“Menus provide a window into history, a vital connection to our foodways.”
dining
Posted inFood, Highlight, Quotes
The Tyranny of Chairs
Pro tip: your fat friend (read: me) doesn’t want to sit in the booth.
Posted inBooks, Food, Story
Eating Alone
We’re eating alone more often than in any previous generation. But why should a meal on our own be uninspired? Why shouldn’t the French saying “life is too short to drink bad wine” still apply?
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
The Secretive Life of a Michelin Inspector
Sam Kashner delves into the mysterious world of Michelin stars in the new issue of Vanity Fair, talking to top chefs about what it takes to gain—and keep—the restaurant world’s highest honor. Although restaurant critics are often recognized, Michelin inspectors remain virtually unknown. Kashner spoke on the phone with one inspector (even he wasn’t allowed to know […]
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Michael Paterniti on Eating at the World’s Most Influential Restaurant
Juli Soler, the Spanish restaurateur who helped turn El Bulli into the most influential restaurant of its time, died on July 6 at age 66. “Without Juli, El Bulli wouldn’t have existed,” its famous chef, Ferran Adrià, told the Spanish newspaper El País. The restaurant closed in 2011. Michael Paterniti’s 2001 Esquire story captures what it was […]
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Confessions of a Weary Restaurant Critic
There are only so many ways to describe food. You become hyper-aware of your own clichés. If you’ve gotten tired of reading “lovely,” “tinged,” and “delightful” in my reviews over the past seven years, all I can say is that you should have seen the first drafts.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
How a Famed Danish Restaurant Brought Japanese Sensibilities to Their Tokyo Pop-Up
He could have made his life easier by being less ambitious, but that’s not what Noma does. Instead, they’ve taken their strictly seasonal and regional agenda and applied it to the islands of Japan instead of the Nordic region. “I made seven trips here in the past year. I’ve been everywhere in Japan,” he explains.