I bullied Blair into going live.

What are Angelenos actually looking for when they dine out? My friend Emily Wilson has a great survey running over at The Angel for the next week diving into that question.

Emily and I discussed LA’s quiet 2024 for restaurants back in November. The LA dining scene has only gotten more confounding to me since then, so I wanted to have her on to chat about what’s actually happening, ambition and creativity in restaurants, good food vs. good vibes, TikTok food influencers and what comes next.

Thanks to Gabrielle Scelzo for this fun chat about my new NYC dining institutions list. We got into what should have made the cut, Penny vs. Claud and why you should avoid Greenpoint at all costs. Check it out and go subscribe to her wonderful newsletter Perfect City.

I started working at Cool World because of Amanda Perdomo’s desserts. On the hunt for a line cook job, I swung by this new (horribly named) spot in Greenpoint late on a Friday for fries and dessert. The fries were perfectly seasoned and the Floating Island — with peaches, torched meringue and tarragon — knocked me out. Something special was happening here.

Over the next year, I learned a ton from Amanda, who has worked at Wildair, Del Posto, Roman’s, Kellogg’s and is now relaunching JR & Son. She showed me pure technique. But more than anything she demonstrated how a kitchen should operate. We chatted about that, her stellar vegan jello, her year as a savory cook and the best dessert program in New York City.

carla lalli music is one of my favorite people in food. A couple weeks ago, we chatted about this piece she wrote, diving into the financial, emotional, and creative costs of trying to make it as a food creator on YouTube.

We had this conversation on Substack Live. When I’m not writing this blog, I spend a lot of time talking with creators on and off the platform about why they should use the Substack App to publish video. It’s a thing we’re actively attempting to crack, but also a thing that’s legitimately starting to work. I’m really excited about it.