After my winter adventure out west (check out the video of my heli-ski trip if you haven’t already), I hit the ground running back in the city this week. My agency, Untitled Secret, is busier than ever, with new hires, new clients, and new pitches in the works.

As I type, I’m already late for my next meeting, so I’ll keep this short and sweet. Stay warm out there (we here in NYC are bracing for our first blizzard of the season), and find some comfort food to keep you company this weekend. Let me know what you find, and bon appétit!

Favorite links this week

ALL PRESS IS GOOD PRESS

Peloton is back in the news, again, for killing off a TV character via heart attack. While the visibility may not be the most flattering for the brand, the ubiquity of the device in fictional upper middle class households must mean the company is doing something right.

TIKTOK VILLAINS

The strange confluence of West Elm, TikTok, and dating apps has landed one person, a man named Craig, at the center of a social media witch hunt. Is his crime—ghosting hordes of women after a few dates—worth this very 21st century punishment?

RETHINKING THE BEFORE

I appreciated this brief piece in The Cut, questioning the idea of the “before and after” photo—which always gets me, especially on social media. There’s a fine line between promoting healthy fitness regimens and creating a toxic culture obsessed with beauty norms, and I’m always trying to find the balance for myself.

BONNIE’S

A few weeks ago, I managed to snag a reservation at Bonnie’s, a buzzy Cantonese American restaurant in Williamsburg that’s been booked solid since it opened in December. It’s been covered in The New York Times and Eater and garnered positive feedback from food authorities like Pete Wells and Ruth Reichl, but you don’t need to be a critic to know this spot is special.

Win Son alum and Brooklyn native Calvin Eng opened Bonnie’s as an ode to his immigrant mother and the Cantonese dishes she taught him to cook when he was growing up in Bay Ridge. Eng combines these traditional flavors and techniques with his professional culinary skills and Western influences for a menu unlike any other in the city.

My favorite bites were the hup to ha (banquet-style fried shrimp and candied walnuts) and the dao gok (long beans and dough sticks in fermented bean curd garlic butter), which I enjoyed in the minimal-yet-warm, 40-seat dining room that’s outfitted with floor tiles inspired by classic Hong Kong diners. A robust cocktail list accompanies the fare, while sweet endings are simple: an indulgent sundae with Ovaltine hot fudge or a tropical fruit plate.

I only secured a table at the last minute and couldn’t find an available friend to join me, so I was unable to try Eng’s signature sharable plate, a deboned and stuffed rainbow trout that I’ll definitely be ordering next time. In fact, I’ll have to return to taste the rest of the dishes I missed, since each one sounds better than the next.

This week on AGNP+: San Diego, California’s sleeper hit.

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