Restaurant trends on the verge of lame
The Infatuation CEO lets it rip on Line Dudes, NYC classics and Oscars nonsense
This week, I’m 90% offline because I’m on my honeymoon. Instead of going dark, I handed the keys to Feed Me over to a few friends, kind of like when Johnny Carson would let Bob Hope fill in for him. The newsletters and comments will be available to all readers this week.
Welcome to day three of “Feed Me: Honeymoon Edition.” I’m
, CEO of The Infatuation, although close readers of this newsletter know me as the guy who identified the restaurant in the last slide of Jack Harlow’s Instagram post on February 2nd. You’re welcome.Today’s letter includes:
How to order if you, like Darren Rovell, pay $97 for a Line Dude to get you I’m Donut?
Oscars voters are now being required to — wait for it — watch all the nominated films.
What new-to-Substack Nell Diamond is wearing to Friday’s Save Venice gala.
But first, I sat down yesterday with Arden Shore, Infatuation’s editor in chief, who now lives in Brooklyn but is equally at home in a Los Angeles strip mall. She and her team dine out as much as anyone in the world — sign up for our newsletters to get their recommendations without my commentary.
PAUL: You were last in Feed Me in November when you came out with your 2025 restaurant predictions…how are they holding up?
ARDEN: They’re going strong. Almost too strong. Here’s a status update on a few trends on the verge of lame:
Wine bars are the places to be. (Unless you count SVB, Maxime’s, or Feed Me’s comments section.) Typically, these are spots where you can’t really tell if you’re at a bar or a restaurant. The windows are steamy. You’re going to eat some leeks. Someone will try to sell you on a glass of something Slovenian. French gardening clogs are being worn. Think spots like Sunn’s, Entre Nous, Rodeo, and Liar Liar.
Mini martinis have become so ubiquitous that our team keeps a running list of where to find them: Bar Snack, Little Fino, Tusk Bar, Whoopsie Daisy, Bonnie’s, Bar Valentina, Dante. Smith & Mills in Tribeca even does a $27 mini martini trio. I could go on. Say what you will about these being “adorable” and Gen Z “drinking less.” If I want a martini, I want a whole martini. Russian Vodka Room forever.
These days, a disco ball in a restaurant bathroom is as standard as the plumbing. Unoriginal. Unsexy. Utilitarian. (Looking at you, Nowon, Oxomoco, and many, many others.) Lots of bathrooms are trying really hard, though I recently found myself totally charmed at the totally untrendy Churchill Tavern in Nomad where Winston Churchill speeches play on loop in the WC.
PAUL: Ok but what’s new — what are you excited about right now?
ARDEN: My take du jour is that lots of “great” restaurants would be nothing without their burger. Our very own Bryan Kim covered this yesterday. The original working title was “Is That Restaurant Good, Or Does It Just Serve A Burger?” but the Times sort of beat us to the punch. The biggest culprit to me right now is The Snail in Greenpoint, where I recently waited two-and-a-half hours for I don’t even know what.
I’m always missing LA’s Koreatown, and so it’s nice to see that Korean food is suddenly all the rage in NYC, even if it’s fusion-y and sceney. I already mentioned the wine bar Sunn’s, where I somehow felt chic eating chicken soup, but there’s also Golden HOF and NY Kimchi (both from the Golden Diner people). And while caviar on chicken nuggets is something we should all move past, you should know that Coqodaq has expanded to include a karaoke bar called Go Go Sing, where the nuggets are readily available.
And now, a grab bag of new spots that moved me: Hungry Thirsty, Maxi’s Noodle (of which I know Feed Me’s food critic, J. Lee, is a big fan), F&F Restaurant, and to no one’s surprise, Ha’s.
New spots I want to try: Bar Kabawa, the new Fedora, Mitsuru, Joomak (another hot Korean place), Banh Anh Ehm, Bar Oliver
PAUL: I know we’re both excited about Keith McNally’s memoir, and I saw we just gave a great review to Minetta Tavern. Talk to me about New York classics.
ARDEN: Yeah, hot-new-restaurant-fatigue is a real thing. On any given Thursday, all any New Yorker wants is to sit in a booth at an old faithful, which oftentimes means a Keith McNally restaurant.
Sonal Shah sums it up in our Minetta re-review: “It’s a perfect place to reset your relationship with the city, with a drink or two more than you intended, and fries that are always excellent but often go cold because the conversation — at your table or the one next to you — is even better.“
Our team is relentless about checking in on the places that have seen some things. Other heavyhitting classics we recently re-reviewed include Indochine, Grand Central Oyster Bar, and Dante. All worth your while. Keep your eye out for refreshes to both Rao’s — we just kept showing up until they offered us dinner — and Lilia in the coming weeks.
Earlier in the day, our team was on the scene at the new I’m Donut? in Times Square. We were 13th in line and I recommend you go on the journey of this Instagram carousel.
The location, on an egregiously unpleasant block, is the chain’s first location outside Japan. One of the professional Line Dudes ahead of us was sitting on a portable chair in a portable tent (you must read this New Yorker coverage of their industry, including the correction at the end).
I cannot imagine paying $97 for someone to wait for these donuts, or waiting for them myself. But the donuts do look good, especially the non-gimmicky ones. Go for the original and the cream-filled matcha and buy enough to hand some out to tourists as you leave.
And in case you'd like to do something this spring that doesn't involve Times Square or restaurants, here are a few ideas.
This weekend, check out the free public sale days at Housing Works’ annual Design on a Dime benefit — one of the best interiors events of the year.
If you haven’t seen the de Kooning show at Gagosian’s 24th Street location, get there now.
You should be ordering tickets to see Dudamel at Lincoln Center.
Day trips for your consideration: Sonia Gomes at Storm King (from May 7th); Yale Center for British Art (the restoration is excellent).
And the heavy hitters:
Bill Owens’ memo announcing his departure from 60 Minutes is worth reading in full. Thank you Grynbaum for posting.
Paging Cosmo Kramer: NYMag tries to answer the question we’ve all been wondering: Who Is Behind the ‘New’ Absolute Bagels?
Axios Atlanta tells the world about the “Fine Water Summit, a globe-trotting annual gathering of water sommeliers who live, breathe and sip the most luxurious of las aguas.” I plan to attend next year.
Happy belated Derek Blasberg, who flew west yesterday so he could celebrate his birthday for an extra three hours.
Thank you Caffè Panna for making the trip to LA with us for EEEEEATSCON at the end of June. Tickets are on sale now, please and thank you.
I had no idea that people pay $460 for a bottle of “grassy floral fragrance” but wish everyone well.
Variety explains what is going on with Oscars voting; I cannot believe that this is a problem the Academy faces? Why vote for the Oscars if you don’t want to see the films? It does seem that voters will still be able to get around this on the digital platform if they really want to, and it will be a pain to keep track of who has attended which IRL screenings. I checked in with culture writer Esther Zuckerman to get her take: Ideally, this should give more films a fighting chance, but I'm not sure how you're going to make a grumbly voter who doesn't want to sit through The Brutalist sit through The Brutalist. (I saw it three times.)
Feed Me can exclusively report that Nell Diamond will be wearing a gown from Hill House Home’s upcoming event capsule to Friday’s Save Venice gala. We look forward to following along on Instagram.
And last, does anyone think that the Bezos wedding will not be in Vogue?
Thanks to Emily for having me do this and please leave a comment if you would like to know where to find Harry's Berries in New York. Enjoy your 10/10 day if you're in town.
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The lamest trend in casual dining right now is being too into getting "the best" of something. I was visiting a friend in Red Hook and wanted to grab a sandwich from the place I like on the way home. Line down the block, but whatever I got on and waited a while. The people in front of me traveled from the UES for a sandwich. Now this place makes good sandwiches, but nowhere in NYC is "take the train over an hour" good. I truly cannot fathom going so far and waiting in a huge line solely to get a sandwich/croissant/cardamon bun/etc. What happened to finding a good spot in your neighborhood and telling your friends "I gotta guy who makes a great XYZ"
High quality restaurant banter — I’d read a monthly roundup in this format. Besides Snail, which nyc restaurants do you feel are propped up by their burger the most? Red Hook Tavern comes to mind for me. Swoony’s too.