#12: 2024 can't be a real year??

yeah, I’m just starting to # them now. deal with it!

happy new year!

It’s been a minute since my last newsletter. This wasn’t my intention, but post-holiday life slowed down, and I kiiiiinda liked not doing too much all the time and living my little life. BUT my mini writing vacation is over, and I am committing myself to a monthly newsletter that will reach you the first week of each month. 

This month covers why I changed my Instagram account name (RIP @highlycuratedeats), a recap of my 2023 newsletters, 2024 intentions, and my 2024 in-and-out predictions. 11 days into the new year, let’s see how those predictions hold up.  

new year greetings from my recent tomato soup base-face

new year, new @

Last week, we laid my prior handle @highlycuratedeats to rest. May she only rest in power. 

As much as I loved the highly curated mini-brand, I am a human, not a brand. Highly curated was always supposed to be delivered with a little satire, because I am a less than curated person with a diet that swings from high to low. Yes, I do enjoy a fancy meal out on the town. Who doesn’t? But I also have an undying love for pickles, buffalo chicken dip, and cheeseball made from cheese out of a jar. This newsletter’s name not so curated eats is a nod to this love and constant search for high-low dining experiences, and a less curated dialogue about how we think about the food & bev industry. As time went on, the highly curated name felt impersonal and a bit removed. That’s not what I’m going for!  

@eatwithmerry speaks to how I hope anyone feels while engaging with my content. You’re eating with me! You’re joining me in my kitchen, on my trips, and on my restaurant visits. I can't think of a better way to spend time with friends and family than sharing a meal together. It tells you everything about a person. Their preferences, their proclivity to try new foods, the conversations started around a table, etc. Eating in 2024 is inherently communal. Even if I’m eating alone, I’m probably cooking from a recipe developed by an Instagram stranger, and I can share that with others who might grab inspiration. 

So here’s to eating together in 2024! Thanks for following along :) 

a year in review

I started this newsletter about a year ago! In retrospect, 2023 was a wild year to commit to monthly entries.

I knew I’d be a busy bee, but I didn’t fully understand how much life was going to be packed into this year. The timing of this newsletter became an unexpected way to document what was probably the busiest year in my young life, with food anchoring these core memories. 

I moved in with my boyfriend. I also moved out of my apartment that I shared with my two best friends (who now live three blocks away). My brother got married in Paris and my whole family traveled there to celebrate. I got a sister-in-law. We went to two other weddings. I traveled to Vietnam and Peru for the first time on real work trips. I then accepted a job offer in December for a new role that I started last week. Lots going on!

Here’s a quick 2023 recap for those of you who are new or haven’t read all the issues:

• January - My prior apartment that I shared with my two best friends flooded, woohoo! I spent most of the month living with my boyfriend, cooking in his apartment, and eating out to distract myself. After many rounds of Bananagrams and Scrabble we realized that we could actually live together.

• February - I moved back into my apartment after packing it all up. I went to NYC for a couch surfing weekend and to celebrate my now SISTER-IN-LAW’s bachelorette party.

• March - I stayed put in DC for a full 31 days and got reacquainted with my little life here. I fell in love with the restaurant Tonari, which has since opened an all day cafe that I’m dying to visit.

• April - I went back to NYC to celebrate my big brother and now sister-in-law getting legally married! I then turned a quarter century old, had the cutie patootiest(?) birthday party that devolved into a Delco power hour. Sharing the iconic playlist below that is my pride and joy.

• May - My brother got (not officially but officially) married - in Paris! The whole fam jam traveled across the Atlantic for a National Lampoons European Vacation-core trip to celebrate and eat so many oysters, cheese, and razor clams. 

• June - June was a doozy in the best way. Will and I moved in together! We kept my brother’s wedding festivities rolling for a big backyard blowout at home in mid-June. Two days after that (potentially still hungover), I flew to Vietnam for my first real work trip. 12 days of sensory overload and so much soup. I loved every second of it.

• July - After the whirlwind of June, we attempted to settle into the new apartment, despite having some minor flooring issues. I broke in the kitchen as much as a sane person can while experiencing the mid-summer DC climate, and checked off a few urgent restaurant visits.

• August - Packed my bags for another work trip to Peru and ate so many forms of potatoes. I also wrote about DC service fees and I-82 implications. 

• September - I mixed up Memorial Day with Labor Day in a published newsletter! Sometimes, we must inadvertently humble ourselves. I also wrote about our very delayed sweetie baby housewarming. 

• October - My friend Angelina shared her experience as a professional server in DC. I’m incredibly grateful for her time and sharing her candid thoughts. I hope to incorporate more industry interviews into my issues this year.

• November - You got an invite to our highly coveted Friendsgiving dinner! Check out the issue to see all the details. We thought of everything except practicing how to carve a turkey.

• December … I skipped this month! Even the newsletter needed a holiday break. 

2024 intentions!

I’m not one for resolutions - more for setting vague intentions and forgetting about them until I’m 75% through the year. But let’s document the food-related ones and see how I do later on. 

Trusting myself as a home cook. Despite having no documentation to show for it, I am trying to follow my gut in the kitchen. After an absurdly perfect brunch at Kare Bar in Chantilly last month, I have been craving all things related to Japanese curry. I used an S&B golden curry brick to modify a NYT roasted butternut squash soup recipe that I consumed every day for a week. Not a hard swap, but still so satisfying to make the exact thing you’re craving on the spot. 

Eating casual in 2024. It seems that many flashy restaurant openings in DC now involve the Starr group, a different corporate restaurant group, or an extensive and expensive tasting menu or omakase. While there is nothing wrong with this, I am craving more accessible options that people (really just me) can enjoy on a regular basis. I want a consistently good neighborhood spot that will have a bar seat available - weeknight or weekend. This might be a tall ask. Mariscos 1133 is a strong contender at the moment, but I’m determined to expand my options beyond Mexican seafood fare.

A commitment to cookbooks. The dust collecting over my shelf of cookbooks is telling. I slip into the ease of NYT cooking and Instagram recipes a little too quickly, forgetting the beautifully curated pages of (hopefully) well tested and developed recipes in each of these books. The current game plan is one recipe from one cookbook once a week. This stems from my desire to be one of those home cooks with thoroughly stained cookbook pages and personal scribbles of modifications throughout. I am absolutely loving Sohla’s cookbook Start Here. Please make the bisteeya-inspired chicken pie and steamed mussels immediately. 

Coursed cooking! I can whip up a lukewarm multi-dish meal for approximately four people, but I’ve never actually tried coursing out a meal at home for a larger group of people. I’m toying with the idea of some sort of dinner series where I can practice this. Stay tuned! 

2024 in’s and out’s

IN

• coveting regular status 

• asking servers their favorite dishes

• byo at casual dining spots 

• actually good non-alc options 

• driving to burbs for family-owned restaurants

• water ice renaissance 

• cooking whole fish at home 

• being the buff chick dip mom of the group 

• calling a new spot your favorite instead of the best

OUT

• chasing latest openings

• another gd french bistro 

• spending $ on literal toast 

• grossly savory martinis

• $$$ wine clubs

• portioned meal prep services

• flavored water tok

• tinned fish boards

• frying mortadella 

Please feel free to leave your thoughts or fight with me in the comments. Smooches!