Weekend links.

I finished!  Yesterday I turned in a new draft of a 70K manuscript. This comes after writing another 70K, editing an additional 80K book, and publishing a novella.  My life has pretty much been non-stop writing since March.  Guess what?  I’m going to take a few days off!

We went to Radisson RED with Poppy last night and were generally disappointed (not in our dog, of course, she was amazing).  The hotel seems to suffer from not really knowing who it wants to cater to, the food was nearly inedible, and the property needs to do more with helping those who have pets. I’m not in a hurry to return, and it’s 2020, can Dubai be done with ‘those seats are reserved/we’re fully booked’ with zero tables occupied approach?

Links, please?

• Always sign me up for more food shows.  (Eater)
• Do you use Instagram as a place for information? A similar read here, in case you want further details (or enjoy infographics). As much as I hate the platform, Instagram seems to have more useful purposes in 2020.  (Axios/Vox)
• Champagne sales take a big hit during the pandemic.  (AP)
• Sweeties? Without sugar? Added to my wish list!  (Amazon)
• Twilight of the Imperial Chef. A good read about how kitchens are changing (for the better). (NYT)
• Can a 12-year-old convince you to go vegan? (GrubStreet)
• If I were in the States, I would probably buy these bougie drinks. (Haus)
• This thread about Rene Redzepi.  (Twitter)
• Tell me more about highway pickles. (Gastro Obscura)
• A case for the Japanese breakfast. (Heated)
• Would you dine off of a nacho table? (The Takeout)
• Yes, it’s wasteful, but this is weirdly soothing to watch. (Twitter)
• Michelin inspectors are back. (Eater)

Our nephews celebrate birthdays relatively close together, so we’re taking them to Black Tap for lunch tomorrow. Next week is already looking good. I’m off to check out CLAW with the Bookers, and then over to the newly launched Mami Umami at the Renaissance on Wednesday night.  Given its former identity as Morimoto (which, for the record, was always going to be too big to succeed), I’m super curious to see what’s changed.  I’ll also be on the radio with Helen on Tuesday afternoon, broadcasting from one of my favorites, Tresind. I hope you’ll tune in.

Finally, keep an eye out for Cuisinero, Taste The Philippines, an upcoming cookbook that I wrote the foreword for. It will be available from August 15th (I’ll provide a link next week).