It’s the Tuesday before the Thursday before Thanksgiving. How did we get here? While you ponder that, here’s what you’ll find in today’s newsletter:
The woman who ate New YorkWe love when our food coverage inspires readers to do amazing things, like bake every one of our holiday cookie recipes (Hi, Amy!) or try all 57 sandwiches that define New York City. But only a brave few have been willing to dine at our critics’ level. Meet Kaitlyn Lavery, a 26-year-old social media influencer and Substack writer: Last year, she visited all 100 restaurants on Pete’s 2024 list of the best restaurants in New York City, and she’s about 30 percent of the way through Priya Krishna and Melissa Clark’s 2025 list. (For the record, the South Jersey native pays for all her meals.) I hopped on the phone with her to discuss what inspired her to undertake a mission that even the most stalwart critic kind of dreads and what she’s learned along the way. This interview has been edited and condensed. What inspired her to start the projectI remember the exact moment. Me and Andrew, my boyfriend, were going out to eat at Di An Di, and the list had dropped the day before. And then we walked over to get ice cream at Davey’s Ice Cream. And I looked at him and I said, would it be insane if I started? I had no idea how many fine-dining restaurants were on there. I had no idea how long it would take me. I was just like, Let’s do it, I can’t let anyone else take this series idea from me. So I immediately posted a video the next day saying that I was going to do it, and I kind of locked myself in. How she pays for it allI get accused a lot of having a trust fund or my parents helping me, and that is not the case. Andrew and I work full time. I was paying my rent, and then if I wasn’t spending money on clothing or concerts, I was dining. That’s how I chose to spend my disposable income. It was a little daunting to have like eight or nine tasting menus, two $500 omakases on there. But I was like, you know what? I’ll figure it out. Her impressions on the 2024 listI went into it thinking that tasting menus are overrated or overpriced. But I definitely came out with an appreciation for a lot of the tasting menus. Aska is one of my favorite dining experiences I’ve ever had in my life. I was blown away and I have such an appreciation for them now. I also think there was a preconceived stereotype that everywhere on the list was super expensive. That’s not the case. There were $2 Trinidadian doubles on there that were more delicious than a $40 pasta dish that I had at a restaurant. One reason I’m so grateful for the list is because it helped me discover places I probably would not have gone to otherwise, like Laghman Express and Zum Stammtisch, some of my favorite dining experiences from 2024. How the 2025 list is shaping upI’ve started to notice that Priya and Melissa each have their go-to cuisines or spots. I think my flavor profile closely matches up to Priya’s more than anything. I feel like she loves some of the popular gems, maybe not the hot spots, but gems around the city. And she loves bold flavors. I feel like I do, too. Melissa’s palate seems a little more reserved, leans toward cafes, refined pastas and fish dishes and things like that. I’ll play a game with myself where before I read what each of them wrote about it, I’d be like, Who do I think wrote about this? And I’m almost always correct.
THE BRIEF REVIEW Los Burritos Juárez★
In a city once at a loss for stellar flour tortillas, you can finally find them at Los Burritos Juárez. Inside this former pop-up turned cozy little burrito joint in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, the brick walls are minimally decorated with family photos and an El Paso pennant, clues to the inspirations of Alan Delgado, the chef and a co-owner. The specialty is, unsurprisingly, burritos in the style of Juárez, a Mexican border town where the tortillas are more often made with wheat flour than with nixtamalized corn dough. (El Paso and Juárez share a friendly rivalry for burrito supremacy.) True to the style, Delgado makes his tortillas with lard, though vegan versions are available in limited quantities. But the pork-fat-enriched tortillas steal the scene here. Their charred aroma falls somewhere between freshly griddled roti and a sizzling Neapolitan pizza crust. The texture is nothing less than Squishmallow-level softness. The all-day menu offers a concise selection of burritos, none of them more than $11 and each filled with a swipe of pinto beans and a different guisado, like beef brisket stewed in a piquant salsa verde or pork braised with mild guajillo chiles. Delgado makes two salsas, a savory roja and a bright verde, which are a must for some of the burritos, but less necessary for the excellent chicken mole, which is deeply complex and sings on its own. The tortillas can at times overshadow what’s inside, but that is not the case for the bacon, egg and cheese burrito. The fluffy eggs and smoky bacon compound the comfort of a pillowy tortilla. Early risers get the grub, however, as the egg burritos tend to sell out. Address: 354 Myrtle Avenue (Adelphi Street), Brooklyn; no phone; losburritosjuarez.com Recommended Dishes: Mole burrito; Bacon, egg and cheese burrito; Frijoles con queso burrito; Verde burrito. A three-pack of hand-rolled tortillas to go. Price: $ Wheelchair Access: Dining at street level. There is a ramp into the building, but the doorway is narrow. OPENING OF THE WEEK BarkerThe Bed-Stuy restaurant boom of 2025 continues: Barker, a new counter-service spot from two Blue Hill at Stone Barns alums will start slinging sandwiches and an array of pastries on Nostrand Avenue starting tomorrow. The owners call it a cafeteria — I call it a much-appreciated lunch option in the neighborhood. More restaurant openings →
FOR YOUR READING LIST Thanksgiving, Didion styleYou just know the martinis were strong at Joan Didion’s Thanksgiving gatherings. Her dinners were also a who’s who of New York City literati, as the Food section’s deputy editor Patrick Farrell discovered while digging through Didion’s papers at the New York Public Library earlier this year. There he learned just how meticulous she was when it came to her yearly holiday dinners, right down to the minute the turkey should be carved (“at 8:15 and eat at 8:30.”) Read the story → CORRECTION Last week’s Where to Eat misstated the title of Representative Hakeem Jeffries. He is the House Democratic leader, not the House minority speaker. Have New York City restaurant questions? Send us a note here. Follow NYT Food on TikTok and NYT Cooking on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest.
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