BBR Launch Party
Raf reviews Papa d'Amour and JR & Son
On Saturday night, Bing Bong and I threw a house party to celebrate the launch of this newsletter—thanks to everyone for coming and hanging out with us! I hadn’t thrown a house party in a long time, and it was a joy to bring family and friends together for a gathering inspired by the BBR’s purple tag logo (designed by The Aliens).
I wore my purple-sleeved Ouer Studios tee, ordered a purple bouquet from Rosehip Social, and had my brother pick up a purple ube-citrus cake from Lady Wong. At least one guest developed a crush on another, while another brought a labubu—the real guest of honor! Many of you still don’t know what a labubu is, and that’s ok. My sister also made a killer Spotify playlist:
🍚 Bing Bong Food Report 🍚
Raf has been frequenting Papa d’Amour, Dominique Ansel’s new Greenwich Village bakery, which has surprisingly short lines during the workweek:
I consumed at least half my weekly calories at Papa d’Amour, Dominique Ansel’s bakery in Greenwich Village. Normally, I break out in hives at the phrase “Asian fusion,” but almost everything I tried here landed a solid 8.5 or higher. The mochi donuts were the best I’ve had—despite being labeled “taro,” they tasted more like guava in the best way. The sticky rice sausage croissant was rich, delicious, and impressively well-balanced. The egg tart had a salty edge I didn’t know I needed in a Chinese custard. The only miss was the egg bao, which unfortunately ate like an underseasoned sloppy Joe.
Editor’s note: I really loved the scallion basil blossom Raf brought back for me—it was perfect reheated in the toaster oven with a dollop of Good Culture cottage cheese.
Raf also wrote a take on JR & Son, the newly restored Italian American social club turned restaurant, from the Kellogg’s Diner team:
I was excited to try the onion rings but gave up after losing the hunt for actual onions in the pile of fried dough, and overall, the food was so salty it made me wonder if my shoes would still fit on my walk home. But the ravioli saved the meal—light, delicate, and served with sweet peas that briefly transported me to the English countryside.
Editor’s note: JR was really quite mid; the spicy lobster pasta was the only highlight for me.
The KBBQ bowl at Sweetgreen is way too sweet.
Juice Generation now has an expanded selection of protein smoothies. Split into plant and whey options, they have a new matcha smoothie as well as one made with fresh Thai coconut. I’m sticking to my go-to Protein Knockout, which I sometimes order with kale. (Side note on smoothies—we’re tired of nonsensical brand collabs!)
🍖 Extra Treats 🍖
HDR emojis on Slack are the bane of my existence. To turn them off on your iPhone, turn on low battery mode—this also eliminates those pesky HDR Instagrams. To turn them off on your Mac, at least until Slack restarts, paste this into the terminal:
killall Slack ; open /Applications/Slack.app/ --args --force-color-profile=srgbAir Mail tries Neko Health, Spotify founder Daniel Ek’s new body scanning startup (paywalled). I’m going to Stockholm next week and want to do this if I have time (and can find someone to pull me off the waiting list).
Fred again played several unreleased tracks during two Twitch livestreams over the last two weeks:
Lei wine bar, from King and Jupiter co-owner Annie Shi, opened in Chinatown. I barely drink these days but can’t wait to try the food.
Barneys New York is getting turned into a TV show by the makers of The O.C. and Gossip Girl. Maybe this is how legacy retail brands will be reborn—as content?
Nathan Fielder called the FAA dumb in this surreal Wolf Blitzer interview:
What do you think about the David fundraise? I was surprised at the valuation (and it is smart money)
I don't really get what they're doing differently but haven't looked into it too much