As summer travels start to simmer and the city refills, there’s something set apart in the novelty of the first meal after landing. Jet lag paired with an empty fridge is its own kind of pressure, but the ritual you reach for reveals a great deal about your hunger-to-comfort pipeline.
Maybe you're persuaded by nostalgia? A specific location you frequent or a dish you couldn't get while away, can all feel so euphoric once home and in familiar territory. Sometimes it's a family recipe. Sometimes it's the reliability of your neighborhood spot. Sometimes it's simply the quickest, easiest option in order to satiate your needs. Whatever the method, it's the meal that matters most.
Conway C. Liao, Founder of Hudson Wilder and frequent flyer, recalls a specific jet-setter approach from his younger years which has since evolved into something slightly more settled, yet equally as intentional.
“After a long stretch away from New York, I used to jump into a yellow cab and head straight to the Halal cart on Prince + Broadway in SoHo. These days, it’s a comfort food I’ve known for decades growing up in Northern California… Beef Pho, from Vietnam, with deep roots in France: Pot-au-Feu”
Contributions from our well-traveled Hudson Wilder community include unwavering loyalty, with repeat orders from specific restaurants such as Wei Williamsburg and Hibino in Brooklyn Heights. Many others shared the same sentiments as Conway’s distinct order coordination, aligning the timing of meal delivery with an Uber drop-off so hunger has no chance of settling in. Others lean toward more restorative, opting for regional selects like Miso soup for a much-needed grounding effect post-flight.
No matter how or where the meal is attained, the regard for ritual remains the same.
One practice worth encouraging is the art of decanting and plating, even your takeaway. For us, it’s in the form of a pour in our Cirrus glass inspired by travel and translated into the everyday. It’s a small gesture that serves as a way to elevate your return, and bridge the transition from traveling back into routine.
Few things are quite as reassuring or reverent as your fundamental first meal after landing.
And, if you happen to fly into NYC on a Saturday afternoon this August or September, come find us for the latest chapter of Ephemeral Matter — the Passport Project: a rotating roster of chefs alongside an open fire format. It’s all hosted over the grill, sidewalk style and perfectly on brand for the next time you land.
Find our calendar and follow us on Instagram for sneak peeks of the menu each week.