Welcome to Eater’s Weekend Special, an inside look at what our staff was buzzing about this week
Despite the fact that as I write this at 4:30 p.m., the sun is already setting and my fingers are cold even though I caved and turned on the heat, there is a lot to love about this time of year. Cozy pajamas, warm food, various holidays that encourage us to reflect on the year behind us and plan for the one ahead. However, that reflection often leads to a shocking realization — wait, that was this year? Indeed, we are all so old that things that feel like they happened when we were mere babes actually happened in, like, March.
For instance, remember when the Choco Taco died, most likely so Klondike can bring it back to great fanfare? That happened. Remember when every toast looked like it had a swoop of poop? Remember how a bunch of restaurants got into NFTs even as people insisted from the beginning it was a scam, and then they revealed themselves to be, in fact, a scam? Or when some people thought NyQuil chicken was actually a thing and not an obvious troll? Oh and a bunch of cookbooks sank to the bottom of the ocean. That was fun!
It’s kind of nice to realize how quickly things change. At the beginning of the year the espresso martini seemed all-powerful, and now it’s clear it’s on the way out. “Healthy Coke” was a thing and then wasn’t, and while butter boards and their knockoffs have become the bane of all food writers’ inboxes, they can’t be long for this world, right? Trends come and go, which is a good reminder that the outrage we — err, I — reserve for something like the word “Pilk” could probably best be placed elsewhere.
Because once again, we’re ending the year on a strange note. The “tridemic” is in full swing, making gathering, especially in restaurants, feel particularly fraught even if you have every vaccine available to you — and unlike past years, there’s no mandated shutdown or support in sight for the restaurants. Oh right, it was just this year when states dropped vaccine requirements for restaurants. Stay safe out there, and remember, the men who overly sexualize their cooking on TikTok aren’t real and they can’t hurt you.
— Jaya Saxena
Follow Jaya on Twitter at @jayasax
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