9/23- Five Things From Amazon That Will Make Your Kitchen Better
Plus thoughts on the Top Golfication of Pickleball
Before we get into this week, I’d like to start by saying thank you to everyone that reads this beautiful catastrophe of a newsletter. We just reached 100 subscribers and while I’m not sure what y’all are doing here, I’m not mad about it. Your feedback, suggestions, and mere existence are what makes this the favorite part of my week, every week. Thank you all for being supportive and I hope this thing keeps growing and getting better each week. Now let’s get into some #stuff
Restaurants
-Bon Appetit thinks the reservation system in American cities is broken. I agree. The New York Times noticed New Yorkers are now eating at 6PM instead of 8PM. This is true. My takeaway: flexibility can be found in mediocre dining. Eat mid. It will be cool soon.
-Pecking House opened its first location in Brooklyn. Once a popup with a 10,000 person waitlist, Eric Huang’s sichuan fried chicken concept is a welcomed reboot of an otherwise tired genre. Bonus points for selling tolerably expensive beer, not taking reservations, and being right off the B, 2, and 3 trains.
Pickleball Goes Top Golf
The Top Golfication of Pickleball has begun. Last week, eatertainment veteran Robert Thompson unveiled plans for Camp Pickle- a 75,000 square foot camping inspired pickleball complex that will sell group punchbowl cocktails out of old Coleman coolers. This obviously rules, but what’s even cooler are the names of the competing concepts. Chicken N Pickle is working its way through Texas, Kansas, and Missouri. Smash Park is on a Paul Bunyan beat, conquering Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska. Electric Pickle will spread cables in Arizona.
Five cheap things that will immediately improve your kitchen:
Let’s start with the basics.
I know what you’re thinking. It’s going to be hard to wait until December 7th.
In reality, you are more likely to find this spoon in a professional kitchen than any “chef endorsed” product that will crawl across your instagram feed. Why? It’s practical, and 100% tough guy.
Well run restaurant kitchens are practical, unpretentious, and aggressively unsexy. The most frequently used professional cooking equipment is on Amazon and none of it is expensive. Here are five things you could buy right now that will immediately improve your kitchen.
Clean your sheet trays easier and faster- steel wool does everything the backside of a sponge does, but much, much better. Steel wool is the main cleaning instrument in restaurant dish pits and it belongs in your sink.
Deli Containers - Quarts, Pints, and Cups - 16 ea. for $21.99
Talk about utility. Deli containers do it all. For line cooks, a plastic quart container triples as a measuring cup, storage vessel, and water bottle. If you want to pickle something, don’t waste money on mason jars– pour your boiling pickling liquid right into a quart– it’ll be just fine. Buy these. You’ll be happier and look cooler.
Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt - 3lbs for $6.29
The salt used in every top restaurant in the country. It feels the best, tastes great, and is affordable. Best use: throw away your salt shaker, pour a generous mound of your new salt into a small bowl, and start seasoning food with your fingers. You’ll gain control over the seasoning of your food and will never again do battle with a salt grinder that just won’t budge.
Squeeze Bottle - Pack of 2 for $7.99
1. Buy olive oil in bulk. Find it on the bottom shelf of the olive oil section at your grocery store. You’ll save money doing this. 2. Fill your new squeeze bottle with olive oil and leave it on the kitchen counter forever. 3. Gain control over how much olive oil you add to your food. You can do this with other sauces as well, but for a home kitchen olive oil makes the most sense.
If you think these bottles are ugly but appreciate the functionality, there’s Graza- an olive oil company using well branded squeeze bottles as its main value add.
Steel Mixing Bowls - Set of 6 - $22.79
Indestructible and easy to clean– things mix better in these bowls. Stop tossing salads and making sauces in ceramic bowls- your whisk and tongs will chip the ceramic. Best use: mix in stainless then plate in ceramic.
You do not need expensive gear to make restaurant quality food. To make great food, you need control over your ingredients; practical equipment will help with that.
Oh, and throw away your pot holders. They are unbecoming. Be a decent cook, use a dry dish towel instead. If you want more tips on how to not look like a dork, let me know. I’m always happy to help.
Again thank you all. Please subscribe and share with your friends and maybe we can do some more interesting content like interviews and tastings and all that good shit that all the cool people do. Who the heck knows.