Jaya Saxena

2 weeks ago | eater.com | Jaya Saxena

Photo by Justin Tsucalas; food styling by Lisa Cherkasky/Both for The Washington Post via Getty Images In the Top Chef episode “Pickle Me This,” which aired on April 17, host Kristen Kish, in power clashing greens, announces that two teams of chefs must go head to head in creating an all-pickle dinner. The five-course meal was to feature different kinds of pickles in every course — not kimchi or achar necessarily, but instead the cornichons and dill of the European influence.

2 weeks ago | eater.com | Jaya Saxena

“So, no blonde fries,” says chef David Viana of the platonic ideal of disco fries. “It can’t be mushy. The gravy has to slap. And some people say you can’t have too much cheese, but if it gets too heavy, it actually makes it stick together too much.” As a self-described “Jersey boy,” Viana takes his disco fries seriously. If you grew up outside of the northeast, you may have no idea what he’s talking about.

4 weeks ago | eater.com | Jaya Saxena

Jaya Saxena I’ve been led to understand that Americans have a limited palate for textures. On the whole, we do not do the gooey sproing of collagen-rich tendons, or the sliminess of natto or the sponginess of tripe. Instead, we like things fatty and creamy and most of all, crunchy. Well, yeah, so sue me. This is perhaps the most American thing about me. I can only eat okra if it’s been crisped in besan or cornmeal beforehand, and I’m sorry but I just cannot gnaw on a chicken foot.

1 month ago | eater.com | Jaya Saxena

Jaya Saxena/Hormbles Chormbles Working in food media means your inbox is a minefield of pitches about brands “disrupting” things that were perfectly fine to begin with. But we must give credit when a brand actually succeeds at something, and in this case, it was agitating our entire newsroom for a good hour after my colleague dropped the name of a new product intended to “disrupt the candy industry.” So thank you, Hormbles Chormbles. Hormbles Chormbles! Try saying it out loud.

1 month ago | eater.com | Jaya Saxena

At a recent dinner, I faced the worst fate that can befall a diner: There was an annoying guy at the restaurant. He spoke too loudly about boring things, shared unsolicited “expertise” on subjects it was clear he knew little about, and wore an ugly jacket. He never said anything offensive or inappropriate, but ugh, he just sucked. It would be one thing if I could whisper and gossip with the group I was dining with that night about the odious man across the room.