Welcome to Secret Breakfast / An exclusive newsletter, the best place to start your day with a private chef in the Hamptons and a Baked Potato with Vicodin. Yes, it’s the Age of Indulgence!

Hi there!

What a time to be alive: the Private Chefs of The Hamptons Taking Over TikTok. In Miami, the Hamptons and Los Angeles, It’s Private Chef Season.

Private chefs ARE a real luxury, like a driver and a personal concierge.

Who’s your personal chef this summer? 😉 

Piero

PS: some of you is working as private chef right now? Please write me back if you do.

Picture: cottonbro studio

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THE BEST QUOTE

✦ Anna Lembke, Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence. (hat/tip Giulio “Horcynus” P.)

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THE MISSING INGREDIENT

I WENT TO ISRAEL AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS INSANE ADDICTION TO BREAD

As you may know from a previous newsletter, in June I spent some time in Israel. There’s no way one week there would ever give you the complexity of the place, the people, the food, and the scents. Nevertheless, it’s a place that can change your perspective just after one minute.

[Those are just some notes I took. If you have questions, I’ll be glad to ask. If you think I’m wrong on some topic, write me and I’ll learn something].

Jerusalem. Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi’s Jerusalem is one of my favorite books. Jerusalem - the city - is completely something else. The Old City has its own timeframe: it was believed that it was the center of the world and in fact, that’s what it looks like. Arabs, Jews, Christians, and Armenians share the heart of this place, but there is also a bigger city out there, living with its own rules. My suggestion: visit them both, look at the people, and follow them into their own worlds.

Hummus - mashed chickpeas blended with tahini, lemon juice, and garlic - is everywhere, everyone has their own recipe. The only right way to get it is by ordering some for every single meal. In Tel Aviv they also performed a “hummus dramedy”, The son of the Great Moshiko.

Sabich vs Felafel: the problem in Israel is you also have to decide if you like pitas with fried eggplants more than with broad-beans-fried-meatballs.

Knafeh (★recipe) was everywhere and it was exactly what I expected: the sweetest-heaviest-cheesiest dessert one could have. Baked semolina, sugar syrup, melting cheese. The best I had was in Jerusalem at Jafar Confectionery, which also bakes a terrific Mutabak with Cheese (or cream).

Charcoal. Minced beef and parsley kebabs are something you should never miss. I had a traditional-Palestinian version at Al Baghdadi Tavern in Jerusalem, right under a majestic taxidermied hawk wearing necklaces. Then I had another shot at a very good Israeli joint, the Grill Bar, where you should go and order the Mix Platter.

Shakshuka. When in Jaffa (Tel Aviv)I felt like a naive tourist and sat down at Dr. Shakshuka. The menu was satisfying, and the people kind, but I bet there are better shakshuka (★recipe) in town.

Rugelach. These sugary-wet-chocolate croissants are an absolute treat. I had the best at the Marzipan Bakery and Pastry, in Jerusalem. But I had some everywhere I could.

Fine dining. I went to Tel Aviv during the Shabbat, so I had 36 hours of some of the best bars and restaurants mostly closed. I scored a last-minute table at Noth Abraxas, one of the many Eyal Shani restaurants (you can try his signature roasted cauliflower, ★recipe). I ordered an Ahat Roussanne Viognier 2021 (Judean Hills) and I did not regret it, then waited for a 45-minute baked grouper’s head. Just the head, with baked yellow tomatoes, peach, fennel and wine. It was simple, it was awesome.

Bread. Back to Jerusalem: the bread you buy from carts and bakeries is still good 4/5 days later. Haba Pita Bakery’s bread was incredible: my top 3 in the whole week. Za’atar bread was oily and savory. Carmel market bakeries were also excellent, in Tel Aviv (but my fav was elsewhere, Hamotzi Lechem). Bread was the truest experience in Israel, the most basic food was also the more honest and satisfying. If it’s true that God put his eyes on Jerusalem, bread - the most important of the basics - was the perfect fit for all that followed.

Picture: Around Carmel Market, Tel Aviv, Israel.

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THE BOOK

Cinema’s Most Unsettling Meals, All for You

★★★

A24 is the American independent entertainment company responsible for quality (or absurd) movies like Everything Everywhere All at Once, or Minari, or The Lobster. This book includes some epic film-recipes like The Breakfast Club's Pixy Stix sandwich, The Apartment's Tennis racket spaghetti, The Martian's Baked Potato with Vicodin, Home Alone's 12-scoop ice cream sundae, Parasite’s Mrs. Kim 8 minutes ram-don, and Kramer vs. Kramer's divorced dad French toast. Photographs by Wade and Leta, foreword by Matty Matheson, producer and culinary consultant of The Bear. This is not for learning to cook, this one is for enjoying the crazy nature of human beings.

Scrounging: a Cookbook by A24
→ Shortplot: 🎾 🍝 🍨 💊

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RANDOM ACTS OF HUNGER

This is the space where I share some food (un)related stuff of my week

🌺Pickles with flowers, but pick the right flowers 🍌This Banana Peanut Butter Is for Dogs—but Also for Me 💀This "Icy dead people" popsicle with Pasilla Mixe chili is one of the reasons I miss Copenhagen 🍔Why Does Coke At McDonald's Taste Different? 🥒My kind of Summer Picnic Snack: Cucumber and Cilantro Chutney Sandwich (★recipe) 🇮🇹Wanna Enjoy Italy? Don’t do like this guy who found it overcrowded, overpriced and badly managed 🛒What is behind extreme hoarding 🥞Always satisfying: Japanese Soufflé Pancakes (★recipe) 🇬🇧Saw This Post and had to Make My Own Curd Cheese for the Yorkshire Curd Tart (★recipes)

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FOOD FOR LATER

In Search of Van Halen's Brown M&Ms
Doug Mack / Snack Stack

“Back in the ’80s, the rock band Van Halen had a long list of demands in their contract rider. Just endless picky stuff about the stage setup and the lighting and all kinds of technical details, along with various food mandates. The wildest thing, by far, was a line item that read, ‘a bowl of M&Ms, with all the brown ones removed’”.

How Plastics Are Poisoning Us
Elizabeth Colbert / The New Yorker

“They both release and attract toxic chemicals, and appear everywhere from human placentas to chasms beneath the sea. Will we ever be rid of them?”.

➤ Last week's most clicked link was the one about Asian chefs that can cook anything in 30’’. And that's all for today.