“It’s my friend’s birthday, and I’ve been put in charge of picking the restaurant. Somewhere cool downtown and top rated. I’m thinking the West Village, SoHo or Nolita. Maybe Tribeca.
Where do I even start? Do I check Resy or OpenTable to see what’s available? Do I read reviews on The Infatuation? And what about the restaurants that are really hard to get into?
And last night I was watching a food critic’s reel: her ten favorite pasta places in the city. I had to stop it six times, taking screenshots, writing the names down. Ugh. This happens to me all the time.
Then there’s my trip coming up: Madrid, San Sebastián, then Barcelona. I want to eat at some truly amazing restaurants while I’m there. But that means hours of research: guide after guide, city after city, and half the websites and menus aren’t even in English. I guess I could ask the concierges at my hotels, but can I even trust their lists?”