Ramen of York

Sometimes, all you need in life is a bowl of ramen and unexpectedly good conversation, in Highland Park, California.

Wanting to get out of the house for a chill night out, I knew that I wanted to end up at The York for live jazz. I love my usual combo of getting take out at Joy and heading to Block Party. When I decided I also wanted ramen for dinner, a plan formulated for dinner at Ramen of York in Highland Park.

I love the vibrancy of Highland Park. There’s something distinct and visually delicious about the area that always stimulates my senses.

 

Now, Ramen of York by Silverlake Ramen has outdoor seating – which was my standard go to during COVID shutdowns. But today, I relished the joys of sitting inside.

I ordered the THE BLAZE (Medium spicy tonkotsu ramen with creamy pork broth, bean sprouts, spinach, green onion, seaweed – without the egg – with extra seaweed).

I also ordered the LEMON ROLL (avocado, fried shrimp, spicy tuna, and sliced lemon on top).

Honestly, the Lemon Roll was mediocre, as I expected. It checked a box of “Do we have a form of food that resembles sushi on the menu? Yes!”

But, I you don’t come to Ramen of York, owned by Silverlake Ramen, for the sushi. You come for the ramen.

The ramen hit the spot. The broth was rich and spicy and the noodles were When I have a ramen craving, I don’t need it to be Killer Ramen every time. I just want to feel that hot broth with noodles and seaweed combo, which triggers that   feeling of dependable goodness.

While at my table, I overheard some rather interesting conversations. But, one that stood out for me was one that involved an impeccably dressed father, on a Daddy Daughter date with his daughter. He was explaining to her the difference of being an artist driven by fame vs and artist led by their craft to expand, for art’s sake. I overheard him explaining the Kardashian effect, and I smiled to myself. He noticed this and we got into a conversation.

He enthusiastically recommended the Latino Theater Company’s current production, which they’d just arrived from. As I love learning about new to me performance centers, this was right up my alley.

Soon the conversation evolved into the authenticity of art as a channeling of expressed energy.

I made the point that one must be an authentic artist. One that is true to the evolution of their art and not the trends of the day. This reminded me directly of a conversation I had with Trevor Shin, who recommended the book, The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Ruben to me.

The father told me about how the art has led him through his life. More recently, he said, he’d looked at a video of himself when he was 19, playing guitar.  He told me that he watched the video, wowed and amazed at the talent. He expressed that he wanted to reach through the video and say “Man, if you only knew. If you knew where your skills would take you – you just wait. All you have to do is just stay the course and trust the process“.

I really, really needed to hear those words. As I let them sink in, I reminded myself of how my life seems to led me to the right situations and right conversation, even when I least expect it.

I’d been doubting myself the previous week. I’m two weeks after my fibroid removal surgery – which I am extremely grateful to have had as fibroids had been such a private battle of hell for years. It distorted how I felt being female in my body. But now, in the aftermath of hormones rebalancing and me taking stock of my life, I’d really been feeling down. That this blog – this curated idea that I’ve had and worked on in various forms since 2015 – was a lost cause and a silly passion project that I should stop. That my art and the art shows were dumb. And that I should just – do something more conventional and stable with my life.

This passing conversation with an artist and his daughter – with the resounding message of stay the course and trust the process – made me smile with an inner knowing that everything will be okay. I felt that he was a messenger, sent by my mother in spirit, to nudge me forward.

Sometimes, that’s all you need to just put one foot in front of the other and continue onward.


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Ramen of York

5051 York Blvd
Los Angeles, California 90042
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