The best Eater pieces I almost missed reading

A decidedly different kind of best-of list. [View on web]( [A breaded mushroom patty between two buns topped with lettuce and tomato in a to-go box]( Eater correspondent Jaya Saxena's piece on Benihana and public performance anxiety was a deeply relatable piece for me this year. | [Christian Rodriguez](/Eater By nature, I am not a particularly reflective person. I don’t even believe in New Year’s resolutions. So although I love to absorb other people’s lists of [top TV shows]( or favorite restaurant meals of 2023, creating an end-of-year wrap-up of my own always proves difficult, as I truly don’t remember what I’ve done or consumed, like, three months ago. (Apologies to everyone in my life who has had to deal with this terribly annoying personality trait and its opposites-attract cousin: anxiety rooted firmly in the present.) This year feels different as I — wildly — became a parent and, for once, was not Extremely Online. When I returned to work after 20 weeks of logged-off ignorance, I felt the need to meander through all of the great work on Eater I’d missed while habitually Googling what behaviors and gurgles are normal for newborns. But I quickly discovered this type of reflection came with a different feeling. Frankly, journalists and writers approach the act of reviewing a full year as a way to codify an ephemeral passage of time; a way to make meaning of something fleeting. I don’t want to say that my usual mini look back was insignificant or devoid of a larger intention, but going in without Needing to Make Meaning of it all made digesting each carefully plodded narrative, and illuminating personal essay weirdly more personal and immediate. Before I realized it, I’d assembled a collection of stories I found myself enamored by, even as I transitioned back into opening my laptop for reasons other than pleasure. So, I’m sharing them with you in hopes that they might capture a small dose of that temporary respite. There was this story about [how drag queens use published cookbooks]( as sites to question femininity, a palate cleanser from the summer’s disappointing season of Drag Race All Stars. And this look at [the state of dinner theater in Branson, Missouri](. Even though it was a town I was only familiar with in the context of [this scene from The Simpsons](, reading about staff reporter Amy McCarthy’s visit felt like an escape after our stressful attempt to “vacation” with a newborn. An [ode to Benihana]( and the anxiety that comes with public performance at a moment when I was figuring out how to [perform motherhood]( (ugh, I know, everything about that phrase is the worst). A report about how TikTok creators [choose to engage (or not) with their haters]( paired well with the fact that I finally downloaded TikTok (because nothing makes for better sleepless-night viewing than videos that last 20 seconds). At some point, I stopped thinking and accepted that I had just become obsessed with [this gif](. Then, this [lovely piece about Portland, Oregon’s Cameo Cafe]( inspired me to make that my final before-I-return-to-work weekday breakfast stop. Compiled, these pieces don’t necessarily have a statement to make about the year as a whole. But therein is the joy. I guess this is all to say that this year, I had the opportunity to become just another reader — a true fan — of Eater again, for that short time. More reading - While on leave, I ingested nothing but podcasts and audiobooks, and Jamie Loftus’s [Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs]( — [which Eater also excerpted earlier this year]( — was a true highlight. - I’ve only recently become an ardent fan of the warm-and-fuzzy, give-me-your-grandmother’s-cooking nostalgia type of holiday essay, and [here’s a whole collection of them]( unpacking holiday food traditions. - A look at how the Reddit subforum /WhatIsMyCookieCutter turned [attempts at making shape identifications into a community](. If you like this email, please forward it to a friend. If you aren't signed up for this newsletter, you can [do so right here](. — Erin DeJesus, executive editor  [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Manage your [email preferences]( or [unsubscribe](param=today). View our [Privacy Notice]( and our [Terms of Service](. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Floor 11, Washington, DC 20036. Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved.