Dining room inspo
A food-fueled swing through New York, DC and SF
Hello from 35,000 feet in the air. I left New York this morning after being on the road for two weeks, working and eating out and not sleeping nearly enough. It’s consistently felt disorienting — starting 2025 with this tour of comforting, inspiring and just flat out fun meals while the food industry back home in LA remains in such disarray.
This piece from
injected some much-needed hope in a sea of horror stories. I’m ready to be back in the car, driving up Sunset and across the 10 and through SGV, returning to my favorite spots in the best food city in America. For months, the appeal of cooking at home has overwhelmed the pull of dining rooms. This trip shook me out of that a bit. Here are a bunch of favorites.(Also, if you wanna know what Oscar snubs I’m most mad about, I got pre-upset here).
Bangers
The Four Horsemen: I dipped a little early on a party the other night to catch a 9pm res here. When I told people where I was going, I got a lot of, “Oh, yeah, we still haven’t been,” or, “Wow, it’s been forever since we tried it.” For such a beautiful restaurant that’s always booked, this place still feels under-appreciated. Nick Curtola makes smart food that doesn’t ask you to stop and find it anything other than delicious. Razor clams with fish sauce and peppers, ricotta and leek toast, beans and brodo, grilled sweetbread skewers — all bangers. A lot of people try to do this kind of thing and few reach these heights. Their new Italian spot down the block is gonna be bonkers.