Food & Sex & The City
We know Carrie stores sweaters in her stove, but what role does food play on SATC?
One of the last times we saw Carrie Bradshaw, she was dishing to her girlfriends about the major renovation happening to her apartment. She was particularly excited about her big new closet, but regarding the kitchen, she admits “I don’t know about that, because I keep sweaters in my stove.” I can relate. For almost a decade I stored back issues of VOGUE in the oven of my Atlanta apartment.
It’s no secret that I’m a Sex and the City girl. Like a million other women, I came to New York City to find my Mister Big, and would you believe that mine actually owns a bar where an episode of SATC was filmed? (Beauty Bar’s appearance on the show is discussed in length on a recent Layman Chef Podcast, if you want to hear the details!).
I voted for Cynthia Nixon in the last gubernatorial election, attended SATC author Candace Bushnell’s one woman show Is There Still Sex in the City?, and lurked the set of the upcoming series sequel, And Just Like That, while it was filming in the park behind my apartment. Needless to say, I am EXCITED for the premiere of And Just Like That later this week.
A lot has happened in my life during the eleven years since the story left off with Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda, and Samantha. For one thing, I’m no longer single, but I’ve also discovered a great appreciation for food and a love for cooking. As the new series approaches, I got to thinking how one can’t live on cosmopolitans alone… I couldn’t help but wonder: what role does food play on Sex and the City?
Along with sex, fashion is paramount in the Sex and the City world. In season four, Carrie tells the photographer she’s dating about buying VOGUE instead of dinner when she was a broke New York City newcomer. “I felt it fed me more,” she says without irony. Clearly, food is not a priority, but a girl’s gotta eat, right?
The SATC gals do eat, but rarely anything that they’ve made themselves. Samantha scoffs at the suggestion that she’s baked the baby quiches being served at her housewarming party. “Oh hell no! I had them delivered…” Later, a lover asks her why she has such fancy flat wear when she clearly does not cook. The reoccurring implication throughout the series is that these successful, independent, women don’t have to cook, for themselves or anyone else. The characters often brandish this fact like a modern woman’s badge of honor.
In fact, the only people that seem to be doing any cooking on Sex and the City are the men! We learn early on that Big knows his way around a kitchen when Carrie ditches Miranda for a night in with Big, who is preparing veal. Miranda is indignant: “You’re standing me up for a politically incorrect piece of meat!” She’s not wrong.
In the second SATC movie, many years later, Big is preparing veal for Carrie yet again! This time it’s osso buco for their anniversary. She’s appreciative, but is sure to point out “You knew when you married me I’m more Coco Chanel than coq au vin.”
Another of Carrie’s beaus learns this the hard way when he makes dinner at her apartment. “The man can cook,” she proclaims after the successful meal. He demurs, noting that he’s never had to use a frying pan to make risotto before. She shrugs, “I’m sorry. I don't use my kitchen.”
Miranda’s not using her kitchen either. When her doctor boyfriend serves his homemade spicy enchiladas, she admits all she can make is Lean Cuisine. Meanwhile, Charlotte dates a pastry chef.
Again and again we see a reversal of traditional gender roles as the men of Sex and the City do the cooking. Occasionally our girls make an effort in the kitchen (usually in an attempt to impress a man). Carrie tries to bake an apple pie at Aidan’s upstate cabin, Miranda makes cupcakes for Brady’s birthday in a ploy to win back Steve, and Charlotte prepares a Seder in hopes to get Harry to propose. Usually these attempts turn into a big mess, as was the case when Carrie (unsuccessfully) tries to make fondu for Big.
Perhaps this is why A LOT of Sex and the City takes place in restaurants. The series was a showcase for some of New York’s hippest dining establishments of the time, including Cafeteria and Coffee Shop (RIP), where the girls had their weekly brunch dates.
At Eleven Madison Park, Big suggests the Cobb Salad. Samantha tries to bribe the hostess at Balthazar (it’s still not easy to get a table there!). And Charlotte screams in delight at The Modern when Carrie announces her engagement.
Often the featured restaurants play a pivotal role in an episode. Carrie and Big fall into the lake at The Loeb Boat House, breaking the ice on their strained friendship. In my experience The Loeb Boathouse has terrible food, but you can’t beat the setting!
Union Square Greenmarket is another picturesque location utilized in the series. Guest star Heather Graham strolls the market with Stanford, on the lookout for ‘the cute pretzel guys.’ I see that particular pretzel vendor at USGM regularly, but cannot attest to their cuteness.
Many of the show’s resturants, like fav brunch spot Coffee Shop, have closed in just the past few years. At the recently shuttered 21 Club, Big announces his upcoming heart surgery over steaks. Charlotte goes to brunch with a bully at the much missed Blue Water Grill, and there’s (appropriately) a bit of monkey business that occurs at the now defunct Monkey Bar. Alternately, The Carlyle Hotel’s Bemelmans Bar, where Louis learns the life lessons while Carrie pays for the (expensive) drinks, is currently more popular than ever.
Cocktails have always been synonymous with Sex and the City. Cosmopolitans are ubiquitous, but there’s also plenty of screen time for mojitos, flirtinis, tartinis, margaritas, and many martinis. (Samantha throwing a martini in Richard Wright’s face while delivering the line “Dirty Martini. Dirty Bastard,” is a series highlight for me). These girls took their drinks seriously. It’s no surprise when Samantha turns down a guy who offers to make her ‘a mean wine spritzer.’
Throughout the series, New York City itself is often the star of the show. SATC embraces NYC culinary tropes like hot dogs, pizza, and black and white cookies. (“It’s so good I forgot to have children,” Carrie jokes while eating a black and white cookie). There is also a lot of Chinese delivery throughout the seasons, including the episode where Miranda has a meltdown after feeling shamed over her boring daily broccoli and brown rice order.
So many unforgettable Sex and the City moments are centered around food, despite the fact that the girls don’t really cook, or seem particularly interested in food. There were the Good Muffins and the Bullshit Bagels, the time Carrie embarrasses herself with ‘le french fry y filet of fish,’ and of course, the episode where Miranda falls in lust with a sandwich.
Sex and the City demonstrates that so much of life (and certainly love and dating!) revolves around food. We bond at restaurants while breaking bread and engage in the timeless ritual of courtship by preparing a meal for a loved one.
In the previews for And Just Like That, we see Big teasing Carrie, in their very fancy kitchen, about how he remembers when she kept sweaters in her stove. Perhaps, like me, Carrie has discovered cooking during the decade since we saw her last! I absolutely can’t wait to see what the Sex and the City girls have been up to. They’ll certainly be cooking up some scheme or another, and this time around, maybe even some food.