Everyone needs a Food Friend
Waiki guide to how to get a Food Friend
First off, what is a Food Friend?
Well, everyone has their definition and interpretation of a Food Friend, and you probably have one even if you don’t know it. To me, a Food Friend is someone you not only share meals with but also memories. You share meaning over simple or extravagant dishes by talking about your respective lives and past. In all simplicity, it is exactly like making a friend. But with food involved.
Why are we talking about this you may ask.
I’ve always had trouble making friends. Maybe it’s my MBTI (intj wbu) or my preference to be independent or maybe I’m just unlikable because all friendships I have are short-term. However, through these two years, I found an online community of like-minded individuals and we bonded over food. These are my Food Friends and they carried me through the pandemic.
But aside from the intangible internet community, there are more real, physical relationships that can be formed in your community. And if you are struggling like me to make friends, I urge you to direct your attention to your passions and let that guide you to your people.
I want to share with you a story, it’s a short one I promise. I was eating at this cafe one day (a decent pita topped with hummus btw) and there was this woman next to me, also eating alone. She seemed confused about what to order so I shared my thoughts. We started talking about this cafe and within minutes I had her Instagram. Within the hour (after I left the cafe), she messaged me about the apple streusel from that cafe and we started texting. Fast forward to a year later, we meet monthly at new restaurants to try them together and I label her as one of my closest friends. I burden her with my trauma and problems whilst she tells me about her life and provides me a glimpse into the ‘working world’ (she’s a mature working adult). She is the inspiration for this newsletter and my first tangible Food Friend. This relationship means a lot to me and I desperately want to share how important it is to get out of your comfort zone, eat alone at a restaurant, and talk to other solo diners. Even if they might be a serial killer or worse, a chatterbox, the slight chance that they might be your newest Food Friend is well worth the risk, especially if you struggle with making friends.
And before you object, saying you don’t need more friends or that having friends is high maintenance, let me enlighten you on the wonder of our friendship. We only message maybe a few times a month, mainly to schedule our next ‘date’ and despite not talking for a long time, our recent luncheon instantly rekindled our friendship as we bonded over delicious food.
Now, I got lucky as not everyone would be able to have this type of friendship but let that be a message that even someone as misanthropic (I’m working on it) and independent as I can sustain a potentially long friendship.
Sometimes, there is more to food than just food.
There are human connections formed over food, and memories created because of food. Let food be a path, not a destination. Wow, that’s so quotable.
Ps. Happy birthday my Food Friend! Cheers to more delicious meals.