Hello Friday, After a few weeks of travel messing with send times, we are now back to our regularly scheduled program. (Shout out to everyone who hears John Leguizamo any time they read “regularly scheduled program”.) Let’s get to it… The Final Word – Eater’s Ryan Sutton adds another beauty to the cannon of World’s 50 Best criticism, with point after … Continue reading The Family Meal – Friday, June 22nd, 2018

Hello Wednesday, Blue sky in Beijing this morning, and a bright waxing crescent over the Susu courtyard last night. As far as this weekend tourist who didn’t look below the surface at all can tell, it’s a lovely little city when it wants to be. Mr. Xi, if you’re reading this, I humbly ask that you please … Continue reading The Family Meal – Wednesday, June 20th, 2018

Hello Saturday, Greetings from just outside Beijing, where I am unimpressed with the traffic, and my VPN is unimpressed with the hotel WiFi. Excuses, excuses, Family Meal is a day late. Forgive me. Let’s get to it… To Prune a Pig – There is no good way to announce you are partnering with a recently accused … Continue reading The Family Meal – Saturday, June 16th, 2018

Hello Tuesday, There are only two items in my twitter feed right now: the Singapore Summit and Anthony Bourdain. The menu for the former has been released. Meh. The tributes and obits for the latter keep rolling in, but if you deal with death like I do, you may want some comic relief before we get … Continue reading The Family Meal – Tuesday, June 12th, 2018

Hello Friday, Writing to you from Hanoi tonight, raising a very cheap beer to each and every one of you. And pouring one out. Sad news – “Anthony Bourdain, a gifted storyteller and writer who took CNN viewers around the world, has died. He was 61. CNN confirmed Bourdain's death on Friday and said the cause of death … Continue reading The Family Meal – Friday, June 8th, 2018

Hello Friday, Quick programming note before we get started: I’ll be on planes from Hong Kong to D.C. most of Monday, so there’s a good chance there will be no Family Meal this Tuesday. (Thanks so much to everyone who sent in tips on where I should spend my time in the District next week. … Continue reading The Family Meal – Friday, May 25th, 2018

Hello Tuesday, And happy birthday to Buddha (and my older sister)! Let’s get to it… The 60 Minute Treatment – Anderson Cooper sat down with some of the women who have accused Ken Friedman and Mario Batali of sexual assault and harassment. Most of the allegations will be familiar to anyone who read December’s Eater story on Batali and NYT report on Friedman, but hearing them from … Continue reading The Family Meal – Tuesday, May 22nd, 2018

Hello Friday, First: Ramadan Mubarak to some! And a reminder to the rest to be conscious of staff who may be observing. You might be surprised who gets inspired to fast any given year. Make sure everyone’s getting plenty of water on the line. This concludes our annual Ramadan staff health tip. Let’s get to … Continue reading The Family Meal – Friday, May 18th, 2018

Hello Tuesday, Lots to get to. Let’s get to it… All The Zeitgeist And Glamour – Joe Warwick and Andrea Petrini’s World Restaurant Awards have officially launched, “boasting an unrivalled judging panel of celebrated restaurant industry figures, including Yannick Alléno, Elena Arzak, Alex Atala, Massimo Bottura, David Chang, Dominique Crenn, Hélène Darroze, Daniel Humm, René Redzepi, Ana Roš and Clare Smyth, alongside an intercontinental selection of the world's most-travelled and best-informed members … Continue reading The Family Meal – Tuesday, May 15th, 2018

Hello Friday, First, a shout out to the owner of a major American restaurant group who read the news of Del Frisco’s buying Barteca for $325M last week, and accidentally replied here: “For sure- I read the one you sent over. I wouldn’t mind selling out one day for that amount :)”. FYI – Dine Brands (Applebee’s and IHOP) … Continue reading The Family Meal – Friday, May 11th, 2018