How many people does your fridge need to feed? One.
What do you usually eat for breakfast? There are two things that I can eat for breakfast—that I do eat for breakfast. I did a crazy diet thing for eight weeks and I have Stockholm Syndrome for it, and I have trouble not following the rules. So the two things I like to eat for breakfast now are chia pudding, which I eat all the time, and eggs, if I feel really luxurious.
Is there anything you eat every day? Dates.
Every week? I eat bananas every week, I sweet potatoes every week, and I eat chicken every week. Also, avocados and onions.
What item are you forbidden from purchasing right now? It’s not hard for me, but no chemicals. I don’t buy any food that has preservatives or additives, like even a can of beans. I did this crazy diet and exercise program this fall where I wasn’t allowed to eat any chemicals. It has the worst name in the world: it’s called the Whole Life Challenge, and it sort of just makes the food you eat really clean, there’s no starchy carbs and stuff like that. It’s sort of like the Paleo Diet but you’re allowed to eat legumes, and you’re not allowed any sugar (and on the Paleo Diet you’re allowed syrup and honey). I’ve honestly never felt better as an adult.
What’s the most delicious thing in here? These bags of frozen fruit from Trader Joes: tropical fruit blend, strawberries, and blueberries. I put them in chia pudding.
The most disgusting? I haven’t drunk milk since September 7th or 6th and there is a container of milk in here. It’s in this state where to throw it out now is like an aggressive thing to do to anyone. I’d have to be up and paying attention the day that they come to collect the garbage and then take out my garbage with milk, so that it’s gone with the garbage in a snap. But it’s going to get colder out—if it’s a cold week I can just throw it out and not worry about it.
Anything you regret buying? I regret the milk. Everything else I’m happy with.
What's your guilty pleasure? My guilty pleasure is… alcohol. Alcohol, alcohol is right. (I was first thinking about the things I eat—it was going to be raisins, but I’m telling you alcohol.)
Where do you do most of your food shopping? I do it at a lot of places, wherever’s convenient. Sometimes my life in Manhattan takes me near Trader Joes and I shop there, sometimes my friend Andy takes me to Costco because he has a Costco card. That’s where I got the giant bag of chia seeds and the giant bag of quinoa. But I also just use the 24-hour fruit and vegetable stands on Nostrand and the two local supermarkets here.
How often do you go grocery shopping? Once every week-and-a-half/two weeks.
How much do you spend on groceries each week? If you don’t count the five dollars worth of dates I buy in Manhattan to get me through the day when I’m at my job, then probably $40 or $50 bucks. Instead of smoking a cigarette, I go on a date break at work.
Is there anything in here that we would have found in your childhood fridge? It’s funny, my fridge right now is more like my childhood fridge than it’s ever been in that if you look in there, there’s no food, just ingredients. And that was my complaint about my mom’s kitchen growing up.
What do you wish you had in here? I wish that I had so much more space in my freezer. Space to be able to cook for the week and freeze it up, to buy things in bulk and cook and freeze it.
Caleb is an opera singer, with a boring but “respectable” day job. He lives in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and he’s holding a bag of frozen fruit from Trader Joe’s.