While I’m obviously a huge fan of dining out, recently I’ve been excited at the prospect of cooking in my newly-finished Flatiron loft (final reveal coming soon!). Though my kitchen renovation was completed in mid May, I began a rather gluttonous series of summer of travels shortly thereafter. So, even a few weeks into August, it feels new.

Over the past few weekends, I’ve embarked on one of the most meticulous—and satisfying—parts of nesting: home organization. Between hangs with friends in my living room, cocktails at my bar, and cortados on my fire escape, I busted out my label maker and went through several rolls of tape on a printing-and-sticking spree.

Everything got a label: each container in my spice drawer (a given), drawers in the utility closet that contain everything from spare masks and bicycle tools to hats, office supplies, and a filing cabinet. A quick glance around my apartment and it revealed very fews nooks that didn’t need labeling. While it hasn’t gotten out of hand yet—all of the labels are still on shelves and baskets that are concealed by cabinet doors—I’m not far from crossing the line and labeling items in plain sight.

Whether I end up covering my entire apartment in tiny, white signage or manage to exercise some self control still remains to be seen, but I’m thrilled to have my home organized. I can arrive home and easily place my keys and wallet in their respective spots, I know where the bleach, Swiffer pads, and extra sponges are, and I can move through my kitchen with ease as I’m cooking. Now, the true entertaining can begin.

Favorite links this week

THE MILLENNIAL PAUSE

According to The Atlantic, I’m not the only millennial who couldn’t master TikTok. Apparently, my entire generation shows its age when navigating newer social media platforms, especially by briefly pausing before speaking in self-recorded videos. It’s a Gen-Z world, now.

A LUXURY FOOD SCAM

If $80 for 20 pounds of Alaskan king crab legs sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is. But Facebook fraudsters have been posing as luxury food suppliers and using deals like that one to scam customers out of thousands of dollars. Eater has the scoop.

THE FUTURE OF PUBLISHING

Should two mega-publishers, Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster, be allowed to merge? That’s what the publishing trial of the century is determining as we speak. In this thoughtful article, Esquire explores what a merger would mean for the future of books.

NYC’s MICRO HOSPITALITY GROUPS

Small, high-quality hospitality groups are not new to New York City. Chefs and restaurateurs like Andrew Carmellini, David Chang, Keith McNally, and Gabriel Stulman paved the way for such micro restaurant groups to be culinary scene leaders. But there’s a new guard of groups that is making late-pandemic waves.

While not all of these curated, focused restaurant groups have cohesive branding or corporate PR polish, every time one debuts a new concept, diners can rely on a certain level of excellence and a particular brand of experience. So rather than relying on exacting marketing rollouts, they look no further than their devoted fan base and rave reviews to make their next new spot a hit. Take Ignacio Mattos, for example, and his collection of restaurants housed under his Mattos Hospitality brand. Ever since he opened now-Michelin-starred Estela in 2013, each spot he’s developed is as stylish, refined, and highly sought after as the next. From Soho’s most fashionable Italian restaurant Altro Paradiso to Rockefeller Center’s hotspot Lodi to the brand-new Corner Bar at Nine Orchard, Mattos’s establishments have that je ne sais quoi.

The same can be said for Rita Sodi and Jody Williams. While their first ventures, I Sodi and Buvette, respectively, remain independently owned, they joined forces to operate some of the West Village’s most beloved restaurants, a loose collection of restaurants unbound by an official group entity. Via Carota is somehow both a special occasion spot and the perfect place for weeknight dinner. You can grab coffee, aperitivi, and snacks at Bar Pisellino while you wait for a table. Their newest venture, a Shaker-inspired American tavern called The Commerce Inn, is a departure from their cozy Italian eateries but offers the same warmth.

Meanwhile, Chintan Pandya and Roni Mazumdar are completely changing the way New Yorkers view Indian food with their Unapologetic Foods group. Each of their restaurants educates diners on a different regional Indian cuisine, from Indian home cooking at Adda in Long Island City to Southern Indian at Semma in Greenwich Village to provincial Indian at Dhamaka on the Lower East Side. Fast-casual fried chicken concept Rowdy Rooster and the Biryani Bol delivery operation round out the show.

I also have my eye on Jon Neidich’s Golden Age Hospitality, which recently added buzzy, French Tabac-inspired natural wine bar Le Dive to its roster. It joins ACME, Happiest Hour, and The Nines as a place people simply love to drink. And the people behind Tribeca brasserie Frenchette and its fantastic bakery just opened Le Rock so Midtown can enjoy French delights, as well. In my mind, three concepts constitute a group—whether it has a name or not. So I’m just waiting for Missy Robbins to open her third restaurant and Junghyun Park to open his forthcoming spot in Rockefeller Center so I can add them to this growing list.

Missed an edition? View past newsletters here.

If you know someone who might love this newsletter, they can sign up at agnp.co. As always, I love hearing your thoughts, whatever they may be. Drop me a line anytime, and I’ll see you here next week.