JOEL'S JOURNAL
From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, people around the world eat their lunch. From bento boxes in Japan and dabbawalas in India to late lunches in Spain and day-drinking in France, exploring how lunches around the world differ offers us a peek into different cultures, traditions, and lifestyles.
We rarely see the bakers who rise before dawn, the cooks working by the dim glow of a single bulb, or the taho vendors preparing under the pre-dawn sky. But their echoing calls remind everyone that breakfast—and a new day—is here.
Our collective love for rice and its centrality to our culture has spurred the creation of a whole vocabulary related to this grain and every step of its journey.
Michelin’s triumphant climb and of those given the coveted Michelin stars are epics worth recounting, down to the footnotes and afterword to their hard tales.
As you walk along the streets of Vietnam, one thing becomes clear: this country likes to eat. The smell of lemongrass, coriander, and nuoc cham is never far off; those, and coffee. Oh, the coffee.
From tapas hunting in Madrid to hawker hopping in Singapore, immersing oneself in a city’s food culture is a good—and delicious—way to explore and get to know a place and its people.
