Hi everyone,
I have a confession: I've become a lazy traveler. I used to tackle my personal trips the same way I tackled researching a major travel assignment for work — combing through magazine archives, reading every list, plotting everything interesting onto Google Maps with custom icons, and then building itineraries organized by neighborhood. Travel felt precious in a different way then. If I was spending the time and money to go somewhere, I wanted to maximize every minute.
These days, my trips are shorter, my attention span is smaller, and to be honest, I just don't have the time to do deep research the way I used to. So I find myself taking a different approach and simply asking a few key friends and trusted colleagues for their short list of recommendations. I've learned to be specific in my asks, depending on whether I want to stay near a certain neighborhood, or if I'm looking to fill a lunch spot, or maybe I just want some good coffee shops to sit in. Now, the most precious part of travel is being free to wander and take things more slowly.
That's why I'm so excited about the list-sharing feature we've just launched on the Eater app. It allows you to create your own list of places you want to go, neighborhood favorites, or a rundown of all the best croissant spots, and share it with friends. I've already created lists of the New York City spots where I go when I want to impress out-of-towners, and doing some "deep research" for a future martini and fries list. I'm planning to send these lists out whenever I get requests for dining recommendations, and I hope my restaurant-loving friends return the favor with their own lists, whether I'm visiting their hometown or looking for a celebratory meal in a new city.
If you prefer to celebrate at home, the newest installment of our Dinner Party series features everything you need to throw an incredible birthday bash: the best vanilla cake recipe, boozy Jell-O shots, longevity noodles, and more. Even though cooking is the last thing I would ever want to do on my birthday, I had an absolute blast at our photoshoot at Commodore II a few weeks back — see if you can spot me and my sequined jacket in some of the photos!
Below, you'll find some of my favorite reads from the past two weeks. If you liked this email, please forward it to a friend or encourage them to sign up here.
