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

• Dads

• A proper cobbler

• Snacks in the form of a whole sushi dinner

• Celebrating your youngest sibling’s birthday IRL

• Weekly sea salutations

• Ancient healing traditions

• 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

• Hitting a punching bag for 25 minutes straight

• Old neighborhood at night

• Art meant to be demolished

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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.

Lomo saltado, seco de res, an appetizer platter for two (armies), pisco sour

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.

Casa Rebara. Ignore the arrosws, this was a screenshot lol

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.

Peruvians cannot stop themselves from Peruvianizing everything

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.

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The Month in Newsletters

Missed an issue? I got you!

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