At Eater, our jobs leave us with some leftovers, both literal and figurative. Here's a mix of recent dining observations, recommendations, and other fixations from across the Eater crew. First, let me tell you about a restaurant collab that introduced me to a cuisine I'd never had before. |
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I reconsidered the restaurant collab: In 2023, we claimed that we'd hit peak restaurant collab. This was premature of us, I now realize, since the trend has only ramped up since. Often, I skip these events, assuming that everyone's better in their home kitchen, but sometimes, they present the only reasonable opportunity for me to try a faraway restaurant — hence a dinner I attended last week featuring the Manila restaurant Hapag, hosted (on February 2 and 3 only) by the New York City restaurant Naks. Unlike the Filipino food that you'll generally see on most menus in the United States, which is often from the regions of Luzon and Visayas and influenced by the Chinese and Spanish, this meal drew on the Philippine region of Mindanao for inspiration. That cuisine leans Malay, with more coconut and spices like turmeric; notably, pork isn't a major feature either since Mindanao is predominantly Muslim. I loved this crash course into different flavors from a country whose food I otherwise know quite well. Tiyula itum, a meat soup blackened with burnt coconut, was presented as a cup of aromatic, rich, and savory broth to start the meal. The beef riyandang was tender, with the deep flavor of long-cooked coconut milk. My favorite, though, was the kinilaw, fish cured in acid as with ceviche. This version featured thick slices of chutoro and shreds of seaweed in a dressing made with coconut vinegar. The whole thing was topped with dollops of uni and a confetti of toasted coconut bits known as bubuk. It was so fresh and transportive I almost forgot it was deep winter in NYC. |
Photo credit: Bettina Makalintal |
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Mary Anne Porto wants to dive deeper into shochu this year: "I've found that Shochu Sundays at NYC's Bar Goto are an excellent way to try different bottles in different applications, like oyuwari, with hot water, to stave off the recent freezing weather. I really appreciate how accessible the menu is for this weekly series, with definitions, a map, and a flavor matrix."
Matthew Kang has a gripe about the focaccia sandwich trend: "At new Japanese bakery/cafe Boul'ange in Los Angeles, which is already super popular with laptop warrior types, the self-proclaimed 'huge' sandwiches use a massive 3-inch-thick slab of focaccia as the bread. There's a reason why places like All'Antico Vinaio use thinner schiacciatta: It's just easier to eat. I hope that more cafes consider the mechanics of eating their food instead of touting how generous the portions are (still, a bit surprising since Japanese portions are typically more modest than American ones). I did, however, like the nicely sized Greek salad."
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Photo credit: Lesley Suter |
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Lesley Suter spent her birthday weekend in Santa Fe: "While I will never skip a plate of Christmas enchiladas at the Shed, I was excited to check out some of the newer places catering to the city's recent influx of pandemic expats and younger tourists more interested in Meow Wolf than Georgia O'Keeffe. Zakary Pelaccio of Fatty Crab fame opened Leo's here back in August in the residential workshop of the restaurant's co-owner Leo CdeBaca. Explosive Thai dishes and tropical rum drinks are served at long communal tables that are packed nightly. It's unlike anything else in Santa Fe, a place where the (well-deserved) reverence for its iconic Southwestern cooking has also kept the food scene a little stagnant. I can't wait to see what's next." Hilary Pollack dined at Disneyland: "I had the good fortune of attending a sneak preview of Napa Rose, the revamped fine dining restaurant at Disneyland's Grand California hotel. My favorite parts of the experience were the 'mushroom cappuccino'; a wildly umami, foam-topped bisque; and the Huntington Debate, which was a matcha-mezcal drink with elements of a Last Word and a Hemingway daiquiri. I absolutely loved the little line-drawing illustrations on the California-themed cocktail menu — these are the kinds of special touches that you remember." |
These are the food businesses that Bad Bunny featured in his Super Bowl show |
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