Who is The Eatinist Bitch?
I’m Monique. I’ve been writing/posting/whatevering under The Eatinist Bitch moniker for nearly 12 years now, and after many years working in food and way too many false starts…I finally made a website!
I’m a native New Yorker living in Jackson Heights, Queens, who loves cooking, snacking, and sharing. I get emotional about pie and ice cream, and grumpy when I haven’t eaten on time. I’m still exploring everything that makes me, well, me.
My alter ego was born many moons ago under the shadow of The Delacourte Theater in Central Park in 2005….actually, it wasn’t as dramatic as I’m making it sound. I was a college student working with The Public Theater as an usher for Shakespeare in the Park, the historic and FREE Shakespeare festival that produces amazing shows for a theater hungry public every summer. I got to see beautiful and elaborate productions with some of the hottest names of stage and screen every night which was incredible, but I was also making minimum wage. I had two other jobs that same summer to help make up for that, but running around Manhattan every day (most evenings I would be getting home at around 2AM) meant that I needed to eat all the goddamn time.
Since Shakespeare in the Park’s tickets are free, the show depends heavily upon donations from generous legacy benefactors, banks, and members. To show their appreciation for all of the dough, The Public would throw these moderately lavish benefit parties before certain performances. If I got to the park a little early for my shift, I would see gaily decorated tables festooned with groaning bowls of pasta salad and people dressed in humidity-deflated suits and summer dresses getting drunk on moderately priced white wine.
As you can imagine, a good amount of that food wasn’t getting eaten, so after the tables were cleared, the untouched bounty was tucked under the stage (which could be accessed via tunnels known as voms) and left on little tables equipped with paper plates and utensils so we could serve ourselves. We did exactly that, descending upon these tables like hungry locusts and hoovering up that pasta salad and bread as if these were meals that would go out of style. Many of my co-workers (including my soon to be best friend, Tana) were college students, but there were also artists, actors, musicians, and single parents that could be counted among our ranks. Doesn’t matter what your lot in life is, you still have to eat.
One afternoon as I was rolling up to work, I could hear the raucous cheers and merriment that could only mean one thing: a benefit party was ending. As I walked to the lockers/changing area, I could see the other ushers coming to the realization too. TIME TO EAT.
We all ran up the stairs into the theater, and down the center vom to the usual spot where the food would be set. Soon after, I saw Tana run over to me, grinning. I don’t even think we said “hello” to one another, we just started piling food onto our plates and stuffing rolls in our pockets for our coveted “Bread Time” aka the second act of the show.
Our other coworker, B, strolled over to the table to get a roll and just shook his head, laughing at our frenzy. “Y’all are just the eatinist bitches!” he exclaimed, watching us with a combination of affection and wonder (we were really putting that food away, since we had to take our places in our sections soon after).
“We. Are. HUNGRY,” I whined between bites. And really, isn’t that just the thesis statement for my life? I’ve always been hungry: for food of all kinds, for new experiences, for friendship - an endless hunger to live as authentically and with the most joy that I can muster. As The Eatinist Bitch (Tana generously bequeathed to me the TEB moniker because I wanted to use it as a blogging name), I promise to never let my appetite wane for the tastiest foods, the best concerts/events, the most memorable moments. Come with me!
It’s time to eat.