When the opening sequence of the first episode of High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America began to roll, my face flushed and my stomach dropped into the pit of my abdomen. I was overwhelmed by the panning scenes of the marshes of Benin and the clips of churchgoers catching the spirit, gleefully dancing in praise. It felt intimately familiar to me. Benin is not my home, but it felt like North Carolina.
The history of Black American food is the topic of the new Netflix documentary, but food is the center of life, and the show conjures a broad and profound sense of familiarity and reverence. The four-part series takes place across the Atlantic and around the U.S. as the food writer Stephen Satterfield navigates the ways in which Black Americans created the backbone of America’s cuisine and its economy. It’s a fresh lens on a centuries-old truth: Without us, there is no America.
On April fifteenth, at 8:42 p.m., I had a drink. Not on Zoom. Not alone on my couch. Not outside, under a heat lamp. Nope. Inside, on a stool, at the actual, physical bar. For the first time in more than a year. To sit shoulder to shoulder with friends again, chatting with the bartender about esoteric spirits, hearing the laughter of strangers it felt new and raw. Even with the masked staff and social distancing, the experience was unexpectedly life-affirming. All of a sudden, I felt like me again.
Perhaps it was what I was drinking at Viridian, an Asian American bar in Oakland, one of the places on this year’s Best Bars list; many of the cocktails nodded to flavors of Asian candies my dad would surprise me with when he returned from grocery runs in New York’s Chinatown. But I suspect that I would have been hit with joy if it was any drink at any bar that had reopened its doors to do what bars do best: hospitality.
Local bar featured on list of best bars in America
Esquire, a popular lifestyle publication, featured Watchman’s located at Krog Street Market as one of 27 best bars in America. Author: Ryan Dennis (11Alive) Updated: 5:27 PM EDT May 25, 2021
ATLANTA A local bar is getting national acclaim as one of this year’s Best Bars in America, in a new feature from Esquire.
The popular lifestyle publication featured Watchman’s, located at Krog Street, as one of 27 inductees featured in the Summer Issue.
What does a place need to be on the “Best Bar” list after a year of lockdown? The answer, according to Culture and Lifestyle Director Kevin Sintumuang, is “simultaneously a place to be by oneself and a place of community. An escape and a home away from home.”
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Few in the food world want to touch the Palestine issue. Here s why one S.F. bar is speaking up
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Mohamed Dahleh waves the flag of Palestine while on the shoulders of Munir Abughannam in solidarity with hundreds of protesters outside the Israeli Consulate, Tuesday, May 18, 2021, in San Francisco, Calif.Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle
Two weeks ago, when the current Israel-Palestine crisis began unfolding in the Gaza Strip, I noticed that a lot more people especially non-activists were talking about it in public. But in my part of the woods, the food world, the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories hasn’t really been a topic of conversation, though diners have long-embraced the region’s cuisines at Israeli restaurants like Philadelphia’s Zahav and Oren’s Hummus in San Francisco. If there was any conversation about Palestine, it was largely driven by Arab American women like chef-activists Amanny Ahmad and Reem
Gaza, Immigration, Sinead OâConnor: Your Tuesday Evening Briefing
Hereâs what you need to know at the end of the day.
May 18, 2021
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1. Gaza is facing a full-blown humanitarian catastrophe.
The nine-day battle between Hamas militants and the Israeli military has damaged 17 hospitals and clinics. Destroyed sewage systems sent fetid wastewater through the streets. A desalination plant providing water to 250,000 people is offline. The only laboratory in Gaza that processes coronavirus tests was damaged by an Israeli airstrike.
The Times created a day-by-day reconstruction of the violence with maps, death tolls and satellite images.
There are subtle signs that Israel and Hamas may be edging toward a cease-fire, with Egypt and the U.N. working to ârestore calm,â according to a person involved in the talks. All E.U. member states except Hungary have called for an immediate cease-fire.