2004

In 2004, we were still using the tall-and-skinny paperback “Little Red Book” Zagat’s guide to research and choose a restaurant to go to. The restaurant reviews in the printed Zagat's guide were a compilation of actual quotes from people who submitted their reviews - in writing on actual paper and mailed in! (Imagine!) As such, it was a point of pride that restaurants posted their Zagat rating (if it was good) in their window. The font Zagat used was instantly recognizable as was the burgundy red background.

I wanted to use the Zagat sign as my "Happy Holidays" message and so I knew I wanted to shoot the outside of a restaurant, with the sign visible on their window. However, I needed to figure out what my role would be - I wanted an interesting scene on the other side of the window that I could insert myself into. I loved all the Indian restaurants that used to line E 6th Street and many of them had musicians playing in the window as entertainment for the diners. I had liked going to the Raj Mahal restaurant and so I asked if they would let me sit in with their musicians and stage my photo there. Their sitar player was happy to have me join him and “play” the tabla next to him (he provided the tabla). There used to be a cluster of stores on Lexington Avenue in the 20s that sold Indian clothing and jewelry. I looked at what tabla players in the restaurants on E 6th Street usually wore and I bought my outfit at one of those stores. The Raj Mahal employees gave me their opinions on my outfit and delighted in the whole caper.

We shot it relatively early when the restaurant was still empty. My friends Rachel and Tom came along to sit inside as “extras” to make it look like someone was eating there. The way this shot was framed, we can’t see them. However, after the shoot was over, we sat and ate dinner there together afterwards.

There were 2 versions of this card - the second version is below. In addition, I wrote a fake zagat review in the style of their compilation of direct quotes from reviews and I printed that on the inside of the card. That is below as well.