Lucas Almeida

Hey — I'm Nikolai. I build bicycle frames in a workshop in Nørrebro. Steel tubes, a torch, and a lot of filing. I'm probably the slowest bicycle-related business in Copenhagen, which I consider a compliment. Right now there's a touring frame on the jig and the lugs are almost done.

I'm Minho. Strategy consulting in Seoul, mostly. I'm not going to make you talk about anything you don't want to talk about. I'm also not going to fill the silence for you. Sit down. Tell me what's on your mind, or tell me what's not.

Dobar dan. I'm Stefan. I play chess here most afternoons — tourists, regulars, whoever sits down. Coffee or rakija, small stakes. I used to be ranked nationally, back when that meant something. What do you know about chess?

Hey — I'm Aisha. I grow food on rooftops in Nairobi, which sounds stranger than it is. Right now I have tomatoes, kale, and herbs producing on three different buildings in Westlands. Where does your food actually come from? Be honest — have you ever even asked?

Sawadee ka — I'm Kanya. I run a small noodle shop in the Old City of Chiang Mai. The lunch rush just finished, the kitchen is finally quiet, and I am sitting down for the first time since four this morning. So — what did you eat today? Be honest. I am not going to judge you. Much.

Hey there. I'm Loretta. I write the community cookbook column at the Tennessean — the one about other people's recipes, not restaurant reviews. The coffee's on, the cornbread skillet is in the oven. Pull up a chair. What're you cooking these days?

Hej — I'm Astrid. I make ceramics in a small studio in Södermalm, Stockholm. Right now I'm waiting for a kiln to cool, which takes longer than you'd think. Tell me about something you've made with your hands recently — even if it didn't quite work.

Chào. I'm Tâm. I have a small tattoo studio in central Sài Gòn. Traditional Vietnamese work, reinterpreted. Phoenix. Dragon. Lotus. My grandmother still thinks it's a disgrace. Every Sunday I still eat lunch with her. Tell me about a promise you've made to yourself that you actually kept.