Monthly Archives: February 2024

Food! Glorious Food!

30 Chefs Open Up About Tipping, Gen Z Cooks and You the Customer
In hours of interviews, we talked with highly accomplished chefs from all over the country about the challenges of running a restaurant today.
By JULIA MOSKIN

Why Is Mercury Stubbornly High in Tuna? Researchers Might Have an Answer.
Old accumulations of the toxic metal in the deep sea are circulating into shallower waters where the fish feed, new research found.

A fishing boat at a wharf. A conveyor belt is moving dozens of sleek fish off the boat. The backs of the fish are purple-blue and their sides and bellies are silver with dark bands.
Skipjack tuna in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, in October. Thousands of tuna samples collected around the world from 1971 to 2022 showed mercury levels almost unchanged.
By Hiroko Tabuchi

ASK KENJI
Why Do Some Foods Freeze Better Than Others?
In his new column, Ask Kenji, the cookbook author Kenji López-Alt answers your questions. First up: why smaller is better in the freezer.
Speed is key when it comes to effective freezing, and, since smaller ingredients, like peas and broccoli florets, freeze faster, they’re great candidates.
By J. KENJI LÓPEZ-ALT

A GOOD APPETITE
3 Hearty Vegetarian Stews That Don’t Take Hours on the Stove
White bean-tomato, red lentil-barley, sweet potato-tofu: These lush recipes from Melissa Clark bring out the best in winter vegetables.


For something warming, look to these three stews built on simmered vegetables.
By MELISSA CLARK

A GOOD APPETITE
When Hot Bacon Meets Sliced Brussels Sprouts, Salad Happens
A hot bacon dressing, a crispy-edged fried egg and sliced brussels sprouts star in this meal-worthy take on a Southern classic.


Make the most of winter’s brussels sprout bounty with this bacon-y salad.
By MELISSA CLARK

NYT Critic’s Pick Movie(s)

Io Capitano
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Drama | Directed by Matteo Garrone
The Italian director of the film “Gomorrah” focuses his tender yet unsparing lens on two teenage boys journeying from their home in Senegal to Europe.


Seydou Sarr, left, and Moustapha Fall in “Io Capitano,” directed by Matteo Garrone.
By MANOHLA DARGIS

About Dry Grasses
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Drama | Directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
The latest intimate epic from the master filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan asks whether the world can change, and we can change with it.


Deniz Celiloglu and Musab Ekici in “About Dry Grasses.”
By ALISSA WILKINSON

Stopmotion
NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Animation, Horror | Directed by Robert Morgan
A fraying animator becomes the victim of her own creations in this visually sophisticated horror movie.


Aisling Franciosi in “Stopmotion.”
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

The Invisible Fight
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Action, Comedy | Directed by Rainer Sarnet
This action comedy set in the 1970s satisfyingly blends kung fu, heavy metal and Orthodox Christianity.


Ursel Tilk, top center, in “The Invisible Fight.”
By AMY NICHOLSON

Food! Glorious Food!

Bringing to Light the Cuisine of Hercules Posey, George Washington’s Enslaved Chef
For more than 200 years, the story of the nation’s first presidential chef has been lost to history, but a group of historians is working to give Hercules Posey his due.
By Ramin Ganeshram

Why a Tire Company Gives Out Food’s Most Famous Award

THE POUR
The Twilight of the American Sommelier
The job, once seen as an essential feature of any establishment serious about wine, now seems to be a luxury in the post-pandemic restaurant economy.
By Eric Asimov

NYT Critic’s Pick Movie(s)

The Arc of Oblivion
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Documentary | Directed by Ian Cheney
A documentary about building an ark turns into a funny, thoughtful rumination on the nature of human preservation.


A scene from Ian Cheney’s documentary “The Arc of Oblivion.”
By ALISSA WILKINSON

— Of Possible Interest —

2024 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Live Action
Not Rated
Many of this year’s films take a darker turn, but there is some levity among the bunch.
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS AND MAYA PHILLIPS AND BEN KENIGSBERG

Food! Glorious Food!

When the Breakup Ruins Your Favorite Restaurant
Getting dumped while dining out doesn’t just happen in movies. And in real life, it could put you off your favorite place forever.
By BECKY HUGHES

A GOOD APPETITE
Pistachio Cheesecake, 2 Ways: Super Simple and Simply Showstopping
The slightly sweet nut shines in these two smart recipes from Melissa Clark.


Store-bought pistachio paste gives this impressive cheesecake a deeply nutty flavor without a lot of fuss.
By MELISSA CLARK

Easy No-Bake Cheesecake vs. Showstopping 10-Hour Pistachio Cheesecake | Melissa Clark | NYT Cooking

There’s No Limit to What the Negroni Can Do
Play with its simple formula, and you can make a number of delicious, bittersweet cocktails.


Drop the gin in a Negroni, and you have a light, gorgeous Milano-Torino.
By Rebekah Peppler

THE POUR
This Valentine’s Day, Say It With Wine
For occasions like a day that spotlights sweets, a special bottle of sweet wine might be the perfect ending.


By Eric Asimov

Bob Moore, Who Founded Bob’s Red Mill, Is Dead at 94
A former gas station owner, he was learning to read the Bible in its original languages when he changed course and started what became an artisanal-grains powerhouse.


Bob Moore, the founder of Bob’s Red Mill, at his retail store in Milwaukie, Ore., in 2010. His company grew from serving the Portland area to become a global natural-foods behemoth.
By ALEX WILLIAMS

David Bouley, Influential New York Chef, Dies at 70
At restaurants like Montrachet and Bouley, he channeled French nouvelle cuisine to create the New American style.

The chef and restaurateur David Bouley in 2017 at Bouley at Home, a New York enterprise that included a dining room, a food lab, a cooking school and a bake shop.
The chef and restaurateur David Bouley in 2017 at Bouley at Home, a New York enterprise that included a dining room, a food lab, a cooking school and a bake shop.
By JULIA MOSKIN

NYT Critic’s Pick Movie(s)

Here
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Drama | Directed by Bas Devos
In Bas Devos’s muted and luminous Belgian drama, two lonely souls repeatedly encounter each other.


Liyo Gong, left, and Stefan Gota in “Here.”
By LISA KENNEDY

Out of Darkness
NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Horror, Thriller | Directed by Andrew Cumming
A Stone Age tribe is hunted by an unseen entity in this wondrously atmospheric survival thriller, which unfolds in a fictional language.


Safia Oakley-Green in “Out of Darkness.”
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

Molli and Max in the Future
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi | Directed by Michael Lukk Litwak
This rom-com brings futuristic absurdity and nimble timing to a comfort-food story line of friends turned soul mates.


Aristotle Athari and Zosia Mamet in “Molli and Max in the Future.”
By NICOLAS RAPOLD

Ennio
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Documentary, Biography, History, Music | Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore
A lively, absorbing documentary about the Italian composer whose music is featured in hundreds of movies, from “A Fistful of Dollars” to “Kill Bill.”

Ennio Morricone, who died at age 91 in 2020, bridged musical worlds and blurred the lines between the serious and the pop.
Ennio Morricone, who died at age 91 in 2020, bridged musical worlds and blurred the lines between the serious and the pop.
By MANOHLA DARGIS

The Taste of Things
NYT Critic’s Pick | PG-13 | Drama, History, Romance | Directed by Anh Hung Tran
Juliette Binoche stars in an instant culinary classic that exquisitely captures the kitchen’s bittersweet blessing.


Juliette Binoche in “The Taste of Things.”
By ALISSA WILKINSON

Perfect Days
NYT Critic’s Pick | PG | Drama | Directed by Wim Wenders
Directed by Wim Wenders, this Oscar-nominated Japanese drama gently excavates the life of a toilet cleaner, and the shadows that lurk inside.


Koji Yakusho in “Perfect Days.”
By ALISSA WILKINSON

Food! Glorious Food!

Who Created Butter Chicken? India’s Great Curry Clash.
A court has been asked to solve a bitter dispute between two families who have very different accounts of the origins of a dish beloved around the world.
By Suhasini RajPhotographs and Video by Anindito Mukherjee
Reporting from New Delhi

THE POUR
This Valentine’s Day, Say It With Wine
For occasions like a day that spotlights sweets, a special bottle of sweet wine might be the perfect ending.

Ten wine bottles of various sizes are photographed together against a white backdrop.
By Eric Asimov

NYT Critic’s Pick Movie(s)

Skin Deep
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Drama, Fantasy, Romance | Directed by Alex Schaad
A sensitive relationship drama in sci-fi trappings explores big questions about bodies, souls and intimacy.


Mala Emde and Jonas Dassler in “Skin Deep.”
By ALISSA WILKINSON

Bushman
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Drama | Directed by David Schickele
A 1971 indie whose making was disrupted by its star’s deportation finally receives a release in New York.


Paul Eyam Nzie Okpokam in “Bushman.”
By BEN KENIGSBERG

Disco Boy
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Drama | Directed by Giacomo Abbruzzese
This feature debut from the Italian director Giacomo Abbruzzese takes on ordinary people trying to free themselves from the bonds of their homelands.


Franz Rogowski, who leaves Belarus to join the French Foreign Legion in the hope of starting a new life.
By BRANDON YU

— Of Possible Interest —

She Is Conann
Not Rated | Action, Fantasy | Directed by Bertrand Mandico
This feminist riff on “Conan the Barbarian” is a sci-fi horror movie sprinkled with a bit of glam-rock fairy dust.
By BEATRICE LOAYZA

Argylle
PG-13 | Action, Thriller | Directed by Matthew Vaughn
A simulacrum of a spy movie offers few pleasures and plenty of headaches.
By ALISSA WILKINSON