protein complex 🫘

are you gonna eat that?

A chicken caesar salad wrap from any New York deli, but specifically the one from Sunset Diner. The one that comes with a side of waffle fries with honey mustard, the one shared with Brian on Saturday mornings.

Pesto pasta, tuna avocado rolls, strawberry shortcake. Granny smith apples with peanut butter. Red wine. Anything with salmon. Greek salad with only that one big square of feta. Eggplant parm when the cheese gets crispy on top. That Falafel from that-one-place-in-Paris I’m still thinking about all these years later.

Steak frites, extra black peppercorn sauce. A black and white milkshake, extra thick, sipped with a red straw out of one of those tall sundae glasses. Sicilian pizza from Sal’s, room temperature so it settles. The lentil soup my mom brought and heated up for me in my Brooklyn apartment when she picked me up from Newark airport. Freezing cold mules with spicy-spicy ginger beer. A chicken cutlet, taken straight from its paper towel resting place. Cheez-its.

Cava bowls. Chicken salad on sourdough toast. Jersey tomatoes and peaches in the summer. Sour cream and onion lays. Turkey burgers with sautéed onions on English muffins. Chicken satay, green curry and Pad Thai on takeout nights. My Mema’s blueberry cobbler and angel food cake. My Nanny’s ravioli on Thanksgiving. Caffè Panna, even if it’s freezing. Crispy chickpeas, white beans simmered with olive oil, eaten with a spoon. An extra large popcorn. Chocolate mousse.

My dad’s fritatta, but especially on Christmas morning. Kale salads with avocado. Chocolate covered almonds. Smashburgers at 3 a.m. after a couple drinks. Green smoothies, specifically the left-over extra blue-green smoothie with Spirulina my sister saves for me when we’re in the same place. Shrimp scampi. Mango, pineapple, watermelon and cucumber sprinkled with lime and tajín. Pastina in brodo. Anything lemon flavored. Torched and pressed rolls on Monday nights when they’re half-off. Key lime pie.

“Holy-shit-that-looks-so-good-we-should-get-it.” “Two of those, please.” “Would you want to get a treat?” “I brought snacks.” “Can we order food?”

Sunshine Coffee Roasters. Anything from Dudley’s, the first restaurant in New York I felt like I could call myself a “regular” at. Left Bank would follow shortly after. Laser Wolf, but the first one in Philly. Trips to the Arthur Avenue retail market that are going to take “five minutes” that turn into a trip to the bakery and the cheese guy and the fish market. Contento in Harlem, the place we got to eat out for the first time with my brother. Ciao Toto in Sant’agnello. Brooklyn Standard, the best deli in Brooklyn. The Larchmont Tavern with anyone, but especially with my oldest and closest friends. Scenic Root in Manlius, the best college job you could have. Roberto’s, the place Brian met my parents for the first time.

Share a meal with someone you love if you can.

Things I’ve eaten recently that I’ve loved:

• This Brussels Sprouts and Kale Salad

• Olipop Ginger Ale

• The burger at The Red Hook Tavern

• This squid ink fried rice from Crudo e Nudo with Bri

• Normally I order 2.5 lbs of coffee, ground for French Press / Cold Brew from La Colombe, but they sent it ground for espresso by mistake. So I’ve been making a ton of lattes with it and I have to say - pretty gas.

great natural wine, italian flag pasta made by my sister, my dad's famous frittata, sunshine beans in the roaster, crispy veggies at Pittsburgh Thanksgiving, chez ma tante pancakes, cacio e pepe, bernie's mozz sticks, caffè panna with Brian.