For more than a decade, we’ve tracked the eating habits of notable New Yorkers (and, occasionally, non–New Yorkers) for our weekly Grub Street Diets. Hundreds upon hundreds of Diets later, we still aren’t sure how each new addition will play out ahead of time, as subjects approach the column with their own sensibilities and ideas. We’d argue that the Diets’ unpredictability is part of its lasting charm — and it means that the best entries can still manage to feel like little gifts. This year offered plenty of surprises: Edi Patterson freezing her way through a Canadian film shoot, music journalist Joe Coscarelli’s chaotic candy habits, and Joel Kim Booster’s impossible-to-forget meatball milkshakes. But when tasked with choosing our absolutely ten favorites from the year, our writers and editors selected a group of food diaries for reasons that are as varied as the column itself.
Read the story ➽“There are, possibly, too many perfect lines here: ‘I am cursed with subjecting everyone I love to occasional spasms of oldest-sibling energy … it bursts out of me like I’m some youthful member of the X-Men failing to suppress my mutant power’ and ‘I feel a happiness so intense and sudden it leaves me gelatinous’ and the instantly iconic ‘Can’t wait to see you come for MFK Fisher’s ass.’” —Alan Sytsma, food editor
Read the story ➽
“As a longtime Who? Weekly listener, I was excited to read the specifics of Bobby’s coffee routine.” —Tammie Teclemariam, diner-at-large
Read the story ➽
“The Grub Street Diet is best when it reveals surprising details about a subject’s life that have nothing to do with food. This year we learned that actress Zosia Mamet recently swapped horses — as in real, live animals — with her Flight Attendant co-star Kaley Cuoco.” —Zach Schiffman, social media editor for Curbed and Grub Street
Read the story ➽
“I am easily charmed by lighthearted family drama, so of course my favorite detail in this Diet was Batuman’s two aunts jockeying over who was praised in The New Yorker for their kısır skills.” —Chris Crowley, senior writer
Read the story ➽
“It’s widely understood that comedians tend to give good Diet. It probably has something to do with the fact that their entire careers are staked on relaying relatable observations for the amusement of large groups of strangers. (Just a theory I have!) Even knowing this, I was still struck by how casually funny Janelle James could be without the traditional setup–punch line structure.” —A.S.
Read the story ➽
“Eating until you hate yourself is a sentiment any former professional glutton can get behind, and it warms the heart of any aged boomer to know that at least one of our own was repped in 2022’s Grub Street Diets.” —Adam Platt, features writer
Read the story ➽
“An early draft for the illustration here was peppered with a few different Simpsons characters, but — this is true — our lawyers said we’d only be able to run them under ‘fair use’ if Broti, a writer on the show, would tell us about any specific foods she ate to find the voice of Marge or Bart, etc. Obviously, our little Homer doodle had to go.” —A.S.
Read the story ➽
“What I loved about Molly’s Diet is how ‘child of L.A.’ it feels — like the L.A. captured by cinematographer and fellow native Angeleno Robert Elswhit in movies like Nightcrawler.” —C.C.
Read the story ➽
“We had an unusually long lead time for this; Karen was confirmed several months before the piece ran. Whenever this happens, I’m convinced a subject will drop out as we near the actual run date. Karen, of course, not only came through, but did so with what is, I think, one of our funniest-ever entries.” —A.S.
Read the story ➽
“I need someone to get me into the underground restaurant he calls Nigerian ‘SoHo House.’” —T.T.
Read the story ➽
More Grub Street Diets
- Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna Holds Taste Tests at Home
- Veronika Slowikowska Is Working on Her Smoothie Order
- Joanna Goddard Loves a Smash and Grab
