Waiting Magazine

tristen-hates-cava

Tristen Hates Cava

20260112

We featured 18 artists over the course of 2025, and while we did our best to bring their stories to the page through their quotes and our narrations, there are inherent bits we couldn’t fit into articles but still cherish. Tristen Fabricant, our ED3 embroidery painter, spent time in corporate America before becoming an artist server. In our interview, he looked back at his desk days and the antics of such a population of workers with, well, a humorous lens. Enjoy the following notes Fabricant had to give on the general eating habits of a member of the office world.

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“They want to go out to restaurants. They want to eat, they want to consume. They want to go shopping, they want to go see a movie. Everything is consumption. They want to go to Cava. Like, I hate Cava. They're Sweetgreen and Cava people. That's what they are. Down to the fundamentals, Sweetgreen and Cava people, and there's nothing more soulless than that. There is not, and I will tell anybody to their face, there is nothing more soulless than a Chipotle or Cava. And they don’t see the error with their ways. Chipotle, like it's clean and it's great, but like, it's clean doesn't mean good. We're humans. We have immune systems. It's okay for there to be a little schmutz.”

AND CETERA...

If you have been around us for long enough, you’ve become familiar with our black and white illustrations we’ve had as a part of our past two editions: waitresses balancing elementary math textbooks and martinis on trays, a baby smoking a cigarette on a bar, a baguette dressed in knightly garb, they’re all creations from our illustrator, Sara Kashani-Sabet. Sara has spent two editions bringing Waiting…’s satirical essays to life through her page adorations, characters and tokens, all reflecting the words in our more sarcastic sections of the magazine. To give you a little more on who Sara is when she’s not sketches drafts with us, we took her through a small Q&A . . .

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Name

Sara Kashani-Sabet

Hometown

San Francisco

Role

Illustrator

How long have you been with Waiting…?

Since June of 2025!

What’s your favorite way to spend $20 in the city?

Caffè Panna regular (2 scoops with Oreo crumble, chocolate drizzle and panna) - $10.78 including tip

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Where’s your favorite spot to work on Waiting… or your own art?

In my bed or on my patio during the summer months

What’s your first memory of your medium that you now contribute?

In first grade I used to draw covers for the short stories I wrote

What NYC monument would you be?

‍Ray’s candy shop in the east village (yes this is a monument)

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