There aren’t nearly enough good rom-coms out in the world — a genre I’ve always adored. Jonah is my favorite person to talk to about what works and what doesn’t in a modern love story. He lives and breathes this stuff. So we took some time to get into all of that. Check it out.

Emily and I discussed LA’s quiet 2024 for restaurants back in November. The LA dining scene has only gotten more confounding to me since then, so I wanted to have her on to chat about what’s actually happening, ambition and creativity in restaurants, good food vs. good vibes, TikTok food influencers and what comes next.

Over the next year, I learned a ton from Amanda, who has worked at Wildair, Del Posto, Roman’s, Kellogg’s and is now relaunching JR & Son. She showed me pure technique. But more than anything she demonstrated how a kitchen should operate. We chatted about that, her stellar vegan jello, her year as a savory cook and the best dessert program in New York City.

We had this conversation on Substack Live. When I’m not writing this blog, I spend a lot of time talking with creators on and off the platform about why they should use the Substack App to publish video. It’s a thing we’re actively attempting to crack, but also a thing that’s legitimately starting to work. I’m really excited about it.