That was stunning news to many fans, largely because ESPN has been trying to figure out how to create a competitor to Inside for decades to no avail, and the fellas have never been afraid of making fun of ESPN — particularly Barkley. Chuck has taken ESPN and their analysts to tasks a number of times over the years, and while I doubt that stops in total, he knows times are changing soon for he and the rest of the fellas. On Tuesday night, after the Spurs beat the Thunder in the late game on TNT, Chuck couldn’t help but crack a joke to Kenny Smith that they’ve gotta “go back to kissing ass” ahead of their move to ESPN next fall.
No one has been more outspoken over the last six months about the contract negotiations with the NBA than Barkley, sometimes to the chagrin of his colleagues. He’s been extremely vocal about his frustrations with TNT not keeping NBA rights and has noted his biggest concern is trying to figure out how to keep everyone at TNT employed. That mission seems to have been accomplished with this latest news of the show being licensed to ESPN, and he showed still going to be Chuck and poke fun at the new arrangement.
Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum is the latest person to feel his humorous wrath. Today (November 19), Vince Staples and Jayson Tatum came face-to-face in a new commercial for the Jordan brand (viewable here).
Instead of using his beloved lyricism on full display, Vince channelled his words for another reason. As highlights of Tatum’s Championship season took over the screen, Vince gave Tatum a piece of his mind.
“What type of dude is Jayson Tatum,” asked Vince. “The type of dude who’d crush a team and then say some cold sh*t like, ‘We just played our game and the rest took care of itself.’”
As Vince pointed out, Tatum is a many of few words but when he does speak out against his opponents it cuts deeps. However, Tatum manages to keep a cool head or so Vince argued, saying: “The type that have a whole city and internet, booing him. And he’s just smiling.”
Before the clip ends, Vince has one more grievance to air as a long-suffering Los Angeles Clippers fan. “That sh*t really message me up, man,” he said.
Unfazed by it all, Tatum laughs off Vince’s monologue. In Tatum’s eyes, it doesn’t matter who hates him because his partner, singer Ella Mai and their child provides more than enough love to make up for it.
In a sit down with The New York Times, Cher claimed that her famous ex-husband Sonny Bono “took” all of her money during her marriage.
“He took all my money,” she said. “I just thought, We’re husband and wife. Half the things are his, half the things are mine. It didn’t occur to me that there was another way.”
As she reflects on the alleged financial abuse, Cher wishes she expressed regret in nothing addressing it with her late ex. “To this day, I wish to God I could just ask, ‘Son, at what point, during what day, did you go, ‘Yeah, you know what? I’m going to take her money,’” she said.
Cher also claimed that Sonny secretly “arranged their finances so that Cher was working for him — an underpaid employee” listed under a company called Cher Enterprises.
While Sonny passed in 1998, according to Rolling Stone Cher still isn’t fully financial free of him.
Despite securing a victory in her Sonny And Cher royalty lawsuit against Bono’s widow Mary, opposing counsel have gone on to argue that Cher isn’t “entitled” to the finances.
Given this information, there is no wonder why Cher’s memoir is split into multiple parts.
Cher: The Memoir, Part One is out now via Harper Collins. Find more information here.
After a few legal hiccups, there appears to have been an update in the case. According to documents (viewable here) obtained by legal journalist Meghann Cuniff, Garcia’s lawyer, Ronald Leonardo Zambrano, has been sanctioned by the presiding judge, US District Judge Gregory H. Woods.
Within the court documents, Woods called out Zambrano for missing the in-person pretrial conference despite receiving proper notification. Although Zambrano attempted to have to avoid the decision, ultimately the judge didn’t agree with his arguments.
Now, Megan has the chance to recoup legal fees for the missed conference. Through her lawyer, Alex Spiro, Megan can file the formal request before the December 2 deadline. According to Cuniff, these tally up to $6,000.
As far as Garcia’s lost wages, harassment, and fostering a hostile work environment case is concerned it will move forward. In addition to the filing, Garcia alleged that he was force to witness a sexual encounter with Megan and a woman as they were trapped in a moving car. However, Megan’s attorney has denied the accusation.
“This is an employment claim for money — with no sexual harassment claim filed and with salacious accusations to attempt to embarrass her,” he said. “We will deal with this in court.”
There’s no bad blood between Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar. In fact, rumor says the two chart-topping musicians have secretly been hashing out some creative ideas in the studio. If you are a true Swiftie, it could be easy to dismiss these online whispers considering Kendrick had to re-record his “Bad Blood” verse for 1989 (Taylor’s Version).
But according to DJ Snake, Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar sneaking around in the studio in connection to a new track. During a sit down (viewable here), DJ Snake found joy in leaking the news, saying: “World premiere.”
Given that interview was conducted in French, the English translation is a bit muddy. French-speaking Swifties say that DJ Snake declared Taylor Swift recorded a guest verse for Kendrick Lamar’s supposed upcoming album. While others argued that DJ Snake actually said that it is Kendrick who recorded a feature for Taylor Swift’s new body of work. Either way, if the rumor is indeed true, fans are eager to hear what they’ve cooked up.
Back in 2014, Kendrick Lamar and Taylor Swift came together for Swift’s fiery hit “Bad Blood.” The song proved to be a smash for both artists. “Bad Blood” became Swift’s fourth No. 1 song on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and Kendrick’s first career No. 1. Now, supporters are curious to see if they can do it again.
According to Billboard, a documentary chronicling Fleetwood Mac’s journey to superstardom and beyond is currently “in the works” at Apple Original Films.
In the outlet’s report, it claims the forthcoming feature is not only “fully authorized” by the band, but they snagged a rather notable director. the creative mind behind several other moving musician documentaries (The Beach Boys, The Bee Gees, and Carole King and James Taylor), Frank Marshall is at the helm of the project.
Marshall opened up about the picture in a statement, saying: “I am fascinated by how this incredible story of enormous musical achievement came about. Fleetwood Mac somehow managed to merge their often chaotic and almost operatic personal lives into their own tale in real time, which then became legend. This will be a film about the music and the people who created it.”
While Fleetwood Mac’s origin story is a central focus of the film, Marshall plans on examining the legendary group’s greater impact on music. Outside of the archival footage, viewers can expect to catch intimate conversations with Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks as well touching footage with Christine McVie.
At this time, details surrounding the documentary’s title and expected release date has not yet been revealed. So, Fleetwood Mac fans are going to have to practice patience.
Styles P is the hardest and hardest working vegan MC we may ever know and his juice business is just scratching the surface of potential empire status. Considered an elder statesman at this point in his rap career, Styles has recorded and performed with a long list of legends in music, scoring hits and classics as lead artist, part of the legendary Lox, or as a featured artist, with songs like “All About the Benjamins,” “Good Times,” “We Gonna Make It,” “Money Power Respect,” “Honey (Bad Boy Remix),” and “Locked Up.” As seen on Uproxx’s Fresh Pair last year, the Ghost has almost a whiplash-inducing 1k credits in his discography.
With nothing to prove in music, Styles P has shifted some of his boundless energy towards the plant-based life he adopted 10 years ago and businesses that help spread that lifestyle to others in his community and beyond. Those businesses include Juice 2 Heal (recently rebranded from Juice For Life) – a juice franchise with several East Coast locations and Farmacy 4 Life – an online store stocked with wellness products and vitamins co-signed by Styles P and his wife Adjua.
We caught up with P over video, and scored a front-row seat to Styles’ home kitchen, as he cooked a meal for himself and went through his pantry of staples and treats. We learned about his favorite plant-based restaurants and snacks, his bond and plans with Michelin-starred chef Daniel Humm, and what’s next for Juice 2 Heal and Farmacy 4 Life – his duo of wellness-based businesses. Styles also candidly shared his feelings on Waffle House and soda, put us onto the Happy Cow app for plant-based folks that travel, and more importantly, where to find the tastiest vegan pizza.
What’s on your rider when it comes to food, snacks, and drinks?
Seaweed, almonds, water, coconut water, popcorn sometimes, fruit plate. Mainly healthy snacks to be honest with you. If it’s in a big city, I request a vegan meal from the local spot.
So when it comes to the water and the fruit and the different snacks, are there specific brands that it needs to be or is it just kind of whatever’s fresh and local?
I take mostly what’s fresh and local. I like Mountain Valley Water the best because it’s just simply water. And I like the coconut water – Harmless Harvest.
I like seaweed snacks. I like kale snacks. I like almonds. Sometimes I get almond butter, and peanut butter. I’m not really too picky because I don’t really like to eat before a show, to be honest with you. I like to snack but not eat and then I’ll take the plate with me after the show or I try to eat early. Bouncing around on stage with a full belly, it gets to you sometimes.
Are you more sweet or salty when it comes to snacking or is it kind of 50/50?
I’m like 50/50, but when you on the road, especially on the road, I like to stay away from sugar as much as possible. I try to not deal with sugar period. A ginger snack is cool.
I like dried fruit too – this is Solely (holds up package). I like a lot of dried fruits, almonds, cashews, and fruits. And a veggie plate, coconut water, and a sparkling water. I like sparkling water as well.
Author
So when you’re traveling for shows, are you bringing your own snacks with you on the plane? What are you getting at the airport to bring on the plane with you?
Same exact thing. I get dried fruits, cashews, almonds. I like to really keep it simple. I like LesserEvil popcorn sometimes. I like chickpea chips also, so I’ll bring them with me. Hippeas. I prefer the tortilla chips more than anything. The Solely joints. If I do pack, it’s things like that. I’ll pack chickpeas, seaweed, dried fruit, almonds, or cashews.
So when you get to your destination, you get to the hotel, you’re already fully stocked or are you going to the local Whole Foods or health food store to get snacks?
I’m usually most likely going to get them, to be honest with you. I don’t like to pack a bunch of things. I like to travel light. I’ve been doing this hip-hop thing for a lot of years, so I do my best to travel as light as possible. But if it’s a road trip and I’m in a Sprinter, it really depends on how busy I am, going into the trip and how busy I am not, going into the trip. I’m pretty much a creature of habit when it comes to snacks.
I stick to the script on the road. One thing you don’t want to do on the road especially, is tamper with your stomach. So I like to make sure I’m eating things that I know is going to make me not fuck with my gut and things that I’m used to eating. So I try to stick to that script.
So you’re not touching the mini bar if there’s a mini bar at the hotel?
Yeah, I do. If it’s cashews there or almonds, I eat it.
I know you’ve been on this vegan journey for a decade now or more. Would you say that it’s gotten increasingly easier for to be vegan on the road?
For sure. 10 years ago it was the roughest that you can imagine. The past, I would say, five years it’s more convenient for a plant-based person, I would say. It depends what town you in too or what city you in.
I also use the HappyCow app a lot. So I’ll get somewhere, hit HappyCow and see what plant-based restaurants are in the area, what they’re serving. I got a certain thing, I look at HappyCow and then I go to Uber Eats, hit the vegan section and see which place has the best ratings and less processed vegan stuff.
Plant-based isn’t healthy as it was years ago due to the fact that it is so much more popular now and big companies are taking advantage of the fact that most people don’t know not to eat a bunch of processed foods. So with that being said, it gets a little fuzzy sometimes when it comes to even plant-based restaurants when you’re out of town.
I know it’s usually late a lot of times after hip-hop shows. Are you still going to the diner and the Waffle House spots or are you getting delivery at the hotel or room service or what’s your move?
Hell no. I’m not going to the diner and I’m not going to Waffle House. No way! Hopefully, I get the good food off the rider. If I’m in a certain place, I also like to make sure I got a smoothie or some fresh juices. I’m not going to no diners or no Waffle House. I actually, especially even at home if possible, I don’t like to go to restaurants where they even serve regular food to be honest with you.
It’s two things. If regular food’s there, there’s a likely chance that somebody was touching your food, touched the regular food, that’s a high chance. For me personally, plant-based is not just about the health aspect of it – it’s about the energy that you’re getting out of the food and putting in the food. So sometimes a person who doesn’t care about a plant-based meal or care that you’re plant-based and they’re not plant-based, they don’t really care. When I used to eat at certain places, I used to go and tell them I had allergies.
I used to say, “I’m allergic to this. If I eat it, I may die,” just to make sure that it is not a certain way. Because certain people don’t understand the whole meaning of plant-based and they’ll tell you something is safe for you to eat when it’s actually not. So I think that’s something you have to be diligent and be very careful with when you are on the road, even if you’re not plant-based.
Are there any cities or markets that you’re excited to get to because they have a plant-based spot that you really love that you’re ready to get back to?
I love the West Coast for their plant-based food. I believe West Coast was innovative as far as plant-based food many, many years before pretty much all the states. So whether it’s Los Angeles, the Bay, you know you’re going to get something really, really good to eat. Atlanta actually has good vegan restaurants now.
A lot of places actually have a few good vegan restaurants that you just have to do the homework and find out where they are, what they are, and then look up what people have actually said about them. I think that’s kind of important and people forget to do that a lot.
I’m not looking to get a fake burger or a fake hot dog. I’d rather get mushrooms, greens, kale, things of that nature where I know I’m going to be okay eating them.
Are there any spots across the country where you could be like, “When you’re in this place, you got to go to this place,” or anything like that?
I go to all of the Planta’s, wherever they at. So if I’m in LA I go to Planta. I mean, if I’m in Miami, I go to Planta, wherever there’s the Planta. The one restaurant I do eat at that’s not plant-based, but they always seem to accommodate me is Jean Georges. Jean Georges usually has nice plant-based options you can get.
What are you ordering at Planta’s? What’s your favorite dish there?
I get the mushrooms. I get greens. I get the salad. I get the cauliflower tots. I get the veggie dumplings.
Author
What is Jean Georges cooking up for you?
Oh, I get the guac. I get the pea soup. I get the strawberry cucumber tomato salad. I get the chickpea guac. I get the sweet pea soup. I get the mushrooms. They’re pretty good with the mushrooms. So that’s my usual typical go-to when I’m at Jean Georges.
So as far as being into healthy snacks, I know sometimes not everybody’s on that level. Are there any things that you eat quite often that people give you the side eye about or think like, “Oh, how do you eat that?”
Seaweed I would say the most. Most people think seaweed’s crazy to eat. People don’t love seaweed. But most of the other snacks I eat are pretty typical and pretty normal. But I would say seaweed and then the chickpea chips.
Author
Are there any snacks that are really popular right now, whether that’s kind of plant-based or otherwise that you see people eating, you’re like, “Oh, that’s gross. Why are people eating that?” It doesn’t have to be plant-based. It could be anything.
I don’t say gross, but it’s more so my health radar goes off when I see what people eat. I know for a fact soda is very horrible for you. A soda with a candy bar is even worse. A soda bar. Yeah, horrible. Now look how many grams of sugar that has.
Look at how many grams of sugar that has. Right? And then one day go get yourself a scale and look and put that many grams of sugar on the scale and think about your intake of sugar for the day. So I would say, not that I look at things like it’s nasty because I don’t. Before I was plant-based, I was what you would consider a foodie. I’ve been to most of the high-end restaurants across the world. I think I look more so at things from a health standpoint. Hot dogs I believe are totally horrible. Cheese I believe is totally, totally horrible. Anything with a bunch of sugar in it is totally horrible
If you look at a lot of our snacks in America, if you take time to look and then you take that same exact snack and you said you go look at it in Europe or somewhere else, the ingredients are so different. We have so many more ingredients and where are these ingredients coming from and what are they meant to do? Even when you look at what you’re drinking right now, why is there so many fucking ingredients? That scares the shit out of me, to be honest with you.
If you could be an ambassador for any existing food brand or snack brand or drink brand, and I know you have your own stuff going on, is there any that you would like, I would love to be the face or the spokesperson for x”?
That’s a great question. Never really thought about that. I like Harmless Harvest, the coconut water. I think they’re dope. I like Solely, the dried fruit snacks. I think everything I told you earlier is stuff I really like. I would say also Elmhurst Oat Milk. I believe their product is super fire, super dope. They make milk without a bunch of sugar in it. The unsweetened one is pretty cool. LesserEvil, I like their snacks too, and I like the name of the brand.
Author
And then you growing up in Queens, are there any places today that you can say are great restaurants to check out, whether that’s vegan or otherwise?
Yeah, I like Seasoned Vegan a lot. Of course, Eleven Madison Park is super, super fire. Seasoned Vegan, Eleven Madison Park.
What are you ordering at those two places? Or what’s the one thing that people have to get?
Eleven Madison Park’s basically a Michelin star plant-based restaurant. When you get there, it’s kind of like anywhere from, I want to say 10 to fucking 16 courses. So you’re just sitting there getting served a bunch of great food. I feel that that’s more of an experience. It’s really a dining experience because it’s high-end. It’s cool. Chef Humm is really cool, really cares about his craft.
At Seasoned Vegan I get the burdock root. It’s imitating crawfish, but it’s actually burdock root and it’s really slamming.
Since you’re a New Yorker, what is the best vegan or tomato pie or best place to get pizza for somebody that’s on a plant-based diet?
Screamer’s Pizzeria – that’s another great plant-based spot. McLaren from Cuts & Slices makes a damn good vegan pie.
Author
What was eating like growing up in your household, and what was one of the favorite things that your Mom would make?
Eating in my household growing up was pretty cool. It wasn’t plant-based of course, but everything. I think when I was coming up it was days of the week for certain meals. So steak, fried chicken, fried fish, spaghetti, mashed potatoes, all the regular shit that everybody else had. It was pretty cool. Coming up, I did make sure I ate vegetables a lot.
I’m 49, so in my era coming up, you always heard a apple a day keeps the doctor away, eat the veggies off your plate. But then getting into hip-hop and moving around a lot, you start eating a lot of fast food and you’re on the road a lot and you’re just consuming so much fast food that I remembered I had to incorporate fruits and veggies back in my lifestyle just to feel good about myself, to be honest with you.
You mentioned Chef Humm and Eleven Madison, what’s the story behind that relationship? Did you all meet just from you dining there and then it developed into creating products together? How did that all come about?
Just dining there, meeting with them and just having pretty much shared the same sort of vibe, same sort of principles and beliefs when it comes to eating and helping people. It’s just a vibe. I think a lot of people underestimate the common denominator that plant-based life brings. Plant-based lifestyle goes hand in hand with potheads. Like if you’re a pothead and you love weed, you see things out the box. So I’ve been cool with white boys, Latinos, Asians, the Africans, Haitians, Jamaicans, you can fucking be an alien and be a pothead, you’re going to get along.
You put a bunch of potheads together facts, the common denominator is they love pot and they get along. I believe that same common denominator happens with plant-based lifestyle. The plant connects you. So when you see somebody and they live the same lifestyle you live or they’re promoting what you promote, you’re kind of just connected on a different level, your energy is in line with each other.
Fair enough, but how did it come to, “All right, we’re going to make PB&J”? And then do you and Chef Humm have plans to make other products or have anything in development that’s going to be on the shelf?
Yeah, definitely so. That was a limited run with the PBJ and Eleven Madison Park. And that was just us as friends getting together saying, “How do we bring a plant-based product that people who live a high-end lifestyle would eat and then people who don’t live a high-end lifestyle would eat? What’s the common denominator? Plant-based food.” And PBJ was it. So I believe yes, in the future we’ll do something again or I will definitely be in line of making some plant-based products for sure.
What can we expect in the next year or couple years from what you’re doing in the juice brand and store lane? You’ve been running your juice brand for a while with success. Are you planning to expand more or what can you share about your future plans?
Well, definitely so. We’re also looking to get Just Juices in more households and move worldwide and be able to provide different juice cleanses, different detoxes for people and just for a way for people to be able to order from us. Or even when they walk in the store, to be able to leave with more juice than they would typically leave with. So that’s definitely our plan. There’s actually five Juices for Life locations.
We switched one to Juice 2 Heal and we may keep going with the others, but more so I’m just interested in having a juice brand where I could get cleanses and detoxes and have an online presence. So that’s what Juice 2 Heal is for is specifically for cleanses, the detox, and to have an online presence with people.
Author
Farmacy for Life is another brand that you have. Are you planning to add more food and snack products to that offering or is it mainly just going to vitamins and supplements?
That’ll stay with vitamins and things of that nature, but I believe eventually with our Juice 2 Heal brand we will add other items or we’ll extend out and make something where we can have products for people to eat.
If you’re vegan and traveling abroad, it’s not always easy to find the menu accommodations you need. One country that strikes fear in the heart of vegans is Japan — with all its sushi, grilled meats, street food, fried meats, and tonkatsu ramen. The country is such a meat and fish haven that many vegans feel better off ditching their vegan diets for the duration of their adventures.
Nobody understands this situation better than the Noma-trained vegan chef Aaron Elliot. Chef Aaron has been vegan for the majority of his life, long before he interned at Noma and before a career in the kitchen was even an ambition of his (before his years in the kitchen, he spent time as a touring punk rock drummer) so he knows a thing or two about navigating a world that isn’t always vegan-friendly.
These days, Chef Aaron spends his time in Los Angeles (an oasis for vegan eaters), serving as a personal vegan chef for the likes of Travis Barker and the UFC fighter Nate Diaz, and has even started a vegan meal delivery service in the city called Meal Ticket that brings his chef-quality food to the masses (we’ve tried it, and it’s amazing). But despite being able to cook wherever he goes, Chef Aaron loves exploring food culture. After all, a great restaurant is about more than the food — it’s about the ambiance, the presentation, and the adventurous flavors — all things that Japanese cuisine and food culture excel at.
We don’t want any vegans missing out on Japanese food culture, which is why we linked up with Chef Aaron for an extensive food guide on all the best vegan food experiences in Kyoto, Tokyo, and Osaka Japan. Let’s dive in.
An organic restaurant & farm that serves multi-course lunch in the dining room of a wabi-sabi farmhouse about 45 minutes outside the city center of Kyoto. Quite possibly my favorite dining experience in Japan. They serve about 12 customers a day and it’s as farm-to-table as can be. The food is simple, perfectly seasoned, and amazing.
A standout would be Millet’s homemade soft tofu served with a pinch of Kala Namak (sulfur salt) which brought me back 20 years to the last time I had a hard-boiled egg. Peach cheesecake, too! Made from simply blending cashews, coconut oil, fresh peaches, and according to the chef… “that’s all!” The plates & cutlery are as beautiful as the food. Take a tour around their no-frills farm after your meal. You can take a bus here but a cab will save you half the time. Lunch is very low priced making it absolutely worth the cab fare.
One of my all-time favorite lunches, and only costs around $45 USD. Izusen is known for their Shojin Ryori – the cuisine of Buddhist Monks – and is 100% vegan. I lost count of how many courses this meal was; it’s like it never stops. In the first half of the meal comes the best bite in all of Japan: a poached umeboshi plum that comes battered & fried tempura style and served alone. If this was possible to have with some vanilla ice cream, I’d burn my passport and never come home. Izusen is a sit-on-the-floor (tatami mats) restaurant deep in the Daiji-in sub-temple in the Daitoku-ji temple complex.
It’s very hard to find so give yourself some time to get lost. My wife and I turned up at a monk’s house thinking it was the entrance by accident. He was kind enough to walk us to the restaurant’s entrance, about 10 minutes away.
Fresh off their 20th anniversary, Hale is set in a peaceful Kyomachiya. Cash only. Shoes off. The dining room has beautiful old wood walls and flooring and sits in front of a small garden. Easy to miss while searching through the stalls in Nishiki market. The restaurant has about 10 seats and only stays open from noon until 2:30 pm, and be warned: it sells out quickly. The menu is purely vegan and consists of a pre-set lunch of the day & some drink options. Ours included soft tofu, pickled carrots & sprouts, fried tofu, and a rice dish with a slurry-thickened mushroom broth with big chunks of fresh yuba. Bancha tea, a roasted green tea with a scent reminiscent of a campfire, is included. If Hale were in LA, I’d eat here almost every single day.
A choose-your-own-adventure sushi hand-roll restaurant, set in a tranquil renovated Kyomachiya. Each sushi board is made of about 50 kinds of vegetables, fruits, herbs & condiments, always changing with the seasons. A major standout was the pumpkin poached in cinnamon broth. The bottomless rice is a perfect mix of Tanba Koshihikari rice & quinoa, seasoned with pineapple & pink grapefruit vinegar. Oh my! Their “nishikiyamachi” location in Kyoto is fully vegan. Reservations are highly recommended.
My favorite designed restaurant in the world. Second to none. This is the definition of “wabi-sabi” to me. The tea list is world-class and oddly enough comes from France, not Japan. Expect a delicious but light lunch and some wonderful dessert options such as a soy milk Pannacotta & raw peach cake. Each dish from the entirely vegan menu is beautifully plated on meticulously selected handmade ceramics. Not to mention, it’s delicious. Grab a few photos, put your phone away, and take it all in. You’ll want to sit here for hours.
An unforgettable 13-course dinner in a temple. Portions are generous and arrive in quick succession. Rightfully so; if they didn’t, this could easily turn into a three-hour dinner. Fresh-made yuba, tofus, roasted spaghetti squash marinated in vinegar, and faux eel were all on the line-up. An extraordinary course was a steamed sweet potato covered in small crunchy matcha noodles that looked like a green sea urchin.
Course #10 was a favorite as well: a hot pot with a broth of plain soy milk. The vessel is lit table side & you are left with a bowl of vegetable fixings to dip in the broth and enjoy. After dinner, be sure to have a drink at the hidden bar that’s also on the temple’s grounds.
A pre-set menu ramen restaurant where Teamlab’s museum artwork is projected on the wall surrounding a 16-seat bar. There are two different ramens to choose from – a spicy miso & umami fermentation. With broths that are cooked for 12 hours and handmade noodles, this bowl of ramen not to be missed (and a visual experience that might make your friends jealous when you post on IG).
It’s hard not to question if such a special restaurant could exist anywhere other than Japan. Each course is a single unseasoned vegetable and the menu changes daily. Vegetables are slow-cooked in earthenware vessels made from clay, over coals. Eggplant, Colinky pumpkin, and Aoyama Native soybeans were all on the lineup. The chef, Taichi Nishikawa, serves food that will redefine the meaning of al dente. He gives you a little salt and some red miso on the side to dip. Everything is to be eaten with your hands.
After about 7 rounds of plain vegetables, you are served a bottomless, creamy, almost congee-like rice bowl with all the odds and ends from each vegetable course prior. Immediately after comes a bowl of miso soup. Taichi is one of one. His knife bag must only consist of two knives and a pair of tongs. Before I left I used Google Translate on my phone and typed “I am a chef, And this is the most inspiring meal I’ve ever had in my life.” In my return I received a humungous smile and a deep 90-degree bow followed by “thank you,” and all repeated 3 times in a row.
It’s true, the best pie I’ve ever had is in Japan. I’m not surprised. There are two locations in Tokyo, but I suggest opting for the “Tomato & Cheese” location, where Kaneko-san will be helming the oven. You can watch close as he slices the garlic in-hand, slowly falling onto your pizza. Lunch is a pre-set menu where you get a marinara pizza, salad, & iced tea for about $7, but do make sure to request olive oil & salt on your salad as the house dressing contains dairy. There are only 10 seats, so there’s a bit of a wait – albeit one that’s worth it. Madone!
A very nice, upscale, and modern omakase sushi restaurant. If given notice, they will accommodate a vegan request. 15 courses & affordable given where you are. The shiitake nigiri is not to be missed! Udatsu has a Michelin star so be sure to make a reservation well in advance and request to sit at the 10-seat counter, served by the man himself…Hisashi Udatsu.
I didn’t think I’d be including a tea cafe on this food guide but WAD is just that special.
We came to Osaka two different times on our last trip, literally only to come to WAD. Order a matcha and they will ask you to pick your cup off the shelf. Must-orders include the iced hojicha tea, as well as the gokuro, in which you enjoy four steeps of the tea, and at the end, they take the tea leaves from your empty pot and bring it back to you dressed in a soy sauce. Hands down, one of my favorites is the grilled savory mochi rice cake. It’s incredible. Seats fill up fast so plan on putting your name on a waitlist and coming back about an hour later.
Genji Soba is a fresh soba restaurant with vegan options, which turns out to be very rare in Japan due to most broths being made with dashi. The noodles are handmade in-house and they have gluten-free options. Cold soba, vegetable tempura, and Sobacha (roasted buckwheat tea)…yes please!
Lil Nas X’s Dreamboy era is well underway, with the earnest trickster releasing the new single, “Light Again,” last week — and a new single on the way this Friday, November 22. Lil Nas teased the new single on social media with a glimpse of its potential cover art, a racy photo of Nas apparently making out with a paramour in the backseat of a car. According to the accompanying tweet, the song is called “Need Dat Boy.”
Nas has been teasing new music for much of the year, but prior to “Light Again,” most of his actual output was confined to guest appearances, movie soundtracks, and his mixtape, Nasarati 2. The mixtape, which was named after his 2018 debut mixtape, featured tracks like “Lean On My Body” and “Trust Me,” and was only available on Nas’ SoundCloud, as it was apparently an unsanctioned release that he believed would get him in trouble with his label — particularly an early demo of “Light Again.” In May, he appeared on Kevin Abstract’s single, “Tennessee,” then on Camila Cabello’s C, XOXO single He Knows.” Finally, just before kicking his album rollout into high gear, he landed the song “Here We Go!” on Netflix’s Beverly Hills Cop sequel, Axel F. We’ll get to see the direction he’s going this Friday.
Although Jay-Z is best known for his rhymes and his billionaire ambition, much of his attention in recent years has been focused on a mission of social justice, which he’s pursued through his Team Roc initiative. After a million-dollar investigation into the Kansas City Police Department, Team Roc has now filed a lawsuit against the department, alleging that the KCKPD failed to comply with a public records request issued by Team Roc in November 2023 looking into a “longstanding” pattern of alleged “abuse and misconduct.”
According to Rolling Stone, the lawsuit accuses the KCKPD of “stonewall[ing] plaintiffs for almost a year… Defendants have produced zero documents relating to any complaint or investigation into even a single instance of misconduct by any member of the KCKPD.”
“Kansas City residents have suffered enormously as a result of KCKPD abuses,” the lawsuit reads. “Some have been framed for crimes they did not commit; some have been coerced into providing false testimony; some have been sexually assaulted; some have endured brutal beatings; and some have even been killed. Rather than promoting a culture of transparency and accountability, the KCKPD has a long history of turning a blind eye to, at best, and even covering up, if not worse, abusive and/or corrupt conduct by its officers.”
Team Roc’s lawyers want a court declaration that Kansas City officials “failed to comply” with their records request, and for the request documents to be turned over within 30 days.
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