Wherever you are and whoever you are with, I’m grateful that you take time of out of your life to read Snack Cart. It means the world to me. Happy Thanksgiving.

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Thanksgiving is full of pauses. Especially if you are cooking, there are times you are sorta just trapped there while you wait for a pot to boil or a timer to get to 00:00. Those small breaks are good for running down to see 30 seconds of the parade or to check the score of the football game. They are also great for watching a short video on your phone. I'm including three videos that I find myself watching just about every Thanksgiving. I suggest you leave today's Cart in your inbox and watch (or rewatch) each one when you you need it.

Butterball Hotline

Length: 4:30
Perfect for: When it's not actually worth walking away from the oven.

The West Wing was always great with Thanksgiving episodes. They were perfect for the mix of shmaltz and seriousness where Sorkin excels. There are a lot of great clips like "Shibboleth" or "Pilgrim Detectives," but none compare to this one. I start laughing as soon as Martin Sheen says, "I'm a citizen" pretty much every time.

OK, fine, here's the one of President Bartlett giving Charlie the knife if you want to cry instead.  

Alice's Restaurant

Length: 18:15
Perfect for: Just about the time it takes to boil six quarts of tap water.

The song is weird and way, way, way too long. It's also only nominally about Thanksgiving. Still, it's iconic, fun, funny, and worth a listen at least once during the day. This song has a weird kind of counter-cultural hopefulness to it that we could all use. It's nice to imagine a world where sheer collective absurdity can overcome bureaucratic evil. Take an extra moment this year to toast the real life Alice, who passed away at 83.

WKRP in Cincinnati - "Turkeys Away" 

Length: 24:57
Perfect for: When you just need a break from everything, you know?

My parents love nothing as much as they love 70s and 80s television. That's why, about ten years ago, they started making me and my sister watch this every Thanksgiving. I'm glad they did, because it is one the funniest scenes in television history.

"WKRP in Cincinnati" was a show was about a struggling radio station that has just switched formats from easy listening to rock and roll. In this episode, the station manager, feeling left out by the new staff, tries to get more involved. He comes up with a secret Thanksgiving promotion that he says will make history. All he needs is 20 live turkeys.

This isn’t officially streaming anywhere, but the climax lives in a million clips. If you can find the entire episode, it’s worth watching so that the final line really *puts on sunglasses* lands. Once you've watched, read this oral history of the episode. It's based on real events! 

This week’s *sponsor: iwillvote.com

This week’s Snack Cart brought to you by… voting! Election day is coming up so make a plan to vote then call a friend and have them do the same. Early voting may even be going on right now in your state! (I’m a day-of voter. Good chance to hit a bake sale). 

If you aren’t sure about where to vote, when to vote, or if want to check the status of your ballot, visit https://iwillvote.com/. It’s got all the information you need. If you already voted, give that sucker a share on the social media platform of your choice. 

Find voting information

*They did not pay me anything, I’m just plugging a great resource managed by a friend and loyal Snack Cart reader.

The form is really supposed to be about people’s day-to-day life, but GOD, I love a Grub Street diet where the subject is “inexplicably” eating like a king for the week. Anyway, here’s Tim Heidecker’s diary of the week he spent directing a commercial in Spain.

Probably the single thing that’s better if you get it from a farmer’s market vs. mass supermarket is an apple. Saveur visits the annual Pomological Exhibition in Williamsburg, Massachusetts, where obscure heritage breeds are studied and exhibited. 

The article the most people sent me in the past week: Bon Appetit writes about VP Kamala Harris’s relationship with food. It’s helped make her more relatable, raised money, and been the source of campaign stops. 

On the other side of those stops, Jaya Saxena at Eater writes about what it’s like for restaurant owners when big name politicians stop by. Mostly good, though it can be tough for business if a community feels like they are picking sides. 

Saxena also writes about why there seems to be listeria everywhere. Basically, it seems like an increased reliance on processed foods at every stage of the supply chain (which sit around longer) and deregulation / reduced enforcement. 

Aimee Levitt, also in Eater, writes about The Woman Suffrage Cookbook. This is a great essay very much worth your time. Levitt explains the history of the cookbook (a fundraiser for the early suffragette movement) and shares some of the recipes, giving tiny bios of the deeply impressive women who contributed. The whole thing is shot through with how these women (and women today) often have to be accomplished home makers before society lets them be anything else. 

Chicago 

Louisa Chu profiles Crust Fund Pizza, a pop-up pizzeria run out of a Ravenswood garage. Really, this is a profile of John Carruthers, the force behind the org. On top of his day job as the head of marketing at a local brewery, he does a monthly tavern-style pizza pop-up where all proceeds go to charity. He’s also writing his second cookbook (God, I’m tired just reading all of that). The article also talks about what makes a great tavern pie, which goes well with Eater’s recently-updated map. 

Zareen Syed in the Tribune writes a beautiful story about the complicated feelings members of the Palestinian Chicago community feel around this time of year. It’s olive harvesting season, which for hundreds (thousands?) of years was a time of homecoming and one of the most important economic activities of the year. Syed profiles 80-year-old Nadia Hussien as a window into Palestians across the diaspora who are wrestling with fears about going back amidst the Israel-Hamas war, increasing Israeli restrictions on access to their olive groves, and guilt over their safety and prosperity. 

I’m not sure how I’ve missed it but Chicago has had its own local restaurant awards, the Jean Banchet awards, since 2018. This year’s nominees have been announced and there is a new category for pizza. More cities should do this.   

I could not click on the headline “Secret Speakeasy In The Middle Of O’Hare” fast enough, and this article from Molly DeVore at Block Club Chicago did not disappoint. She tells the story of the Gaslight Club, a private speakeasy club that once had locations around the world (and inspired the Playboy Club) but now has a single location at the O’Hare Hilton. Great bit of history with wonderful photos. 

Boston

The biggest Boston food question right now is how to vote on next week’s ballot question getting rid of the tipped minimum wage. Similar fights in cities and states across the country have been extremely contentious. If you are unfamiliar with the issue, read at least the first few graphs of Katelyn Umholtz story at Boston.com (but try to finish it, the rest of it is good too). A lot of people inside the restaurant industry (including folks I know and like) are against it. However, I found the Boston Globe editorial in favor pretty compelling. There are good arguments on both sides and I could understand voting either way. Independent restaurants are struggling right now, and even the initial stepped-up minimum wage will be a huge hit and close some places we all love. This is a big and specific change, which is generally stupid to do via ballot question. On the other hand, the tipped minimum wage is an anachronism and the system is rife with abuse. The legislature is captured by restaurant industry interests and I think there is little chance this gets addressed outside of this dragging stakeholders to the table. Opposition is largely funded by large franchisees and restaurant chains. If I was still voting in MA, I *think* I would vote against it. But if there isn't real movement to address the issue, put it back on the ballot and I’d vote for it. 

Chow-dare, Chow-dare? Come back here, I’m not through demeaning you! 

Sheryl Julian writes about her ideal way to hard boil eggs, which is actually a method I’ve never seen before. I will read ten thousand overly deep dives into basic cooking techniques. 

Beth Teitell tries to unravel one of foods’ greatest mysteries: are bay leaves BS?

The Globe also profiles SALTY, a Mediterranean restaurant in Jamestown, RI focusing on hyper-local Rhode Island ingredients. I would commit physical violence for the bluefish toast. 

Rachel Leah Blumenthal profiles Thaiger Den, a new upscale Thai restaurant in Malden Center. The descriptions about how much technique goes into a lot of these dishes are pretty impressive. This sounds like a great reason to get a group of friends together for a trip up the Orange Line. 

New York

Mahira Rivers reviews the desserts at Kellogg’s Diner, the most millennial-coded restaurant of the moment. She finds them exactly like the reboot of the classic Williamsburg haunt - comforting and a bit more interesting than they need to be. She also calls out that the restaurant’s future might be in jeopardy, as it’s just become embroiled in a massive lawsuit. 

Great review by New York Magazine’s Matthew Schneier of Bridges, a new Manhattan hot spot. The lead and transition should be taught in schools. The food at Bridges sounds interesting, but everything else in this review makes me feel hopelessly washed. 

Helen Rosner at the New Yorker really likes the new omakase restaurant Sendo in her latest review. In a city bulging with expense account sushi places, she poetically praises how Sendo brings in some of that experience into a price tag of under $100 (with a drink!). 

Ryan Sutton reviews Carnitas Ramireza, the new East Village outpost from the team behind what is probably New York’s best taco shop. Sutton reflects on the true meaning of luxury and how the restaurant is unabashedly and un-winkingly serving cuts of meat that Americans usually avoid - while trying to provide a better language for understanding them. 

If that sounds a bit much, you might prefer Clinton Hill’s Smot. Brooklyn Magazine’s Scott Lynch’s reviews the place, which has chill vibes and a Nordic-inspired comfort food menu. 

Just a week after diving into the bagel wars, the New York Times food team jumps back into the ring with The 25 Best Places to Get Pizza Right Now. A fantastic list that highlights a good mix of styles, geographic diversity, and age. It also doesn’t feature my favorite place, which in this case is a blessing to keep the crowds down. 

This is a fantastic scene report from inside the Bronx’s oldest bar - Yankee Tavern - during game four of the World Series. Just wonderful characters and I loved how writer Mike Diago introduced them all by their regular drinks.

Tammie Teclemariam checks out five viral dishes that range from fine to absolutely worth the wait. I had not heard of any of these – did I mention I’m washed?

Mahira Rivers for Eater profiles a 100-year-old Woodhaven candy shop run by a singular force of nature. Margie Schmidt makes everything by hand, often working 20 hour days. There are some wonderful pictures and very funny quotes from Schmidt. Maybe I’ll head out there for Christmas candy. 

Los Angeles

Eater LA drops a *fantastic* package on TikTok and food in Los Angeles. It’s really about the history of Los Angeles and social media in general. My favorite piece was about the history of food bloggers and how that’s evolved. I learned the most reading about the different breeds of LA food TikTokkers. 

A great story from KCRW about how a single snack bag altered the ecosystem of the United State’s largest cavern. 

Bill Addison at the Los Angeles Times writes about the glories of crab season. Addison knew that fall was the best time for crabs in his home state of Maryland, but a meal at Hayato showed him that October is crab season around the world. 

In the fracas after the Dodgers win, a father/son street vending team was injured by LAPD rubber bullets. 

Emily Wilson, in her Los Angeles food Substack The Angel, writes about the reopening of the iconic Silverlake Lounge. She traces its history from Latino drag bar to indie rock icon to busted local watering hole. Two music industry vets have taken it over and are hoping to make it an essential spot for electronic music. Any article that mentions Thirsty Crow is all right by me. 

Out of context J. Gold of the week

If you were going to construct a typical L.A. burrito stand, it might look a lot like Chabelita, a tight complex, all stucco and wrought iron, dominated by industrial-grade steel picnic tables and the bleatings of the NeoGeo machine. The customers range from truckers to cops, hood rats to priests, and a huge smattering of little kids, many of whom end up taking turns wearing the security guard's hat. - link

Or, maybe we all just give in to Big Pouch? Cathay Erway in TASTE writes about how more and more of our food (for adults as well as kids) is coming in flexible plastic containers. She talks with startup companies about why they are making the switch, scientists about the safety concerns, and supply chain experts about the rise in plastics in the waste stream. This is a great read to better understand your grocery store shelves. 

Early in the summer I was lucky enough to get a gift subscription to Mahira Rivers’ new newsletter, Sweet City. Mahira is doing restaurant criticism with a focus on desserts. Full restaurants, but also bakeries and coffee shops. A great recent issue highlighted Atlas Conchas in Harlem, which is balancing the joint tensions of authenticity and sustainability. Or, check out her free article on what it was like being a Michelin Inspector. Overall – this is worth subscribing to if you live in New York or love desserts.

Anna Hezel dives into how Jadeite went from an everyday item to a sought-after collectible. Some combination of nostalgic Americana and Martha Stewart. My wife has a set of Jadeite bowls she inherited from her grandmother that I am afraid to wash after reading this.

The third largest print magazine in the world is from… Costco? The New York Times profiles Costco Connections, which, like most things about the store, has a *slight* cult-y vibe. But it’s beloved, and more companies making good media would be a good thing. 

Christine Muhlke in AirMail profiles chef Iñaki Aizpitarte. Aizpitarte has been one of the most influential chefs in Paris for almost 20 years, but recently relocated to open a small cafe near Biarritz on the southwestern French coast. [NOTE FROM JOSH’S SISTER HOPE: My local paper wrote about this.]

Dan Frommer in New Consumer writes about Row 7, a new produce supplier co-founded by chef Dan Barber. Row 7 is dedicated to vegetables bred for flavor rather than appearance or shelf-stability. Frommer’s article is *very* good, diving into the challenges of creating a *brand* in the vegetable aisle and asking Barber some tough questions! Really interesting. 

(I know the screenshots are usually funny, but this one was just neat!)

Chicago

Chicago Magazine has a huge section on the Italian Beef sandwich. Driven by The Bear, a sandwich that was once pretty unknown outside Chicago has become *the* tourist attraction of the city. The Magazine highlights classic spots, talks about how to order, and shares where you can find avant garde versions. The online presentation for this was a delight to read. 

Lest you think now that once you know Italian beef you are an expert in the street food of the Windy City, Mike Sula at Chicago Reader is here to blow your mind with zapiekanki. He highlights the Zapiekanki XXL truck, serving up giant Polish open-faced cheese, mushroom, and ketchup sandwiches in Schiller Woods. 

Eater released a neat 20-minute film about the kitchen at Esmé. It’s always wild just how much work goes into high-end food. 

The ongoing lawsuit regarding The Acadia has come to an end (sorta), with a jury awarding former service captain Cody Nason nearly $8 million in damages from chef and owner Ryan McCaskey. McCaskey plans to appeal, but the jury was convinced that the chef harassed Nason for years after he complained online about bad behavior by the chef. Acada is closed now, but it was once considered one of the best restaurants in Chicago. 

Boston 

I saw many friends on Instagram bemoaning the closure of Fenway institution Thornton’s Fenway Grille. I didn’t realize until this Eater news brief that it closed suddenly and without warning. I wonder what’s going on there. 

In what is an extremely good idea, Rachel Leah Blumenthal has a companion list to Boston Magazine’s 50 best restaurants list. It’s a a guide to siblings restaurants that you can go to if you can’t get into ones on the list. 

Sheryl Julian highlights Chennai Eats, a new Indian restaurant in the old Strip T’s location in Watertown. The menu plays the hits with a slant towards South India. Julian raves about the dosas. 

New York City

Melissa Clark reviews Sawa, a new Lebanese bistro in Park Slope. Clark’s review astutely calls out dishes that are loyal to traditional recipes and ones that riff a bit (in good ways). Sawa is run by friends of mine, and it’s been great to see the place take off. I’ve only been once and can recommend that you get every dip possible and stick to the great wine list. Clark awards two out of four stars.  

Ryan Sutton joins the TASTE podcast to talk about one year of running his own food media outlet on Substack. Some really interesting insights here, including that Sutton is doing much better financially than I would have assumed. I mentioned Sutton’s best-of list in the last Snack Cart, but his week-to-week emails are a lot chattier and fun. His most recent one is about how much he appreciates restaurants that send SMS texts and rounds up a bunch of other New York food writing. 

Robert Sietsema reviews Cha Cha Tang, a new elevated dim sum parlor from the team behind  Nom Wah Tea Parlor. Sietsema loves about the pop-up turned full-time spot. Expect a combination of classic dim sum dishes and new plays on Hong Kong diner foods.  

Brooklyn Heights has a new home for fancy pizzas. Scott Lynch reports that Jules, a new restaurant from a crew of veteran Brooklyn restaurateurs, is already well on it’s way to beloved neighborhood classic. This review has a bunch of very good pictures of pizza. 

There’s been a lot of bagel discourse in New York the past few weeks, and the New York Times dives in with both arms swinging. Becky Hughes highlights the 17 best bagels in New York right now. Hughes' writing is funny and lively, so this is a fun read. My wife and I prefer bagels from two different places and often argue about which to order. Her spot is on this list and mine isn’t. I’ve never hoped she didn’t get this far in the newsletter more in my life. 

A Taiwanese food crawl through the Lower East Side? Yes, please. 

Los Angeles

Last week I missed a great column by the Los Angeles Times’ Jenn Harris, who profiles chef Minh Phan. Phan closed her two fabulously successful restaurants a year ago and has a new role as an artist in residence at the nonprofit Food Forward. Harris checks in with Phan as she prepares for a massive meal / event / art installation. This is a really interesting look at chef-as-artist, which can be an eye-rolling trope but really works here. 

The Times also profiles Ozzy’s Apizza, which is bringing New Haven-style pies to North Hollywood. 

Heather Platt reflects on 20 years of the movie Sideways. She looks at the impact the film has had on wine, Los Angeles, and the Santa Ynez valley. 

L.A. TACO recaps their BirriaMania event. It sounds like a lot of fun and after some surprisingly close rankings, newcomer Taquería Frontera won the title of “best birria”. 

Heading down south? LAist highlights places in Orange County that should be on your radar. 

Out of Context J. Gold of the Week 

An Elvirita's cemita, a taco arabe with carne adobada and a cold bottle of Boing — it's what I'd want after several months at sea. - link

Extremely yes, it turns out. Krishna’s most recent Critic Notebook is an instant classic. She visits every Carbone in America (NYC, Dallas, Miami, Vegas) and asks if the impossible reservation is still worth the hype. This is a great review, even if it technically isn’t one. It’s funny, concise, personal, and aggressive. It reflects the Times’ global ambitions while still being extremely New York-y. You should read it, but the tl;dr is that Carbone’s act and food are getting a bit tired-- except in Vegas, where everyone knows they are in showbiz. 

Taylor Lorenz’s new Substack highlights Ethos, a new restaurant in Austin that doesn’t really exist. The entire thing, website, chef profiles, and active Instagram account (with 75k followers) are AI-generated. The store is real, though. You can send them money for branded tee shirts and whatnot. It’s sort of in on the joke (the tagline is “home of unreal flavors”), and Lorenz talks to real chefs about why people seem to be so easily fooled into thinking AI slop is real food. 

One thing you learn if you read enough about food is how much fraud there is in the supply chain. There's pretty much a 100% chance that some food in your pantry isn’t totally what it says it is. Sarah Derouin writes for Ambrook Research about honey counterfeiting (rampant!) and how the industry is trying to come up with ways to “fingerprint” honey to track it through the supply chain.

Ernie Smith talks about how Starbucks’ new CEO hire shows it probably doesn’t care about being a ‘third place’ anymore. 

@mawaanMango, mango what? #mawaanrizwan

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Truly great story in Rest of World about Gatoes, a food delivery startup that launched during an Internet blackout in the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir region. Jibran Gulzar has been through all the normal founder issues, compounded with blackouts, Internet repression, and Indian government-imposed curfews. 

I’ve seen and linked to a bunch of Red Lobster stories, but David Segal at the New York Times dropped the definitive history of the company’s decline and fall. It is deeply hard to read something like this and not feel that our current business system is deeply broken. At every step, investors made moves not to build the company up, but to further loot its wounded body at the expense of workers and customers. 

Jaya Saxena writes about Salaam Cola and the limits of corporate activism. Really good read.

Eater has an app! The press release said “finally,” but I saw some commentary that Eater had an app a while back (when everyone did!). But this one seems more centered on maps, which could be helpful when traveling. But like all things tech, I hope they are prepared to maintain and support it post-launch. The main takeaway is that I find it charming that Eater and the Irish Beef Board are the only media lists I am on.

New York

Eric Kim dives into the history of (and provides a recipe for) Atlanta’s Korean-American hot wings. 

Not including your menu on a website should be a crime. 

Scott Lynch reviews Pasta Night, a new neighborhood Italian spot in Prospect Heights. Lynch correctly calls out that it’s kinda hard to get a plate of pasta that scratches that Italian-American-food itch for “a plate of pasta”. This place does. 

Robert Sietsema reviews Yuan, a new Szechuan restaurant specializing in whole fish. He uses the review to drop some knowledge about the growing modern Chinese scene in Jersey City. 

Ryan Sutton drops a ranking of New York’s 57 best restaurants on his excellent Substack, the Lo Times. Sutton has been chugging along at that thing for a while, and I love his own best-of list as a way to make a bolder statement. He calls Superiority Burger the best restaurant in the city (correct) and his entire write-up is worth a read. I learned new things about places I have been to multiple times!

I haven’t read a Grub Street Diet in a bit and man, Chef Nick Curtola of Four Horsemen eats exactly as well as you think he does. Jesus. 

Matthew Schneier reviews Radio Kwara, a tiny Clinton Hill Nigerian restaurant that’s been chugging along for a year without much attention. Schneider talks about chef Ayo Balogun’s history and why places like this don’t get as much attention. The food sounds fantastic and I already added the restaurant soundtrack to my Spotify playlist and have not regretted it. 

Los Angeles

I’m not sure I’m totally on board with 101 sprawl, but the Los Angeles Times rolling out 101 best tacos list is *possibly* acceptable. I appreciate that it isn’t ranked. It’s definitely a list that will have you pulling off the freeway for a quick nosh. 

*scrolls down* Holy shit they released it as a standalone ZINE? Shut up and take my money.

Bill Addison has a fantastic review of Stir Crazy, a long-time Hollywood coffee shop recently reinvented as a neighborhood hangout and wine bar. There’s a great description of how to do a big wine list well, but mostly read this because of Addison’s opener. He succinctly captures what the best restaurants are really for. 

L.A. Taco highlights Molino Komal, Los Angeles’s first craft molino. Taco enthusiasts can pick up freshly ground tortillas, tostadas, or masa by the pound. Don’t make your own masa. 

“Well sure,” I often find myself saying, “Los Angeles does a lot of foods better, but New York is hands down the best for West Indian.” Heavy sigh.

A Silver Lake pizza and hot dog joint called “LaSorted” *chefs kiss*

I recently discovered Air Jordan, a food podcast about Los Angeles by Jordan Okun, a former creative exec turned writer. It’s a bit too discursive for my taste, but Jordan and his guests know their stuff. This week’s episode focuses on a meal at RVR, the new restaurant from the chef behind Gjelina. If you are in LA or a real LA fanatic, this is for you. 

Boston

Barbara Lynch is closing her remaining restaurants, ending an empire that once defined Boston dining. Lynch has mostly been in the news recently for her personal issues, but it’s hard for me to imagine Boston without her restaurants. Drink was a key driver of the global cocktail resurgence and a place where I personally both fell in love and had my heart broken (different people). B&G Oysters or No. 9 Park feel more like structural supports of Boston culture than restaurants. 

Heading up to Salem to celebrate Halloween? (Don’t.) BoMag has you covered on the places to eat and drink. If you must go, take the train. 

Deva First profiles Did You Eat Yet?, a Haitian restaurant inside a convenience store near BMC. Mirbentz Jean Francois went from avid home cook to social media mini-star to, finally, restaurateur. First does a great job explaining the different dishes and the piece is accompanied by killer photography. 

It’s funny that when I read a bunch of headlines “Boston bagel wins New York bagelfest” I immediately knew which bakery won. That syncs with my overall take on “the best X is actually in Y”: it’s more about the ‘average’ quality of something. The average Los Angeles taco is 10x the quality of a New York one. The average New York bagel is 10x the quality of a Boston one. A single artisan can blow the doors off a dish somewhere else, but that doesn’t change the overall food culture of that city. 

Chicago

Of COURSE I’m going to link to a story about a couple trying to find the best Crab Rangoons in Chicago. 

Voters in a small portion of Lincoln Square will decide this fall on whether or not to allow alcohol sales in their 20-block area. A 100-year-old law making the area dry is up for repeal. Block Club Chicago has a great history of the law.

John Kessler at Chicago Magazine reviews Feld, the controversial new tasting menu temple from Chef Jake Potashnick. Potashnick built a large TikTok following as he trained and prepared to open his first restaurant. The anticipation has led to pretty harsh criticisms. Kessler says the the 30ish bite tasting menu is trying to do something very ambitious, but there are a lot of misses. This article demonstrates the value of reviews themselves. Kessley outlines what he thinks Potashnick is going for, where he misses, and why he’s still important. He awards Feld 2 out of 4 stars.

A book about Malort? Sure. 

Luisa Chu reviews Maxwells Trading, a restaurant that seems best described as Modern Asian with Midwestern influences. This review rambles a bit, as Chu tries to make a statement about Chicago dining and the aging cohort of young guns that she belongs to. However, she doesn’t lose sight of how good the food sounds. A scallion pancake and dips course? A martini bar? Fucking sign me up. 

Out of Context J. Gold of the Week

Even when the restaurant is crowded with besuited businessmen gobbling a quick hamburger lunch, you can usually find a few foodie tourists nibbling on the horseradish-tinged potato salad and having a Culinary Experience. - link

New York foodies know that the go-to order at the iconic Keens Steakhouse isn’t a steak at all—it’s the mutton chop. Outside of retro oddities like that and Easter dinners, Americans don’t traditionally eat much sheep. But that’s changing. 

Arabella Paulovich explores the resurgence of mutton in the United States. New generations of restaurateurs from New York to Ojai, California, are highlighting the flavorful meat and supporting local farmers (including Keens!). The vast majority of American mutton and lamb currently comes from Australia and New Zealand, but Paulovich highlights the work of local farmers who are bringing back sustainable native shepherding. These practices protect the land while delivering unmatched flavor. 

Next time you see mutton on the menu, give it a shot. You’re not just trying something delicious, you are helping to grow a burgeoning American industry. No mint jelly required. 

Read it: Mutton’s Big Comeback 

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The Olympics generated a million stories, but one of my favorites was a profile of the tiny Chinese restaurant located a few blocks from the Paris table tennis venue. The restaurant became a hub and unofficial clubhouse for the sports fans, coaches, and players. 

As we get pumped up for the Paralympics, check in on Sumera Subzwari’s account of what it’s like to be a disabled mushroom forager. It’s a lovely exploration of how hobbies can be healing even when they are hard. 

Part of the pandemic recovery has been the rise of pop-up restaurants and dinners. Young chefs are forgoing the trappings of brick-and-mortar locations. Luke Pyenson makes a connection between these short-term, underground restaurants and the indie music scene by examining the style and artwork of their promotional posters. This is a great read 

After you read that, take a trip back in time and check out Emily Wilson’s first profile of the team at Ha’s Đậc Biệt, one of the most prominent restaurant pop-ups. 

How well do you know global food delivery? (This is the hardest quiz ever. I got two out of nine correct.)

Pete Wells, restaurant critic for the New York Times, stepped down this summer. If you missed it, make sure you read his final essay on the state of restaurants. It’s incisive, relevant far beyond New York, and won’t leave you optimistic. But then cheer yourself up with his final review, which highlights the kind of restaurant that makes New York—and America—great. 

An unassuming diner in Woodland, California, has been named the oldest Chinese restaurant in America. The Los Angeles Times profiles the Chicago Cafe, where a regular who noticed a sign that said “from 1903” led to a research project and newfound fame. This is a beautiful story about family and the Chinese American immigrant experience. 

Cook

A friend visited me over the weekend and, while sharing how much she loves her Western Massachusetts CSA, joked about what a lot of us know: It’s a battle each week to use everything up before it goes bad. She said that, before she left home, she sliced and fried half a dozen giant eggplants into cutlets, which all went into the freezer. That’s a great idea, and it got me thinking of a few more ways to make a dent in those summer vegetables. 

Fried eggplant can pair with more than just marinara and mozzarella cheese. Try it with Nik Sharma’s mint yogurt sauce as part of a larger meal. Or skip the breading and make eggplant part of a tomato and swordfish pasta sauce.

Based on your confidence with baking, a vegetable galette can be a simple weeknight dinner or a more ambitious weekend project. Zola Gregory’s corn galette with chile oil sounds perfect for either. I bet you could substitute tomato for corn and still have it come out great.

Corn stock sounds silly, but I made some last summer and was shocked by how bright and flavorful it was. Freeze it or use it immediately to make the best corn chowder of your life. 

You can only eat so many plums hunched over the sink like an animal. Fold stone fruits into your smoothies to take advantage of their sweetness (it’s also a great use for ones that are a bit bruised). Or make a cake with some nearly perfect peaches. 

Ratatouille is the king of late-summer “oh god I have too many vegetables” dishes. Heidi Swanson makes hers on the grill, while JJ Goode serves his cold. 

Watch, stream, listen

What a great week on This Is TASTE. Have you tuned in? If you like the show, drop a review on Apple or Spotify. It’s a great way to help other people find us. 

Claire Saffitz & Andy Baraghani, cookbook authors and legends of the Bon Appétit cinematic universe, stop by to chat about what they’ve been up to. It’s two great conversations with an underlying thread—how do you chart a modern career in food media? 🎙LISTEN

Sahra Nguyen, the founder of Nguyen Coffee Supply, talks about the trials and tribulations of growing her business while balancing her values. It’s always fun to hear Matt geek out about coffee. A personal recommendation: I picked up some Nguyen coffee after hearing an earlier interview with Sahra. It makes an unreal cold brew at home.  🎙LISTEN

Priyanka Mattoo is a Hollywood executive and the author of Bird Milk & Mosquito Bones, a memoir of food and place. She visited the TASTE studios to talk about her journey and dive into food TV.  🎙LISTEN

If you aren’t subscribing to This Is TASTE on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon, click that button now. It’s the best way to ensure you won’t miss an episode, and we have so many good ones coming out weekly. 

One of my favorite non-food podcasts is Criminal. Host Phoebe Judge explores the world of crime, telling stories that can be heartbreaking or hilarious but are always entertaining. Earlier this summer, she dug into the complicated and farcical legal history behind margarine. 

Out of Context J. Gold of the week

“You realize that if you write about Casa Bianca,” he said, “I’m going to have to kill you. Slowly. After I break both your legs. It’s hard enough to get in on a Saturday night as it is.” link

I saw on Instagram that while they hire a replacement, reviews will be split by Priya Krishna and Melissa Clark. Krishna is one of the most exciting voices in food. Melissa Clark is my enemy for arcane and petty reasons that I will not be explaining at this time, but she’s a rockstar and will do great. 

Lesley Suter writes in Eater about her complicated feelings about garage chest freezers. I didn’t realize until about 4 years ago when my parents bought a second fridge for their vacation house that a garage fridge/freezer was an unattainable luxury in my mind. I was standing in a vacation house saying “Are you sure you can afford this?”. 

Jordan Michelman reports on the state of nonalcoholic beers for TASTE. He writes about why there are so many more and why they all taste so good these days. He also recommends some of the best brands out there right now. 

Have you no decency, sir. Have you no SHAME.

Daniel Gritzer comes up with three foolproof methods to cook perfect boiled corn on the cob. None of them involve boiling. 

Ernie Smith at Tedium writes about the history of the steak knife. It’s a surprisingly long and interesting journey that took Western culture from sharp knives to dull knives and back. 

Portland chef, James Beard winner, and Top Chef Masters star Naomi Pomeroy tragically died over the weekend at age 49. I wasn’t super familiar with chef Pomeroy, but the sheer volume of Instagram posts I saw made me realize what a big deal this was. Brooke Jackson-Glidden’s obituary in Portland Monthly is a lovely look at Pomeroy's life and career as one of the most influential chefs in Portland history. 

The UK has approved the use of lab-grown meat for pets. This is great! I don’t think lab-grown meat will even replace a T-bone steak or a perfectly roasted chicken, but it’s perfect for these kinds of “meat-esque” uses. 

On the newest Royal Caribbean cruise ship, you can have dinner in a virtual train ride. I have no words.  

Boston

I will be the first to admit that if I’m not actively writing Snack Cart, my local food knowledge is decaying. So the first place I stopped when catching up with Boston was Boston Magazine’s 50 best list. I slogged through the brutal digital presentation to catch up with classics (Sarma still slaps) and learn about new places (the best coffee shop in the city is on Blue Hill Ave!!!).

A restaurant review… *rubs eyes* from the Boston Globe?!?! You love to see it, folks! Devra First reviews Amar, a new high-end Portuguese restaurant on the 17th floor of the Raffles hotel. I really enjoyed how she highlighted context: a petty complaint matters if a restaurant sets itself up as a place that should be above petty complaints. Also, like any Boston food enthusiast, I love a good digression on “why doesn’t Boston have more Portuguese food.” She awards Amar three stars out of five. 

Writer Chang Liu on the website The Global Observer goes EXTREMELY in-depth on Boston’s Chinatown. The piece title is kind of weird, but it’s a comprehensive look at the visual language of restaurant signs in the area and how that’s been informed by traditions, translations, and immigration. I learned a lot reading this! 

I, for one, didn’t know there are multiple, regional oyster shucking techniques. Shoutout to the Cape Cod Times, who interviews William 'Chopper' Young, one of the Cape’s most decorated competitive oyster shuckers. This is a fun read.  

Chicago

I don’t watch The Bear (My generalized anxiety is high enough, thank you very much) but there’s been some great writing as the highs of season 2 led into a meh season 3. Jack Hamilton in Slate published a brutal pan of the show that has one of the best ledes I’ve ever read. Eater has a comprehensive map of iconic local spots featured in the show. These are worth visiting if you are a fan or not. Since much of Season 3 revolves around a review from the Chicago Tribune, read the column by actual Chicago Tribune restaurant critic Luisa Chu. She runs through what the series gets right and wrong about how she reviews restaurants. Mostly right! Chu, along with other members of the Tribune food team, also published a roundtable on class and social status in kitchens and how the Bear did depicting it. Less right!   

Ok, there are still, like, REAL restaurants in Chicago. Chicago Magazine just published a new “top ten hottest restaurants” list, which seems to be a lot of new concepts or reinventions from established chefs. 

The Tribune crew published three mini-reviews of exciting new spots all over the city. It’s fun to read new voices and now I really, really want some lamb. 

Mike Sula at Chicago Reader reviews Bayan Ko Diner, a Filipino-Cuban restaurant recently opened in Ravenswood. Sula traces the journey of husband and wife team Lawrence Letrero and Raquel Quadreny, who previously combined their two cultures into a fancier prix-fix popup (with the same name). Sula expects great things as the menu expands but says that if they never do anything but breakfast, it’s still pretty great. This place was also in the Tribune triple review and on the Chicago Magazine hot list. 

John Kessler at Chicago Magazine reviews Cariño, a new-ish tasting menu temple in Uptown. The restaurant plays on chef Norman Fenton’s experiences in Mexico. Kessler does a great job of reviewing a long testing menu here. Those can often be a slog to read (and, as Kessler says, to eat). But Kessler gives little glimpses into the highs and lows in a way that makes you want to try it yourself. He says the tasting menu is fine, but the 10-seat-per-night taco tasting menu is electric. He awards the tasting menu 3 out of 4 stars and the taco omakase 3.5 out of 4 (Two ratings is a cop out). 

Rick Bayliss is one of the most important chefs in Chicago, no, in American history. In celebration of the 30-year anniversary of the groundbreaking Frontera Grill, Michael Gebert sits down with ​​Rick and Deann Bayless and long-time chef Richard James to talk about the history of his empire. 

New York 

In a good reminder of what we will be missing, Pete Wells drops a great review of Spice Brothers. This new shawarma shop from Lior Lev Sercarz, a Daniel Boulud protege who, rather than open his own restaurant, spent years crafting and creating unique spice blends. He’s putting that knowledge to use with a simple menu that is literally bursting with flavor. 

The City profiles James Jackson, a 77-year-old man who has been selling watermelons in Bed-Stuy for 40 years. A tiny jewel of a profile of the kind of person who makes New York worthwhile. 

Best thing I read this week: Ella Quittner writes about avante garde restaurants. Underground spot Honey Badger and Greenpoint Ilis are pushing the boundaries of what dining out can be. Quittner writes that these kinds of places - and their dishes like snail ice cream - to truly bring us out of the Instagram era of food. 

Anna Rahmanan in Brooklyn Magazine writes that we have hit “peak croissant”. She runs through the pastry creations you can find across the borough. I, for one, have never had a stunt croissant that is actually better than a really good plain one. So I audibly muttered, “hell yeah” when I saw this essay from Tejal Rao about how good the originals are. Cookie croissant? Get out of here. 

Grub Street looks at the launch of the new city outdoor dining program, which is actually the death of outdoor dining. Like three good things came out of the pandemic and Mayor Adams is dedicated to destroying them. 

Washington D.C. 

A heated debate between Maryland and Delaware is about the nerdiest thing you could imagine. But then you find out it’s about the inventor of the drink Orange Crush. *chefs kiss*

Tom Sietsema reviews Taqueria Sabor Mixteco. He loves the Oaxacan specialties at this small Silver Springs storefront and is equally enthusiastic about the owners. I’ve never seen a critic explicitly say he was writing about a place to get more people to go there before, which is really all the review you need. 

I haven’t read D.C. media for a while, though I know there have been a lot of trials and tribulations in the scene there (as everywhere). Washington City Paper is doing food coverage, but appears to have broken it into two tracks: 

Crystal Jones is the “Carryout Critic” and reviews Bird’s Kitchen, where one family is trying to turn home cooking into a way to grow their community. It’s a simple take-out spot in SouthEast, but Jones says don’t sleep on the crab cake sandwich. She also describes a turkey burger that sounds pretty great. 

Nevin Martell writes “Good Taste”, which seems more like the official reviews. At least, Martell’s writeup of Pascual - a modern, wood-fired Mexican restaurant in Capitol Hill - seems more like a full review. It does have a lot of bolded words, which I found kind of annoying. 

Los Angeles

Less than a year after it opened, Bill Addison at the Los Angeles Times has named Baroo the best restaurant of the year (and hints at it being the best in the city). This isn’t exactly surprising, Baroo is a newer incarnation of a restaurant of the same name that had a brief but legendary run from 2016-2018. Addison marvels at how chef Kwang Uh took the personal, fermentation-forward cooking of Baroo 1.0 and leveled it up into a restaurant that feels absurdly self-assured out of the gate. This is a place to travel for. 

Jenn Harris asks, “is cabbage having a moment?”.

An article on 13 cool drinks and ice cream treats you can access via the Metro is almost TOO MUCH my shit.  

L.A. Taco interviews veteran Los Angeles reporter Jesse Katz about his new book "The Rent Collectors: Exploitation, Murder and Redemption in Immigrant L.A." The book focuses on the Colombian gang that once ruled MacArthur Park, extracting “taxes” from the street vendors there. Really interesting story about a unique space. 

L.A. Taco also published my favorite story of the week. They visit the northernmost taco truck in the world. If you want to stop by after a night out, head to Tio Moncho’s in Longyearbyen, the largest town on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. They even order their tortillas from Los Angeles!

Out of Context J. Gold of the Week

The first thing you should order, especially on a hot afternoon, is the cool, Syrian-style dip muhammara, an extraordinary brick-red paste made from red peppers and ground walnuts that packs a cumin wallop and is complex as wine. Link. 

My second impression was the view from the airport parking lot of Beirut itself: Palm trees, rolling hills covered in white apartment buildings, mountains in the distance. 

“Oh, it seems very Mediterranean,” I thought. 

Looking at Google Maps, I realize now that I had that epiphany standing a few hundred feet from the Mediterranean itself. However, that mistake is understandable. Like a lot of us, I didn’t really have a mental picture of Beirut. 

I’ve started a new job that involves working with a talented software engineering team based in Lebanon. In early March, it made sense to visit them. I received a few concerned texts and emails from family and friends. For a lot of Americans (myself very much included), Lebanon is a place you read about in newspaper headlines, not see on travel shows. I didn’t have the kind of mental picture for Beirut that I might have for other cities I’ve never been but have seen many times, like Rome. 

I’m obviously aware of the issues plaguing Lebanon, but I work every day with dozens of people who live and work there. It was hard to view it as overly foreign or dangerous looking at pictures from last month’s bowling night. I asked my business partner, who is Lebanese, for any travel advice or major social differences, and all she offered was “Eh, It’s rude to turn down food if someone offers it to you.” 

That danger hit me the first night. A few hours after leaving the airport I was heading to a company-wide dinner at Kun, an upscale restaurant in the heart of the fancier part of downtown Beirut. 

Dinner that night was traditional mezze, a selection of small plates. I barely had time to snack from a bowl of nuts before plates of food started to hit the table. In all, sixteen dishes came out before the main course. Some of the foods would be familiar to anyone who has ever gotten “Middle Eastern” food of any variety in America. Hummus, richer and creamier than I could imagine, crispy balls of kibbeh, and diced fried potatoes tossed with garlic and cilantro. Some things were brand new to me, like sigara boregi, crispy cheese-filled cigarettes, or sujuk, a spicy fresh Armenian sausage. There were multiple plates of meat (chicken livers, minced lamb, and small sweet sausages) tossed with pomegranate molasses. I’ve never really liked tabbouleh, which I’ve found bland and bitter. The vividly green chopped parsley salad on the table, however, was fresh and sweet and deserved to be eaten by the bucketful. Everything was served with saj, a thin, crepe-like bread that the waiters replaced as soon as a basket started to get cold. It was only THEN the restaurant’s speciality - extremely Instagrammable roast chickens - were brought out. 

Sitting down at a table with a table of mostly 20-something Lebanese tech workers, I was subject to about 400 food opinions. I was quickly told I needed to pick a side between the two core salads of Lebanese cuisine: Tabbouleh or Fattoush (a sumac-dressed salad of lettuce, tomato, and fried bread). Each side waxed rhapsodic over their favorite and lobbied me by piling more on my plate. Most of my coworkers were fattoush fans but – sorry guys – I’m still thinking about that tabbouleh. I asked for Lebanese red wine and was bullied into ordering Araq, the Lebanese version of the anise-flavored spirit with other variations around the Mediterranean. Well, technically they just served me both. About an hour and a half in I broke the one cardinal rule. A colleague urged me to have more chicken and I begged off, saying I was too full. My partner turned to me, laughing, and said, “I told you ONE thing! And now you turn down this food!” On the ride home, the jet lag, food, and araq had me dazed. I started telling my driver about the meal. He interrupted me emphatically, “Ah, tabbouleh, it is the HEART of the table!!”

I had started a company-wide riot the week before my trip by asking in the team Slack “where should I eat shawarma when I visit.” This question is so contentious that the debate is STILL GOING ON a month after my trip. My second night, a few folks who were also working late said tonight would be a good night to get some. Since it was a Tuesday, I couldn’t get shawarma the true way – around 1 am after drinking all night. But we could stop for a cocktail on the way. 

I walked into JIVE, a bar near my guest house in the Gemmayzeh neighborhood, and felt extremely at home. That entire neighborhood is famous for cafes, art galleries, shops, and restaurants. If dinner the night before had been in the Midtown of Beirut, this was Williamsburg. Except for the copious amounts of cigarette smoke, Jive would have fit in perfectly on any Brooklyn street. Soul music blared from a vintage record player behind the bar. I skipped past the negroni sbagliato on the menu before settling on an Atay Party, a combination of rum, passion fruit, mint, spices, and tea. It tasted like a Mai Tai’s older brother.

After a few drinks and definitely, 100%, absolutely ZERO cigarettes, it was shawarma time. My next stop was Basturma Mano in the Armenian part of town. While no one thought this was the BEST shawarma, there was a general consensus that it was *important* shawarma and a decent place to take me. Cones of meat spun and sizzled while jaunty, white-uniformed men deftly carved slices. First up was a standard chicken, but served “tarboosh”, with a dollop of the pungent garlic sauce toum (tarboosh is also the term for fez). This wasn’t an overflowing gloppy mess the way shawarma often is here in the States. It was a small, tight wrap stuffed with freshly shaved meat and a few vegetables. The chicken was heavily seasoned and the tarboosh took that to 11, bringing a LOT of garlic flavor and some welcome moisture. 

Since these shawarma were smaller, eating two wasn’t a huge deal. Next up was sujuk, the same spicy Armenian sausage from my first night, which had the texture and flavor of a spicy hot dog (in the best possible way). The juicier sausage made for a more balanced sandwich.

As we prepared to leave, I said I would have liked to have tried the basturma since that is in the name of the restaurant. Before I could say “next time” one appeared before me. Basturma shares an etymology and overall flavor profile with pastrami, but texturally it’s very different. Like pastrami, beef is cured with salt and spiced, but then the meat is dried to concentrate the flavor. For the shawarma, slices of basturma were shaved into the sandwich. It came on a small panini-pressed baguette instead of a pita. Toast with dried meat and vegetables was, as you might imagine, a bit dry. One of my companions said she liked it with mayonnaise, which would have improved it, but the flavor was outstanding. If my stomach felt great about two shawarma, three was a stretch. I quietly tucked half of it back into the bag as we got int he car, though I did finish it back at my hotel once I could get more water.

My final day started with a traditional Lebanese breakfast of olives, breads, yogurts, and cheeses at a coworker's parents’ house (Lactaid, take the wheel). Then we took a company-wide bus trip to Betron and Byblos, two of the oldest cities in the world and common Lebanese tourist destinations. Once again, I was struck by how familiar it all felt. We were walking through beautiful old souks - 3000-year old neighborhoods of alleys and sandstone buildings unlike anything I’ve ever seen. But we were also visiting old churches, stores selling locally-made products, and fish restaurants advertising $15 set lunch menus. I might have been in any tourist-heavy European village.

I begged off a final night out with colleagues – my flight the next morning was pre-sunrise. After packing, I ducked out to explore Rue Gouraud. If Gemmayzeh is Williamsburg, then Rue Gouraud is Bedford Ave. Film-themed cocktail bars abutted art galleries next to pubs with Chelsea kits on the wall. I settled on a quiet early dinner at the bar of Un Peu Fou, a restaurant that I’ve had a hard time describing. It was definitely Lebanese - the tomato, stracciatella, and olive-oil sorbet salad I had seemed like a play on the ubiquitous fattoush. Steak in pepper sauce was deeply French. But fried calamari with freeze-dried tomato powder? All I can think of to describe the place is “Brooklyn-y”. There was a manifesto on the back of the menu, for pete’s sake! The meal, combined with a few different glasses of Lebanese wines, were a fantastic close to the trip.

In many ways, Beirut felt very familiar, which I guess means very Western. Stores were full of all the normal things I might need and my company’s offices at a cool live-work coworking space look… like those kinds of offices anywhere. The temperate weather and my coworkers kvetching about parking reminded me of Los Angeles. However, even though I was in a upscale part of town I saw regular evidence of the ongoing financial and government crises. There were regular blackouts each afternoon, with our fancy coworking space going dark for 30-60 seconds before the generators kicked in. Traffic signals, laws, or enforcement were nonexistent (froggering across a major street was the single scariest part of my trip). Credit cards aren’t accepted. I had to bring a decent amount of cash from the States and use that to pay for everything, sometimes in USD and sometimes debating the exchange rate for Lebanese lira (the official rate is far below the street rate). It was a weird experience to debate the cost of an espresso in a tech company lobby coffee shop and then sip it during a blackout that everyone around you is treating as business as usual. 

All that said – with my privilege firmly checked – I had a fantastic time. The architecture was beautiful. The bars and restaurants were creative, ambitious, and occasionally weird. Friends and strangers alike were deeply enthusiastic that I was there and eager to show off (and fight over) the things they liked best about the city. I didn’t leave hungry, but I left hungry to come back.

Out of Context J. Gold Quote of the Week

By the time I could afford to eat there once in a while, I was already on to Cantonese seafood and Taylor's steaks instead, and the first-wave Argentine places like Don Felipe on Western somehow seemed more soulful than I imagined Gardel's to be; realer, less expensive. Also, undeniably, not quite as good.

Link

It’s cliché at this point to say that the modern cultural landscape is fractured, but living through it can be extremely disorienting. What might first seem like a random viral video is actually a portal into a person or subculture that has hundreds of millions of fans worldwide. In that world, we need writers who can serve as real-time cultural anthropologists to keep us informed about all the wild and wonderful things humans are doing. 

This is why I so appreciated John Devore’s essay on mukbang, a genre of livestream or online video focused on watching people eat. Devore is an avid fan of the genre, and in his essay, he talks to sociologists, content creators, and fans to better understand how he could pivot from an underemployed writer to a mukbang star. Along the way, he uncovers some truths. The genre may have started in South Korea, but it’s spread around the world. It’s also no longer just about overeating junk food, though that’s still popular. It’s about the food, but it’s about more than that. 

Devore’s essay is funny and bracingly honest about the challenges of unemployment. It also gets at something important about culture. It’s easy, when we brush up against a fandom or subculture we’re unfamiliar with, to assume it’s weird and put it out of our mind. But Devore shows that the popular mukbang creators don’t just point a camera at themselves and eat. They are as thoughtful, strategic, and dedicated as any other artists. Even if their art form is eating an entire box of Jollibee chicken. 

Read: I Guess Mukbang Is My Plan B

Read

Aliza Abarbanel details the rise of terrines. The classic dish has a French soul but meets all the requirements of a modern food trend: economical yet fussy for chefs, endlessly adaptable, and can look great on Instagram. 

One of the most important things we can do for our planet is find more sustainable forms of food. With sushi, for example, the worldwide preference for fatty tuna has led to massive overfishing. Aliza talks with organizations in Japan promoting new species of fish to sushi chefs worldwide.

A lot of formal or fussy terms in food evolved from kitchen or bar shorthand (it all sounds fancier in French). Emma Janzen at Punch rounds up the new cocktail terms bubbling up across the country. Some will fizzle out, but some will just get absorbed into how we talk about drinks. Someday everyone will know what “spaggled” or “blip” means. But, a warning: do NOT, under any circumstances, use these terms with bartenders you don’t know. At best, you will look like a poseur. Just chuckle loudly or smile and nod if you hear them. They’ll notice. 

They say AI is coming for all forms of content, and that includes recipes. Verge reporter Emilia David dug into AI-generated recipes and found them, at best, fine. Putting aside the questions about copyright, the recipes themselves were best for things like pie crust, which doesn’t have many ingredients or variations in general. Also, they sometimes missed the mark completely. David wonders if AI recipes will ever take off, as half the value of a recipe is connecting with and trusting the person behind it. 

Some of the United States’ first chefs, the ones who trained in and brought over French technique, were the enslaved cooks of our founding fathers. The New York Times profiles Hercules Posey, George Washington’s personal chef. The story, by historian Ramin Ganeshram, does a great job of contrasting Posey’s dashing and flamboyant figure in 1700s Philadelphia with the reality of his life as a slave. This is a great read. 

Some New York restaurants have made their own popularity and exclusivity annoying. The food itself (and even the scene) just isn’t worth waiting outside for four hours or begging to get a reservation. Eater New York’s Robert Sietsema highlights great alternatives to some of the city’s obnoxiously hard-to-secure tables. 

Are you following the drama around Huy Fong? The inventor of sriracha has switched pepper suppliers, and now the old supplier has launched a competitor sauce. Luke Gralia at The Takeout taste-tests a few competing srirachas to see if the OG is still the best. 

Cook

It’s a tough time of year for cooking. We are all getting tired of winter greens and starches, but there aren’t really any spring vegetables yet. If you’re looking for a new twist on a weeknight classic, try this potato and greens soup with garlic butter. Any recipe that leaves you with extra garlic butter is 👍👍👍.

If you are stuck making dinner out of pantry staples, you can never go wrong with kimchi and ketchup fried rice.

Or, try caramelized fish sauce tuna. 

As a member of the TASTE family, I’m biased, but Zola Gregory is my favorite recipe developer right now. Her recipes are fancy-ish, approachable, and mostly vegetarian without making a big deal out of it. I made her kale, white bean, and mushroom pot pie for both Christmas dinner and a normal Tuesday. Her mushroom madame has become a regular in my weeknight rotation. 

I love Serious Eats, but I am not separating my yolks and whites to make a fried egg; I don’t care how flawless the results are. 

New collaborative newsletter Flaming Hydra features one of my favorites: the profane and funny Laurie Woolever. She’s contributing monthly travel essays and recipes. Her most recent, for sweet swiss chard pie, will dominate any dinner party for the next few months. The title will make you laugh out loud.

Watch, Stream, Listen

It’s been another big week for the TASTE podcast. 

British farmer and chef Julius Roberts stops by to talk with Aliza about his new cookbook The Farm Table, which chronicles his transition from London chef to Dorset small farmer. Listen. 

The man, the myth, the delightful human Phil Rosenthal stopped by to talk with Matt about how his improbable travel show has grown into a juggernaut. Also, listen until the end for Matt and Aliza previewing spring cookbook season. Listen.

In a two-segment episode, Matt interviews Crystal Wilkinson about her new book, Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts, a memoir of the kitchen and her maternal ancestors. Then he talks with journalist, food writer, and podcast host Howie Kahn about his career in food writing. It’s always fun to hear Matt get nerdy about New York restaurants. Listen. 

Out of context J. Gold of the week

The article the most people sent me: Kim Severson at the New York Times reviews a new book by photojournalist Kate Medley about the gas stations of the South. Besides selling gas, many of these local stores also have restaurants. The article and the book explore how these local institutions reflect the changing foodways of the region. Beautiful photos here. 

Watch this amazing unintentional cameo by Gene Hackman on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.

This Vox headline blares that a cheese crisis looms. Popular cheeses like Brie and Camembert won’t go away, but they might be changing. Cheese is created by adding bacteria and fungus to milk. Like most global foods, as producers chased consistency they’ve reduced the number of strains they use down to one or two. That means a slight evolution in that strain could decimate cheese production worldwide. It feels like we spend the 20th century scaling up our food supply and we’re going to spend the 21st realizing how fragile that is.

The video the most people sent me: SNL takes on Stanley cups and Josh wine. 

Albert Burneko at Defector tears into the new proposal from Instacart to put digital screens on shopping carts that would serve targeted ads based on what’s in the carts. He rages against the kind of innovation that delivers nothing anyone actually wants other than a spreadsheet that spits out “yeah, more money”. 

NEW REGIONAL SANDWICH ALERT. Find out about the “Dutch Crunch”. 

Rare wines worth nearly $2 million have gone missing from a famous Paris restaurant. If anyone asks, I was with you the whole time and there is no truth to the rumors that I am the international cat burglar known as “The Shadow.” 

Velveeta makes its mark on fans’ lips with its cheesy 14-karat gold drip lip cuff. I do not know what any of those words mean and I’m so very tired. 

Matt Reynolds at WIRED dives into efforts by the beef industry to influence how industrial agriculture and farming are taught in schools. It’s one of those articles I read and my brain zooms out and I get sad as I imagine the hundreds, if not thousands, of people employed to influence what we think about beef. Then again, “Don’t kid yourself Jimmy, if a cow ever got the chance he’d eat you and everyone you care about”. 

Turns out giant novelty popcorn buckets are a surprising cash cow for movie theaters. I hadn’t realized they only really became a thing a few years ago.  

A bizarre Brooklyn mystery occurred when a local bagel shop closed and then reopened the next day with the same name, menu, and staff. The previous owner was baffled and it seems as if a shady investment banking group and competing bagel shop operator is to blame. 

In my new job, I’ve been thinking a lot about workplace culture. We’re remote-first, but how would a company make in-office time something to look forward to instead of dread? Anne Chaker in the Wall Street Journal thinks the Swedes might have the answer: Fika, a twice-a-day team-wide coffee and conversation break. It’s more than a quick coffee run with your work spouse: it’s an expected time for everyone to put things down and take an active break. 

New York

The Times has a fun Valentine’s day special, with stories about food and love:

• The many perspectives on restaurant breakups.

• On how the kitchen can be the most tense room for any relationship.

• Should you cook dinner for someone on the first date? (no, that is insane) 

Pete Wells writes a great obit for David Bouley, one of the pioneers of nouvelle cuisine in America. Wells writes that while some of his contemporaries like Daniel Boulud had better business sense, Bouley was a maelstrom of ideas in a way that may have been more influential. 

New media cooperative Hell Gate devotes some of their limited budget to food coverage, tapping Scott Lynch for periodic reviews, like his most recent of Doaba Deli, a homey South Indian steam table spot near Columbia. Lynch reflects on the importance of a city full of places that are cheap, welcoming, and fine. 

Lynch also visits Bensonhurts for Brooklyn Magazine, where he loves the food at Langham Express, a new Central Asia spot for large, hearty portions.  

Based on what I’ve seen on Instagram, the line at Border Town, a breakfast taco pop-up in Greenpoint, is like an hour long when they open. Based on this review by Helen Rosner, I get it.

Eater laid off a number of folks last summer, including some of the best Eater New York writers. The reduced team is still doing the best they can. This story by Emma Orlow on “Listening Bars” is a great primer on a trend that started in Tokyo, is taking over New York, and seems poised to keep spreading. 

Ryan Sutton was one of the Eater folks let go, which is a shame. He launched The Lo Times, a newsletter where he continues reviews, lists, and food news. His most recent feature is a list of some of the best things he ate in Midtown before moving from Manhattan to Brooklyn. He aptly describes how, while you’ll always go back to your old neighborhood, you rarely go back to the places kinda nearby. 

Tammie Teclemariam makes the case that the trend of adding caviar to things isn’t just trite - it’s getting boring. Is caviar the bacon of the ‘20s?

“This is real carnitas, and it is to the stuff sold at Chipotle what Lucali’s wood-blistered pizzas are to Domino’s.”

I am seeing absolutely wild things bubbling up about the new Frog Club restaurant.

Chicago

Tanikia Carpenter publishes a beautiful reflection on her family’s Mississippi roots and how Chicago migrants brought their food traditions.

The Tribune food section is looking a bit thin, but thankfully Louisa Chu is still holding it down. I loved her survey of the new class of Chicago tavern-style pizzas. The thin-crust pizza is the hottest style around but it originated in Chicagoland and a lot of local chefs are giving it its due. 

As pop-ups and food stalls become the cutting edge of cooking innovation, more outlets should track those openings. Block Club Chicago tracks the opening of Babygold Barbecue at the From Here On food hall near Union Station. 

John Kessler at Chicago Magazine drops a BANGER of a review of Anelya, a new Ukrainian restaurant in Irving Park. The war in Ukraine inspired chef Johnny Clark to look into his own Ukrainian heritage. He opened Anelya, staffed almost exclusively with emigres, to highlight the cuisine. Kessler loves the food and calls it as much a statement as a restaurant. He awards it three out of four stars. 

Boston

Rachel Leah Blumethal, who I felt was one of the best local Eater editors anywhere, decamped to Boston Magazine. She’s already been having an impact, with faster-paced food news and features like this excellent 2024 spring restaurant opening preview. I’m most excited to return to Jacob Wirth for piano nights again. It doesn’t take a lot to really bulk up a food section (do you hear that, Globe?). 

Kara Baskin writes about how some of Boston’s best food is in… Burlington? She makes a convincing case but the concept is so Globe-y I laughed out loud. 

Credit where credit is due, this is a fantastic Globe story by Alexa Gagosz about the financial struggles of the 100-year-old hot weiner stand the Original New York System. Changing tastes, a changing neighborhood, and aging owners are conspiring to bring this local institution to the brink of collapse. 

Los Angeles

If you read one thing this issue, make it Bill Addison’s review of Baroo, the second restaurant of that name from chef Kwang Uh. The original incarnation, which only lasted from 2015-2018, was one of the most important restaurants in Los Angeles, if not the country, during that period. Uh directed his fine dining training into a tiny place that served kombucha and grain bowls that completely redefined how you might think about food (it’s hard to explain, read the review). Uh is back with a bigger, more refined space. Addison says it’s not the “I can’t believe he’s doing this” feeling of the original, but it’s still a grand, fantastic dining experience that will hopefully be more sustainable. 

The Los Angeles Times also went through a round of layoffs, with some truly bizarre subplots, but many of my favorite folks are still there. Jenn Harris is still doing a great deep-dive food column with the breadth of a native Angeleno. Do you want to read about the best scallion pancakes in the city? Of COURSE you do. 

L.A. Taco still crushes the headline game: Tacos Before Vatos: 13 Tacos In L.A. That Will Make You Forget About Him 

Jonathan Whitener, chef of Here’s Looking at You and a beloved member of the Los Angeles food community, died last week at the age of 36. Really sad. 

“Soup dumplings are one of those particular foods, like bagels, that you don’t just wake up one day and decide to put on the menu. Sure, they’re a simple concept, in theory, but then again, so is operating a table saw. If you don’t know what you’re doing, it can turn into a real disaster.”

California has banned “junk fees” – any extra fee that a business tacks on that isn’t listed in the official price. This is probably a good thing, but Stephanie Briejo reports how restaurant owners, who had been relying on “service fees” to pay for employee health care and benefits while keeping menu prices low, will now have to jack up the list price. 

Out of Context J. Gold of the week

When you have a baby, that last part really hits you. Sometimes literally. 

Snack Cart petered out about May of last year when a big new project entered my life. I’ve been seeing first hand the extremely practical side of food. Did you know babies don’t know how to chew? I didn’t. You have to like… teach them? It’s wild. 

My son is about 9 months old. I’m slowly regaining sleep, sanity, and spare time. I’ve missed writing Snack Cart and being a part of your life very, very much, so we’re back! I started this newsletter to force myself to read all the food-related tabs I opened every week, and I’m looking forward to getting back to that. I’ll start with general stuff and then branch back out into cities. 

Tbqh, I’m looking forward to ingesting any culture that doesn't involve Taking Cara Babies. 

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A quick programming note 

I will be joining other writers I like in moving off Substack. I didn’t want to use that swap as an excuse to postpone actually writing, so I’ll get to it in the next few weeks. Since there are no paying subscribers, this should be a pretty smooth transition for you. There is a chance the archives break, but I’ll do the best I can with that.

I have been doing email and newsletters for a while (this is Snack Cart’s fourth platform!), so I’m pretty open to arguments that digital tools can just be tools. But I’m tired of Substack’s leadership acting unserious and petty. The tooling remains fine but there’s still some basic features from Mailchimp that I miss and it’s clear the company isn’t as interested in being a newsletter tool as they are at being a social network. 

I think a lot of tech leadership would do better to just be rich and successful, vs. trying to be rich, successful, famous, and “serious”. 

The food 

Did enough memes about Josh wine summon me, like an unspeakable Eldritch horror? Hard to say, really. But if you are wondering why a wine that was open on the table at your friend’s Christmas party is all over the Internet, you are not alone! I can’t embed all the memes (another reason to leave Substack) but I can give some context. Ali Fracis at Bon Appétit traces the rise of the meme and talks to smart cultural critics about how things like this happen. Karla Walsh at Food & Wine talks to the team at Josh Cellers, who seem to be enjoying the whole thing. Luke Winkie at Slate talks to wine critics, who have generally positive things to say. Pretty good though definitely geared for the American palate? That’s Josh!

This video of Paul Hollywood & Prue Leith rating American snack foods will bring you a lot of joy. Their British snobbery over American chocolate is tiresome and they under-rate Cheez-its, but their final matchup and winner is spot on. 

As with any catch-up post, you are going to get some things that aren’t current. I really loved this Virgina Sole-Smith guide to how to handle awkward conversations around food and weight over the holidays. It’s got great advice for how to not be an asshole, how to deal with someone being an asshole to you, and how to help someone who someone else is being an asshole to. The winter holidays are behind us, but this is relevant all year long. 

Marian Bull writes about her relationship with doing dishes, the part of cooking we talk about even less than pooping. I’ve long realized that we don’t really learn a lot of these basic life tasks, we figure them out on our own or from parents who also figured it out on their own. I only learned four months ago that you don’t need to fill the laundry machine soap to “full” for each load of laundry. There is a lot of talk about adding media literacy education to school but maybe we bring back home economics? 

“In a bizarre micro-scandal that some have dubbed ‘GrubGate,’ a former GOP congresswoman who is running for her old seat in South Texas is being accused of routinely stealing photos of Mexican food from other social media accounts and passing them off as her own cooking.”

Two of my favorite writers considered the diner, a New York totem perfect for considering. In a beautiful essay, John Paul Brammer describes how diners produce a sense of belonging no matter who you are. Helen Rosner, in her new restaurant newsletter/column for The New Yorker, visits Old John’s, a 70-year-old spot on the Upper West Side that has recently come under new ownership. Don’t worry, she assures readers, it’s still a diner. 

One of my first CDs was a Jimmy Buffett live album (I’ve been prepping to be a Dad for a long time). I’ve since been a big fan and was very sad when he died this summer. I appreciated Jason Wilson’s look at the sad side of Buffett’s music (which I always loved) along with multiple margarita recipes. In other life news, I have a new job but it isn’t running the Times Square Margaritaville. 

Barilla making a Spotify playlist of songs that last as long as it takes to properly cook different kinds of pasta is such a good idea it’s upsetting. 

It’s quite easy to mock dry January, but this graphic essay by Alanna Okun and Aude White shows what it is at its best: a chance to spend some time aware of the role alcohol plays in your life. As someone who has had a difficult relationship with alcohol most of my adult life, I really appreciated this.

Expedite newsletter interviews the CEO of Wow Bao, one of the most successful “ghost kitchen” chains in America. He talks about how while there have been some high-profile stumbles, he’s still optimistic. I tend to agree, though I wonder if the opportunity is less in chains but more in smaller, chef-driven options. 

Early in 2023, Dan Kois at Slate visited D.C. restaurant Charga Grill, which landed at the top of Washington Post restaurant critic Tim Carmen’s 2022 list of top D.C. area casual restaurants. Kois’ report of a restaurant going from almost closed to drowning in orders is great. Affable owner Asad Chaudry seems both amazed at his luck and exhausted trying to keep up. I checked and – thank God – the place is still open. This is a great story of the enduring power of local food critics.

Restaurant menus tell us more than just food trends, they reflect trends in design, society, and how we view labor. The New York Times dives deep, gathering 121 menus from around the country and analyzing them in a beautiful online presentation. A lot to enjoy here though that menu at the end would make me walk out. It’s actively rude to present that to your customers!

If you are still thinking about menus and the New York Times, get advice on how to decipher a menu from their food critics. My only menu rules are that if I see something that looks weird, I usually order it. I figure the chef must think it’s really good to put something that people are unlikely to order on the menu.

Douyin, which is Chinese Tik-Tok (To be more accurate, Tik-Tok is American Douyin) is expanding its food delivery footprint in China. The company is challenging larger players in the food delivery space. Seems relevant that here in the US, Tik Tok is leaning hard into e-commerce. I don’t think we are that far from one-click ordering of sheet pan feta pasta or corn ribs or whatever. 

One thing that got me through late-night feedings was Kantaro: The Sweet Tooth Salaryman. It’s a deeply insane premise: A Tokyo publishing sales rep works really hard so that he can finish early and try different desserts and write about them on his blog. It also has a deeply insane execution that involves dance numbers and his head turning into fruit… often. I was three episodes in before I realized all of the restaurants he visits are real places, so it’s also a travel show kinda? It’s a hoot. 

Out of Context J. Gold of the Week

“A television in the restaurant blasts Spanish-language news to the carnivores, except when there are merengue music videos that look like something MTV might have shown in 1982.” - link

Music for today’s newsletter.

My very first cookbook was an old Craig Claiborne volume in college. The book covered a bunch of basics but represented a different era in cooking (the first recipe was a soufflé!). I was too inexperienced to know the book was dated, and I dived in. One of my favorite recipes was for anchovy butter, which I kept in the back of the fridge to fancy up my toast. Little did I know that I just needed to spend a bit more time with it to make the butter more useful.

Mehreen Karim explores the world of compound ghee. She walks through the steps to create clarified butter, which is used around the world for cooking, and suggests a few spice blends to infuse it with extra flavor. Ghee has a higher smoke point than regular butter, so compound ghee is a great way to add a burst of flavor to roasts or sautés. Ghee is even shelf-stable, though I’ll need to do more research before leaving anchovy ghee out on the counter. Also, make sure to check out Mehreen on one of this week’s podcasts (see below!).

Hope’s wine meme of the week

Most red wines are served too warm. Even if it’s coming from the part of the wine list that’s not listed as chilled, don’t be scared to ask for an ice bucket to cool it down. Cooler temperatures balance strong tannins and high alcohol, bringing out more delicate aromas.

If the waiter gives you side-eye they don’t know what they are talking about. I still feel like a jerk when I ask for an ice bucket and I do this for a living. You aren’t a philistine, you just want the wine to taste as good as it can! Just ask nicely and they should accommodate you.

(On the flip side, chilled red means chilled, not fridge temp! It shouldn’t be freezing cold when it’s served. If it is, serve everyone a glass and order a round of drinks or fancy water while you wait 5/10 minutes for it to warm up).

Read

Cathy Erway dives deep into fish sauce. Once relegated to being a “secret ingredient” so as not to gross out diners, chefs (especially ones from Southeast Asian backgrounds) are increasingly trumpeting the ingredient. Along with more attention comes more specialization, as fish sauce providers are exploring different versions of the sauce. 

In Cambridge, Massachusetts, corporate intrigue has collided with local zoning. Crumbl, a cookie chain, is opening a new store. The location requires them to have glass windows surrounding the store, but Crumbl is protesting over fears of cookie espionage. 

Former president Jimmy Carter is most associated with peanuts, but the dude was nuts for dairy. Read this December 1976 report on the incoming president’s dining habits, which included a plate of saltines with butter before dinner. 

Jocelyn Delk Adams’s book Everyday Grand isn’t just a cookbook, it’s a manifesto on taking more joy in life. Rachel Sugar interviews Adams on the inspiration for her book and how to bring more joy into your life.

Ali Francis at Bon Appétit asked AI to help her define and create a “New American” restaurant. The results were cliché and forgettable, which Francis says is more a reflection of how we talk about food right now than of the AI’s capability. 

Speaking of Bon Appétit, their food diary series is really terrific. It’s got all the voyeurism of Grub Street diets, but with a much broader lens. A recent one featuring a lunch lady and mother of two in the resort town of Big Sky, Montana, was fascinating! The school district is lucky to have her. 

Pete Wells’s review of Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi is truly one of the best restaurant reviews I’ve read in a while. Expectations for Onwuachi’s restaurant were insanely high, and Wells deftly breaks down how the food is great—but even more than that, how the restaurant is making a statement about Onwuachi, New York, and the entire country. This is top-tier art criticism that you should read even if you don’t live in New York. 

The teams behind two popular Food Network shows are unionizing, bouncing back from a number of pandemic-driven cuts to demand basic benefits like health insurance and overtime. This will be an interesting test case to see if the unionization drive spreads to more unscripted food TV. 

Cook

This remixed recipe for leeks vinaigrette will make a winter allium feel like a spring salad. 

Zola Gregory suggests you make frozen vegetables the star. While garlic scapes aren’t here yet, there’s nothing in the rules that says you can’t make pesto out of frozen peas. 

The root vegetables at the farmers’ market may look a bit tired, but they’ll feel fresh and light if you crisp them up and hit them with aggressive, bright flavors. 

And if you manage to get some early greens and want to preserve them longer? The folks at America’s Test Kitchen realized you can use your SodaStream to make them last twice as long. 

When in doubt, just adobo everything.

To keep in mind: We’re heading into a time I think of as “false spring.” The days are longer. Maybe you can get away with a light coat, you think. Surely spring is here! But a trip to the farmers’ market shows the truth: You may be craving fresh greens and young vegetables, but nature isn’t quite ready yet. Still, there are ways to scratch your spring itch. Check out a recipe from the TASTE database.

Watch, stream, listen

This week Alison Roman stops by the TASTE podcast. She’s written three cookbooks in just under five years and produced a TV show and a web series, all while penning columns and newsletters. She and Matt discuss her many projects, her newest dessert cookbook, Sweet Enough, and how important salt and acid are to desserts.

Grabbing ingredients off a moving platform to cook a dish for Gordon Ramsay to judge truly sounds like a stress dream we’ve had before—but for Mehreen Karim, it’s a good time. Get to know one of the most exciting voices in food.

If my Instagram account is to be believed, Italy is hot right now. If you are planning a trip to Rome, you might be thinking about a food tour with cookbook writer and Italian food expert Katie Parla. Katie stopped by the podcast to talk about her tours, what lunch really looks like in Rome, and her new book on the food of the Italian isles. 

One of the loudest voices in food media is a rapping cheetah who teaches recipes to his singing roommate. TikTok is truly weird. Jordan Michelman interviews Noah Morayniss, the man behind the account. Definitely give this a read, if only to cringe a little when Morayniss refuses to concede that the cheetah is not a real person. 

We are all this red carpet interviewer befuddled at how Tessa Thompson has never eaten a hamburger. 

Atlas Obscura published a great essay on the world of Asian culinary comics. Comics prove a way for Asians, especially those in diaspora communities, to share recipes, memories, and cultural touchstones. You will come away from this with a reading list. 

YouTuber Eddy Burback dives very, very deep into ghost kitchens. There’s a lot of helpful information here, though the entire thing is framed a bit too much in the conspiracist vibe for my liking. Burback raises a lot of interesting points about food safety and regulations, but some of them are a *touch* misleading. (I don’t think health inspections have anything to do with allergen contamination.) Overall, it seems as if completely abstracting the process of buying food from other people via delivery apps may not be great!

Out of context J. Gold of the week

Among the hillocks of grilled spinal cord, the mountains of blood sausage, the garlic-reeking Alps of short ribs to be found in Los Angeles, none is quite as majestic as the picada combination plate served at the restaurant Cali Viejo in Van Nuys. Link

Is there a food that always surprises you? One that you rarely have but, when you do, you think, “Man, I gotta have this more often!” For me, it’s cabbage. I’m always pleasantly surprised at the humble vegetable’s combination of sweet and savory flavors, whether roasted, braised, or raw. But the best form of cabbage is, of course, slaw. 

This week on TASTE, writer Rachel Wharton agrees. She makes the case that cabbage isn’t just an underrated vegetable, it’s actually the king of condiments.

Wharton’s article gives a great history of how cabbage ended up topping dishes across South America and the Southern United States. It also contains a killer slaw recipe that provides an excellent excuse to get more cabbage into your diet. 

Read

GQ writer and my parasocial friend extraordinaire Jason Diamond declares his love of jarred pasta sauces as a gateway to a restaurant experience instead of the culinary equivalent of giving up. Also, there’s really nothing wrong with convenience per se!

If you are like me, you may have heard the term “glou-glou” in regard to a bottle of Gamay, but you aren’t quite sure what it means. Danny Chau explains the hippest term in wine. 

New-school companies, chefs, and even celebrities are driving innovation in the world of spice blends. It’s a mix of cash grabs and chefs genuinely trying to deliver better products. Either way, make sure you use them up quickly! Spices go limp if they sit in your cupboard too long. 

Quartz’s Weekly Obsession newsletter dives deep (sorry, not sorry) into fish sticks. Read about the history of the fried delights and the state of the industry. For even more fish stick tea, they linked to a podcast from last year on the same topic.  

Nathaniel Meyersohn at CNN explores the history of fast food architecture. Changing tastes and the rise of TV advertising have cost McDonald’s its arches and Pizza Hut its . . . huts. 

I love reading stories of new restaurants trying to build more sustainable practices by highlighting the food and treating staff better. It doesn’t matter where they are, it makes me optimistic for the future of the country. 

One of New York’s most anticipated restaurant openings in 2023 was the Urban Hawker food hall. A vision to bring authentic Singaporean street food to New York has had mostly positive reviews. Writer TW Lim offers another perspective, running down some of the ways that Urban Hawker misses the point of hawker cuisine and culture. 

You may have seen a slightly viral tweet last week about Chelmsford-flavored soda. Why is there a soda named after a town in suburban Massachusetts? Boston.com highlights and taste-tests the hyper-regional Massachusetts flavor. 

Is Los Angeles the best coffee city in the world? The Los Angeles Times food section makes a compelling case this week that it is. That, combined with Arthur C. Brooks’s argument in the Atlantic that coffee is the secret to happiness, might explain many Angelenos’ sunny dispositions. 

Devra First looks into the electrification of restaurant kitchens. Opinions are mixed, but I really appreciate the chefs who say, “I can cook great food on anything.” 

Jaya Saxena explores the complicated and hilarious gatekeeping that’s popular on Black Twitter whenever mainstream publications highlight traditionally black dishes or cuisine. 

If you lived through the cocktail days of the ’00s, then you know Chartreuse. The French spirit is in the news because the monks who make it have announced they will be limiting production to focus on quality of product and their quality of life. Way to go, monks! Jason Wilson has a great edition of his newsletter, Everyday Drinking, where he tells you everything you need to know about the spirit. 

Hope’s wine meme of the week

William Kelley used to be a relatively unknown wine writer who was well respected for highlighting niche producers and Burgundy in particular. Since the end of 2021, he's been the main Burgundy, Champagne, and Bordeaux critic for The Wine Advocate, arguably the most influential wine magazine. Now, he's highlighting smaller producers on a much larger platform, increasing demand (and likely their price). Basically: if he writes about a wine you like, RIP to your chances of finding it.

The Wine Advocate was founded by the infamous Robert Parker, a writer completely changed the wine industry, particularly in Bordeaux (where I work). It was a bit of a surprise when Kelley was hired to write about Bordeaux, since he doesn’t have many ties to the region. Kelley's fans thought he was selling out while people in Bordeaux worried he wouldn't judge the region fairly. Wine scores might seem like just a marketing tactic, but scores for collectable and investment grade (read: expensive) wines can have a huge financial impact on a winery and lasting consequences.

Cook

I have ascended to the landed gentry of New Yorkers who own a dishwasher. Turns out that dishwashers have filters that need cleaning. Bon Appétit runs down how to find yours and how to keep it sparkling. 

I’m into cooking from concepts rather than recipes these days. If I can remember the basic ratios behind salad dressing, I can make almost any amount quickly. Knowing the steps to a simple stir-fry makes it easy to cook dinner regardless of what’s in the fridge. Hetty McKinnon has a great example of how to think this way in her recipe for Singapore noodles. I’ve actually been making a ton of yakisoba, which is very similar. 

Other great recipes to learn that are really concepts:

• roasted vegetable tacos,

• kimchi ketchup(!) fried rice,

• any-vegetable toasties, and

• any-fruit cobblers.    

Watch, stream, listen

Unapologetic Foods is the hottest restaurant group in New York, with restaurants like Adda, Dhamaka, Rowdy Rooster, and more making it seem like they can’t miss. Matt interviews chef and cofounder Chintan Pandya about his success and the current state of Indian food in America. 

Last week at TASTE was restaurant critic week, which I can’t neglect to mention. I’m a deep fan (obsessive) of restaurant criticism, and Matt interviewed some of my favorite writers: 

Hannah Goldfield, the Tables for Two columnist at the New Yorker, talks about the decline of the celebrity chef and her thoughts on The Menu. 

Ryan Sutton was just laid off from Eater New York, where he was the main restaurant critic. I loved this candid discussion about how he is doing personally and his thoughts on the craft of restaurant criticism broadly. 

Bill Addison, the food critic for the Los Angeles Times, talks about the state of Los Angeles food and dives into some of the nuts and bolts of hitting a weekly deadline in a city of that scope. 

It’s not about food, but Starz’s Party Down was one of the best depictions of food service ever. The cult classic is back with a new season that is getting strong reviews.

Saveur rounds up iconic ’90s food commercials. Watching these will trot you down memory lane—or demonstrate just how weird Gen X advertising was.  

NPR’s Consider This looks at the science behind the gas vs. electric stove debate. This is a comprehensive and extremely NPR look at this issue, with many angles and questions considered.

Out of context J. Gold of the week

The best Cuban sandwiches, I insist, are made with damp, mediocre baguettes, which crisp without drying out, giving the ingredients a chance to meld and the edges of the meat to become brown and crunchy – artisanal Cubans don’t stand a chance. - link

Amelia Ayrelan Iuvino writes about yakamein, one of the true street foods of New Orleans. The Chinese and African-American dish has a long history in the Big Easy, where it’s also known as “Old Sober.” Next time you’re in New Orleans, look for a street festival or parade, and you might be lucky enough to score a bowl. 

Read

The Los Angeles school district has rolled out a new school lunch program designed to save money, reduce waste, and appeal to kids. Definitely give this a read to learn about the tangled web of regulatory and commercial issues that go into feeding hundreds of thousands of kids every day. The food looks pretty good! 

Make me insanely jealous, and join cookbook author Suzy Karadsheh and TASTE editor in chief Matt Rodbard on a trip to Puglia this June. This definitely will sell out, though there will be a waiting list.

The combo of tomato and eggs has gone from something kinda foreign to me to a household staple. Join me (and the rest of the world). 

Freeze-drying candy can turn something you’ve known since childhood into something completely new. 

If you’re a millennial of a certain age (which I am), then the name Four Loko immediately flashes you back to a time and place. Jaya Saxena is always a must-read, but definitely spend some time with her remembrance of the drink on its 15th anniversary. 

It feels like Midwestern food is building toward a moment. Prepare for that moment by reading this interview with Madison chef Tory Miller. Learn how the best Midwestern food draws its inspiration from traditional dishes combined with heartland farming. 

🎶And then a hero comes along . . . 🎶

A few weeks back, food media took a big hit when Vox Media, the parent company of Eater, announced a number of layoffs. Eater New York’s restaurant critic Ryan Sutton was one of those cut. Read his last piece, full of practical advice on how to get a meal at “impossible” restaurants. It’s part of a larger package on the role Resy plays in the lives of New Yorkers.

Noma is gone (sorta). Its impact on food was massive, yet more toxic than we might think at first glance. 

My only complaint around this Nneka M. Okona piece on the history of the fish fry in Black culture is that it isn’t twice as long. 

The two closest Dunkin’ Donuts in Massachusetts are inside a train station. This is like some bizarre Josh bingo. As is this profile of the last mustard maker in Dijon. 

The New York Times looks at how the corporate cafeteria is changing. It’s almost cliché for stories about layoffs in Big Tech to talk about the demise of fancy perks, but this article makes it seem like fancy food perks are alive and extremely well. 

“It's a warm Nisannu night in Lagash and you've just gotten off work at the ziggurat. King En-hegal can be a real bear to work for, but at least he pays on time. It’s been a long week, and you could really use a drink.”

Cook

TASTE’s Kaitlin Bray is an advocate for “aging” your cake, because fresher doesn’t always mean better. That goes for the usual suspects, like panettone and black cake, but also for layer cakes, olive oil cakes, and sheet cakes—with intel from Claire Saffitz, Brigid Washington, and Melissa Weller. 

If you cook at all, you’ve heard of Rancho Gordo. The heirloom bean brand that everyone in the food world is obsessed with became a bona fide sensation during the pandemic. Get to know Steve Sando, the man behind the beans. 

Once you’ve done that, think about making a big pot of Nina DeeDee’s beans. 

And if you really want to level up, serve them with homemade flour tortillas.   

Fighting with your partner over what to keep and what to throw out? Check in with J. Kenji López-Alt on when food *really* goes bad. 

How to make Sunday sauce like Martin Scorsese’s mom.

In the early 1900s, Italian Fascist and Futurist artists waged a public war on pasta. Read more about the campaign and the recipe for the delish pasta sauce that led the rebuttal at Gastro Obscura.

Watch, Stream, Listen

This week on the TASTE podcast, Matt sits down with James Hoffmann, coffee YouTuber and influencer. This is a great conversation. James talks about how to embrace your inner ridiculousness, along with strategies for convincing people vs. arguing with them. 

Matt also talks with one of my favorite writers, Anne Helen Petersen, about misplaced nostalgia for office lunch and soup. 

If you aren’t subscribing to the TASTE Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon, click that button now. It’s the best way to ensure you won’t miss an episode.

Apple TV picked up Drops of God, a TV series based on a famous Japanese manga focused on the wine industry and sorta about competitive wine tasting (the plot of the manga is insane). Keep an eye out for the show that will become the food world’s next obsession. If anyone knows how to get an English language copy of the manga, please let me know. 

Keith Lee, a former MMA fighter turned Las Vegas TikTok food reviewer, has taken over the platform with his laid-back and positive vibes. He’s popular enough that restaurants are seeing huge spikes in visitors after one of his reviews. I watched a bunch of Lee’s videos, and they are utterly charming. 

A brand-new, extremely gentle yet charming Japanese food show? You shouldn’t have.

Out of Context J. Gold of the Week

I have consumed thousands of animals in my lifetime: seen lambs butchered, snipped the faces off innumerable soft-shell crabs, killed and gutted my share of fish. I had, I thought, come to terms with the element of predation inherent in eating meat – and I am thankful to the beasts that have nourished me. But this was the first time I had ever come up against one of the most basic of nature's postulates: You live; your prey dies. In order to eat, you must first rip into living flesh . . . not by proxy, not from a distance, not with a gun or knife, but intimately, with your teeth. - Link

Have you been eating more tinned fish? They may have traditionally been associated with grandparents, but loving canned seafood is now de rigueur for both hot girls and anyone who considers themselves a foodie. Since I’m aspiring to be one of those things, I’ve been stocking up on tinned fish and finding ways to eat it more. 

This week, Cathy Erway looks into how the tinned fish trend is affecting the sardine industry. As food lovers like me buy more sardines, companies are reinvesting in their production and marketing. This is good for consumers’ health and good for the environment. Sardines are cheap, healthy, and sustainable—a food trifecta. 

If eating sardines straight from the can feels a bit jarring for you (it was for me), I found a pretty easy way to introduce them into my diet: start subbing them in when you make tuna sandwiches. Right now, I’m making mayo-based tuna salad the same way I have since I was 12, but I’m using a can of tuna and a can of sardines instead of two cans of tuna. It gives the salad a fishier and stronger flavor, which I quite enjoy (just make sure you use sardines packed in oil or water instead of ones packed in tomato sauce).

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Eliza Dumais interviews DeVonn Francis, a multitalented chef and artist behind the food and event production company Yardy World. It’s energizing and interesting to see someone so talented try to explain how multidimensional dining experiences really are. 

The New York Times investigative team threw a bomb into the food world this week when they revealed that ServSafe, the industry-standard food safety handling class that’s pretty much required for any restaurant job, is managed by the lobbying arm of the National Restaurant Association. Bartenders, cooks, and waiters across the country paying their $15 class fee are subsidizing the lobbying efforts of a group that fights for them to make less money. This will reverberate, but if you are looking to do something right now, the article goes into what alternative classes do exist. 

The article that the most people have sent me in 2023 has been: this deep dive into the menu collection at the New York Public Library. 

Marian Bull, writing in Elle, describes how one of 2023’s hottest fashion trends is . . . food! On runways around the world, designers are including food imagery in their collections. 

The Guardian excerpts a new book about NBA legend Charles Barkley, in particular a section detailing Sir Charles’s efforts to eat his way into a lower draft pick position before the 1983 NBA draft. The menu that’s described, ingested by Barkley over a 48-hour period, is HERCULEAN and equals anything he ever did on court. 

Is this article about how internet memes are driving the designs of Mexican piñata makers about food? Only sorta. Is it delightful? Absolutely. 

Craggy shards of hand-chopped chocolate have taken over our cookies. But what did chips ever do wrong?

Hope’s wine meme of the week

Just another January reminder that “clean” is a fake marketing term. Wine isn’t healthy. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t drink (drinking wine is great!), but it’s not morally superior or better if it’s marketed as good for you. It’ll also still give you a hangover if you drink too much.

Cook

One of my biggest revelations of the past year of cooking is that there are different kinds of potatoes that are good for different things. (This is a very obvious revelation.) Matt Rodbard and Daniel Holzman break down the different kinds and what each is good for. 

This piece by Nina Coomes is a great flexible weeknight recipe for sautéed chicken thighs. It’s also a complicated meditation on Le Creuset, family, expectation, and Americanness. It made me rethink what a recipe can be. 

Speaking of easy weeknight dinners and American identity, you *must* try making frijolizzas. 

I want to add a massive +1 to this story by Ashley Rodriguez asking if stock is overhyped. Especially for dishes that call for small amounts of it, I’ve been skipping stock and just using water and a splash of wine. It works fine. The story also explains the difference between broth and stock, which I did not know until right now.

Why are eggs so expensive right now? A lot of factors, but mostly fuel costs and a massive US bird flu pandemic.  

Saveur gives proper honor to Sylvia Cheng Wu, who died in November at the age of 106. Madame Wu, as the chef and restaurateur was known, has the most credible claim as the inventor of Chinese chicken salad, a dish that has fallen out of favor but is still delicious. The story behind the dish is great (it involves Cary Grant, as all good stories should), and the recipe is something that will DOMINATE picnics this summer. 

Watch, stream, listen

Food legend Jamie Oliver stopped by the TASTE studio this week to catch up with Matt. The two talk about Japanese hardcore shows, Oliver’s life living above a pub, and the politics of sugar. It’s a really great episode. 

Also on the podcast is Eli Sussman, the New York restaurateur and the man behind your favorite food meme account. 

If you aren’t subscribing to the TASTE Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon, click that button now. It’s the best way to ensure you won’t miss an episode.

One of my favorite food media start-ups is Katherine Spiers’ Smart Mouth. I learned a ton from this podcast episode about why school lunches are the way they are. She also publishes a helpful transcript for those that prefer reading.  

If you, like me, were only vaguely aware of the details of last year’s Daily Harvest scandal, I strongly recommend listening to this episode of Maintenance Phase. In fact, I recommend most of the episodes of the podcast! Hosts Aubrey Gordon and Michael Hobbes debunk health trends and fads—like how the belief that red wine prevents heart disease has more to do with French death certificate standards, or the *intense* lobbying behind the food pyramid.

Out of Context J. Gold of the Week

Would I be pushing things if I confessed that the minestra nel sacco reminded me a lot of the Xi’an bread-in-soup dish called paomo? In Los Angeles, things are complicated. - Link

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Thanksgiving is full of pauses. Especially if you are cooking, there are times you are sorta just trapped there while you wait for a pot to boil or a timer to get to 00:00. Those small breaks are good for running down to see 30 seconds of the parade or to check the score of the football game. They are also great for watching a short video on your phone. I'm including three videos that I find myself watching just about every Thanksgiving. I suggest you leave today's Cart in your inbox and watch (or rewatch) each one when you you need it.

Butterball Hotline

Length: 4:30
Perfect for: When it's not actually worth walking away from the oven.

The West Wing was always great with Thanksgiving episodes. They were a perfect hook for the mix of shmaltz and seriousness that Sorkin really loves. There are a lot of great clips like "Shibboleth" or "Pilgrim Detectives," but none compare to this one. I start laughing as soon as President Bartlett says, "I'm a citizen" pretty much every time.

OK, fine, here's the one of President Bartlett giving Charlie the knife if you want to cry instead.  

Alice's Restaurant

Length: 18:15
Perfect for: Just about the time it takes to boil six quarts of tap water.

The song is weird and way, way, way too long. It's also only nominally about Thanksgiving. Still, it's iconic, fun, funny, and worth a listen at least once during the day. This song has a weird kind of counter-cultural hopefulness to it that we could all use. It's nice to imagine a world where sheer collective absurdity can overcome bureaucratic evil.

WKRP in Cincinnati - "Turkeys Away" 

Length: 24:57
Perfect for: When you just need a break from everything, you know?

My parents love nothing as much as they love 70s and 80s television. That's why, about ten years ago, they started making me and my sister watch this every Thanksgiving. I'm glad they did, because it is one the funniest scenes in television history.

"WKRP in Cincinnati" was a show was about a struggling radio station that has just switched formats from easy listening to rock and roll. In this episode, the station manager, feeling left out by the new staff, tries to get more involved. He comes up with a secret Thanksgiving promotion that he says will make history. All he needs is 20 live turkeys.

This isn’t officially streaming anywhere, but the climax lives in a million clips. If you can find the entire episode, it’s worth watching so that the final line really *puts on sunglasses* lands. Once you've watched, read this oral history of the episode. It's based on real events! 

While all the members of the Bon Appétit Expanded Video Universe were impressive, Claire Saffitz was one of the most intimidating. Her cheerful attitude and terrifying competence over a realm so many people (mostly me) find daunting—baking—made her an early standout and carried her through the launch of her 2020 book, Dessert Person. This week, Aliza Abarbanel drops a long profile of Saffitz in the run-up to the launch of her next book, What’s for Dessert. 

As Saffitz prepares for the hoopla around a publicity tour, Saffitz reflects on how this book channels her considerable technical expertise into creating more approachable recipes that don’t turn up their nose at shortcuts or store-bought ingredients. Very rarely does a profile capture so well a writer’s evolution. This is a great one, and the book promises to turn even more of us into dessert people. 

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Even though we are all trying to be more environmentally friendly, nothing really compares to the Ziploc bag. I loved learning the history of this kitchen game changer and loved even more learning that there are compostable ones.  

Jaya Saxena digs into the human toll behind secret menus and TikTok hacks. While fast food apps make it possible to game the system, there are real people struggling to put together a 14-ingredient, 12-step order while other customers scream for their iced coffee. There has only been one truly good menu hack in history, and we just passed its 15th birthday. 

How did IPAs, once the marker of craft beer, become a punch line? 

Deanna Pan, writing in the Boston Globe magazine, does a deep dive into the Kowloon, a multistory Chinese restaurant and local landmark just north of Boston. Pan gets into the history behind the place and how one family’s vision (and insane amount of hard work) built it into the empire it is today. This is a great read, even if you didn’t grow up in Boston.

There has been a LOT of celebrity drama related to food in the past few weeks. If you haven’t heard about what’s happening with James Corden and New York restaurant Balthazar, or Olivia Wilde’s salad dressing, God bless. If you want to catch up, Bon Appétit has rounded up those stories and other food memes. 

You don’t need to be an Anglophile to be obsessed with pubs. Vittles, the indispensable British food newsletter, has written up a guide to 100 of the best ones. I’ve saved it in my bookmarks for my next trip to London, but even if you aren’t planning to travel, it’s worth reading the opening essay about what makes a great pub. 

My sister Hope explains a wine meme

Italy has 20 wine regions that are home to around 350 commerically produced grape varietals. Some people say there are more than 2,000 native varieties. Each grape and region has super specific rules about aging and yields and harvest dates and blends and and and… it’s a lot. When confronted with a deeply Italian wine list I give up and ask the waiter or sommelier what they like.

Cook

I’ve started to incorporate a side of greens into my weeknight cooking. It feels vaguely fancy (“Oooh, a second dish!”) while also being easy, healthy, and affordable. Leftovers easily stretch into omelets, soups, or frittatas (frittati?). This Ottolenghi recipe for a side of greens with crispy garlic is on the complicated end of the scale for a side dish, but it sounds delicious.

Jennifer Fergesen, writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, details the rise in Filipino vinegars. While many recipes are simplified for American cooks, a lot of the punch of Filipino food comes from specialized and pungent vinegars that are only now becoming available in the United States. Time to start stocking up. 

Making gnocchi terrifies me, but Matt breaks it down in a way that seems . . . almost doable? It also seems like a great dish to practice. Buy a big sack of potatoes, and spend an afternoon making batches until you’ve got the knack of it (just toss the ones that don’t work in the trash). It’s the same method Julia Child recommended for learning how to cook omelets. 

Much like making your own salad dressing, making your own salsa is a shockingly easy thing to do that is both delicious and deeply impresses guests. Scott Hocker shares a recipe for a simple salsa with only five ingredients that goes with just about anything. 

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This week on the TASTE Podcast, Matt catches up with cookbook author and Little House on the Prairie fan Molly Yeh. Will Molly star in a future Hallmark Channel movie? 

Kaitlin and Sarah Leung join in the studio to talk about their long-running online food blog The Woks of Life, and new cookbook. For anybody who has ever held a wok over high heat, The Woks of Life has been a steady hand helping you along the way.

If you aren’t subscribing to the TASTE Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon, you are missing out. Recent episodes include Los Angeles icon and baker Hannah Ziskin and author George Saunders.

Copyranter has a roundup of some amazing French KFC commercials. You’ll need sound on for these. 

I’ve been sending all my food friends videos from the @sandwichesofhistory account for the past month or two. The short videos of a cheerful guy making and reviewing sandwiches are a delight in my daily content diet. So I was thrilled when I saw that Jordan Michelman interviewed Barry Enderwick, the man behind the account. 

If it feels like more and more people have food allergies, it’s because they do! Vox’s Unexplainable podcast examines what’s behind the rise in food allergies and some of the modern thinking on how to treat—or even cure—them. 

A short video from some kind of French cheese-stretching competition will brighten your day. 

Big Talk, hosted by Jason Diamond, is here.

Out of Context J. Gold of the Week

Rio, the birthplace of the thing bikini, samba, and the phenomenon of seventy-year-old women in midriff-baring sarongs, is also home to the Saturday-afternoon feijoada, a pork-and-bean stew heavy enough to make Toulousian cassoulet seem like spa cuisine. - Link

Fall has undeniably—at least in New York—hit. For me, the first chilly days bring a spike of energy. Maybe it’s the ingrained school calendar or the fact that I’m not sweating all the time, but it feels like the start of a new year. It makes me think about new projects. Inside projects. Projects that require the oven, which I’ve been avoiding since April.

As it gets colder, I’ll be thinking about Zola Gregory’s suggestion to make vanilla slice. Gregory interviews Melbourne baker Natalie Paull (of @BeatrixBakes) about what Americans need to know about the Australian pastry, and she provides her own recipe for a cranberry-tinged version.

To me, this seems like the perfect fall cooking project. It’s hard, but it’s not so fussy that you will feel like you failed even if you did just an okay job. It’s rustic but still attractive. It also perfectly syncs up with food Instagram's laissez-faire vibe shift.

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Fred Franzia, a wine world rebel who eschewed snobbery in favor of trying to bring wine to the masses, died this month at the age of 79. While you might instantly recognize the name from his iconic boxed wines, he was also the person behind Trader Joe’s Charles Shaw (aka “two-buck chuck”). The Takeout summarizes his story well and links to several other places to read more about him. 

Speaking of American icons, I didn’t expect to be enthralled by the story of the family that created the ballpark nacho. If you have ever wondered why the movie theater sells chips covered in cheese sauce and jalapeños, read this. 

For as long as I can remember, there has only been one jam in the Gee household. Full Bonne Maman jars stocked the pantry, and empty ones were hoarded past the point of sanity. I thought this was a quirk of my family’s Francophilic bent, but I learned from Rachel Sugar that the small jars are the best-selling jam in the United States. She digs into a company that we know very little about, despite its huge popularity. 

“The great Midwest cheese duel of 1935” is a lovely yarn, well told, by Doug Mack at Snack Stack. If it doesn’t put a smile on your face, you can’t smile. 

Matt called it out last week, but I have to +1 Cathy Erway turning her eye toward instant noodles, where a new generation of companies and innovators are taking the dorm room staple to another level. It’s time to start working “ramen night” into the schedule the same way we do “taco Tuesday.” 

The Atlantic’s Amanda Mull writes about American consumerism better than anyone since Thorstein Veblen, and her essay on how hard it is to get a table at a hip restaurant captures the current dining moment perfectly. The idea that “when anything is both culturally meaningful and scarce, it generates a hunger of a different sort” crystallized thoughts I’ve had in my head for at least six months.  

PUNCH looks at the rise of the vodka martini. While many used to sneer at vodka, bartenders are embracing the neutral spirit as a better platform for delicate flavors like olive brine or lemon (or not-so-delicate flavors like espresso).  

Hope’s wine meme of the week

I… what… I don’t… what is this sign??? I get that it means “good quality.” But it tells you nothing about the coffee! Does Bordeaux really have such a strong luxury brand? Mostly, I’m expecting the coffee to be expensive.

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We’ve made the case that you can put the savory, citrusy Middle Eastern spice mix za’atar on everything from garlic knots to scrambled eggs to flat hummus. Read all about buying and cooking with this versatile spice blend.

Karima Moyer-Nocchi and Adrian Miller dive into the lengthy history of macaroni and cheese for Epicurious. They trace the dish from its Roman origins to its current identity as a Southern staple. Thomas Jefferson and James Hemings make an appearance, but the essay explores many ways the dish crossed the Atlantic. If you finish the essay craving homestyle crusty cheesy goodness, TASTE has two great recipes: one for down-home baked mac and cheese and one for sriracha baked mac and sheese.

The Neapolitan cookie once marbled itself into a baked internet sensation.

There’s a very strong case for making onigiri, Japanese rice balls, at home, and with some frequency. When armed with a countertop cooker and some furikake, you can make a fresher, warmer rice ball.

There’s a theory on the internet that the New York Times’ Style section is an elaborate long con to foment the class war, and this story about how fancy houses now need a second kitchen so the hired help can cook out of sight while everyone hangs out in the main kitchen does not disprove it!

My mom emailed me a fun recipe for re-creating the classic McDonald’s apple hand pies. While not deep-fried, these oven-baked versions shoot for the same crispy crust as the originals. Got extra dough? Go savory with some chicken pot pie hand pies. 

Watch, stream, listen

New this week on the TASTE Podcast, Matt catches up with Craig Mod. He’s a Tokyo-based journalist who is also part ethnographer and part performance artist, and we’re really happy that he stopped by the studio for a lively chat about all things Japan. 

It’s a few weeks back at this point, but I loved the TASTE podcast interview Matt did with Jimmy Butler. The Miami Heat basketball star is also a coffee fanatic who recently started his own coffee brand. During the 2020 NBA season, played inside an on-site COVID protocol bubble, Butler ran a high-end coffee shop out of his hotel room. He sold pour-overs and lattes to his fellow players. (He then went on to pretty much single-handedly bring down the Boston Celtics in the Conference Final, the jerk.) Matt loves coffee and basketball in equal measure, and he and Butler have an excellent rapport. Great convo. 

If you aren’t subscribing to the TASTE Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon, click that button now.

Coolio, rapper and cookbook author, died last week. In the content maelstrom surrounding his death, I really enjoyed watching this video and the accompanying Reddit thread about the time he crashed a house party in England, jammed on an acoustic version of “Gangsta’s Paradise” (with a bonus verse!), and cooked a three-course meal (link to the comments thread on his cooking).

Whether you celebrate the Jewish High Holidays or not, listen to this episode of The Sporkful podcast about a group of seniors who celebrate Friday night Shabbat at Wendy’s. It’s a beautiful story about tradition, community, and found family.

Out of context J. Gold of the week

One of the food trends we’ve seen percolating this year is the rise in chefs across the country bringing fresh ideas to iconic American foods. Do I dare use the hated word “fusion”? It’s more than that, though. Diners are embracing new dishes while enjoying the comforting memories associated with the classic originals. This throughline ties together a buzzy blooming onion in New York with rethought American Chinese in Chicago and Korean biscuits and gravy in Los Angeles. And, of course, there is our current McTorta Moment. For crying out loud, the drink of the summer was a Shirley Temple!

In that context, I enjoyed Scott Hocker’s essay about the increasing popularity of sticky toffee pudding across the United States. From fine dining in New York to Disney World, the British dessert is appearing more and more on American menus. Hocker goes into some of the dish’s unique steps and its relatively limited history, even in England. 

“A cake covered in delicious and sticky sauce” is a classic 1980s and early ’90s American concept (though the sauce is usually chocolate). When I was a kid, if I was lucky, my parents would let me get a volcano cake (it went by a million other names) when we would go out to eat. I’m sure many of you have similar memories.

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Laura Nelson at the Los Angeles Times follows up on the slew of food recalls earlier this year with a deeper look at the meal kit industry. I had never thought about it before, but there is no regulatory body ensuring that meal kits are safe—and that’s even before they’re shipped. 

Eater released a package of absurdly smart essays marking the 10th anniversary of Jiro Dreams of Sushi. The 2011 documentary on a small Tokyo sushi counter was a sensation and, in many ways, changed the food world. Amy McCarthy writes about how all food on TV now looks a lot like Jiro (not just in documentaries like Chef’s Table but also in scripted series). Jaya Saxena writes about how the movie was a key driver in making Edo-style sushi menus the default “I have a ton of money to spend on a meal” experience in American dining (something I’ve also written about!). Bettina Makalintal writes a complicated and challenging exploration of the movie and the concept of authenticity. 

The trick to peeling beets that Samin Nosrat swears by? Paper towels.  

Rice Krispies Treats are more than just a one-trick hit of nostalgia—they’re a simple-to-execute snack with a crispy, chewy, gooey texture that is one in a million in the world of desserts. “I love how the Rice Krispies somehow remain airy and crunchy when you take a bite,” observes baking blogger and food writer Vallery Lomas, in a TASTE story about RKT inspiration written by Aaron Hutcherson.

You may have noticed that restaurants at every level are having trouble staffing up. The Washington Post dives into the various perks restaurants are offering to recruit people. Hopefully this isn’t just a factor of the strong labor market but a sign of some soul coming into the industry.   

In a recent issue of Snack Stack, writer Doug Mack looks at the history and politics of official state foods. There are 110 official state foods around the country! 

One of Los Angeles’s hottest restaurants right now is Horses. The creative American spot received raves in the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times, and it’s tearing up Instagram feeds across the city. We’ll see if that continues, as last week, Eater Los Angeles reported that former Spotted Pig co-owner Ken Friedman helped the restaurant get started and may be a silent partner (the article hasn’t figured it out, as both sides are saying different things). Friedman previous ran a restaurant empire before multiple accusations of sexual harassment shuttered the Spotted Pig and most of Friedman’s other restaurants.

The food scandal de jure racking New York City is: Where, exactly, does the mayor eat? Mayor Eric Adams is known for his long days, claiming that he crisscrosses the city supporting nightclubs and restaurants, but Politico and the New York Times tracked the mayor for a few weeks and found out that he returns again and again to the same few places. There’s nothing wrong with that in theory, but it seems as if he’s probably not paying the check at his favorite Midtown haunt, violating state ethics rules. Not to mention, the restaurant owners are two of the biggest tax delinquents in the state. 

The JSTOR blog has a short piece on the heyday of orange box labels. From the late 1800s to the middle of the 1950s, various orchards and companies used colorful and pastoral labels to help sell their oranges. This is worth clicking through just for the gorgeous retro images. Delightful.

My sister Hope explains a wine meme

Sometimes you’ll see a wine described as “feminine” or “masculine.” Generally, a lighter, floral, and fruitier wine is often described as feminine while a more structured, richer wine is described as masculine. Gruner doesn’t act like a stereotypical floral and “feminine” white wine: it’s zesty, vegetal, and peppery, and awesome to pair with food, especially spicy dishes.

But gendering wine is bad writing! Calling a wine “feminine” or “masculine” is reductive, sexist, and lazy. Notes like oaky, citrusy, acidic, or tannic don’t rely on stereotypes as a crutch and are much more interesting to read.

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TASTE’s Kaitlin Bray is an advocate for “aging” your cake, because fresher doesn’t always mean better. That goes for the usual suspects, like panettone and black cake, but also for layer cakes, olive oil cakes, and sheet cakes—with intel from Claire Saffitz, Brigid Washington, and Melissa Weller. 

I’ve spent most of this summer amid a tricky / complicated move, but I’ve finally settled and can start thinking about other things on my weekends besides packing, unpacking, and stress crying. Since it feels like I missed a lot of summer food, I needed Cathy Erway’s rapid-fire ideas on various ways to preserve summer produce. It’s worth reading, even if just for the ideas on what to do with jam besides spreading it on toast.  

Moving forces you to face the harsh realities of the back of your cupboard (“God, HOW much yeast did I buy during the pandemic?”). I came across several containers of elbow macaroni and have been trying to think of ways to use them that don’t involve mac and cheese. Odette Williams’s recipe for chopped salad pasta might be just the thing. It’s sharp, light, and easy to cook on a still-hot weekday. 

My new house comes with a few seriously beefy stove burners, so I’ll be trying my hand more at high-heat stovetop cooking this fall. Last week, I officially christened the house (I set off the fire alarm making stir-fry), but once I’m ready to try again, this Kung Pao Mushrooms recipe is at the top of my list. I’m always looking for vegetarian versions of Chinese takeout classics. 

I love JJ Goode, cookbook writer extraordinaire and admittedly terrible cook. In the New Yorker, he discusses the most perilous cooking step of all: “season to taste.” This is a must-read if you, like me, don’t really know what that means.

Stained Page News, a newsletter by Paula Forbes that covers everything cookbooks, is out with its fall cookbook preview. This preview is voluminous, covering over a hundred books, though it’s easy to dive into Forbes’s top ten for a brief snapshot. Paula has an amazing eye, and the books you will be reading and cooking from for the next year are on this list. Paula was also a guest on the TASTE podcast last week, where she talked about cookbooks writ large as well as diving into her top ten.

Watch, Stream, Listen

This week, the TASTE Podcast features a lively conversation with JJ Johnson, the chef and cookbook author behind the growing empire of rice-bowl restaurants Fieldtrip. We cover, among many topics, James Beard, studying at the CIA back in the day (and being one of the few Black chefs in the program), running a BIG restaurant at the US Open, cookbooks, inflation, and selling rice bowls to millions and millions of people.

If you aren’t subscribing to the TASTE Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon, hit that button now.

I’m unclear on why an economic outlet is reviewing a book from 2021 (but hey, summer is for catching up on books). However, this positive review of Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography was a great reminder of how good that book was. Whether you love the book or not, you should subscribe to author Laurie Woolever’s podcast Carbface. It doesn’t come out often, but every time it does, it’s a raucous treat. 

Early in August, Papa John’s unveiled “Papa Bowls”: pizza toppings in a bowl with cheese and sauce. There was lots of snark, but nothing quite sums up the insanity like this review by YouTuber and fast food critic John Jurasek. I was introduced to it by Ryan Broderick’s newsletter, where Ryan described the vibe of the review as “haunted public access channel,” which is perfect. The dry and officious tone of the review really heightens the crass absurdity of selling a bowl of pizza toppings. 

Hulu released a trailer for a new David Chang production: Chefs vs. Wild, a show in which chefs are paired with survivalists to create meals from things they can scrounge. This seems bananas! There are very few details yet, but I do know that one of the contestants is my friend Sammy Monsour, who Instagrammed about the show and who you can see briefly in the clip. Good luck!

Out of Context J. Gold

The green-chili burrito may be the sine qua non of Los Angeles burritos, spicy, though not as hot as I thought it was when I was in high school, and bright, with the fresh, almost citrusy taste of green chilies against the rounder sweetness of the pork and the grainy, almost fermented quality of the smooth beans (just enough of them left intact to give the rest texture) that cement together the whole. - Link

One of the best parts about eating new kinds of food is learning new styles of eating. I grew up in an extremely “meat, starch, and veg” food tradition (though we did have salad after the meal, in a Francophonic touch my parents picked up). Even when eating out, trying to make food fit into that structure never felt right—that is, until airplanes entered the picture. 

Traveling in Thailand and Vietnam is where I realized that the many, many condiments on the table were as essential to the meal as the bowl of noodles in front of me. I made fun of tapas a lot less after understanding how they fit into a Spanish night out.

Living in Los Angeles is where I learned about my favorite way to eat: banchan, the traditional small plates that kick off a Korean meal. Banchan were confusing until I realized they are more than side dishes. They are a sort of combination of appetizers, sides, seasonings, and palate cleansers. 

I loved this piece by Giaae Kwon on the current state of banchan. Traditional banchan are more varied and diverse than ever as chefs across the United States (and the world) are incorporating new flavors into the concept.

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Jason Diamond writes in Hell Gate about the end of the NYC Knish. Even if you don’t care about New York or knishes, there’s a great section about how ’80s street vendor health regulations outlawed the classic Eastern European snack as we know it. How are regulations affecting the food traditions of your home?

The food that most screams summer to me? Sprinkles. 

A Sri Lankan start-up is using Instagram to sell high-quality crabs locally. The traditional crab supply chain is completely dominated by export companies, so one local guy is using the photo-sharing app to get around it and provide high-quality crabs for his friends and neighbors. 

If you don’t subscribe already, Vittles is probably one of the best food newsletters out there. It’s about England, but it’s really about everywhere. This profile of the Brixton McDonald’s is really a story of how corporate food spaces can somehow still be a nexus that reflects the local community. And read the TASTE Monday Interview with Vittles editor Jonathan Nunn. 

I did not know what Erewhon was until reading this story about the buyer behind the high-end Los Angeles grocery store. I now understand a lot of LA TikTok videos much better. 

The New Yorker profiles the expansion of Tartine bakery. Once a beloved local San Francisco institution, it has entered the messy world of real estate development, where the name (and physical locations!) are used as marketing tools for gentrifying neighborhoods. This is a great look at a complicated issue. 

The first paragraph of this story about an upcoming San Francisco NFT-based private restaurant and social club made my eyes roll so hard they fell out the back of my head. 

You should always read Jaya Saxena, but definitely read her when she’s writing about fried chicken. She describes the South Asian fried chicken tradition and how American cooks aren’t just doing “an Indian take on fried chicken” but trying to adapt flavors and contexts to an American audience.  

Ukrainian borscht has been added to the UN’s cultural heritage list. It’s a complicated topic, as there’s a long-running culinary dispute between basically every country in the region over the “right” way to make the beet-based soup. 

Heading to Cape Cod this summer? Consider taking a break from lobster rolls to enjoy some jerk chicken. The New York Times profiles Jamaican chefs who are changing the culture of the vacation destination. 

I texted this story about a capsized Hong Kong restaurant to a friend, and his reply—“I was about one paragraph in before I realized this is just insurance fraud”—just about sums it up. 

More food writing should be in comics form, like this history of the sweet potato in America by Rosa Colón. 

June’s Bon Appétit issue focused on queer food and restaurant spaces. There are too many great stories to link to all of them, but they are collected in a really appealing online hub. If you read just one, make it this profile of how trans chefs are imagining truly inclusive and welcoming restaurant experiences.  

Climate change is driving a massive drought in Northern Italy, which is endangering the world’s Parmigiano Reggiano supply. Surely this will be the thing that spurs the world into action! Ah, well, nevertheless. Related: Check out TASTE’s Emilia-Romagna Issue and scenes from the PR factory. 

Hope’s wine meme of the week

There have been a number of articles circulating saying the financial returns on fine wine investment are currently higher than the stock market. This has driven a lot of people to start investing or thinking about investing in wine. 

I work in fine wine sales and have helped people invest in wine for years. I feel qualified to say: Don’t do it! Just don’t!!!!! Just because something is 90 points doesn’t mean it has resale potential. Very few wines truly appreciate value. It can be a very shaky venture and there are a lot of bad faith firms out there.

[Editor's note: As her brother I feel compelled to say if you *do* want to invest in wine, Hope’s consulting rates are extremely reasonable. Email me and I will connect you.]

Cook

I’m on a summer quest to find more dinners that won’t heat up my kitchen too much. Dennis Lee explains kong-guksu, a Korean cold noodle and soy milk dish. If you are on a Korean soup kick but want something warmer, read about how samgyetang keeps you energized on sleepy summer days. Both are dishes that make banchan sing.

I started doing this because I was cheap and lazy, but little did I know that takeout deli containers are a chef-approved kitchen storage tool. Seriously, having one lid that works on every size of container is game-changing. 

If you learn one salad dressing recipe, make it a classic french mustard vinaigrette. If you learn two, make the second one this delicious and versatile fish sauce vinaigrette from Christian Reynoso. 

Ashley Rodriguez urges you to cook extra steak and reuse it in cold salads. I’ll not only second her idea but say that the same goes for chicken, pork, or any grilled meat.  

I could not click on this recipe for “pickle dip” fast enough.

Apple can get stuffed. The truly best design-forward company in America is OXO. Chances are, if you are looking for any kitchen tool, they make the best one.  

Watch, stream, listen

This week on the TASTE Podcast, former Vanity Fair editor Dana Brown talks about so many good things: editing A. A. Gill, food at the legendary VF Oscar party, NYC sushi in the ’90s, trashing the restaurant 66, the “Graydon Carter lunch order,” the power of a Waverly Inn reservation, Keith McNally vs. the world (including Graydon Carter). We also hear about Dana’s recent meal at the Noma pop-up in Brooklyn and his new book Dilettante. What a fun conversation!

I’m really enjoying the TASTE podcast’s ongoing B plot for the past few months. Matt brings on Clarkson Potter associate editor Bianca Cruz to give a live update of her journey through culinary school. This is real talk, in the best, most optimistic way, about what becoming a trained chef is like.

And if you aren’t subscribing to the TASTE Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon, hit that button now.

I legitimately learned a lot while watching this Mental Floss video on the food history of french fries. There’s an adapted article, but the video is better. 

I have not watched the new Apple TV show Loot, but I have watched this fictional Hot Ones interview with Maya Rudolph’s character about ten thousand times. 

Watch this video walk-through of an oyster vending machine in France. 

I thought this video about Hot Dr Pepper was going to be a joke, but it’s really a thing that people really made.

These are 44 seconds of pure, uncut joy.

My new favorite Instagram account is an older man quickly and deftly preparing various Chinese and Chinese-American standards. Mixed in with the recipes are kitchen tips and reflections on a life well lived. It’s Made with Lau, a media venture where a son interviews his father (a former chef) about food and life. There’s also a great YouTube channel.

Out of Context J. Gold of the Week

A Gardena storefront on a block of dusty thrift stores crammed with bamboo-appliqued furniture that started its life in Honolulu living rooms, and cater-cornered from a '40s department store crammed with more Dickies and Carhartt jackets than you'll see in a lifetime of 311 videos, the cafe looks like pretty much every greasy spoon in downtown Hilo. - Link

In the meantime, my pals at TASTE have signed off on syndicating my TASTE writing in Snack Cart. You’ll see a newsletter here one week after it originally goes out via TASTE. The structure and content will be a bit different (matching what I do in TASTE), but I’ll be adding a few of the Snack Cart special sections you love alongside. If you subscribe to both, consider this a chance to catch anything you might have missed in the first issue. To make sure you get this hot and fresh, subscribe to TASTE! 

While my food media roundup newsletter Snack Cart is mostly about restaurants, I cook a lot. Like many of us, I’ve been doing it even more over the course of the pandemic. I’ve read cookbooks, watched TV shows, and searched for recipes on TASTE. But even though I love spending time in the kitchen, getting food on the table every night can become a slog. 

Early in the pandemic, I memorized simple recipes I could crank out quickly. But even that drags after a while. So I’ve followed in the footsteps of previous generations and rediscovered prepared foods. Sure, I can make Marcella Hazan’s tomato sauce, but I can also just crack open a jar of Rao’s. Do I feel guilty about it? A bit, but I’ve also made a surprising discovery: prepared foods have gotten way, way better. Canned soups and sauces are vibrant and varied. The frozen foods aisle is crammed with great veggies and interesting premade dishes. The same goes for that workhorse of my childhood: frozen pizza.

I loved Emily Wilson’s article on our frozen pizza renaissance. Wilson looks at the rapid rise of frozen pizza sales, which have led to higher-quality pizzas from the big-name brands as well as a number of artisanal start-ups. Beyond that, there are huge numbers of pizzas catering to people with various food allergies, all of them pretty darn good. Definitely give this one a read, and consider making frozen pizza an every-other-week staple.

Read

This thread on the history of eel pulling features a ton of fun historic photos—and may single-handedly redeem Twitter for another week. 

Nico Vera explores the past, present, and future of the tamale. Vera explores the many varieties and forms stuffed masa takes in cultures in North and South America. In many ways, this essay makes the case for the tamale as the unifying dish of the Western Hemisphere. 

The New York Times discovers the caviar bump—just in time for New York magazine to ether it. 

Since I’m thinking about tricks to make dinner easier, I’m reminded of this great story from Cathy Erway about fish balls. Though they’re not quite beloved in America, Erway writes about their popularity in Asian and Nordic cultures. A bag of fish balls has become a freezer staple for me. Some instant ramen with a few thrown in feels a lot more like a real meal. 

You either die a villain or live long enough to become a popular Ukrainian pastry.

Henry Winkler is a national treasure, and this story about him reflecting on life and acting while ordering like a PRO at Katz’s Deli is a delight.  

I was enjoying and nodding along to this lovely ode to the nostalgic joy of Pizza Hut by Kim Windyka. About halfway through, I had a sudden start and realized that my treasured childhood fast-food pizza chain was Papa Gino’s. I think I gotta call my mom. 

Speaking of my mom, she sent me this New Yorker article from 2005 that is absolutely outstanding. It’s a profile of the short-order cooks of Las Vegas hotels. These seem like they might be the best cooks on Earth. 

Last fall, I visited some good friends who had moved out of New York to New Jersey. While marveling at their gorgeous new yard and multiple bathrooms, my friend kept telling me about this special New Jersey sandwich I had to try. I kind of thought he was making it up, but then I read Rebecca Firkser writing about the New Jersey sloppy joe and its unexpected connection to Cuba. Next time I’m in the Garden State, I’ll be giving it a try. 

I married an “extremely early to the airport” person, but I DEEPLY want to follow Helen Rosner’s ritual of going to Apple Pan preflight the next time I am in Los Angeles. Rosner also highlights a few other pre-airport food tips for other cities. I can add that Boston’s Santarpio’s is not food you want to take on the plane, but you can get from the restaurant to the airport in like ten mins if you want a preflight bar pizza. 

I appreciate that, somewhere in the Gawker archives, the style guide for “The Best Restaurant in New York” (the best food writing ever) still hangs around. At least, that's what I thought while reading this lovely Gawker essay on the Gilmore Girls cookbook.  

The most insane thing about this drink is that it’s less than 250 calories. 

It feels like one of the places we’ve all gotten MUCH closer with over the past few years is our local wine shop. PUNCH rounds up some of the best wine stores across America.

Read how one of the holders of Olive Garden’s Never-Ending Pasta Pass used a complicated series of spreadsheets to get his coworkers $5,000 worth of soup, salad, and breadsticks.

The Los Angeles Times sends critic Bill Addison to Las Vegas, where he says the best place to eat is the city’s growing Chinatown. The sprawling collection of strip malls rivals the San Gabriel Valley for a density of outstanding Asian and Southeast Asian foods. Each place Addison mentions sounds better than the last. 

Hope’s Wine Meme of the Week

Always, always set a timer on your phone if you put a bottle of wine in the freezer to chill.

Josh’s note: I did NOT do this the other night and HOO BOY.

Cook

TASTE has a couple of great recipes for no-bake tropical pies. The TASTE editors frame them as a great way to add some escapism to your life, but something else jumped out at me: these are elegant and fancy desserts that don’t require turning on your oven. I’ll need that in the coming months. 

This recipe for Totino’s pizza lasagna is either cursed or the greatest thing in the world. *Extreme New York Times Cooking commenter voice*: “When I make this recipe, I use Ellio’s, and it comes out much better.” 

It’s summer, and that means it’s time to eat a LOT of hot dogs. I don’t know that you need any suggestions for a hot dog recipe, but Consumer Reports chimes in with the best hot dogs you can buy at the store. See where your fave ranks.

Speaking of hot dogs, Nick Kindelsperger at the Chicago Tribune rounds up some of the worst hot dog recipes the paper has ever published. This is an absolute hoot to read, and if you are feeling brave, give “Meade’s Supper Salad Bowl” a try. The 1943 recipe contains hot dogs with French dressing, green pepper, cottage cheese, grated raw turnip, raw carrot, mayonnaise, lettuce, and coleslaw.

Mahira Rivers is an outstanding writer, but there’s no way in hell I’m trying to make a Bloomin’ Onion at home.

Cookbook fans! Available for a sliding-scale price that starts at $1, the “Cook Like a Pro” bundle supports Freedom of the Press Foundation and features 27 digital cookbooks from leading food magazines like Delish, Good Housekeeping, and Prevention.

Watch, Stream, Listen

This week on the TASTE Podcast, we have the pleasure of getting to know cookbook author and food TV icon Alton Brown. Brown is behind popular and pioneering food television shows like Good Eats and Iron Chef America, which has returned with a new season on Netflix. And if you aren’t subscribing to the TASTE Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon, get on it!

I don’t know if it’s just me, but Instagram has become an endless scroll of terrible food videos. It seems like it’s all grainy recipes and weirdly promotional boomerangs. I don’t think I fully realized this was happening until I listened to last week’s Content Mines, an essential podcast about media and internet culture. Hosts Ryan and Luke talk about how Facebook is leaning hard into Instagram Reels—and how that may not save them. I actually wonder if that platform shift/drift is what’s driving a general decline in Instagram’s utility. Eater NY ran an entire story on this that lays the blame on TikTok, which doesn’t seem quite right. The problem is Instagram itself and the inevitable decay of platforms (though a food critic going out to dinner with a TikTok influencer is a very funny concept). 

Callie Crossley at Boston’s WGBH explores the world of fictional cookbooks. This is a great listen for the interview with Nyanyika Banda, Malawian-American author of Marvel’s Black Panther: The Official Wakanda Cookbook.

I can’t remember who recommended it to me (maybe TASTE editor Matt Rodbard), but I’ve been really enjoying the new podcast Everything Cookbooks. Hosts Andrea Nguyen, Kate Leahy, Molly Stevens, and Kristin Donnelly walk through the practical realities of being cookbook authors. This is basically a free class in writing a cookbook (complete with handouts!). If you aren’t sure about starting another podcast, Matt interviews hosts Molly Stevens and Andrea Nguyen on the TASTE podcast (which, of course, you already subscribe to). 

Eater profiles a TikTok star who has gotten famous by cooking his way through Depression-era cookbooks. This profile is interesting, and the videos are great!

Out of Context J. Gold of the Week

But one of the advantages of living in Los Angeles is the constant possibility of reinventing yourself. People here do it all the time: from honors student to gangsta rapper, from toilet-paper saleswoman to studio chief, from carpenter to movie star. And finally, Milliken and Fenigar reinvented themselves in the most Los Angeles way imaginable: they become the chef-queens of all media, the Keith and Mick of Mexican food. - Link