Things That Made Me Less Cranky: June 2024 Edition
Why watch the downfall of US democracy when Love Island is right there?
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
Taking a break from the USA
A proper cobbler
Weekly sea salutations
Clubbing when you’re past your prime and everyone around you is also past their prime
Free, outdoor movie theaters in hidden patios
Expat Whatsapp groups, surprisingly
Elevator looks
Jinxing the national soccer team at Copa América
Restaurant of the Month: José Antonio
Established in 1972, José Antonio was for decades the only the fancy Peruvian restaurant that existed. At least, that’s how it lives in my memory. Back in the time when Limeños only went out to eat a handful of times a year (and not every single day of the week, which is how it feels like these days LOL), José Antonio was where you took your wife on your anniversary, celebrated college graduations, and maybe spent a part of your first paycheck. I love that it hasn’t tried to keep up with the times. It’s menu is an unruly twenty-ish page binder listing every Peruvian dish in existence. The servers are, at least, 78 years-old. The decor is unapologetically 1950s hacienda, all dark wood and cowhide and stiff chairs with intricate rails. The food is just as stubbornly stuck somewhere between President Belaunde’s last days and the beginnings of Velascos’ dictatorship aka they are not innovating any dish for the sake of innovation. Take the lomo saltado, my main area of expertise: they toss those fries along with the rest of it, so it soaks up the juices instead of throwing them in at the last minute so they remain crisp—a recent trend when. it comes to the dish. When you go to José Antonio, though, you can count on those pulpy fries and relish them with gusto.
Bar of the Month: Casa Rebara
Being back home is hitting all my nostalgic feels because I was thoroughly charmed by Casa Rebara, a new Miraflores bar cosplaying as an old-school Lima tavern. Listen, we need to keep the tradition alive! Housed within the rooms of the early 20th-century home is a full bar with kitchen, a piano room, and a small stage for the jazz, cumbia, folk, salsa, and criollo bands that pass through its halls every week. I’m in my Señora Era, what can I say.
Best Thing I Ate: The acevichado maki at Eddo
These prawn tempura and avocado makis would already be pretty great on their own, but when they’re covered in acevichado sauce–a silky blend made of out of standard ceviche ingredients, egg, and soy suace–, they transcend their sense of self and become sublime.
Best Thing I Drank: Aguaymanto Cold Brew at ONDO
Tangy. Refreshing. Sweet but without tasting like I just poured a bottle of vanilla extract down my throat. Aguaymanto, aka Goldenberry, is the coffee addition I never knew I needed.
The Month in Newsletters
Missed an issue? I got you!
Jumpstarting My Creative Discipline
On Tuesday night, I landed in Lima’s Jorge Chavez International Airport with three suitcases hitting their weight limit, one carry-on bri…
Anatomy of a Freelance Resume
I get most of my content marketing and translation work through word-of-mouth. Often, an employee from an organization emails me to tell me that so-and-so recommended me for X type of work, or they’re former colleagues who know I’m sticking to this freelancing lifestyle and that I always need work. (Side note: Always assume your freelancing friends need the work because it is usually true.) I respond with a brief bio, some writing or translation samples, a link to my LinkedIn profile because I STILL don’t have a website, and info about rates. We negotiate scope and payment. Boom! Gig is mine.
On the Myth of Motherhood as Self-Improvement
I often warn people I’ve just met that they’re free to follow me on Instagram but cannot hold my Stories against me. “It’s where my Id lives,” I explain. “You have to promise to keep liking me even a…
My Pitch to Block Club Chicago: Dinner-At-The-Grotto Underground Dining Series
I was scrolling through Instagram a few days ago when I came across an announcement from one of the Chicago accounts I follow, Funeral Potatoes. After many years of searching for a brick-and-mortar, the virtual restaurant was setting up shop in Moonflower bar. Chefs Eve Studnicka and Alexis Rice-Thomas launched the virtual restaurant during the pandemic and have become local darlings in the city, for all the right reasons.
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