Skewing rather British in this edition after a lovely vacation (holiday, rather) in the Cotswolds and London earlier this month.

Cheese: Steadily snacked on Appleby’s Cheshire throughout our 3 days in London, then took it on the plane home. It has a beautiful orange crumb and is spikier than cheddar, yet is all smiles if you get past its rough exterior. Made from raw cow’s milk and worth seeking out — savory and not afraid to say what’s on its mind. Fantastic with crackers when jetlagged at 5am.

Book: Agree with most of the discourse about Lena Dunham’s Famesick: It’s a well-written behind-the-curtain distillation of the cost of being famous. Most of the book is focused on Dunham’s health issues, which are endless and debilitating. They deeply affect her relationships and the people she loves the most; her health is a major factor in destroying several of those relationships. She writes with maturity, but implicitly acknowledges that chaos tends to follow her around. The title is… perfect.

I tromped around the UK hunting down a physical copy of Island Calling, the second book in the Tuga trilogy. I found the first one on the sale shelf at Politics & Prose over a year ago, but the second one has only been published in the UK so far! It was worth the scavenger hunt — I got to pop into so many lovely bookstores (the UK loves physical books — amazing!) and snagged a copy which I raced through on the plane ride home. It’s easy, clever escapist fiction about a herpetologist just trying to make it work on a remote island. Hijinks and trysts occur! I eagerly await the third.

Restaurant: Four fantastic meals in the UK:

• The Greene Oak, Windsor. Went here on the way to Legoland (naturally) to enjoy a crispy skate wing with capers. It’s everything you want out of a proper pub — way above average food, nice service, wood floors, kid-friendly, distinctly British-leaning food. I very much regret being too full to order the sticky toffee pudding.

• The Woolpack, Slad. A knockout, save-the-menu-to-frame dinner. This was peak Cotswolds: tiny town location, massive rainbow above the restaurant as we entered, delightfully mixed cast of characters in the bar section. I can’t stop thinking about the housemade cavatelli with asparagus, peas, favas, and wild garlic (aka ramps!). It was aggressively lemony, with fat-laced greens that I wanted a bowl of. Plus, the best (rhubarb) cobbler I’ve ever eaten. Buttery, crispy-soft topping that was never too sweet. I must recreate this masterpiece.

• Dishoom (duh?), London. Really just a lemming here — loved the Shoreditch location eight years ago and same with the Kensington location this trip. I shouldn’t like this restaurant: there are hostesses with mics, a massive dining room, eye-rolly trend-chasing CBD drinks. Yet. Yet! It doesn’t feel like a factory-like chain restaurant but rather an extremely well-run and intentional experience. We were with four kids, ages 3-10, and they were diving in just as much as the adults. The dal is as good as ever. Get the monkfish curry. I wish I returned for breakfast.

• Harley’s Butchery & Rotisserie, London: Just the perfect place for a rotisserie chicken sandwich lunch in Hampstead — eat there or bring to the expansive Hampstead Heath for a picnic. Required item: the gravy, for optimal sandwich dipping. And the rotisserie potatoes too.

Thing: As a true sign of being in my 40s, I went to an estate sale a few weeks ago. Specifically, for Marian Burros, the famed food writer behind the viral-before-that-was-a-thing plum torte. Turns out, she lived a mile from where I grew up. It’s a bizarre experience, searching through a dead woman’s belongings to covet something that was once hers. While all the copper cookware was gone before I made it there, I did get a lovely tiny teacup and a yellowed copy of Richard Olney’s 1974 classic, Simple French Food. I was told that even though it only cost me $10 total, I should know that the cup was in fact “very old.” I’ll drink out of it when making some cake.

See you soon, friends.

-c

Cheese: Ohmygosh how have I not written about Cambozola in the six(!) years I’ve been doing this newsletter. It’s a blue cheese for people that don’t really like blue cheese. Creamy, buttery, brie-like, and yes, luscious. It’s a triple cream with a gray bloomy rind (looks weird, tastes good) that goes down real smooth, with just a tiny bit of tang. Eat an irresponsible amount of this cheese.

Book: Beth Ann Fennelly, the queen of the micro-memoir (I loved Heating and Cooling) is back with another easily-read-in-two-days book, The Irish Goodbye. She’s great at honing the minutiae of really big things; the small, specific moments that define relationships but are meaningless to anyone but the people involved. She writes about grief — and love — with stunning self-awareness.

Restaurant: I’ve been a hesitant fan of the Love, Makoto Japanese food hall since it opened — I thought Dear Sushi was a fantastic prix fixe option, found Beloved BBQ disappointing, enjoyed Hiya Izakaya for happy hour, and thought the fast casual Love On The Run was solid enough.

But call me a true believer fan of the newish all-you-can-eat $65 weekend brunch buffet. (Related: I’ve had a soft spot for buffets ever since I was a kid. An omelette station at the hotel?! Sign me up.) It’s great for that semi-special occasion when you’re trying not to be too splashy, but you do like the idea of unlimited tuna crispy rice and snapper nigiri.

Particular highlights: Perfectly plump shrimp cocktail, fall-apart miso ginger eggplant, aonori potato bites that are basically fancy cubed french fries.

My kids (half-price for over 5 years old, free for under) short-circuited at the dessert table. Get the black sesame mini donut.

Other Feb-March highlights:

• DC: The lamb tartare and chocho slaw at Isla. Go here for a swanky date and don’t accidentally underdress in a sweatshirt like I did.

• NYC: The ssook-got salad and hojok galbi at Hojokban. Just a fantastic steak.

• So, so so many great things in Austin: tuna hibiscus aguachile at Suerte, literal fall-off-the-bone pork ribs at La Barbecue (better than the brisket IMO), migas at Veracruz All Natural, pork chop at Dai Due, suadero at Cuantos Tacos, cóctel de camarón at Ensenada, horchata at Mercado Sin Nombre.

• LA: Fish curry at Luv2Eat. Sweet, sour, spicy, all of it.

Thing: What percent of petty arguments in your household are about the Tupperware drawer/cabinet/amorphous space you use to store reusable containers? If you have seen the light, please tell me your clever solutions and types/brands you love. Nothing is too specific!

See you soon.

-c

Cheese: Am I a flavored cheese convert? I was recently gifted Red Dragon — a cheddar infused with whole grain mustard seeds and Welsh brown ale — and have enjoyed its aggressively mustard taste. It’s a cheese with a big personality, but the kind that people can’t help but like. The class clown that happens to be really smart too.

Book(s): Clutch by Emily Nemens rips deep into your 40-year-old soul. This is the quintessential elder millennial novel. It’s a celebration of female friendship, told through the eyes of five college friends navigating everything that happens when you turn 40: births, deaths, job stresses, shitty spouses, illness, more. Nemens has so many micro-observations about this time of life; I constantly felt gut punched while nodding my head in vigorous agreement. This is a book meant for women of this demographic… I don’t think it would have resonated with me if I was 25 or 65. My one big issue: nearly all of these intelligent-yet-flawed women (mostly) partnered with men who were so much “less” than them, several being highly emotionally bankrupt and morally questionable. It felt… off.

I do not regret reading I Regret Almost Everything by restaurateur Keith McNally. I appreciated his candor about his unconventional path, even if I occasionally disagreed with his no-holds-barred opinions (why exactly are you defending Woody Allen, again?). The memoir is actually less about his restaurant career and more about his childhood, his young acting career, and the effect his stroke has had on his life and family. He’s definitely not asking for pity, though — the writing is raw and honest.

Restaurant: Like seemingly everyone else in DC, I, too, have been successfully wooed by the extra long mozzarella sticks at Eebee’s. This place just makes sense: a solid burger, said mozzarella sticks that show real thought (find me a better cheese pull, I dare you), kind staff, and a place that feels like a neighborhood hang the moment you walk in the door. More of this, please.

Also, I went to Pastis (owned by Keith McNally, though the DC version doesn’t have the same kind of cultural panache as the original NYC location) shortly after finishing his book. It felt very of his ilk — go when you want to feel lowkey splashy. The food will be very good, but never earth-shattering. The mushroom soup was excellent.

Thing: A few recipes I’ve enjoyed lately:

• For something dense, decadent, and easy: Carolina Gellen’s No-Bake Milk Chocolate Pie

• For a very juicy and tender chicken: Samin Nosrat’s Buttermilk-Brined Roasted Chicken

• For a work-from-home weeknight meal (put rice in the rice cooker earlier in the day so then you have time to roast it): Sheet-Pan Scallion Shrimp With Crispy Rice

Tell me what you’re cooking lately!

-c

Cheese: We’re lucky to be in Costa Rica again this year, where I’ve been enjoying a mild local fresh cow cheese purchased from a side-of-the-road fruit stand. It’s a reminder to myself to not always shrug off the simple cheeses. One doesn’t always need a nutty or tangy flavor bomb to enjoy on a piece of toast.

Book: Two books that made me bawl my eyes out toward the end but gosh did they feel so good (they aren’t sad books, just both about beautiful loves!).

1. The Correspondent by Virginia Evans: I love the story behind the success of this debut epistolary novel. Evans wrote this book in the pre-dawn hours before her kids woke up. It took her years — I’m in awe of her perseverance. Debut novels from unknown authors don’t typically sell over 550,000 copies. But this amazing story about a stubborn, sometimes difficult 70-year-old Annapolis woman is brilliant. It’s told through letters to family, friends, celebrities, and other characters that touch her life in big and small ways. A clever conceit that works brilliantly. It inspired me to re-read another epistolary novel I loved from over 15 years ago, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society.

2. Heart the Lover by Lily King. This has been on every “best of” list in 2025 for good reason. It makes you wistful for those big college feelings, or that first love you fall hard for… and maybe never completely get over. But life moves on, thus King separates the book in two parts: when the characters are in their 20s, and then what happens when you sort through the pieces in middle age. Nostalgia meets reality.

Two comforting food-related re-reads:

1. An Everlasting Meal by Tamar Adler: This is my 4th time(?) reading this book, as a reminder to stop complicating meals when simple, good ingredients always work. I just bought Feast on Your Life, Adler’s new cooking-esque diary, and can’t wait to dig in.

2. The Book of Difficult Fruit by Kate Lebo. It’s my second time reading this poetic book of creative non-fiction, in which each chapter focuses on a challenging fruit, and then leads into meditations about life. Sounds hokey, totally works.

Restaurant: I didn’t expect to have the best cornbread I’ve maybe ever eaten during a 24-hour Brooklyn work trip. While the rotisserie chicken and buttermilk fried cauliflower (Weds only) are beyond-worthy orders at LulaBird in Crown Heights (pickup/delivery only), the dense, almost mochi-like, aggressively corn-heavy taste of the cornbread is good enough to start a cult following. Wow would I make this my regular takeout spot if I lived here.

For the DC folks: It had been a couple of years since I’d been to Izakaya Seki — a mistake to go that long! It feels like a hidden gem even though it’s been around for a long time. I respect the consistency: the beef tongue remains super tender, the potato salad is a standard-bearer, and the sashimi is excellent quality.

Happy to have visited Dogon for a splurgey, celebration meal with friends. All elements of feeling like a sterile hotel restaurant are erased by the warm and super professional service — some of the best I’ve experienced recently. The signature “Ben’s Bowl” has an almost patty-like super crispy lamb outside with soft meat on the inside, served with a chickpea curry. It’s a showstopper. And it turns out I *do* like rum cake when there’s a Funfetti-like airy texture.

Thing: A couple movie scenes I can’t stop thinking about:

• In the fall, I watched Mountainhead, the semi-satirical dystopian (but too close-to-home) HBO movie about tech titans and their complicity in worldwide disaster. There’s one haunting line that the Mark Zuckerberg-esque character says: “Are people even real?” It’s haunted me for months — that disconnect from reality that we see from men in power all too often.

• On a lighter note, the food scenes from The Taste of Things (Amazon) — especially the first 20 minutes — are stunning. We all deserve the joy of watching a sumptuous, over-the-top French meal being prepared with the grace of Juliette Binoche.

Enjoy the holidays and see you in 2026!

-c

Anyone else been experiencing Maximalist Fall? Lots of movement, lots of life happening. Let’s get to it.

Cheese: Abbaye de Belloc is a sheep cheese from the Basque region of France and just wants to hang out with some jam. It’s milky, with a mellow tang and a hint of salt. It’s reminiscent of a Manchego, but perhaps a keeper of a few more secrets. Make sure to bring it to room temp so it can share some with you.

Book: Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico feels like a fictional version of Kyle Chayka’s Filterworld (subtitle: “how algorithms flattened everything”). It’s a story of a couple that lives in Berlin, but you could really substitute any cosmopolitan city. You know what their apartment looks like (lots of monsteras and other houseplants), what they do for work (brand strategy and design), and what they do for fun (see friends at various cultural events but never actually enjoy themselves). The short book is not plot heavy, but rather a series of social observations that makes the reader feel like you know these people (because you do—maybe they exist in your social circle or work circle or maybe you are just the U.S. version of them) even though they’re fictional. In fact, Latronico does very little to describe the couple’s actual personalities, just his observations on how they go about their little lives seeking small pleasures, yet in reality living a life that feels totally dull, the exact feeling they’re trying to escape. It’s great social criticism.

Restaurant: You know what probably doesn’t get enough restaurant cred in DC? Teaism! It’s been around since 1996 in Dupont Circle, which is roughly one million restaurant years. The tea selection is impressive, the salty oak cookies are delightful, and the food is definitely above “good enough.” I always default to the ochazuke, where you can pour warm hojicha tea over rice, pickled plum, and other toppings. Teaism is the to meet someone you haven’t seen in awhile — the menu works for all types of eaters and it’s always packed inside. It’s a quintessential example of a DC neighborhood and community institution.

Thing: The above figurines from Studio Arhoj have made my desk so much happier; they are my inanimate work buddies. I suggest spending 10 minutes of your life browsing Studio Arhoj’s website for a whimsy break. They are a Copenhagen-based (of course) design studio and ship to the U.S., or you can find a few stockists around the country. Say, if your Seattle-based younger brother lives close to the National Nordic Museum and is willing to take photos of what’s in stock, buy you a few, and then schlep them cross-country when he comes to visit. Thanks brother!

Enjoy the stuffing and pies.

-c

Cheese: Two cheeses that are good for munching:

1. Pardou Ardi Gansa: A mellow, milky, semi-hard Basque raw milk sheep cheese. It’s nuanced and worth careful attention, because it’s not going to hit you over the head.

2. Robusta Gouda: The free samples at Whole Foods strike again! “Mom, we have to get this. It’s sooo good,” said the 6-year-old. I can’t say no to an aged gouda and its crystal-crunchies.

Book: The first chapter of Songs for Other People’s Weddings by David Levithan had me snort-laughing several times. The rest of the book is worth reading, but it really starts off at the high. The book focuses on J, who writes original songs for—you guessed it—other people’s weddings. Meanwhile, he’s contending with his own less-than-stellar love life. The best part of the book are the vignettes of the various couples getting married; his own love story can drag a bit. Levithan teamed up with singer-songwriter Jens Lekman to actually write these original songs. It’s a fun conceit—complete with a QR code to listen to the album.

Honorable Mention: Loved One by Aisha Muharrar is a not-as-dark-as-you-would expect-it book about the accidental death of a musician, and the search that his friend-but-also-more goes on to find some of the objects he left behind. The characters feel like people you might know—they’re flawed but still ultimately good people.

Restaurant: A few highlights from our trip to Seattle last month:

• The clam chowder from Local Tide (see above). Gosh I loved this restaurant. Fantastic smash burger, good salmon, and a black pepper-forward chowder that was all about the fish stock.

• The nachos at The Restaurant at Delille Cellars in Woodinville have bechamel and candied jalapeños and I am not mad at either inclusion.

• The blistered corn with cherry tomatoes, paneer, and crispy anchovies from Rupee Bar knocks all other corn + cheese + tomato salads out of the water.

• The burger at Guamanian restaurant familyfriend gets a lot of hype, but I vote for the creamy-coconutty corn soup (it was August! corn everything!) as the star.
  

Thing: Some great parenting Substack essays that have calmed me down recently:

• Enjoy Them While They’re Tiny… and other terrible advice, by Priyanka Mattoo

• On the art of paring down, by Abby Raminsky

• How a Detour Became Home, by Hannah Howard

Talk soon.

-c

Cheese: On a 24-hour visit to Boston last month, I managed to swing by Formaggio Kitchen and happened upon Whaledale, a fantastic new Wensleydale-style cheese from Mystic Cheese in Connecticut. Think of it like a more lactic cheddar— it’s zippy and astringent. It smells like toast and tastes like tangy yogurt. I couldn’t stop eating it.

Book: I am not a sci-fi person, but absolutely loved these two books, both of which have clear dystopian themes, yet feel scarily plausible. These books aren’t the sci-fi that’s full of not-yet-discovered planets and space aliens. It’s the genre of sci-fi that bends reality, yet feels like it could actually happen.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel was written ten years ago and hasn’t aged at all, and in fact felt rather prescient—especially because it’s about what happens when a pandemic wipes out a huge swath of the world’s population and law & order completely breaks down. Yet, this novel isn’t about devastation. It’s about a band of actors that perform Shakespeare as they travel around the (former) U.S. It’s delightfully jarring! Was I ready to stomach a pandemic novel? Despite the semi-disturbing dreams I had while reading it, I would recommend it without hesitation. It’s a great juxtaposition of art and destruction and hope and despair.

And holy moly did I race through Ministry of Time by Kailene Bradley. It’s a great escapist read that isn’t trashy (it was on Barack Obama’s favorite summer reads last year!). Yet it does involve both time travel and a heavy will-they-or-won’t-they plot element with two people from different centuries, brought together by an experimental government program that clearly hasn’t worked out all the kinks. It’s clever and full of charming (and mysterious) characters. It’s an ambitious genre mash-up that totally works.

Restaurant: Three short recs:

The zucchini chips from Kava Neo-Taverna in Boston are the best I’ve ever had. Thin, crispy, excellent with tzatziki. They are ideal summer outdoor happy hour fodder—get a spritz, snack on these, live your best life.

If you’re walking by yourself in Hell’s Kitchen in New York, getting driven crazy by what you think are allergies and then later realize you have a crappy summer cold, stop into the new Uncle Ray’s for a plate of Hainanese Chicken Rice (see above). The fragrant rice is cooked with the broth from whole poached chicken—it’s a great drown-your-sorrows (and your sinuses?) meal.

Court Street Grocers in Brooklyn are still sandwich magicians. Shout-out to the Turkey Club—made with confit dark meat—which has been my fave for well over a decade now, and isn’t on the regular menu anymore but THANK GOODNESS was on special when I was there this week. Reuben Brocc also top notch.

Thing: My top 5 store-bought short pasta shapes:

5. Orzo: The soft and slight slipperiness of orzo is exactly what makes it so great. You can cook it like a risotto (aka “orzotto”), serve it with melty cheese and veg, or just eat it simply with some olive oil. It feels lighter than other pastas, yet very flexible to your desired culinary agenda.

4. Orecchiette: It knows how to stand up to a robust sauce and loves to be paired with ground meat or sausage.

3. Mezze Rigatoni: This shape is just so much better than regular-sized rigatoni. It’s got great girth and stubbiness, making it easy for kids to eat and extremely enjoyable for adults to spear with a fork.

2. Radiatore: This quintessential pasta salad shape is just fun. Last week, my kids remarked how much they liked it and I had to agree. It’s a good sauce clinger, takes nicely to mix-ins, and offers a fun bumpy texture. A win all-around.

1. Cavatappi: My ride-or-die mac & cheese shape for well over a decade now. The queen remains on her throne.

I welcome dissent, but I will likely remain unmoved from this ranking. Also, penne is unwelcome here.

Eat some sweet corn and see you next month.

-c

Cheese: Piave Vecchio is reminiscent of Parmigiano-Reggiano in both taste and texture (find the crystals!). It’s made in the Veneto region of Italy (P-R is from Emilia-Romagna), and somewhat similar to Manchego from Spain, in that it has different classifications (and taste/texture) depending on how long it has been aged for—see a guide here. A good rule of thumb: The older it is, the more special it tastes. It’s a great cheese for putting on the table and carving big chunks to snack on.

Book: How refreshing, to read a memoir by a political figure who values kindness as one of her key motivations. The only thing I knew about Jacinda Ardern, the former prime minister of New Zealand, prior to reading her new memoir A Different Kind of Power, was that she had a baby while in office. That was enough of a reason to draw me in and I’m so glad it did—I enjoyed learning about her rise to power and her perspectives on various local and global conflicts as she governed. But what struck me the most was just how reasonable and decent she sounded. That shouldn’t be striking, yet, in this political climate, it is. Her book is a reminder that some people choose public service because they actually want to be public servants, not egomaniacal power-trippers.

Restaurant: We were lucky to recently spend three weeks in Ireland and Italy. While there were multiple days that involved double pasta meals, the lunch I can’t stop thinking about is a bowl of soup from Gostner Schwaige in the Dolomites, recently featured in the new season of “Tucci in Italy” (the Alto Adige episode, watch it on Nat Geo/Disney Plus. But also don’t miss the Lombardy episode where Staney goes to the Autogrill test kitchen. I’ve had a long and deep love for Autogrill and its good-food-while-traveling brilliance!).

There are mountain huts sprinkled throughout the Dolomites that serve quite good Italian-Austrian-German food and drinks (shout-out to Hugo spritzes) as you hike (or in the winter, ski). “Hut” perhaps isn’t a generous enough term: These are full-fledged restaurants that often also offer nice accommodations. And very clean bathrooms! And often playgrounds or toys for kids too! While some of the huts are accessible by car, many you get to via a combination of cable cars + hiking (or mountain biking). In other words, there’s this magical place in the Italian alps where you hike among stunning mountains and then when you’re sweaty and exhausted you sit down to eat local cheeses and meats, or pasta or knödel, or schnitzel. This is not a dream!

At Gostner Schwaige, chef Franz Mulser serves a soup made with 25 different herbs and flowers foraged from the mountains. It would be impossible to replicate at home—the soup is delicate and, unsurprisingly, herbaceous without being grassy or muddy. It’s served warm but not piping hot, making it totally acceptable for a summer day when eating in the shade. Better yet, it’s served in a homemade bread bowl, furthering my theory that bread bowls should have never gone out of style. The best part of any bread bowl is when there’s only a little bit of soup left and you get that spoonful that’s half mushy bread and half soup and thus the best of both worlds.

It feels important to mention that this was actually my second bread bowl of our trip, the first in Howth, a wvillage on the water outside of Dublin where I ate a transcendent fish chowder, improved greatly because of that exact mushy bread texture.

A food summary of my trip: Pasta: Very good. Bread bowls: Fantastic.

Thing: A few things I am grateful to have brought along while traveling:

• These Baggu pouches. Great for storing disposable contact lenses, various electronic adapters/plugs, etc.

• This travel-friendly gear puzzle game that occupied my 6-year-old for decent stretches of time.

• This Old Navy maxi dress which is easy and comfortable and (I think) works for a variety of body types.

• That’s It fruit bars, for snack-related emergencies (tbh, more for me than my children).

See you soon.

-c

Let’s get into it, shall we?

Cheese: Atwater’s—a Baltimore-based food business, farmers’ market staple, and one of the few cheesemakers in Maryland—makes a mean aged gouda copycat. National Pike is named after a Maryland road that founder Ned Atwater uses to get to the Hagerstown, MD farm. While Atwater’s refer to National Pike as cheddar-style, it tastes much more like a gouda-meets-aged Parm, with lots of crunchy crystals in the paste. It’s nicely nutty. This is a party cheese.

Book: The past two books I’ve read were both absolutely fantastic for very different reasons.

Homeseeking by Karissa Chen is a sweeping love story that time jumps across 60 years of war and family trauma. Haiwen and Suchi meet as children, fall in love as teenagers, and are then separated during and after the Chinese Civil War. They reunite in suburban California years later when they’re in their 80s. The book examines the decisions they both made to salvage what they could of themselves in the aftermath of war. Chen is masterful with secondary character development—there are a lot of people that move the plot forward in compelling ways, from love interests to siblings to co-workers. It’s a book you get lost in for several hours.

Welcome to Glorious Tuga by Francesca Segal is a much lighter read, think of it like a somewhat intellectual beach read. What’s not to like about a love triangle among a herpetologist, a young doctor who just returned to the island after 15 years, and the local rough-around-the edges playboy? The best part is the scenery where it all takes place: the remote, South Atlantic island of Tuga de Oro (this does not actually exist in real life). It’s populated by a vibrant cast of characters, all of whom play a role in both the reptilian- and familial-related mysteries herpetologist Dr. Walker comes to the island to solve. The second book of the trilogy (thank goodness there’s more!) comes out next month in the UK. I’m just going to type “herpetologist” one more time because it’s so much fun to say.

Restaurant: It’s very exciting to have My Little Chamomile in Georgetown—a new homestyle Turkish restaurant next to the IYKYK lunch counter gem Green Almond Pantry (and with a shared kitchen!). Speaking of green almonds, you can find the olive-like unripe nuts in the Zeytinyagli Cagla dish with arborio rice and carrots. Zero in on that one, and don’t miss the Cerkez Tavugu, which is reminiscent of chicken salad but made better with some sweet notes from walnuts and cumin. The cute lil beef manti in a bright yogurt and spiced butter sauce are delicate in a way that’s hard to pull off with red meat. That’s what chef-owner Cagla Onal does best: Brilliantly simple and straightforward flavors, executed at a level way beyond most people can do at home. Get all the desserts, especially the corn flour and rhubarb cake, while rhubarb is still in season. Service is extremely warm and friendly, acoustics can be loud. Fun wines.

Some jots!

• Elbow Bread in NYC is a charming winner from baker Zoe Kazan and the Court Street Grocers team that can do no wrong, food-wise. They do a lovely potato/sauerkraut/dill knish, a savory pastry all too often known for its dryness. Not this version.

• Is there a better dish to eat at the bar than the drippy-with-oil garlic knot at Reveler’s Hour in DC? No, there is not.

• The two bites I’m still thinking about from Paris last month: the not-too-fluffy, not-too-dense lemon cake from Bontemps + the crispy-edged chicken doner kebab from Mehmet (make a res via Instagram if you go).

Thing: This $10 OXO brownie spatula has been my kitchen workhorse for more than a decade. Sure, it’s great for cutting brownies (OXO also suggests lasagna), but I use it multiple times a week for anything that needs a quick flip too. Think of it as a little sibling to the fish spatula, ready to scrape spices off a cast iron or to cut a sheet pan cake very quickly. I accidentally left it at my parents’ house for over a week and felt truly lost without it.

See you in… summer!

-c

Lots to share, lots to do. Let’s go!

Cheese: Little Chardy from Birch Run Hills in Pennsylvania is a bloomy rind that knows how to have fun. There’s no funk here, but a pleasant subtle tang, despite being made from just cow’s milk. It’s not gooey or fall apart-y though, instead, the sturdy paste is smooth with a hint of welcome chalkiness. While this would be happy on a cheese plate, this feels like a solo cheese, a “me time” cheese, a “I got done with my week and leave me alone” cheese. It’s most similar to a camembert, but I’d say it’s a camembert that’s broken curfew a few times, but is still a really good kid.

Book: A Tale of Time Being by Ruth Ozeki is one of the best books I’ve read in the past several years. I liked it enough that I didn’t even mind the elements of magical realism that pushed the plot forward—and I normally hate magical realism. Ruth, a woman living on a remote Canadian island, finds a Japanese diary washed up ashore, along with some other items. The book switches perspectives between Ruth and Nao, the author of the diary. Their lives intertwine despite the varying timelines of when the diary was written and when Ruth discovered it. The stories touch on a lot of heavy material: World War II, September 11, suicide, intense bullying, sexual assault. But the book is ultimately not a tragedy; it celebrates several important figures in both Ruth and Nao’s lives. This is an ambitious novel; It’s a triumph for Ozeki to take on time shifts, multiple narrators, major historical events, the day-to-day of two marriages. The book came out in 2013 and feels just as fresh in 2025.

Restaurant: In the past month, I’ve had four fantastic meals in Northern Virginia:

1. Yunnan by Potomac Noodle House (Pentagon City): This is one of the only Yunnanese restaurants in the DMV area. They recently moved from Alexandria to Pentagon City (right by the Costco there, so not the cutest of neighborhoods…) to a sleek, minimalist space. Go here for the excellent lunch bento box deal, where you can choose 6 different options for $27. It’s a huge amount of food, and a varied one—choose from 3 small plates (get the twice-fried potatoes), one mixian (my fave is the Liang Mixian salad, which is more of a soup filled with bright vegetables and chicken, plus a tea egg and chili oil), bao or dumplings, and a cheesecake custard for dessert.

2. Thompson Italian (Falls Church, but also has a location in Alexandria): This is very good Italian food, with a neighborhood restaurant feel. I love how intentional the kids menu is: quality, well-portioned bowls of pasta (the bolognese is fantastic) served with both carrots and french fries. And for the adults, the menu is a list of many familiar options, but all done well, from crispy brussel sprouts to orecchiette with sausage and broccoli rabe. Their agnolotti is always a stand-out, and the olive oil cake, a standard-bearer. It’s hard to nail it every time, and they do.

3. Marib (Springfield, but we were farther afield in the Fredericksburg location): The fahsah & saltah, a traditional stew with vegetables and lamb, is a great flavor introduction to Yemeni cuisine. It’s intensely savory, and tastes like something straight out of a grandmother’s kitchen. Order the qishr, a drink made with ground, unroasted coffee husks and powdered ginger. It’s decaffeinated, and tastes like a light tea with a floral honey… though it contains neither of those things. I’m still thinking about it weeks later.

4. Charga Grill (two locations in Arlington): Inside the very bare-bones and nondescript Langston Blvd. location is some ridiculously good chicken and chickpeas. The Pakistani-inspired charga (which means “chicken”), which is steamed and flash-fried, boasts an incredible spice blend. As does the sajji, a brined and densely spiced rotisserie chicken which, if the charga is the valedictorian, then the sajji is a very deserving salutatorian. I’m quite confident the curried chickpeas are the best I’ve ever had.

PS If you find yourself in Guatemala (less than a 4 hour flight from DC! Recommend!!), three quick recs:

• Guatemala City: any of the raw fish options at Mercado 24

• Antigua: Fonda de la Calle Royal for a traditional restaurant that’s been around since 1975, Doña Gavi for vegan ice cream, and Quiltro for a creative tasting menu featuring local products.

Thing:

Keya’s Snacks Bombay Spice potato chips are fantastic—think a Cape Cod-style chip with a savory Indian spice blend. Keya’s chips are made with single-origin Indian spices: turmeric, coriander, garlic, ginger, dry mango, onion, fenugreek, garam masala, tomato powder, and pomegranate powder. Based on this ingredient list, it doesn’t sound like a potato chip could get any more maximalist. But the flavor itself is wonderful, complex, and nuanced. It’s not at all aggressive or overwhelming. I haven’t tried the Black Salt chips yet, but not sure how they could possibly top Bombay Spice. The small business is based in Richmond so the chips are available at several DMV retailers, but are also available for purchase online.

See you soon.

-c

Cheese: For the first time in the history of Cheese, Book, Restaurant, Thing, I have no cheese to recommend; I’ve tasted at least five cheeses recently that haven’t been up to snuff (not naming names!). Instead, here are three cheese-laden recipes I can recommend, and cook regularly:

1. Tomato & Cheddar Bread Pudding (Food52): My go-to dish when hosting brunch. It’s easy to put together, can feed a crowd, and has a great mushy-meets-crunchy texture.

2. Cheesy Cabbage Tteokbokki (NYT, gift link): This is already an easy recipe, but I often simplify it even more by skipping the eggs and shallots steps. Also, if I’m making this for my kids, I also skip the gochujang, and just make a soy-butter sauce. My whole family loves the chewy, mochi-like texture of rice cakes mixed with the cabbage (crunch!) and cheese (mozz or cheddar both work great for melty deliciousness). Plus, it’s easy to add heat at the end in the form of chili oil, or the recommended gochujang…it just might be slightly grainy uncooked.

3. Crusty Baked Cauliflower and Farro (Smitten Kitchen): At a glance, this looks like a drab recipe, but it is far from it. As Deb writes on Smitten Kitchen: “together this was exceptional, wildly flavorful, weeknight-friendly, vegetable-centric and entirely whole grain that tastes luxurious because did I mention the pockets of ricotta throughout?” I would gladly eat this once a week, in perpetuity.

Book: Syme’s Letter Writer by New Yorker writer Rachel Syme is an excellent addition to your neglected coffee table. Syme covers a truly impressive amount of ground, given that “letter writing” already feels like a pretty niche topic. She shares a plethora of letter-related topics—how to be a pen pal, how to write about secrets, to perfume or not to perfume—that is perfect for skimming a few pages at a time. Buy it in hardcover to really appreciate the amazing illustrations by Joana Avillez. This would make a fantastic gift for that friend who you’ve been thinking about.

Restaurant: If you find yourself on I-495 or in the College Park, MD vicinity, do stop at Northwest Chinese Food for excellent knife-cut noodles. They are delightfully chewy and bouncy. This was a big hit with our whole family—the kids loved the oh-so-slightly-sweet minced pork and mushroom sauce (if you don’t tell them there are mushrooms then they won’t notice the mushrooms, bwahaha!). The rice noodles (not knife-cut, still bouncy) with spicy sesame dressing offered a familiar mix of welcoming textures: crunchy bean sprouts and raw carrots, crispy chili oil, cooling cucumbers. This month, the team also opened Li Chun Cafe down the street, which specializes in handmade bing and rice dishes. It’s a great casual spot, and the kind of place I would frequent regularly if I lived closer.

P.S. I recently wrote this profile of Susan Bae, partner and pastry chef at Moon Rabbit for WaPo. Go eat her desserts!

Thing:

For DC people: I’ve been enjoying the earnest and warm-hearted public television vibes of Signature Dish, from WETA (available to watch online). The show spotlights DMV-area restaurants and their, well, signature dish. There have been three seasons so far with a solid mix of “buzzy” places and more under-the-radar establishments. Host Seth Tillman clearly loves food and meeting chefs, and is excited to try new-to-him flavors. He’s not a food expert but it doesn’t really matter; he has a curious mind and knows the right questions to ask. It’s a quiet, calming watch that highlights local businesses with good stories. One sad part: Since the show started a few years ago, I’ve noticed several restaurants have already gone out of business.

For everyone: This short Oscar-nominated film about a music class for 6-year-olds in Japan has been stuck in my head for the question that film creator Ema Ryan Yamazaki asks in the YouTube description: “Where should the balance lie between discipline and freedom?” Watch it and let me know what you think. Regardless, I want to give Ayame a big hug!

Hasta pronto.

-c

Missed you in Jan (bit of a reading slump). Nice to see you now!

Cheese: Pyrenees Brebis smells fresh yet barnyardy. The taste is not mucky at all though: it’s milky, pleasant, and carefree. This is a fun cheese that’s begging for caramelized onions or fancy pizza. If you’ve had Ossau-Iraty before, this is very similar and is made from sheep’s milk from France’s Basque country. There’s nothing to dislike about this cheese! If it was your neighbor, it would be the kind of neighbor who would drop off cookies around the holidays and always say hello when it saw you on the street, because it’s a nice person (er, cheese).

Book: Thank you, Charmaine Wilkinson, for getting me out of my aforementioned rut. I raced through Good Dirt, a fast-paced, multi-generational novel about a family heirloom — a jar made by an enslaved ancestor — and the many lives it has impacted… and cut short. There’s everything you want in a novel if, say, you’d like to escape the incessant doomscroll urge: romance, suspense, mystery, history. Oh, and short chapters, which also feel necessary in my life right now. If you’ve read Black Cake (and if you haven’t, you should), you’ll be happy the writer is back with her strong ability to move plot forward. While the story can feel occasionally jumpy and there are a lot of secondary characters to keep track of, ultimately, this is a satisfying book for immersing yourself in someone else’s (fictional) life.

Restaurant: I returned to New York City last month and crammed in several fantastic meals. Two places I wish I could be a regular at:

1. Chalong for excellent Southern Thai and seafood, especially if you’re trying to find somewhere to eat before a Broadway show and don’t want to succumb to all the terrible 8th avenue options. Hoof it to Chalong on 9th ave for Crab Curry and the Mee Pum Riang, a Southern-style pad thai with a silky yet understated coconut curry sauce. I have yet to have Thai food this good in DC. Great heat levels (present, but not tear-inducing) and couldn’t-be-kinder service.

2. Ariari for Korean seafood (notice a theme to the weekend?) inspired by the port city of Busan. I could have kept eating several more servings of the rather mild kimchi banchan, but the spicy fish stew with charred scallion oil, plus the dolsot al bap — a hot stone bibimbap with rice, roe, shellfish paste and sea urchin cream (!) — also required my undivided attention. Ariari is exactly what you want in an East Village restaurant: cozy, bustling, quick-paced, yet never rushed. It made me nostalgic for my 20s; it would be the type of place I would go to repeatedly with friends for post-work dinners.

P.S. For DC recs: It was such a pleasure to work on Washingtonian’s 100 Very Best Restaurants again this year. Is this exactly how I would have ranked them if it was Carey Polis’s 100 Very Best Restaurants? Well, no, because I definitely haven’t been to all 100 on the list (but I promise at least one of the five of us that worked on this project did!), and because taste is subjective for a multitude of reasons that we all know. But I’m proud of the list we came up with, and think that there’s no other source in D.C. for such a comprehensive look at the restaurant scene. Here for all the quibbles, though!

Thing: Part of the reason I didn’t read much in January was because I became invested in watching Culinary Class Wars, a Korean cooking competition show on Netflix. Minus the Great British Bake-Off, I watch relatively little food TV, but I got hooked on this for several reasons:

1. The pool starts with 100 chefs of a wide range of backgrounds. It’s fascinating to watch their different approaches to the challenges.

2. The quality of cooking is extremely high.

3. The editing is absolutely ridiculous and full of cliffhangers but… it worked.

4. The challenges were pretty bonkers as the competitors got whittled down.

As a Korean food fan but not a Korean food expert, I also enjoyed the chance for more exposure to not only Korean cooking styles, but also many Chinese- and Japanese-inspired dishes as well. File this one under: Another good distraction for the ~times in which we live.~

See you soon.

-c

Hope you’re finding some time to spend it however you choose this holiday season.

Cheese: Bleu de Bourgogne (found at Wegman’s) is a tripe cream with an edge that’s great slathered on bread. It’s a good option for brie lovers looking for something a little more interesting. While it’s not a conversion cheese—if you don’t like blue cheese, you’re not going to love this—the creamy texture does mellow out the “blueness” to a degree. But, if you’re “eh” on blue cheeses, or curious to try more, Bleu de Bourgogne hits for both its butteriness and its pizazz.

Book: Weike Wang is so good. She says so much with so little—Wang builds characters through tiny details of their personality and relationship with others. She just came out with her third novel, Rental House, which offers two vignettes of a DINK couple (double income, no kids—this is relevant!) on vacation in Cape Cod and upstate New York. Their respective parents visit and bring along all their various in-law complications, they meet vacation neighbors they wouldn’t typically socialize with, and both nothing and everything happens. It’s a book about the small things that become big things, when it comes to how you want to build your life and what you expect from others. If you haven’t read Chemistry or Joan Is Okay, both are great too, especially Chemistry (her first book!).

Restaurant: These are my (unranked) top 10 DC restaurant dishes of the year:

• Rice noodles at Moon Rabbit (top left): This dish did so much with coconut, pickled green tomatoes, and sunflower crumble. The kind of dish that feels restaurant-y (are you going to make sunflower crumble at home?) yet nourishing and not overly concepted.

• Scallop ceviche at Chicatana (top middle): This was on the specials menu—order it when you see it! The scallops are served in a coconut leche de tigre with pomegranate and passionfruit. Great texture, super fresh and silky scallops, zippy, and absolutely wonderful.

• Miso-soy dip with crudite at Tail Up Goat (top right): This is a staple on their menu that I hope never leaves. I’ve made countless miso-soy dishes in my life, but none stand up to this umami-laden dip, absolutely great with raw veg.

• Garlic edamame dumplings at Perry’s (bottom left): I seldom order the dumplings at restaurants—I often find that there are more interesting dishes. Perry’s is the exception: These are so delicate, and showered with so much Parm, that they are a repeat order every time I go.

• Sharbat at Lapis (bottom middle): Lapis serves a superb version of pound cake, made with almond flour and rich with orange syrup.

• Boiled peanuts at A&J: There are many great dishes at this Northern Chinese restaurant, but the simple boiled peanuts are something I can’t stop snacking on.

• Sangak at Stone Bakery: This was an unplanned visit, after parking nearby and smelling the flour-y aroma. These large-format chewy breads can be sliced into smaller pieces and freeze well.

• Arrosticini at Bar Del Monte: These small lamb skewers are intensely meaty and fatty, and certainly making a name for themselves among DC’s signature restaurant dishes. They are a prime example of what Bar Del Monte does so well when it’s in its groove: Simple food done at an incredibly high-level.

• Curry snow fried chicken at Bantam King (bottom right): Everything you want from fried chicken: crackly skin, an awesome tangy-sweet onion sauce, plus fresh shaved Vidalia onions. Bonus: the rice with chicken drippings is also excellent.

• Beef rib from 2fifty: If I write this list yearly, this will probably always be on it. It’s in my DC food canon for sure—a massive dinosaur bone of beef, excellently smoked and always tender.

Thing: Sure, I have the same vague resolutions as everyone (eat right / exercise more / blah de blah), but here’s a low stakes resolution I feel good about accomplishing: I’d like to get more into sandwiches.

I don’t think I’ve taken them seriously enough; sure I make a good chicken salad and a perfectly crisp grilled cheese, but I could be better about layering and adding texture. I’d like to work on my WFH sandwich game in 2025, using more fresh bread, good spreads, and lots of things for crunch. Recommendations and overall tips welcome!

Likewise, I also plan to work on my soup skills this winter. Sometimes my lentils and vegetable soups lack punch, and lentils deserve better.

Can’t wait to see you in 2025 :)

-c

Cheese: Brabander, a goat’s milk gouda, would get demolished at a party. It’s creamy and mild, but don’t mistake that for boring. While most aged goudas are caramel-y and complex, this goat version is more straightforward, but still a cheese you really want to hang out with. The Cheese Shop of Salem describes it as a “goat cheese for everyone” and I agree—it doesn’t have the typical goat cheese polarizing tang. If you serve a cheese plate on Thanksgiving, this would work nicely for both your slightly annoying cousin who loves to tell you about his fermentation projects and your great aunt who loves her new air fryer.

Book: I purchased Vanishing Treasures: A Bestiary of Extraordinary Endangered Creatures by Katherine Rundell at the beyond charming Beacon Hill Books & Cafe in Boston two weeks ago. I recommend both the book and the store (for kids, there’s even a train that circles the ceiling on the top level!). The book consists of 20+ short chapters, each about a different animal. And wow are these animals fascinating—I was especially enthralled by both hermit crabs (they are fierce and can destroy human bones easily!) and pangolins. The short histories, fascinating facts, and not-so-subtle call to arms about climate change are compelling and effective. What a great combination of wonderment and advocacy.

Restaurant: Earlier this month, I visited NYC and reunited with my two most favorite restaurant desserts:

• The coconut sundae at Thai Diner: 75% of the reason I loved Uncle Boon’s, Thai Diner’s slightly more upscale now-closed sibling, was for the coconut sundae. It’s on the Thai Diner menu as the “Uncle Boon’s Famous Coconut Sundae” (okay, so I wasn’t the only fan) and tastes just as I remember it from over five years ago. The textural wonderland of coconut gelato topped with coconut caramel, palm sugar whipped cream, and toasted coconut is both playful and indulgent. You know that sheer feeling of amazement you had as a kid whenever you were presented with an ice cream sundae? Still feels just as good as an adult, with the added realization that coconut + peanuts is a fabulous combo.

• The sujeonggwa granita from Atoboy: Yes, lychee yogurt, walnut, and burrata cheese does indeed sound like a bizarre combination of flavors, but when semi-frozen, it somehow works beautifully. It really is the shaved ice that makes the dish—it blunts any harsh flavor edges and melds everything together nicely.

Thing: Two food-adjacent purchases I am very happy with:

• This amazingly realistic Rancho Gordo heirloom bean print that I will be hanging in my home office.

• Shout out to these vibrant orange dried sponge mushrooms from Roxanne’s Dried Flowers. My mantle is looking very cheery with this recent upgrade (also loving the dried Japanese lanterns in the Sophie Lou Jacobsen wave pitcher!).

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. See you in December.

-c

Cheese: Cordobés is a fun, zippy, “I’m just here to have a good time” cheese. It’s often described as a “tangy Manchego” and that is very apt. Manchego is a mellow-buttery cheese with a barely detectable sheep funk. Take that, and make it punchier. You don’t have to think too hard about Cordobés — there isn’t a ton of nuance — it’s just really bright and cheery. (Find it at Whole Foods, where is it currently exclusive to the store?)

Book:  The Life Impossible by Matt Haig isn’t a perfect book, but it is a fun one. Dare I call it the Cordobés of new fiction? It’s easy to race through this light mystery. Grace, the protagonist, is a retired math teacher who is bequeathed a rundown house in Ibiza, where she has never been. She travels there to figure out exactly why, and meets a cast of characters to help her navigate this unexpected turn in her life. In the process (cue cheesy music), she learns more about herself. Perhaps this book is not quite as strong as Haig’s runaway success, The Midnight Library, but it’s a great option for when you want something brisk and creative. It keeps you captivated.

Restaurant: Two absolutely excellent desserts I’ve had recently:

Moon Rabbit serves a green curry sponge cake with avocado sorbet, soursop mousse, and a fish sauce caramel. It’s a clever combination of Asian-leaning flavors, and not particularly savory despite the subtle curry taste. It makes you go “whoa” and has me psyched to try more from Susan Mae, the pastry chef. The whole Vietnamese-inspired menu is worth a gander though — get the tuna crudo.

At Iron Gate, the pistachio dessert was the true stand-out dish — it eclipsed everything else a million times over. Combining pistachios in ice cream, praline, brittle, and financier form is a real celebration of the ingredient. While each component stands excellently on their own, when combined, it’s a triumph. In my life, I don’t think I’ve ever gone out for a nightcap and a dessert, but that’s exactly what I would encourage here — enjoy the beautiful space, eat this dish, and skip the rest of the somewhat humdrum food.

Thing: Please get yourself a bag of Turtle Chips if you have never tried them. They have the shape (sort of) of a turtle shell, a million tiny layers like if a croissant was chip-ified, and the consistency of a thin Bugle. This is texture nirvana. There’s a huge range of flavors, but shout-out to the sweet corn original, seaweed, and chocolate churros. Each flavor is quite pronounced — there’s no subtlety here. 

See you next month and happy Halloween (which I definitely didn’t realize was a month-long holiday until I had kids)!

-c

Cheese: Please help me figure out what to do with 2 pounds of feta as I grossly overestimated how much I would need for a scaled-up riff of this dip for a large gathering we hosted. I get it—I can turn it into a (different) warm dip with roasted tomatoes, there are countless pasta ideas, I can crumble it on tacos or fish… but none of these are 2 pounds worth! I think I’m going to try freezing it (in brine?) unless anyone has some brilliant suggestions…

Book: If you have also felt dumb anytime you walk into an art museum because you look at something on the wall and just don’t get it, might I suggest reading Get the Picture by Bianca Bosker? Bosker, too, didn’t really understand art and the way the art world worked. So rather than feel bad about herself (guilty), she dove DEEP. Like, interns for galleries, becomes a security guard at the Guggenheim, gets her face sat on (is it art?), and interviews dozens of art insiders deep. She doesn’t have some sort of massive epiphany that unlocks the key to understanding every single piece of art ever created, but she does offer a fascinating inside look at how the sausage is made. That, in turn offers the reader a better understanding of what exactly is art… and how one should approach it. Read this book to feel both understood and less like a plebeian!

Restaurant: If A&J Restaurant was in my neighborhood instead of on Rockville Pike (and Annandale, VA), I would eat there many times a month. It’s everything you want for a family (or friend) casual spot: the prices are great, the service is efficient, it’s easy to order for a large table, and the Northern Chinese menu is expansive. I’m a fan of their rendition of the classic Taiwanese dish lu ro fan, ground pork over rice with a braised egg and some chopped pickles. The sweet-leaning sauce complements the simple egg and rice, and it works as well for brunch as it does for dinner. My 5-year-old ate at least six of the pan-fried dumplings (no notes, would order again). On our most recent visit, we mistakenly did not order any noodles—every other table was enjoying various versions of dan dan, soups, and more. Get the boiled peanuts to snack on. Bonus: Before they give the kids lollipops along with the check, they ask beforehand if it is okay. (Yes, it is! So kind.)

Thing: Two not-that-mainstream movies I’ve recently enjoyed (both from Prime Video):

Molli & Max In the Future: This quite clever film simultaneously pokes fun at both rom-com and sci-fi movie tropes. It feels almost deliberately low budget in its special effects, as if that’s just another layer of parody. Zosia Mamet and Aristotle Athari play Molli and Max in an all-too-familiar will-they/won’t-they plot… except that the plot unfolds across many planets and dimensions. It’s brilliantly self-aware and will make you snortle.

Peak Season: This is another will-they/won’t-they plot, this time with a woman who visits Jackson Hole with her overworked tech-bro fiancée, so she starts spending time with a local wilderness guide instead. Sparks fly and… yeah. While the chemistry definitely could have been developed even more, this is a worthy watch to at least contemplate the path not taken, and what would happen if you did. Also, the setting is really beautiful.

See you soon,
-c

As Mario would say, here we go!

Cheese: “We have to buy this, mom,” said my 5-year-old as soon as he sampled Prairie Breeze Cheddar at the impressive cheese/wine/sandwich/liquor store France 44 in Minneapolis. It didn’t take much convincing—Prairie Breeze is one of the carameliest cheddars I’ve ever had. Milton Creamery, the Iowa makers behind the cheese, is proud of the “prevailing sweet and nutty profile.” This is not a melting cheddar; this is a cheddar that deserves to shine on its own. It tastes way more nuanced than its mere nine months of aging would suggest.

Book:  The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier is a great I-don’t-want-to-think-about-present-day novel to escape into. It’s a love story that spans six centuries, but the vast majority of it takes place way before 2024. And, unless you spend a lot of your time thinking about Murano glass dynasties, it probably doesn’t have much to do with your day-to-day either. It’s good writing, good storytelling, and enough how-will-it-end to keep the pages turning. It’s historical fiction in fine form. If you, like me, read The Girl With the Pearl Earring by the same author a million years ago and remember nothing else except you really liked it, then pick this one up.

Long Island Compromise, Taffy Broddesner-Akner’s second novel, had me in its grip. I felt invested in the outcomes of her unlikeable, spoiled characters (yes, reminiscent of her first book, Fleischman Is In Trouble… but I found this one more compelling) even if I couldn’t truly “root” for them. Her spot-on descriptions of Long Island (“There was no life there. There were only children and middle-aged people, all on a steady treadmill of routine and anxiety about routine, routine and anxiety about routine.”), and of the not-real-but-real characters who were traumatized by their father’s kidnapping yet never really realized the effects, made for a clever and original story line. The comparisons to Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections? Legit.

Restaurant: We had a lot of good food in Minneapolis two weeks ago (Owamni’s duck and beans for silver medal!) but by far my favorite meal was from Kramarczuk’s, the Eastern European deli of my dreams. The cafeteria-style restaurant served some of the best pierogies I’ve ever had, with beautifully crispy outsides and soft insides. And *gasp* I even liked the sauerkraut and mushroom flavors more than the classic potato and cheese. The mushroom soup was super mushroomy and the stuffed cabbage was actually well-seasoned (I feel like often it tastes like… nothing?). I desperately wish this existed closer to home.

Thing (okay technically these are also books but… for kids!): My 5-year-old son (the cheddar cheesehead mentioned above) has been a fan of the very charming and punny Narwhal & Jelly graphic novel series (there are nine so far) for about a year. After he read each one approximately one million times, we moved on to author Ben Clanton’s newer and even punnier series about mutant potatoes (there are two so far), Tater Tales. Strong recommend to both! And, at Wild Rumpus in Minneapolis, an excellent children’s bookstore, I bought Ploof, also by Clanton and aimed at even younger kids. Both my 2-year-old and 5-year-old have fallen in love with Ploof, a sweet anthropomorphic cloud that needs a bit of help to get through his day. I never thought I’d have such a soft spot for a cloud.

See you soon.

-c

Cheese: I had a pleasant re-visit with Cypress Grove’s Purple Haze, a goat cheese with fennel pollen and lavender I frequently devoured in my 20s as I was “getting into cheese.” The flavors sound off putting—I will never actively seek food with lavender—but this is a near-perfect flavored cheese. It’s not floral (a good thing) but instead, surprisingly savory and tangy. It needs nothing but good crackers. This also makes a nice “gift cheese” if you need to bring a small host or thank-you gift. It’s special enough that people probably don’t already have it in their fridge, but it’s not so extravagant that it feels like too much when you want to give a small gesture of thanks.

Book(s):  If you want to get the wind knocked out of you while reading, try Here After by Amy Lin. It’s a memoir about a young widow, written in short chapters and spare prose. Lin celebrates love and family while writing about grief with incredible rawness and frankness. The vignettes she shares about her life with her late husband Kurtis are beautiful yet never sugarcoated—this is not a story about a blissful marriage but rather a realistic one that’s full of beauty and flaws, quiet moments and banality. It’s excellent. You must have tissues next to you. You will be ugly crying.

In Same As It Ever Was, Claire Lombardo is a master at describing the ambivalence and all-consuming love of motherhood. Even though Julia, the narrator and main character, felt less developed than all the secondary characters, I would absolutely recommend this 500-page novel. Lombardo is great with dialogue, and at describing all the bumps of a marriage over decades, from young couple to near-60s. She’s also created a real gem of a character with Helen Russo, an older woman who Julia befriends and then things get… very complicated. If you haven’t read Lombardo’s first book, The Most Fun We Ever Had, do that as well. She’s so good at writing about semi-dysfunctional families.

Restaurant: We spent last week in Vermont, which involved taking the Amtrak to New Haven first… which meant a call-from-the-train order to Sally’s Apizza, and then eating pizza on our laps/car seats as we drove north for potentially my best car meal ever. While I’m far from a New Haven pizza expert, I am def Team Sally’s over Team Pepe’s. It’s a great tomato sauce with a crackly thin crust that nears the borderline of too charred. Also, it’s welcomingly salty. Despite my tomato sauce endorsement, my two favorite pies are actually both white ones: the potato and rosemary special (when do I not love a thinly sliced oven potato?), and the fresh tomato white pie with basil (sort of like deconstructed tomato sauce?). While I suppose some people delight in waiting in the neverending lines (at 2pm on a Thursday there were at least 20 people queued up), we felt quite happy-smug to eat on paper plates while driving on the highway.

Thing: In the past two years, I have been hyper aware of my body getting older and slightly lumpier (and my shoe size is larger now? This feels needlessly cruel). I will never be a runner, but I do need to do something semi-regularly, and have found the workouts from the Juice & Toya YouTube channel to have actually stuck for the past several months. I deliberately haven’t delved deep into the lives of this fitness influencer couple as I don’t actually want to have a parasocial relationship with them… but I do like their workout videos! They are fast paced, easy to modify based on ability, and I’ve discovered that I (almost) like to lift (light) weights. Am I swole? No. Am I using the word “swole” correctly? Unclear. But, it’s a small something.

Speak soon.

-c

Cheese: California’s Cowgirl Creamery is known for its decadent triple cream cheeses, many of which are available nationwide. While the creamy-dreamy Mt. Tam and the funky-fresh Red Hawk are available in lots of stores, I’ve also been seeing Devil’s Gulch pop up more. It’s a bloomy rind sprinkled with dried red peppers, begging to be placed on a cheese plate at a “heavy apps” shindig. It’s colorful, and “ready to party” (yes, that’s the exact marketing copy) with a heat level that’s present but not particularly spicy. Serve it with some honey (hot or not) and watch it disappear.

Book:  I re-read Jhumpa Lahiri’s short story collection Interpreter of Maladies and found that it’s barely aged since it was first published in 1999; the stories still feel relevant and almost timeless. I keep thinking about two of the stories: “Mrs. Sen,” about an elderly woman from Calcutta who looks after a young child, and “When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine,” about a Pakistani man who is lonely for his family back home, and frequently visits with an American-Indian family in Boston. Both stories are about loneliness, and how you define “home” when it’s not where you grew up. If this book is also gathering dust on your bookshelf, brush it off and re-visit it. Or, read it for the first time! This was way before Lahiri started mastering and writing in Italian!

Restaurant: There’s something special about Bar Del Monte. It’s one of roughly a zillion Italian restaurants in DC, but it feels humble, modest, and neighborhood-y in a way that is challenging to find here. This all makes sense: It’s helmed by Oliver Pastan, the son of 2Amys owner Peter Pastan… aka the OG DC Italian neighborhood restaurant. The pizzas are good, but just as I feel about 2Amys, it’s really all about the specials. On a recent visit, that meant excellent sheep’s milk ricotta wrapped in a grilled fig leaf, and perfectly poached asparagus that I have tried to re-create in my home kitchen and cannot. The arrosticini—grilled lamb skewers—are intensely meaty yet not at all heavy. Order them. And, the “hazelnut gelato with a smidge of chocolate sorbet,” (that’s how it is written on the menu) is a lovely meal-ender. I’d be happy with a very aggressive smidge next time.

Thing: This caramelized onion jam is great for all its expected uses (cheese and crackers, picnicking), but it’s received “staple status” in our house because of its unexpected uses. I found it to be a leftover hero for when I need something a bit saucy and savory, like zhuzhing up salmon or enlivening pasta with vegetables. It’s oniony yet mellow—there’s no bite here, just cooked-to-silky-smooth onions balanced out with cane sugar and distilled vinegar. A small spoonful does wonders for any dish when it needs a savory kick, but not in the hot sauce direction.

Stay cool this weekend.

-c

Cheese: Humboldt Fog, while nothing compares 2 U (sung in a Sinead O’Connor voice), I’ve recently found two local-ish cheeses that are pretty close cousins. [For those not familiar, Humboldt Fog is an OG soft-ripened artisanal goat cheese from Cypress Grove in California, now quite widely available. It’s famous for its ribbon of vegetable ash down the center, as well as the gooey creamline beneath the edible rind. It’s a classic.]

Witchgrass from Valley Milkhouse is serious about its creamline; this thing will turn into a delightful puddle if left out at room temp. Witchgrass is for the person who doesn’t love the tangy flavor of goat cheese (this is a cow’s cheese), but still likes the gooeyness and wants something a little different than brie. Find it throughout the East Coast.

Napoleon’s Peak is Shepherd’s Whey Creamery’s (Martinsburg, WV) signature cheese—for good reason. It’s similar to Valencay, both in its trapezoidal-prism shape and goat-y taste with a gooey paste. If you’re a DC local, seek them out at the Dupont Circle farmers’ market or find the cheese around the DMV.  

Book: City Limits by Megan Kimble is a trove of fascinating reporting about Texas traffic, displacement, and the case for highway removal. As someone who knows nothing about urban planning, I learned a tremendous amount. The data point that really stuck out to me: it has been widely disproven that widening highways does not actually ease congestion… it just welcomes more cars on the road. Kimble is great at sorting through tons of public policy paperwork and sitting through countless local political meetings to make a compelling story.

Honorable mention: Bite by Bite by Aimee Nezhukumatathil features short chapters of earnest and lovely vignettes about food, family, and friends. While this is a book of prose, it’s easy to see that Nezhukumatathil is a poet by training—her words flow in a very calming manner. I recommend reading a few essays at a time before going to sleep. It’s meditative and relaxing. This is a book for lovers of flash and creative non-fiction, and the simple yet extremely detailed illustrations by Fumi Nakamura really bring the book to life. Oh, and if you haven’t read World of Wonders, Nezhukumatathil’s earlier book in a similar vein (but about animals instead of food), that’s also a treat.

Restaurant: I wish that Hill East Burger was not on the other side of town from me, because they serve my ideal smashburger—definitely the best I’ve had in DC. The thin patty is perfectly salted, with a beautiful crispy edge. Hill East nails the ideal smashburger texture better than most. Dare I call the burger… lacy? It comes with griddled onions (non-negotiable), American cheese, and pickles (also non-negotiable even though I’m generally “meh” on pickles… but they really do add a needed crunch and acidity). Also, Hill East serves sidewinder fries, the underdog of french fry shapes. It’s the type of neighborhood local spot that feels increasingly rare to find: casual, simple but quality menu, good drinks, the end.

Thing: While I’ve been happy to sit on the sidelines during various water bottle crazes (okay, I did have a Nalgene whenever those were big a million years ago), I do have to shout-out my 24 oz. Owala FreeSip for being an ideal desk bottle. Because yes, you can choose from a range of colorways (see above for mine), but what I really love is the spout… something I have never thought about until I started drinking from this bottle. It gets you the perfect-sized gulp of water with each sip—enough to feel satisfied, not too much that you’ve spilled water all over your shirt. Simple daily pleasures, right?

See you soon.

-c