Bookends & End Tables - The Best of 2024

The table is set for a New Year! What a wild ride this one was, what with upheavals in the weather and the White House—and a Caligula-sized rapper pulling up the rear, finding an unlikely bedfellow in the poster child (more of a centerfold, I guess) for rage against the healthcare system.

But, as I’ve said before: a fella’s gotta eat. So let’s dig in!

Why don’t we start with dessert? It was such a treat to discover Raf’s (@rafsnewyork rafsnewyork.com), the Italian and French bakery on the Lower East Side! Tear-inducing jasmine honeycomb semifreddo with an apricot jam drizzle in a shallow pool of crème anglaise was a near-religious experience.

The medium-rare Muscovy duck breast at Scarpetta in New York (@scarpetta scarpettarestaurants.com) quite literally melted in my mouth, well-assisted by maitake mushrooms, pickled cranberry, and an outrageous foie gras ganache. 

And I loved our dinner at Reveler’s Hour (revelershour.com) one weekend in D.C., particularly the surprising, sumptuous dish of tagliatelle with blueberries and pancetta in a luscious cream sauce.

While visiting family in New Hampshire, we stopped into The Weathervane (weathervaneseafoods.com) for perfectly golden fried clams and thickly cut onion rings—always worth the trip.

Monell’s (monellstn.com/nashville) in Nashville served up a dinner family-style, with all-you-can-eat skillet fried chicken, turnip greens, cornbread, biscuits and white gravy, mashed potatoes, cole slaw, banana pudding, and sweet tea lemonade for $17.50!

I returned to Hoexter’s (@Hoexters hoexters.com) located on the Upper East Side to take another bite out of their gorgonzola bread dripping with garlic gorgonzola cream bechamel. There are more delicious delights on the menu, such as the beefy burger, but making a meal of this bread at the bar is certainly an option...

Speaking of bread, we also loved the smoked focaccia with gorgeous whipped bone marrow at Legacy Records (@legacyrecordsrestaurant legacyrecordsrestaurant.com). A true indulgence when we stopped by one lazy Manhattan afternoon.

BONUS: Click on these links for the best appetizer, main dish, and cocktail that I made at home.

And of course, I read, finding sustenance in the following books that topped my list for the year: 

The Bell by Iris Murdoch. In the hands of the great Murdoch, this story about the lives affected by the installation of a new bell at Imber Abbey enthralled me—especially when the former bell (purported to be of some magical, religious significance) is dredged up from a pond on the grounds.

The Drowned by John Banville. One of my favorite authors, his prickly pathologist Dr. Quirke and detective St. John Strafford are back on the hunt for another murderer, after their stunning debuts in Snow.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Search around for a plot if you must, but otherwise revel in the limbs and leaves—the keen, moving insights on human nature; its strength and frailty, as seen through the eyes of Francie Nolan, a young girl living with her family in Brooklyn at the dawn of the 20th century.

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. Longing, regret, lost loves, memory: certainly all of these things are among my favorite obsessions, but only a few of the themes Waugh’s beautiful novel touches upon.

Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler. The second gritty novel featuring the Los Angeles-based private eye, Philip Marlowe. Chandler’s hardboiled turn of phrase can’t be beat and the dames are deadly.

My Name is Barbra by Barbra Streisand. I wholly recommend the audiobook, replete with musical clips. While folding laundry, I was riveted to hear Streisand talk about her rise to fame and what she ate and wore along the way.

What were your favorite food adventures this year? Books? Please let me know in the comments!