Still, Henry has an expansive palate. Asked for his preferred plates, he ticked them off: Italian, dim sum, Caribbean, tapas, Spanish — before stopping suddenly.

“Ohhh, Mexican,” he said. “How could I forget? The corn on the cob at La Esquina might be my favorite thing in the entire city. I don’t know what they put on it, but even if they told me it’s something bad, I will still eat it.”

His fondness for elote aside, perhaps the moment when Henry truly became a New Yorker is when he felt genuine sadness after learning about the closing of his beloved Korean barbecue restaurant, Woo Lae Oak. He loved the bibimbap there and the kimchi, too. But like any Manhattanite, he was also attracted to the restaurant because of its location. “It was right across from the Mercer Hotel and right near my apartment,” he said. “It was beautiful — go, eat, two minutes and you are right back home.”

Enough of Europe

To those less familiar with the global soccer landscape, the strangest part of Henry’s existence in New York may be the backlash he endured after deciding to come here. Unlike in baseball or banking or acting, New York is hardly the center of the universe when it comes to the world’s most popular game. In truth, it is barely in the universe at all.

Henry played for Monaco, Juventus and Arsenal, and won six trophies with Barcelona in 2009. His speed and scoring touch were in good form at the end of the 2010 European season, and even if he left Barcelona, there was no reason to believe he would not continue to have success somewhere else in Europe.

But Henry did not want to stay in Europe. He even told his agent not to listen to any offers from European clubs, however lucrative they might be. Some observers speculated that Henry’s decision had to do with the heaping criticism he took after his memorable handball that was not called in a critical French qualifier for the 2010 World Cup, while others guessed that Henry was fed up with the racism he and other black players sometimes encountered from European fans. There was also a theory that Henry was simply anticipating his own decline and attempting to fade away in a relatively quieter place.

When these theories were presented to him recently, Henry shrugged. “Why does it have to be so complicated?” he said. “I just wanted to carry on playing football, but I had enough of being in Europe. I wanted to finish my career and also have a life. Why is that difficult?”