The Wanderer’s Curse x Gentle Foods
Philbrook Museum of Art
May 22
The faint, oceanic fragrance of kimchi hung in the air in Philbrook’s guest lounge, whose floor-to-ceiling glass windows illuminated the little cups of fermented cucumber and radish—a thing in a place I never thought I would see (or smell). It made me feel at home; one whiff hurled me into the serenity of congruity despite being in a hall full of complete strangers. Even Walmart sells kimchi now, so I should probably learn to tamp that feeling down.
“Koreans are everywhere,” said food writer Christina Chaey—formerly of Bon Appétit and currently of the popular Substack Gentle Foods—as she led a book talk in the Philbrook gardens with award-winning Bon Appétit editor and Tulsa Artist Fellowship alum Jennifer Hope Choi about Choi’s new memoir, The Wanderer’s Curse.
Chaey, who prepared the food for the event, said she ordered sub sandwich bread from a local Bill and Ruth’s, and when she went to pick it up, the employee said, “Are you Korean?” And then, “So am I.”