I found God in a cream cheese wonton
There’s this one restaurant that is just a staple, a lifesaver, a blessing for the students at my college. I’ll call it The Thai Place, although it’s not actually called that. It’s right down the street from campus and it’s very good, and also moderately fancy--maybe on the level of Olive Garden or Red Lobster, without being as chain-y or as expensive.
This restaurant is what we come back to, semester after semester, year after year. People go there for third dates (or second dates if you feel really good about them), birthday dinners, Valentine’s Day, girls’ nights out, when parents are visiting, when you need something warm and kind to fill your stomach and make you feel like maybe something in the world is okay.
It really is the best comfort food. I’ve had takeout from The Thai Place about as often as I’ve dined in there, often because either I or someone I knew was sad. I’ve had multiple conversations that included some variation on “Is there anything I can do?” “Not really.” “Do you want me to buy you The Thai Place?” “...Yes. Thank you.” The Thai Place is there for you the way a dog or a cat is there for you, silently and without judgment.
And nearly every time I get takeout from The Thai Place, the first thing I bite into is a cream cheese wonton. These wontons are iconic. I don’t know if I’ve ever eaten at The Thai Place without ordering them. They are the bread and butter--or rather, the wonton wrapper and cream cheese--of The Thai Place’s comforting power. Perfect, reliable, and nearly identical, with a uniquely sweet and filling sweet-and-sour dipping sauce, they can be eaten at any point during the rest of your meal, and you can pick one out of the wax paper bag they come in as soon as you get home without any sense of commitment.
I eat the cream cheese wontons by pulling them apart at the ends. The creamy filling in the center comes away on each side, sometimes unevenly; that’s okay. I eat the center part of each half first, and as the cream cheese fills my mouth I feel a little better. The world looks brighter, the cold night seems less threatening, and I feel the way my roommate says they feel when they pray, warm and surrounded by love.
