mongo

i confess i only look at what shows up online and haven't paid much attention. so, yeah, i suppose the new yorker gig may not be as prestigious as i thought it was (though still prestigious). for a while when she started there she wasn't reviewing restaurants per se. she was always quick to point that she wasn't a restaurant reviewer. now she clearly is. if she's interested the times would be stupid to not hire her. though given the fact that they have allowed priya krishna to write restaurant reviews...

i guess the times critic is the biggest restaurant critic job in the u.s. me, i'd find it hard to leave the new yorker.

you certainly made good use of my recommendations.

this is pretty crazy. as far as i can make out, a reserved seat on a tokyo-kyoto train will run about $92 and a reserved seat on a kyoto-osaka train will run around $20. that's $112. so just what kind of hectic 7-day itinerary would someone need to be on to make a $331 pass worth it?

well, we managed to enjoy rome, florence and venice in june 2023 despite the crush and so i think we will be able to cope with crowds in kyoto (and being there in moist season will likely help too). ori: why no reason to go to osaka? the web tells me it's japan's premier food city etc.. is this just a lie put out by tokyo foodies to redirect tourists? i will say that my own initial instinct had been to spend 10 whole days in tokyo. our boys actually enjoy walking around cities and eating out (it's just certain kinds of restaurants that we would not take them to). and they'll probably be very excited to explore video game culture etc. all that said, i think we will go to kyoto at a minimum. not likely to fly anywhere else in japan. this trip--if it comes together as envisioned will be a complicated msp-tokyo-seoul-delhi-msp deal. bullet train to kyoto/osaka and then to seoul from there. but we're unlikely to want to add any more plane time to the travel. june 2026 after the end of the next run of my program is when we might do a tokyo-hokkaido add-on.

would still be a tenfold upgrade on a priya krishna in full possession of her faculties.

tejal rao might be at the intersection of those two circles.

call me naive but i'm also surprised that position reports to the deputy food editor.

and i am always moist.

thanks! i should note that the boys are now monstrously large. they'll be 16.5 and almost 14 at the time of the trip. so they don't really need "kid-friendly" activities and menus. it's just that we can't do kaiseki meals featuring, for example, mountain yam grown at a particular altitude on mt. fuji by monks who have taken a vow of silence on fridays because they probably will not eat it and cultural stereotypes have led me to believe that this will cause a diplomatic incident.

i think i might have begun a thread on this before the great disappearance. anyway, there's a pretty good chance we will do a 10-day trip to japan this summer. if so, we'll probably be there around june 23-july 3. yes, i know this is not the optimal time to go to japan. but as academics and parents of school-going kids our calendars are pretty constrained. (also we'll be combining this trip with a short visit to seoul for logistical work for the second run of my off-campus program in 2026.) i have some preliminary questions for those who know japan well (ori, sivan) or those who've visited often (you know who you are): 1. what's a good way to break up a first-time 10-day visit? keep in mind that it is not unlikely we will return in the future (as it's easy to tag some time in japan on to the end of my biennial mumbai-seoul program). 5-3-2 tokyo-kyoto-osaka? just tokyo-osaka (7-3) or tokyo-kyoto (7-3), leaving the third city for a subsequent visit? 2. we will probably airbnb in tokyo at least. a quick glance at listings seems to show a number of decent-looking options in our price range (topping out at roughly $300/night all-in for all four of us). however, i have no sense of tokyo neighbourhoods/metro areas. i think ori advised me earlier to not worry about where we stay as long as it's close to a metro station. many of the nicer places in our range seem to be in sumida city or asakusa. a few places in shinjuku as well. any thoughts on these or other locations? 3. as the boys will be with us we're going to keep the eating to non-high-end places probably. they're far less picky than average american kids their age but there are still many things that they will not eat or which will be wasted on them (or which might cause consternation) at rigorous places. so we're not in the market for places that need concierges to book or where great hurt will be caused by uneaten things on plates. what are good places to look for recommendations for sushi, ramen, udon etc. that will be very good but not come with "temple of..." vibes. 4. what are the must-visit sights in your view if you had x days in tokyo/kyoto/osaka? 5. what are things to not do?

yes, there's a lot of crap on eater but there's also a lot of good/useful stuff. with these cuts the crap:good ratio is going to get even worse. and priya krishna is doubtless trying hard behind the scenes to be named the permanent times restaurant critic. bleak times for mainstream food journalism in the u.s.

that's not a soofle; it's too stiff.

also, this is the recipe on the jiffy corn muffin mix box.

i usually go 50-55. and i crack the egg directly in and just break/mix it in with the rest.

i believe it was encountered at a gathering with mr. fantasty's family. their contribution was to re-name it "indiana soofle". it's too bad the original recipe is gone as that is probably the enduring and most material continuing thread from ye olde mouthfuls to the present. whether still here or gone into the ether, whether actively posting or lurking, a majority of mouthfullers are probably still making the soofle every thanksgiving. and every year we curse the fact that our guests enjoy it above all else (and pray that first-timers won't ask for the recipe).

they're older than i thought.

wow, my visit there last october really did them in.

so they're no longer at the market line?

i wonder what they think of the beatles.

that's enough of that.

look, the fact that the times is letting priya krishna write anything is proof that they have no editorial standards.

priya krishna: the gift that will never stop giving.

an icon, yes, but was she a star? no denying that the mass popularity came with the harry potter movies and crapton abbey.

next time do yourself a favour and go eat at copra.