"I need answers."

J. Lee responds to The Times 100 Best Restaurants in New York City.

Good afternoon, everyone.

It’s a beautiful, sunny day in New York City and the first two episodes of Kareem Rahma’s Keep The Meter Running drop tomorrow on YouTube. On top of that, Elbow Bread is serving thick slices of carrot cake this week.

Today’s newsletter includes: Several newsletters have decided to increase their publishing cadence, J Lee reviews The New York Times Best Restaurants in New York City list, and members’ club troubles in New York City.

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I need answers. By J Lee.

Expense Account is a series on Feed Me by semi-anonymous restaurant critic J Lee. He hosts a podcast with the same name. Today, he wrote about his reaction to The New York Times 100 Best Restaurants in New York City list.

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It’s that time of year again! The Times 100 Best Restaurants in New York City list has been released just in time for my birthday! I can’t believe it’s been an entire year since I was here complaining about the 2025 list. The 2026 edition was compiled entirely by Ligaya Mishan. So glad that this time around there’s one voice, one point of view. A list made by a committee pretends to be fact, and never is. A list made by one person is a clear opinion, one you don’t have to agree with, and that’s ok. Hat’s off to Ligaya. It’s a Herculean feat, a Sisyphean task, and it’s hard to not get a little Icarian with it, that’s half the fun. This year’s list brings back rankings, I love it. This is my Sports. Lists are made to be utilized, but they’re also made to be criticized and debated. Ligaya herself writes, “Of course, a list is never just a list. It is an argument: This is what is good, what matters. Cue the debate.” She gets it. I’ve got a few thoughts. Of course it’s all in good fun! XO

I called that Kabawa would get the top spot! Unfortunately, no prediction markets were taking bets on the Times 100 Best Restaurants in New York list. I checked. A great choice. It’s a restaurant that feels fresh, it feels like New York, and when you taste the food it’s simply undeniable. Congrats to Paul Carmichael, friend of Expense Account, and chef of what is now the Best Restaurant in New York City. As of last night, you could get a post 9 p.m. reservation at Kabawa pretty much any night of the week. Time to snatch those up!

“Let’s discuss the elephant in the room. Jean-Georges at Number 5! Literally….. WHAT! Did I miss something?”

I’ve been to 56 of the restaurants. Honestly, I’m a bit ashamed. This list inspired me to step up my outer borough game. Maybe I need a car? (I keep saying this.) I really want to know what restaurant Ligaya went to where she rode the train till the end of the line, and then walked 40 blocks in high heels. The Times wouldn’t let her expense an Uber? Her longest commute was 1 hour and 48 minutes. That’s almost the exact amount of time it takes to drive from my house to Philly.