Finally winging it: Tebaya

By noon, I had cleaned out the last of my personal items, organized my files, given away my plant, and written out a list of instructions for my successor. After that, there was no more reason for me to linger. After bidding farewell to my coworkers, I walked out of the revolving doors of the building that had been my home for the last 4.5 years.

There were plenty of other things to do that day, including packing to move out of my apartment and getting rid of my remaining furniture. But before I went down into the subway, there was the question of food. What did I want to eat on my last day of employment? How to best commemorate no longer working a nine-to-five?

With TL, we wandered Chelsea for a while before I remembered Tebaya, which I'd long read about and drooled over, especially this tantalizing writeup. After a quick check on the 'berry to find out the exact location, we were in business.

Tebaya's wings are fried and painted with a sweet, peppery soy glaze, making the sticky sesame-strewn wings kin to Korean fried chicken, but not quite. I thought they could have been a little juicier and the pieces a little meatier, but nonetheless they were delectable and (literally) finger-lickin' good. The eight-piece lunch special—which for $6.75 came with rice, salad, and a soda (or iced barley or green tea)—wasn't a bad deal.

We also tacked on a side order of potemochi, deep-fried rounds of glutinous potato with a heavy, chewy consistency like mochi, but a bit softer. Unfortunately they were extremely bland, with not even potato flavor to add interest. Dipping them in the accompanying melted butter and sweet soy sauce perked them up a little, but not by much. The wings had been good, but I probably wouldn't get these again.

One chapter in my life had ended that day. Not that there's anything in particular one should eat on the last day of a job, but aside from the potemochi, Tebaya had ended up hitting the spot. Satisfied, I went home to finish packing.