on a street called West Broadway. I was on Broadway a few times with my parents and knew that street wasn’t near where I was. I had no idea why there was a street called West Broadway. This was a two-way street, and I didn’t see many of those in the Village or SoHo.

The more I walked the more I felt like I was walking in the wrong direction (or the wrong part of SoHo). Luckily, I found a diner and knew I could go in there and ask someone how to get back to the Village. I asked a waitress who was probably on a break. She was smoking a cigarette at the counter and looked like she had two black eyes. She gave me directions that I did not understand (left here, right there, left here, etc). As I started to walk out, she stopped me and said, walk out of the door, make a left and walk one block, cross the street and you will be in the Village. She was originally messing with me, I guess she needed a good laugh! I smiled at her and walked to the Village. As I entered the Village I felt calm again.

What I Learned From this Visit

I needed to return to SoHo with my friend John, he had the patience to explore. After this trip to NYC, I felt like a needed a break. Feeling stressed out, uncomfortable, and out of sorts, made me rethink my next visit. I needed to better be prepared for the unknown so I don’t get too stressed out. Overall, it was an OK visit to SoHo, and I knew it needed to try it again.

Thank you for reading Part 7, stay tuned for Part 8!

–

Todd Lefkovic
Founder/Owner
Foods of NY Tours