Porto Café | July 6, 2019
Here’s my little confession: as grateful as I absolutely am to live in a city that is objectively beautiful and has allowed me to meet such beautiful souls, at times I hate how it feels like there’s as many going-away parties as there are birthday celebrations. Each time one of these beautiful souls move away, that is.
Exhibit A: Meet Derrick Gravener who left Vancouver for the New York life in 2018. Get to know him and he will introduce you to the best brunch spots in town and share his home-baked goodness.
But, friends moving away also means friends coming back to visit. And when they do, you bet I’ll want to catch up over a good cup of coffee, which is exactly what I got to do with Derrick one Saturday afternoon.
With less-than-compelling excuses (read: I’m your average twenty-something-year-old who’s dramatic and pretend-busy and disorganized), this is a bit of a delayed post. So Derrick, I hope this brings you back to your short Vancouver visit earlier this summer. (And happy one year anniversary in NY!)
The Big Move
It was September 2018 when Derrick hopped on a plane and moved east. “I moved to New Jersey in September, and I’ve officially been living, receiving mail living, in Brooklyn since February this year.”
I ask Derrick what made him decide to move, and unsurprisingly, he tells me that it’s a question he gets often. “For creative opportunity. And I’ve been here [in B.C.] all my life so it was time for a change.”
“It’s nice to be close to Broadway. Since moving to New York, I have gone to see Waitress twice. Every time I go, I cry. It’s the best musical ever!” I am entirely jealous. Honestly, that alone sounds like a good enough reason to move to New York.
“I still haven’t seen Hamilton, because there’s a waitlist. I’m a cheap person when I go to Broadway so I rush, and with Hamilton you can’t really do that!”
The New York food scene
What’s your favourite New York food, I ask.
“Oh boy. I feel like, everyone’s like, ooooh pizza, but I’m really over pizza right now. We get pizza every week at work. Fridays are pizza days. Some people argue it’s the best pizza place.
I’m more of an Italian pizza person. There’s this place called Di Fara. It’s in deep Brooklyn, which is where I live. It’s owned by this Italian family. The old man has to be between the ages of 85 and 90. And he still makes the dough most days. The whole family works there. Everything, the ingredients as much as possible, are from Italy. Care is taken. It’s like drizzled with olive oil. Cheese is fresh. The basil, they snip with scissors…. It is the perfect pizza!
This is all to say, though, my favourite New York food is probably bagels. But I try to eat them sparingly so that when I eat them, I’m like, this is amazing, it’s my favourite food!”
And…… SHAKE SHACK. If you know me, you’ll know that I’m rather, obsessed with passionate about this particular fast food chain. Thankfully, Derrick seems to share my enthusiasm: “It’s my other thing. Like bagels, I only try to go once every like two weeks, so it doesn’t lose its novelty. They have this sandwich called the Hot Chicken, only at the Time Square location. It is perfectly spiced, and this little bit of coleslaw, some pickles, and damn, it is the perfect fast food item you can order.”
I call this LOVE.
The American Life
Beyond the bagel-eating, theatre-going New York lifestyle, I’m curious to hear from Derrick what living in the United States has been like, coming from the Canadian PNW.
“Oh boy, here’s my thing. New York is a bubble. It’s a very liberal bubble. Everything is great in New York. But then you go to Wall Street or Upper West Side and you see the Trump Hotel and the Trump Tower and you’re like, oh yeah…. this is super weird!
And you go on Twitter. Hahahahaha. It’s weird working at a literary agency and running a twitter account. And all you see on Twitter is political things. #2020, we are all terrified!”
We wind up talking about health care, as Derrick works at a start-up pharmacy company based in New York City. “We deliver prescriptions anywhere in New York City. It’s cool to work for a company that cares about people. Not only the employees but also the clientele. Pharmacy is a scary thing. Health care is a scary thing. I’m a caring person, and I will always go the extra mile for people. Cause it’s stressful to be in this situation. Health care is wild. It’s such a foreign concept to me being in the US. You’re, paying for this! So it’s weird being back, and there’s not a lot of pharma ads in my face everywhere!”
The Literary World
When he’s not at work with the New York start-up, you might find Derrick at a literary agency where he is an intern. Asked what that entails, Derrick confesses that he, too, was fairly ignorant about the publishing world before starting this job. He explains that a literary agency takes the raw material from the writer, hones it, and gets it ready to sell to publishers.
“So a literary agent is someone who is on your side to get this out and get this published. They’re not the ones to publish, and they’re not your editor. It’s a catch-all thing and you feel like an editor at times. But you’re also their business editor and their marketer. The amount of hats you wear is insane!
I really admire everyone in the publishing world. There are so many different pieces that go into what makes a book. I’ve learned a lot, and I feel very grateful for the opportunity.”
Derrick is a writer himself and loves doing creative work.
“I write. I mean, I feel like an imposter, because it’s not like I write super often since I’ve been so busy. But I write. I need to be more assertive in saying that because I feel like that’s a part of being a writer in your twenties.
I’m like, am I a writer if I’m doing two other things in my life? But you are. You just need to survive first. In order to be a writer. I love writing television scripts, nonfiction, and I recently started writing fiction. I do love short stories. And I always have ideas for short stories. I don’t always have time, so I write [my ideas] down.”
Derrick hopes to continue doing creative work. “Whether it be working on my own creative work, or working on other people’s creative work, I want to be surrounded by a creative, friendly environment.”
Being back in Vancouver
This is the first time Derrick’s been back in Vancouver since moving to New York. “It’s weird. I mean, let me attribute 60% of the feeling to the fact that I’m sleep-deprived. But the other 40% is about having a different level of attachment. My parents recently moved from Vancouver to Ontario. So this isn’t always going to be “home” for me. And my friends are all starting to move onto the next chapter, some of them in Vancouver, and some of them not.
It’s different. And although Vancouver isn’t different, I’m different. It’s like in your twenties, people are finding what their next chapter is. There is a different energy in the air. But I appreciate that it’s part of growth.”
That’s not to say there aren’t things Derrick misses about Vancouver. “The air quality, and the tap water! Don’t get me wrong, New York tap water is still drinkable and one of the best in America. But it has this really metallic aftertaste. It’s very safe and very clean, but it’s just that here we have maybe the best tap water anywhere.
I miss the baked goods and I miss the sheer availability of good coffee. There’s good coffee shops in New York, but Vancouver is pretentious about its coffee, and I appreciate that. I am a wreck because of it. I am a coffee elitist. Vancouver has ruined us all for coffee.”
Of course, highlights of his short visit back to Vancouver have been moments (and baked goods) shared with good friends. “Oh my gosh! I went to Victoria, saw my friend Zach. Met my friend Alex and it was really lovely. I went to Purebread with my friend Emily and had this perfect bacon and egg brioche.
Every day has been a highlight. This is a highlight. Just seeing friends, it’s been really recharging.”
Derrick the New Yorker
As this little coffee shop gets ready to close for the evening, I ask Derrick if he feels that New York has changed him a lot.
“Aside from having a different attachment to Vancouver, there are learning experiences I take away from New York. I’ve always been a critical person, but I’ve become a little more critical in some areas, and a little bit less in other areas. What I have learned has been really helpful to me creatively, and taught me a lot about myself. I didn’t have many friends for a couple of months, so I had time by myself, and I’ve become more self-assured.”
Don’t worry, Canada. Even with his new New Yorker identity, Derrick has kept his Canadian side plenty. “I still say sorry a lot. And I apologise all the time. I think It’s funny that in Canada we say sorry instead of excuse me, when you’re trying to get by someone. I also miss when people say thank you when they get off the bus! Most people stared at me when I did it a couple times on the bus. And I was like, oh nooo.”
Hopes and fears: Millennial edition
“Climate change. Wow, I’m scared and I wish we talked about it more, and I wish there were more actionable things that we can do. I wish that people took it less on the individual and more on the corporation that really have stakes in it, and have the power to make big shifts in culture.
It’s very much a cultural change. Not five people and your friends stopping to use their plastic forks. Not banning straws. It’s an entire cultural shift that needs to happen. So I definitely live with this millennial fear.
I hope that we’ll all try to be nice. The world is a mess right now and I understand why people are angry. But I hope that everyone is able to find solace in what they have here. And I know it’s cliché, but try to hold on to those little moments we have, cause at the end of the day, that’s all we have. That’s what I learned having moved and come back for a visit and working multiple jobs. It’s that what will make us up is really the moments we have with people, with our chosen families. Be good to people in your life. Apologise often.”
So good to see you as always, Derrick, I’ve missed you! I cannot wait to come visit you in New York and have a bagel for breakfast, Shake Shack for lunch, this perfect Italian pizza for dinner, and another bagel for a late-night dose of happiness.
Scratch that, I think I just need to move to New York already. Hamilton, here I come. “There’s a million things I haven’t done, just you wait.” 🎶
Follow Derrick on Instagram @derrickgravener
