Documentary: I Like Killing Flies (2004)

Perhaps one of the most New York New Yorkers to ever exist, Kenny Shopsin was a beloved fixture in the West Village— a small business owner-chef who vehemently opposed serving more than five people per table (was ABSOLUTELY NOT ALLOWED, no matter what the configuration e.g. if you tried to pull a fast one and split into two separate parties).

This film is a window into the universe of Shopins, a restaurant ran by a family with principles and eccentricities that buoyed a generation of New Yorkers by executing their version of what a restaurant could/should be in relation to a community.

In today’s New York with a matcha epidemic spawning twenty-person lines of cookie-cutter sheeple, I yearn for Kenny’s disdain for niceties and unwavering commitment to his creative vision as a fundamental part of what once made the city feel vibrant and alive.