SamSifton

None.

I have met him! (True fact: His mom was a copy editor here at The Times.) He sent me a story when I was an editor at New York Press. I loved it. We put it on the cover. Then the boss editor came back from vacation and spiked it. Bourdain took the story to The New Yorker. It became a book you may have heard of: Kitchen Confidential. Later we would meet again on a dais, where we absolutely ROASTED Alan Richman, the GQ restaurant critic.

I think bacon-flavored food is overrated. I think bacon is AWESOME.

Deep-fried cow brain at a German joint in St. Louis. It had been frozen before it went into the fryer. It was not quite cooked when it came out. It was served with a slice of pumpernickel, a slice of onion, and a bunch of potato chips. I asked for fries. "It comes with chips," the waitress said. I got some veins caught in my teeth.

Why won't the small plates go away? Must we have a raw kale salad? (Though those can be pretty good.) Those scamps at Eater did a good job running down the problems with trendiness. Check out the menu. At the opposite end of the spectrum? Head down to Mott Street and have dinner at 456 Shanghai Cuisine.