Plum Martinis

They were all brought over by one incredible aunt who stashed money in her girdle

 Location Prospect Heights
Rent $2,500 [market]
Square feet 1,500 [two floors, row house]


Look at these pieces of cracked mirror on your wall. [Matthew] Thomas is a total genius at finding things. He's a wizard.

Ranjit Arapurakal, Alyna Jacobs, Matthew Donovan, and Thomas Witte
photo: Jennifer Snow/
Ranjit Arapurakal, Alyna Jacobs, Matthew Donovan, and Thomas Witte

All this wall-to-wall carpeting.[Alyna] It's like the carpeting in my parents' house. I'm from South Orange. [Thomas] It's the most beautiful suburb. [Alyna] My family all immigrated in the '70s. [Thomas] They escaped Communist Romania. They were brought over by an aunt who stashed money in her girdle. [Thomas brings out a tray.]


What's that?The oven. [Knock, knock, knock.]

Who's that? [Ranjit] Darren and Daryl. [Alyna] They're twins. [Thomas] They live down the street.

Tell me about your concierge job. [Thomas] I shop with other people's money. I walk into a store wearing ripped jeans with a $4,000 Cartier watch to be repaired. I've rarely met or seen the people I work for. I'm often in the apartment all alone. I sit on their couches waiting for people to deliver stuff. The delivery people think I'm the owner. For the most part, people at the concierge service are hired by personal assistants.

I think I'll have a hazelnut. I've worked for people where I had to drive out to their house in Connecticut and move furniture back to the way it was before the party. I've had this job for six months, since we came back from Argentina. We were all simultaneously in Argentina, Matt, Alyna, and I.

Why? [Alyna] It's so beautiful there. We had an apartment for $750 for two months. That was the tourist price. [Thomas] Alyna and I have lived together in different places. We went to college with Ranjit. I've known Matt since elementary school. We both grew up down at the shore. [Matthew] We got to know each other in Buenos Aires. I was supposed to go with a friend to Southeast Asia.

What happened? The tsunami hit. Thomas and I were so grateful to be together. We didn't know each other well before. There was so much love and enthusiasm down there between us. We were making art. We thought, Where can we continue this and make it better and bigger? I feel like Thomas and Alyna have so many things to teach me. I've learned so much about cooking and gardening. We do things for each other all the time. I don't mean to say it's like Shangri-la every day. [Alyna] I work 15 hours teaching. I am so grateful to have Thomas, to have a cocktail. [Thomas] I feel like we enjoy every meal. [Matthew] Thomas makes, like, these feasts, desserts out of nowhere. [Ranjit] All the food groups. [Thomas] Speaking of which, I will whip up a dessert right now. [He brings out a plum tart.]



My Voice Nation Help