Things That Made Me Less Cranky: December 2024 Edition
Holy shit, we made it
Welcome to my monthly list of recommendations. It is made up of completely random things/events/moments that made me less of a raging, bitter, hag despite the dumpster fire that is our world. It also includes food-centric suggestions. Enjoy!
Idiosyncratic List of What Made Me Less Cranky
Unofficial high school reunions
Growing up into the person you wanted to be or, better yet, into someone more interested than you expected to be
My friends’ kids
A USB cable to connect my VPN-powered iPad to the massive TV in my room
Bars swamped by women of all ages scream singing men into oblivion
Yoga after dealing with vertigo for a solid 6 months
Christmas food being unabashedly ugly food
Cynthia Erivo’s rendition of “Defying Gravity”
Cities with old ass temples in the middle of residential areas
Turtles
Challengers Promo Ceremonies to welcome babies into the world
Friends coming to visit
Pilgrimage to pay respects to your badass great great great great great great grandma
Elisa traveled well into her old age, after fighting for mandatory secondary education for girls and voting rights for women in Peru Two lunches in one day
Spas, all the spas
Restaurant of the Month: Verbena in Lima
Going to Verbena is like going to dinner at your coolest friend’s house, who also just happens to be a professionally-trained chef. The restaurant seats only 18 people in a boxy but smartly decorated basement space with full view of the small kitchen. Their 10-dish tasting menu changes every day, depending on the ingredients they have on hand at the moment, but it follows the same structure: an assortment of cold and warm appetizers, empanadas, soup, a few main entrees, and two desserts. Everything is meant to be shared, which made it a great choice for catching up with old friends on their first day in Lima. Stands out include grilled shrimp on a white bean hummus, duck and cecina (cured Amazonian pork) dim sum in duck broth, angus beef steak and roasted pepper skillet, and berries in a condensed milk whipped cream sprinkled with beet dust.
Bar of the Month: Lady Bee in Lima
I’m on a never-ending quest to find a bar in Lima where I can have a conversation with friends without perforating my esophagus AGAIN because the music is so loud, you have to scream to communicate. Lady Bee has a thousand accolades, including that of being one of the world’s 50 best bars, for its commitment to Peruvian ingredients and small batch producers but my love for them stems from the fact that my two friends and I found a nice table, at midnight, to chat about our personal lives, using our indoor voices, while sipping a cocktail that didn’t have the sugar equivalent of a chocolate factory. I’ll go again so I can actually describe the drinks—but sometimes the best compliment you can give a bar is that it allowed you to focus on something else beyond the booze.
Best Thing I Ate: Tiradito at La Preferida in Lima
La Preferida is one of those casual, super solid, seafood restaurants in Lima that you turn to when you’re in a big group and need to satisfy a number of different cravings. Everything is tasty but nothing is necessarily surprising—except for their tiradito. Their version includes grilled scallops, which infuses the aji amarillo sauce with a yummy smoky hit.
Best Thing I Drank: This Pisco Drink at Carnaval in Lima
I can’t remember its name or its components, other than suspended gummies in ice, because I had two sips and went into tispyland, immediately.
The Month in Newsletters
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