Fine dining

Tuesday

Orson Fry

Wine and good times flow at Spectator party

New York At one point the Promised Land was Texas. That was the gist of the conversation I had with Rachel Cockerell at The Spectator’s first live event in NYC, at NoHo’s Palo Gallery. I interviewed Rachel about her book Melting Point, which explores the Galveston Plan, when 10,000 beleaguered Russian Jews set sail for Galveston, Texas. After the talk, wine flowed as friends mingled with Speccie subscribers and spilled out into a balmy summer’s eve on Bond Street. Everyone seemed to enjoy the party except for those who weren’t there. I read the online comments the next morning: “Thanks for the compilation of pictures of the people I’d most want to avoid,” wrote one keyboard warrior. “Just rooms full of snobby people believing it's chic to dress homeless!

Author Rachel Cockerell and The Spectator’s Orson Fry (Lily Burgess/The Spectator) new york

Tuesday

Cockburn

Where Trump’s Washington will actually be hanging out

Where will conservatives and Donald Trump's disciples spend their non-working hours in DC for the president-elect’s term? The Washingtonian provided a list by Jessica Sidman last week, but by Cockburn’s estimation, it’s not totally over the target. Contenders on Sidman’s list include the Big Board, Cafe Milano, Capital Grille, Dirty Water, RPM Italian, Royal Sands Social Club, Shelly’s Back Room and the Waldorf Astoria — which used to be the Trump Hotel DC but was sold back in 2021. Shelly’s is Cockburn-approved, especially for the cigar smokers. Rudy Giuliani has been spotted in there before. But Cafe Milano, Capital Grille and Dirty Water are not necessarily “hangouts” for conservatives or the MAGA crowd in particular.

washington trump

Monday

Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Dining with the Chinese food pioneers of New York

For first-time restaurateur Bolun Yao, New York is a city to experiment in: “I feel like New York is the city that is always exploring new things. If you have a new idea, you put it here.” The Chinese-born entrepreneur — who has also spent significant time in New Zealand — came to NYU to complete a master’s degree in food studies. He quickly fell in love with the fine-dining Korean scene, including the two-Michelin-starred Atomix and COTE, America’s only Michelin-starred Korean steakhouse. Both merge contemporary and traditional techniques and ingredients. “Wow, that’s really, really smart and really creative,” the twenty-eight-year-old recalls thinking. “Why is there not a Chinese restaurant that does the same thing?

Chinese

Tuesday

Amy Rose Everett

Great Colorado restaurants, now with Michelin nods 

I’ll fight you to the death on this one: Colorado’s dining scene is hotter than a habanero.  A land-locked state within spitting distance of the culinary vacuum that is the Midwest (sorry, Chicago) might not spring to mind for its food scene. But nods from the Michelin guide prove the Mile High City and wider Colorado have a story to tell, minted in September 2023. I hopped in the Subaru and sampled a smattering of them, from Denver’s farm-to-table outposts, to whimsical epicurean adventures in Aspen, via stylish Italian brunches in Boulder. Denver Glo Noodle House 4450 W 38th Ave, Denver, CO 80212 As a tourist, you’ve got to hit Denver Biscuit Company for brunch, once.

colorado food

Friday

Amy Rose Everett

Opening all the bottles at Berlin’s Nobelhart & Schmutzig

Quizzed on how best to assimilate a new culture, travel writer and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain once uttered the famous line: “Drink heavily with locals whenever possible.” I never met the man, but still I miss him and his deft writing. The Opening a Bottle series is about getting pickled with people far cooler than I am, in whatever city I’ve washed up in. Lisbon to Berlin, December 2022. I was amazed to fly away unscathed as Storm Efraín reared its ugly head, with more than three inches of rain falling in twenty-four hours. Germany’s capital welcomed me with a cool 32 degrees Fahrenheit, dropping to a bone crunching thirteen degrees by the end of my stint. I kept my puffer coat on in techno clubs and danced in front of lit fireplaces.

(Nobelhart & Schmutzig) berlin