WEBVTT - Bonus Episode - New York with Zoe Saldaña

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<v Speaker 1>You were listening to Ruthie's Table four in partnership with Montclair.

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<v Speaker 1>My family has been in New York since nineteen sixties

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<v Speaker 1>and I lived there until I was ten. From ten

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<v Speaker 1>to seventeen, I was in Dominicam Republic. And you went

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<v Speaker 1>back to when I was seventeen. My mom is working,

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<v Speaker 1>my stepdad is working, my sisters and I were finding

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<v Speaker 1>our afternoon sort of placements. I was working also on

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<v Speaker 1>the weekends at Burger King and stop there, what were

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<v Speaker 1>you doing? I worked at Burger King and what did

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<v Speaker 1>you do here? I did the drive through. You know, Hi,

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<v Speaker 1>welcome to Burgleem, I take your order. There was a

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<v Speaker 1>lady from Guyanese lady who is like my boss, and

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<v Speaker 1>I just loved her accent. Welcome to burger Que, Ma

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<v Speaker 1>take Yorda. And I would like, I wasn't making fun

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<v Speaker 1>of her. I would just try to kind of acquire

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<v Speaker 1>this this accent because it was also like, now that

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<v Speaker 1>I'm back in New York, I'm reconnecting with all these

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<v Speaker 1>multicultures all over the place, and a lot of a

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<v Speaker 1>big part of them was connecting with other Caribbean people.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, we're from Spanish Antillas, so the West Indies's

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<v Speaker 1>English and Tillas and the British Islands or whatever, like.

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<v Speaker 1>We didn't really have that in Dominican Republic. So now

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<v Speaker 1>I'm connecting with Jamaicans, I'm connecting with people from Maru.

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<v Speaker 1>Buta Saint Lucia Grant came and cool so I and

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<v Speaker 1>Queens is definitely a very big West Indian and so

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<v Speaker 1>is Brooklyn, West Indian melting pot. So I was going

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<v Speaker 1>bananas for the food. It was so good. And so

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<v Speaker 1>I worked with a whole bunch of Caribbean people, but

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<v Speaker 1>we were from different parts than at Barriking, and it

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<v Speaker 1>was fun. I feel like that's when my curiosity over

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<v Speaker 1>human behavior and who we are as people began. I

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<v Speaker 1>think a restaurant does teach you that. Absolutely would say that,

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<v Speaker 1>walk into a restaurant, look at the tape of everybody

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<v Speaker 1>having fun, and everybody has a story. That's why. Absolutely.

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<v Speaker 1>And one of my managers was this woman who must

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<v Speaker 1>have been in her late thirties, but she drove to

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<v Speaker 1>work in a motorcycle. You know, she was just toping

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<v Speaker 1>I get them up junor like she would just talk

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<v Speaker 1>like a brought during here. She just had a way

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<v Speaker 1>of talking. And I just remember I would have like

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<v Speaker 1>just doze off observing people and hearing their accents. Because

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<v Speaker 1>now I'm in New York again, I'm getting to hear

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<v Speaker 1>the world again. My life was very multicultural. It was

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<v Speaker 1>from the beginning. I think growing up in New York,

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<v Speaker 1>you're just around just the world at all times. Pick

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<v Speaker 1>a block and you'll have like three continents and ten

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<v Speaker 1>different countries and you can eat, and I feel like

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<v Speaker 1>you do get to know people and communities through their food,

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<v Speaker 1>And a lot happens when you break bread with individuals

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<v Speaker 1>you just I don't know, there's an unspoken word that

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<v Speaker 1>makes it permissible for you to connect with people that

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<v Speaker 1>look obviously different, speak differently, smell differently from you, and

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<v Speaker 1>yet through the food that they're sharing with you, you get

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<v Speaker 1>a piece of who they are and vice versa. So

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<v Speaker 1>New York is that special still to this day for me,

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<v Speaker 1>Did you have Chinese food? Did you have any? Oh?

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<v Speaker 1>My god? Did you Every Sunday? You I'm like the

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<v Speaker 1>American families they go like every Sunday to like a

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<v Speaker 1>diner and they'll have like pancakes. Oh god, why would

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<v Speaker 1>I start the day eating cake? Like I don't you know,

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<v Speaker 1>But like I said, I have a savory tooth. So

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<v Speaker 1>we would wake up and go either to Flushing in Queens,

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<v Speaker 1>which is the second biggest sort of like Chinatown Asian

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<v Speaker 1>community outside of Chinatown in downtown Manhattan, or we would

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<v Speaker 1>just go to Chinatown and we would have dim sum.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, on Saturday nights you have Korean barbecue. Friday

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<v Speaker 1>nights you have Korean barbecue. Or or sometimes if my

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<v Speaker 1>family that was visiting from from Dominican Republic that are

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<v Speaker 1>half Dominican half Japanese, they were in town, we would

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<v Speaker 1>go have Shabu shabu, or you go you go to

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<v Speaker 1>Seventhiet Street in Roosevelt and you would have like Indian food.

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<v Speaker 1>That was our community there for Indian food. That shows

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<v Speaker 1>a real curiosity that they really cared. It was always

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<v Speaker 1>through food, mind you, there was still a simplicity. We

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<v Speaker 1>didn't go any deeper than that. But by the time

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<v Speaker 1>I would meet someone that comes from that part of

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<v Speaker 1>the world, and if I've tried their dish before, I

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<v Speaker 1>felt like I already knew half of them. Eating other

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<v Speaker 1>world's foods feeds your curiosity and you do remain open

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<v Speaker 1>going okay, so I know your dishes. Some of your dishes,

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<v Speaker 1>like I want to know more about you. Thank you

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<v Speaker 1>for listening to Ruthie's Table four in partnership with Montclair