Into the Driver’s Seat: From Mind-numbing Map Reading to Mind-blowing Baklava

November 18, 2009
Into the Driver’s Seat: From Mind-numbing Map Reading to Mind-blowing Baklava No, I’m not going to subject you to the details of all that I learned on the first day of taxi school. There were some fun moments, though. I especially liked the tremendously corny video “I AM New York: Becoming a Professional Taxi Driver,” in which a wise man in the rear view mirror shows
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Into the Driver’s Seat: Taxi School & Street Meat

November 16, 2009
Into the Driver’s Seat: Taxi School & Street Meat Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world. - Arthur Schopenhauer (quoted on the N train to Queens) First, the good news: the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) accepted my yellow cab application today and gave me a ticket to taxi school. But not
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Kebob and Sour Cherries at Ravagh Persian Grill

November 12, 2009
Kebob and Sour Cherries at Ravagh Persian Grill Ravagh Persian Grill in Murray Hill – one of two Persian restaurants that Eli Parviz recommended after we got lost during our quest for his favorite Colombian food – is more elegant than most of the places where I wind up on the taxi adventures. When I walked into the dining room the day
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A Colombian Illusion and Two Persian Leads

November 11, 2009
A Colombian Illusion and Two Persian Leads If there’s anything I’ve learned over the course of these food quests, it’s that in the moment I climb into a taxi, I have no clue what the back story of the person in the front seat might be. The idea that we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover isn’t new, I know. But
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Into the Driver’s Seat: What a Difference an “E” Makes

November 9, 2009
Into the Driver’s Seat: What a Difference an “E” Makes Warning: The following is a rant, but the profanity is only implied. Five years ago, a teenage Gypsy caught me with my guard down and lifted my wallet – and every identifying document I owned – in the Madrid subway. Eventually, I replaced all that was missing, but my name somehow ended up misspelled on
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Istanbul: Eduard’s Second Home Run

November 5, 2009
Istanbul: Eduard’s Second Home Run I could feel the heat from the döner kebab the moment I opened the door to Istanbul, the second Rego Park restaurant* that taxi driver Eduard Zavlanov recommended during our ride through Midtown Manhattan. When he’s craving Turkish food, the musician from Uzbekistan told me that this is his favorite spot. When I walked into
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