The Pleasure Lists Q&A: Max Falkowitz

Pleasures, Curated by Max Falkowitz

We’re back with another installment of

The Pleasure Lists

: Pleasures, Curated.

I hope you enjoy reading these as much as I enjoy getting to know members of the Pleasure Lists community and what makes their Pleasures tick.

Pleasures, Curated by

Max Falkowitz

Max Falkowitz is a writer and editor from Queens who's covered food and traveled stories for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Food & Wine, Serious Eats, and other publications. He currently writes Leafhopper, a weekly newsletter that takes a deeper look at the global tea industry. He also consults with specialty food and beverage companies on content marketing, online brand presence, and user experience. Max lives with a small collection of bonsai trees and a dog named Frank.

Social: maxfalkowitz.nyc

Location: Jackson Heights, NYC

Pleasures

1. Good puer tea

Tea like this isn't just a drink. It's a companion that ages with you and changes over time. This particular tea is one of my favorites for when I need to clear my head and unwind. It's a puer tea from Yunnan in southwestern China, which is one of the places where tea trees grow native. The best puer comes from old trees that live in minimally disturbed forests, and this is one of those.

2. Well thought out technobabble

I'm currently in mourning over the end of Star Wars Andor, which is some of the best tv I've ever seen. As a scifi fan there's a special place in my heart for technobabble, and the way this imperial scientist utters this made-up mineral tickles my brain in good ways.

3. When I fit the key into a door lock on the first try

I live in a perpetual state of anxiety. What's going wrong, what should I worry about, how do I move past something immovable? You know what more therapists should recommend? Getting your key in the lock on the first try, like a movie character that doesn't say goodbye when they hang up the phone. If you want to feel totally locked in even for the briefest moment, practice your key insertion.

4. Sacred fig leaves

The sacred fig (Ficus religiosa) is allegedly the tree under which the Buddha found enlightenment. It's one of my favorite species for bonsai, primarily because of these cartoon heart leaves with floppy tendrils. They often emerge with red and purple hues before settling into a dark green with pronounced veins. I love watching them mature over the course of a week.

5. Rildok soup from Darjeeling Cafe

I've been loving the food from Darjeeling Cafe, a new Himalayan restaurant in Queens. Everything tastes homemade and bright, which is a cliche to say about a small family run restaurant, but the older I get the more I seek out clean flavors in my food. I'm especially fond of the rildok, a fiery soup with a deep cheesy flavor that's popular with mountaineering sherpas. The soup has these smooth potato dumplings that have a pillowy spring akin to mochi, and they're a deliciously chewy accompaniment to the potent broth. I can't wait to slurp this down in winter.

What does Pleasure mean to you?

Pleasure is discovering a light inside you that you didn't know was there.

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Who do you want to see next? Send me suggestions for who to feature in the next Q&A!

What Is “Pleasures, Curated”?

Each week, a new Pleasure-seeker will document their personal Pleasures and ruminate a bit on what Pleasure means to them. True to

The Pleasure Lists

style, I keep the list-maker’s je ne sais quoi in as much as I can — only minor editorial changes are made when necessary. I do this intentionally so that the writer’s inner world really comes through. The style of the list says as much about the writer as the list itself.

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Read Previous Q&A’s:

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Why submit a list?

Pleasure Lists are a summary of what you need, want, or have, or see at a particular moment in time. They are a survey, an overview, a summary of the crucial facts of the state of one aspect of your life. It’s a kind of blueprint that can be a guide to the future. 

Mull it over and if you’re moved to, send me a list.

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Questions? Comments? Send any recommendations or suggestions for what you’d like to see in these newsletters my way. I’d love to hear more about what you’re currently finding pleasure in.

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Please share this newsletter! The Pleasure Lists is meant to be a collaborative project that calls people from all over to write, read, and share their pleasures — a global community of artists, writers, and pondering minds alike.