Jamaica Plain: The Culinary Edition

In one week I will moving away from my beloved Jamaica Plain. Today was actually my last Monday commuting via the Orange and Red Lines. Let's be honest. This is one thing I will not miss. I am SO SICK of riding the Orange Line. There was a shady ass dude on it last night: he kept crossing and uncrossing his legs, moving his bag on and off his lap, zipping and unzipping it, culminating in a strange process of consuming 3 tablespoons of cough syrup. But this is neither here nor there.

You all know I love Jamaica Plain more than any place in all the world. And so, to mark my departure from a neighborhood so close to my heart, I am going to highlight the different things I love in JP this week.

The Purple Cactus

 Ah, the Purple Cactus. My go-to dinner when I don't want to cook (which is a lot). I go in there so frequently that the gentleman who works the register at night can read my moods. "You are yawning tonight. Did you fall asleep on the bus again?" Sometimes he would predict my order. The Purple Cactus is the place I go where everyone knows my name. It is my Cheers. When I first moved to JP, only lesbians worked at the Purple Cactus. Penny and I called the burritos "Gayrittos." You can imagine that this made me feel even more at home. Sadly it is now run solely by heterosexual men. And though I should probably be occupying the space of heterosexual men more frequently than I do, I prefer my burritos like I prefer my sweatpants: given to me by lesbians.

Bukhara

 I would eat Indian Food everyday of my life, for every meal. I want to marry an Indian man so he can cook me Indian food, and his mother can teach me how to cook my own Indian food for when my husband goes out of town. I want to eat mint chutney on everything. I want veggie pakora as the appetizer to every meal. Including breakfast. I want to eat veggie pakora with mint chutney before I eat my peanut butter toast.

Centre Street Cafe

I love brunch. It is hands down the meal of all meals. First of all, it is implied that you eat it after sleeping in as you don't eat brunch until around 11am. Perfect. Centre Street has amazing brunch. Local ingredients, fast, cheap. Their pancakes and waffles are freaking AMAZING, and they make killer black beans. I love their coffee and how they have soy milk sitting out so you don't have to ask for it. I love that the place is tiny and that you have to wait outside to get seated. But to be honest  the best part of Centre Street is my favorite guy.

My favorite guy does not know my name, but he always gives me a hug while I am waiting in line to get seated. My favorite guy once talked to my girlfriends and me for about 15 minutes about how hard it is to explain to girls when you want to be just friends. My favorite guy once forgot Jan's cheese grits, so he gave her the grits for free and then gave her a back massage. My favorite guy once asked me how my pancake was, and when I told him it was delicious, he brought me another one. Just because. My favorite guy always wears a Neil Diamond T-shirt, a backwards hat and carries a Shakira barbie doll in his back pocket. I once saw my favorite guy in City Feed, and it was like seeing a celebrity. It was last summer. He was buying charcoal. I sure will miss my favorite guy. I wonder if he will remember me when I come back to JP for brunch. I hope so. I like hugs. And I'm hoping someday he'll forget something I order so I can get a back rub.