Everything Must Go

A themeless version of the Friday newsletter

In compiling these Friday newsletters, I usually attempt to string together some kind of theme to the week’s offerings, even if it’s a loose one—something that can broadly tie together the recipe, the cocktail, the music, whatever.

I don’t have that this week.

We’re getting close to the end of 2020 (thank heavens), and I’d like to wipe the slate as clean as possible before we face down whatever 2021 has in store for us. I’ve got a big, messy spreadsheet where I keep track of everything I’m considering putting in future Friday emails, and today’s is a clean-out-the-fridge selection from that document.

The new year is almost here. Everything must go.

7) In Which We Celebrate Perfect Blank Canvas of Midwestern Cuisine

The Midwest can get a bad rap for its cuisine, and I think that’s unfair. There’s actually a lot of culinary innovation going on in the middle of the country, these forgotten flyover states of Big Ten football and soft-focus New York Times profiles of idiots in diners. For gener…