The Table of All Creatures

On the wall of a corner shop in Chinatown, animals sit around a table eating dim sum. A pig serves tea, a rooster reads the menu, a dragon winds above them like a guardian of the meal. Each animal is different, yet they all share the same table.I stop to look at it longer than I meant to.It feels funny at first—cartoonish and bright—but then it starts to make sense. Maybe this is Chinatown.Maybe this is New York. A place where differences don’t separate, they sit together, drink tea, and share plates. Here, everyone speaks the same language—the language of food. The mural reminds me of everything I’ve seen: the fish from Petco, the oysters from the market, the dumplings, the tea, the people. All part of one circle, one table, one story.The faces, the flavors, the textures change—but food remains the same. Food is the only thing that truly belongs to everyone.