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What does “feel-good food” mean? It depends on whom you ask. That’s why each month our Feel-Good Food Plan—with delicious recipes and a few wild cards—is hosted by someone new. This month restaurant editor Elazar Sontag shares the dinner that welcomes him home after months on the road.
Restaurant scouting is the rare gig that’s every bit as fun as it sounds. There’s no part of my job I enjoy more than hitting the road for two months in search of the year’s Best New Restaurants. New Orleans. Oakland. Austin. Asheville. Charleston. The trips blur together, but the thrill never fades. Neither do the stomachaches. After so many double dinners, a great restaurant salad is my salvation. Luckily, chefs were seriously into salad this year. Everywhere I went were hyper-seasonal, beautifully arranged mountains of greens I happily scaled. Of course, I also ate more pounds of fried chicken, cream-thickened sauces, crackly pork belly, and ice cream than any amount of greens could counteract.
When I finally came home from this year’s dining frenzy, I craved freshness. Pulling inspiration from some of my favorite restaurant salads, this squash-and-radicchio number has become my return-to-home comfort food. Sherry vinaigrette is cut through with hunks of creamy blue cheese, a trick inspired by my favorite salad at Via Carota in New York City’s West Village. Instead of eating straight out of the mixing bowl like I normally do, I take a page from Meetinghouse in Philadelphia, a standout bar where the stately green salad nearly touches the ceiling, and pile my leaves high on a platter. The salad goes in the middle of the table like a centerpiece, and my partner and I cozy up, casually eating with our fingers. After so many weeks of restaurant meals, it’s what I’ve missed most.
Blue cheese lovers, this one’s for you. A glossy blue cheese dressing is tossed with radicchio, hazelnuts, and roasted squash for a satisfying fall salad.
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More Feel-Good Finds for the Month
My comfy-chic shoes
I refuse to wear pants to the office in New York’s hottest months, which means my coworkers see a lot of knees (sorry!). How do you make jean shorts and a t-shirt feel… serious? The answer came to me in a pair of G.H. Bass penny loafers. With no painful, heel-bleeding break-in and a handsome shine that makes me feel like a serious menswear guy, they render even my comfiest fits work-appropriate.
Mens Larson Weejuns Loafer
Coffee I can count on
When I’m on the road scouting for Best New Restaurants, I drink a lot of coffee—three cups a day is the minimum to keep me energized through the heavy-weight eating.