It’s the beginning of a new year and lists have popped up hither and thither. I love lists. And I hate lists. I have avoided publishing lists here because they are reductive and infuriating. For precisely the same reasons they’re also fun and addictive.
Here are my favorite new year’s roundups. But first, for all of us smug list denigrators, Ray Bradbury’s very different perspective on lists. Nothing to cackle at.
I’ve always loved Saveur magazine’s yearly Saveur 100. It’s usually a delectably random patchwork of food related topics and reading it is like taking a discombobulated road trip across a motley food world.
These 10 best upcoming restaurants selected by New York Magazine make me want to rush back to New York, especially the prospect of Wylie Dufresne’s Alder as I’ve been dreaming of those simpler dishes since he left 71 Clinton Fresh Foods.
And finally, because we all need a full 52 reasons to take a break and dream away the winter, 52 places to mentally tick off — already been, not really interested, oh why not?, and, definitely. The New York Times’ Places to go in 2014 is the quintessential list. Enraging not only for what it includes or leaves out, but because it is a crucial reminder of all the places we’d love to go, but… Yet every time it awakens the itch. For that alone it should be read.
Happy week everyone!
Nettle and Quince 