Peak Maine, movie rankings and admirable restaurant maturity

A rare, free Bangers & Jams roundup

These monthly-ish Bangers & Jams roundups are usually reserved behind the paywall, but this one’s coming later than normal, so I’m opening it up to everyone. You can find a loose definition of the categories here. I also contributed a little trick-or-treat themed recommendation for my friends over at

Secret Ballot

. Check it out.

After a slow August, I’ve done a bunch of eating at exciting, confusing, and interesting restaurants across LA, New York, and Maine over the past month. The standouts make up most of the recs here, plus some movie and culture stuff. Let’s get into it.

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Bangers

• Stir Crazy, better than ever. I had kind of forgotten about this wine-bar-with-food since my last visit in July, where I had a decent enough meal on a quiet night. I went back on Thursday before the Kallmeyer &

  Run-A-Muck
  party, and the experience is as dialed and exciting as it’s ever been. The corn and ricotta gnudi, the leek toast, the passion fruit scallop crudo, the stuffed Anaheim pepper with fish mousseline — all bangers. Owner Mackenzie Hoffman can talk about wine better than almost anyone, and chef Caroline Leff is on a heater in the kitchen right now.

• The Grill, a worthwhile bi-annual occasion. Every touch is pristine, the dishes are done beautifully, the crowd is hot. You feel invincible when you’re in a booth here. It’s the opposite of the experience I had at Chateau Royale the night before. Both places are openly gouging you for money. At least The Grill earns it. I’m struck by Helen Rosner and Matthew Schneier’s mostly positive reviews of the upstairs Chateau Royale dining room. The food was all fine—a little heavy, rich, and over-seasoned, yet passable—but to do this kind of indulgent, expensive French thing well, the room has to hum. Instead, it just felt kind of embarrassing. The sweet staff carries a yearning vibe like a charming, attractive person has never been in before. It’s luxury-by-numbers devoid of personality.

• Wild Cherry, one of my favorite New York openings this year. The food is great. The perfectly simple alfredo, buttery frog legs, a Caesar in a big wooden bowl that you just use your hands to scoop the dressing out of. Restaurants should not be this good during opening week. It’s why operators Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson are to me the most impressive restauranteurs in the country. These guys make excellent, sceney, fun destinations for adults. Visit one of their openings early, and you’ll notice star staff from Frenchette or Le Veau d’Or circling the room, ensuring it feels like month 13 rather than month one.

• Peak Maine. I updated my Portland city guide last week for paid subscribers. It remains stunning that in a single day here you can accessibly hit: One of the 25 best restaurants in America (Eventide), the country’s greatest diner (Palace) and a top-10 bakery (Tandem) with pit stops at an impeccable oyster bar (The Shop from

  Island Creek
  ), wine store (Maine & Loire) and cocktail spot (Hunt & Alpine). That’s about as good as it gets.

• A dumb night with The Dare. At The Fonda on Friday night, a friend I was dancing with looked at me while Harrison Patrick Smith was ripping “All Night” and said, “Oh, you really like The Dare.” I guess I do. LA is always more my slow, quiet city compared to New York, but it’s good to get an excessively stupid night in once a month or so out here. Go catch this tour.

• Some movie recs. I’ve been on a delightful binge coming out of the New York Film Festival. There are still a few major contenders I need to see, including The Testament of Ann Lee tonight, It Was Just An Accident next week and Hamnet at some point (I guess). But here’s my top 10 rankings for the year so far. These are all worth going see in a theater:

1. Marty Supreme

2. One Battle After Another

3. Sentimental Value

4. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

5. The Secret Agent

6. No Other Choice

7. Pillion

8. Sinners

9. Is This Thing On?

10. Eddington

Jams

• Étra, Borgo and Torishin. Three restaurants settled into excellent states of maturity. Étra has these dragon tongue beans with lemon and guanciale right now that are so fucking good. Not enough people are ordering them. Borgo always nails the risotto and salads, especially this rave-worthy panzanella with sunchokes and Gran Mugello cheese.

  Biz Sherbert
  ,
  Teddy Kim
  and I followed up a Film at Lincoln Center screening by throwing back Torishin skewers for a couple hours. There are few better ways to spend a New York evening. I’m appreciating the quiet, simple, fad-ignoring confidence with which all three of these places are operating.

• Half of Café Tondo. Inside, it’s a lovely and fun transformation of the old Oriel space with a good vermouth spritz. But then there’s the outside. I don’t understand this thing where people are willingly sitting on stools in a parking lot in Chinatown rocking Dodgers gear listening to a radio broadcast of the World Series. Do we need the Time Again cosplay?

• Among Friends by Hal Ebbott. I’m finally back in a reading groove thanks to this new novel, the perfect thing to break you out of a funk. The inner monologues of fleeting, sympathetic disdain for your closest friends are executed quite well.

• Erin and

  Brooks Reitz
  ’ truly gorgeous shirts at E.M. Reitz. I grabbed this chambray button down from their recent menswear launch during their pop up at
  Laurel Pantin
  ’s new store in Beverley Hills. The kind of thing I want to wear every day.