Have you ever read a book that so perfectly describes a store or a restaurant that you find yourself wondering whether it’s a real place, or simply a fictional nugget fresh out of the mind of the author? Well, it happens to me often. But I’m lucky, in that, when my authors write about a place about which I’ve never heard, I can easily ask them if it’s real or make believe.
Ever since I read the veeeeeery first draft of One S’more Summer oh-so-many months ago, I found myself dying to go eat at Wo Hop on Mott St in NYC, just like Gigi. Even though I was born in Brooklyn and my family are all New Yorkers, I’d never even heard of this place until this book. After asking Beth if it was fictional or real and doing some research on my own, I came to find out that it is a pretty well-known Chinese food hot spot (indicated by the always-present line wrapped around the block any time you visit – whether it be 7pm or 3am!)
Long story short, my cousin, Dana, who also read One S’more Summer (AND LOVED IT!) and lives in the Financial District of New York agreed that, on my next trip into visit, we had to make it our mission to find it and see if it was worth all the hype. I also wanted to venture out and do some recon for those of you who may never get a chance to visit Wo Hop for yourselves. Hopefully this fills in the gaps in how you imagined Gigi’s restaurant refuge would be. 🙂
From here, I’ll let the pictures do the talking:
My cousin, Dana, and I enjoying a walk through Soho before our big dinner at Wo Hop! (Working and shopping up an appetite like pros.) #thisaintourfirstrodeo
We finally made it! And are now standing in a line that is wrapped around the block. Oh man, we are so hungry – hope it’s worth the wait!
So excited we made it – and we’re getting closer. Almost to the steps!
If this isn’t the creepiest element of this whole experiment – we seriously, have NO IDEA what is going on down there, how big it is, where the freakin’ exits are… they are just herding us down and all I can imagine is a windowless, doorless cave full of Chinese food and like a million people. My claustrophobia is starting to take hold.
Okay, not so bad down here – much more spacious than I anticipated. My claustrophobia is held at bay for now.
My Wo Hop entourage finally at a table and eagerly awaiting piles of yummy food.
No, seriously, I told you we ordered PILES of food. I think between our epic walk around the city and having to wait over an hour in line, we weren’t kidding around. We ordered EVERYTHING. And it was all AHHHH-MAAAZING!!!!
Some of the best Egg Foo Yong I’ve EVER eaten. In fact, as I am writing this blog post, I am finding myself growing more and more sad that I’m not eating this right now. By the way, it’s 9am as I write this. But that’s the great thing about Chinese food – it’s just as delicious at 9am as it was at 9pm!
So, that was my Wo Hop experience, all inspired by Beth’s shout out in her novel One S’more Summer, which is FREE right now, if you were interested in checking it out yourself! I can see why the character Gigi went there to escape her problems… because food can do that! It can take our minds off of the madness of life and fill us with delicious contentment, at least for a little while.
I know that my next trip to NYC will include another stop at Wo Hop. In fact, I’m hoping that Beth will be able to join me when she comes up from North Carolina and we will post about our first official meeting amidst a heaping serving of egg rolls and fried rice.
Ta ta for now,
Dani <3
