Hey everyone, we here at Amateur Gourmet Newsletter headquarters want to hear how you’re liking things these days. Is there anything I can be doing to make the newsletters better? Would you like more recipes? Restaurant reviews? Essays? Podcasts? Nudes? (Just kidding about the nudes.) Chime in but please be nice! :)
I love the newsletter so much! I especially like recipes and your honest takes on what you added, how you did it, what you served with what. After 2 years of pandemic cooking I am out of ideas and I read your newsletter and I'm like - oh I'm going to make black eyed peas just like Adam! Menu planning sucks for me, so I actually copied your healthy week week by week. More menus and meal plans would be awesome if you have the energy. I love restaurant reviews too although I only get to LA once a year and you already have given me a list so long I'll never try the all. Would love ingredient/equipment reviews as well. Essays are great. Now I'm going to say something unpopular: I don't listen to podcasts. I can read a column in a fraction of the time that it takes me to listen to a podcast. Anyway, very happy to be a subscriber and appreciate all of your (non-audio) content!!!!
honestly i love the newsletter. i always read your newsletter pretty much as soon as i am able, and always to the very end. meanwhile some other substack newsletters get set aside in a folder to "read later" which means maybe never because i just get bored to tears but i feel a weird self imposed guilt about unsubscribing. ANYWAY!
will i ever go to any of the restaurants you talk about? no! (i don't live in CA and also never leave my house.) but i still for some reason love hearing your thoughts on them and looking at pictures of all the delicious food. and of course i love the recipes (i cook every day) and just general goings-on. (i'm nosy!) i even love the links at the bottom, especially as i have not really been on social media for the past year or so. to that end, even if you think everyone's already talked about and/or linked to something...if it's good, link it anyway! i probably missed it and want to read about it.
if there was One Weird Thing i'd like - that probably will never happen but that's ok but maybe - it's a transcript for the podcasts. often i'll see you allude to something in the podcast that sounds interesting/entertaining/etc but my attention span is really poor when it comes to listening. i would love to be able to read your interviews.
Adam, Basically just enjoy you and all you have to offer. Recipes can be found anywhere online these days…enjoy discovering them with you and your clever presentations. Was honored to be a recipe tester for your upcoming book and look forward to my own copy. Every week I wait until I have a drive of more than 30 min to savor your podcast. Only…what’s up with the yodeling?
I love the mix you have right now! I'm always absorbed by the essays but I think that's partially because they're not every week. I enjoy the recipes for the inspiration and love following along on your food adventures. I really enjoyed the roundup of ingredients you bought from The Grove as well since I could try to find some of those where I live.
I like pretty much whatever you write. I’m here for your voice, not your recipes. I particularly like when you share about things you’ve been eating around town or on your travels.
Love your point of view and you're such a wonderful interviewer and conversationalist. One example: the way you got people to open up about their families and the food of it all in terms of their upbringing on Lunch Therapy, something that's not always covered on other food podcasts (like Splendid Table, The Sporkful; come to think of it, it is a lovely part of Table Manners). Thank you for sharing so many great conversations with food-world people and the LA folks who are outside of food have also been very entertaining (and even moving, Drew Droege's a recent example). For some reason I don't quite "get" the theme music for the new pod, but that could be just me! When you share what you're eating in the newsletter/instagram, it's so great for getting ideas--you have a big influence on what I eat/how I view food and entertaining in general, thank you!
More recipes and food videos, please. Plus more cooking equipment/food products, etc. Have followed many of your great suggestions. Getting ready to officially start spring here with your fantastic spring minestrone, made with stove top stock as seen in your video from last year. It was perfectly timed with the thrilling new produce at the farmers' markets. And once again the sugar snap peas, green garlic, spring onions are here! As is Albert Mathieu.
Sorry for coming to the conversation late! I really enjoy your newsletter. Mostly becasue its fun to read. I enjoy your personality and your takes on things! I would say more annecdotes!!! The recipes are nice - like in the way a friend tells you about something great they made and then tells you how.
I love the newsletter and like others, read it right away, while others linger in my inbox until I have time. You write about the things I'm interested in -- navigating ingredients, home techniques that make restaurant quality meals, and restaurant musings. I love it when Chelsea P. shows up! I followed her comic and food journeys during the pandemic and then all of a sudden you know her and she's having dinner. What?! You cook delicious food, eat at great restaurants, and have awesome friends, but nothing feels too orchestrated or braggy. What's not to like?
I like your this-is-how-I-eat, this-is-what-is-happening-in-my-life updates. I'm not here for recipes or podcast guests. I just like to read about someone's life that's very different from mine. Particularly like your dinner hosting, travel, Florida family, and restaurant posts. I think you have a great mix already.
I love the new podcast format! It just a little more broad and feels fresh. I am in favor of hearing about what people eat, but the therapy aspect was starting to feel a little narrow and repetitive, when basically every guest has many interesting things about them, whether they are famous, food industry, or just your pals. I am surprised to be saying this, but while I love recipes, it’s essays, restaurants, travel, slices of life, people that are really where it’s at for me. I am still very happy when food topics come into it. I am also enjoying the community aspect, hearing other people’s comments and hot takes has been surprisingly fun.
adam, I have followed you since your early days, (still have your meal at El Bulli (2009) on my feed) and for me, your meals prepared at home, your entertaining, and following you around are the most real food experiences. I look forward to your newsletters, keep it up!
Hi - newer subscriber here. I'd love to see more recipes, food finds, food trend discussions, interviews with food people who love to cook, etc. Only some restaurant reviews as I'm in SC and I seriously doubt there would be any here. But I love to cook, read about food, follow trends. I do like the new podcast format. Less "celebrities" who don't cook - very little interest in their weird eating or dislike of cooking rants.
Hi, Adam- I love your newsletter but am not a podcast person. I would love to see the Ten Questions in a text format -it looks like a lot of fun, but I never click through to listen to it.
Going to chime in with the other super fans encouraging you to keep doing what you're doing: I enjoy not knowing what's going to be in each week's newsletter--it's always a fun surprise. One thing (that might be a little selfish of me) is less overlap between your social media and the newsletter so that there are even more surprises :-)
My very favorite thing is the 10 questions! I'm so glad you're continuing that. I like the broadened theme for the podcast and would only say that I don't need every guest to be a celebrity or well-known person. I remember Death Sex & Money went from being mostly normal people to mostly celebrities and they totally lost me. So please at least keep a mix of some regular folks (food industry or otherwise) on the roster. I do listen to the celebrity shows, but I'm not any more interested in them as people than I am in someone your know who just loves to cook or eat. As for content, I like it all - reviews (of cookbooks, cooking shows, restaurants), recipes, and beyond -- I am up for all of it. Thanks for carrying on your work -- I'm a long-time fan and I'm glad you're still doing what you do.
Hey Adam, just wanted to take this opportunity to day how much I appreciate you and your writing. I've been a follower of yours since the early blog days. I read all your recipes and restaurant reviews and I love seeing the little snippets of your life with Craig, Winston, and your great dinner party guests. I must admit I don't listen to the podcast - no offense but I already have too many to listen to regularly, and just not enough time! That's on me, I'm sure it's awesome... Keep up the wonderful work, you are really one of my favorite food related influencers/bloggers/dare I say celebrities, and I hope to keep following you for many more years to come. Much love (is that weird ?!) from a fan in France.
I think you have such a great balance going on right now. I’ve read you for years, and I love seeing you thriving, with such a great mix of things going on. Keep doing what you’re doing - it’s excellent! (I will add I especially enjoy your essays; they always feel like a treat.)
Really enjoy your newsletters, restaurant reviews, recipes, whole dinners you made. Don't have much chance these days to listen to podcasts, so not so much in to them. Someone suggested equipment reviews and that's a terrific idea. I'm trying to find bakeware right now and it's a huge pain. Thanks.
Hi Adam, I am new to your newsletter and I love it! I especially like recipes and your takes on what you added, and why. As I live abroad (as not in the US), I am "less interested" in restaurants reviews just because I cannot go and try them for myself ;-)
I love your news letter and your podcast. I specially like to watch you cook and getting a quick glimpse of Winston. Makes my day! Something about your voice… I also love the restaurant reviews, because I used to live in Silverlake and Atwater is one of my favorite areas 😊👏🏼👏🏼❤️🐶
I'm really enjoying your newsletter format! I love the recipes and menus that you share as it helps to inspire my own cooking. I also enjoy your restaurant reviews and photos even though I live in Canada and not LA. I love how you can share parts of your everyday life and how you can be humorous and informative at the same time. I have been listening to your podcast since the beginning and I am getting used to the new format..the yodelling works for me! :)
I really enjoy your restaurant reviews. Not that I'll ever get to Merica, but I like to imagine up the things you eat. Some are so culturally different to my food experiences that they are a wonder to me. I love Winston. I'm such a fan of a good ginger dog, and he's a good ginger dog. Perhaps you could give him a segment on what he likes to eat.
Actually, I love the whole Newsletter, just as it is, random and all. I like the ingredient sorties, because again, they are often foreign to me. I like that you show us your own cooking and sometimes I think your diet needs a perk-up with more veges, and then you talk about your lunch of salad and I put my thinking back in my wardrobe of thoughts.
Adam - I really like the changes you made to your newsletter - well I really liked the blog thing before too : ) I love how you personalize the cooking/baking info you share, your pix, the restaurant reviews, your interviews and the links ! I became a "subscriber" a couple months ago after resisting for awhile but now I think of it as paying for a magazine subscription. Thank you for such wonderful content. I look forward to all the wonderful things you will be sharing with us. Chris in San Francisco
I'm a reader from your very early blog days and it's been so much fun to follow you and your career all these years. I love the recipes, restaurant reviews, travel pieces and I've always enjoyed all the music. I was introduced to Kiki and Herb on your blog! Always appreciate your own playing and I kinda enjoy the yodeling too. So, please, more of the same. I wouldn't mind reading the podcasts at all. Congrats on your long term success
I love the newsletter so much! I especially like recipes and your honest takes on what you added, how you did it, what you served with what. After 2 years of pandemic cooking I am out of ideas and I read your newsletter and I'm like - oh I'm going to make black eyed peas just like Adam! Menu planning sucks for me, so I actually copied your healthy week week by week. More menus and meal plans would be awesome if you have the energy. I love restaurant reviews too although I only get to LA once a year and you already have given me a list so long I'll never try the all. Would love ingredient/equipment reviews as well. Essays are great. Now I'm going to say something unpopular: I don't listen to podcasts. I can read a column in a fraction of the time that it takes me to listen to a podcast. Anyway, very happy to be a subscriber and appreciate all of your (non-audio) content!!!!
I really like the newsletter and appreciate all that you share with us!
honestly i love the newsletter. i always read your newsletter pretty much as soon as i am able, and always to the very end. meanwhile some other substack newsletters get set aside in a folder to "read later" which means maybe never because i just get bored to tears but i feel a weird self imposed guilt about unsubscribing. ANYWAY!
will i ever go to any of the restaurants you talk about? no! (i don't live in CA and also never leave my house.) but i still for some reason love hearing your thoughts on them and looking at pictures of all the delicious food. and of course i love the recipes (i cook every day) and just general goings-on. (i'm nosy!) i even love the links at the bottom, especially as i have not really been on social media for the past year or so. to that end, even if you think everyone's already talked about and/or linked to something...if it's good, link it anyway! i probably missed it and want to read about it.
if there was One Weird Thing i'd like - that probably will never happen but that's ok but maybe - it's a transcript for the podcasts. often i'll see you allude to something in the podcast that sounds interesting/entertaining/etc but my attention span is really poor when it comes to listening. i would love to be able to read your interviews.
Yes! Recipes, pretty please!
Adam, Basically just enjoy you and all you have to offer. Recipes can be found anywhere online these days…enjoy discovering them with you and your clever presentations. Was honored to be a recipe tester for your upcoming book and look forward to my own copy. Every week I wait until I have a drive of more than 30 min to savor your podcast. Only…what’s up with the yodeling?
I love the mix you have right now! I'm always absorbed by the essays but I think that's partially because they're not every week. I enjoy the recipes for the inspiration and love following along on your food adventures. I really enjoyed the roundup of ingredients you bought from The Grove as well since I could try to find some of those where I live.
I like pretty much whatever you write. I’m here for your voice, not your recipes. I particularly like when you share about things you’ve been eating around town or on your travels.
I miss lunch therapy
Love your point of view and you're such a wonderful interviewer and conversationalist. One example: the way you got people to open up about their families and the food of it all in terms of their upbringing on Lunch Therapy, something that's not always covered on other food podcasts (like Splendid Table, The Sporkful; come to think of it, it is a lovely part of Table Manners). Thank you for sharing so many great conversations with food-world people and the LA folks who are outside of food have also been very entertaining (and even moving, Drew Droege's a recent example). For some reason I don't quite "get" the theme music for the new pod, but that could be just me! When you share what you're eating in the newsletter/instagram, it's so great for getting ideas--you have a big influence on what I eat/how I view food and entertaining in general, thank you!
More recipes and food videos, please. Plus more cooking equipment/food products, etc. Have followed many of your great suggestions. Getting ready to officially start spring here with your fantastic spring minestrone, made with stove top stock as seen in your video from last year. It was perfectly timed with the thrilling new produce at the farmers' markets. And once again the sugar snap peas, green garlic, spring onions are here! As is Albert Mathieu.
I love the recipes with stories. Those are my favorites. Second to that the restaurant round up!
Sorry for coming to the conversation late! I really enjoy your newsletter. Mostly becasue its fun to read. I enjoy your personality and your takes on things! I would say more annecdotes!!! The recipes are nice - like in the way a friend tells you about something great they made and then tells you how.
It’s a fabulous newsletter - I love the honesty and openness. And the rejigged podcast is lots of fun - especially the new theme song!
I love the newsletter and like others, read it right away, while others linger in my inbox until I have time. You write about the things I'm interested in -- navigating ingredients, home techniques that make restaurant quality meals, and restaurant musings. I love it when Chelsea P. shows up! I followed her comic and food journeys during the pandemic and then all of a sudden you know her and she's having dinner. What?! You cook delicious food, eat at great restaurants, and have awesome friends, but nothing feels too orchestrated or braggy. What's not to like?
I like your this-is-how-I-eat, this-is-what-is-happening-in-my-life updates. I'm not here for recipes or podcast guests. I just like to read about someone's life that's very different from mine. Particularly like your dinner hosting, travel, Florida family, and restaurant posts. I think you have a great mix already.
I love the new podcast format! It just a little more broad and feels fresh. I am in favor of hearing about what people eat, but the therapy aspect was starting to feel a little narrow and repetitive, when basically every guest has many interesting things about them, whether they are famous, food industry, or just your pals. I am surprised to be saying this, but while I love recipes, it’s essays, restaurants, travel, slices of life, people that are really where it’s at for me. I am still very happy when food topics come into it. I am also enjoying the community aspect, hearing other people’s comments and hot takes has been surprisingly fun.
adam, I have followed you since your early days, (still have your meal at El Bulli (2009) on my feed) and for me, your meals prepared at home, your entertaining, and following you around are the most real food experiences. I look forward to your newsletters, keep it up!
More restaurant reviews. Podcasts don't matter to me but probably do to others.
You are doing great! I like your point of view, so I don't much care which form you deliver it in!
Recipes, food finds are my favorites, restaurant coverage least favorite as I can't visit them 🙂
Definitely more recipes. And maybe a play list?
I always love your essays!
Hi - newer subscriber here. I'd love to see more recipes, food finds, food trend discussions, interviews with food people who love to cook, etc. Only some restaurant reviews as I'm in SC and I seriously doubt there would be any here. But I love to cook, read about food, follow trends. I do like the new podcast format. Less "celebrities" who don't cook - very little interest in their weird eating or dislike of cooking rants.
Recipes and essays about things you think/experience in the food world. More of the same that you already do??
Love the change to the podcast! Recipes! And the whole cookie mystery newsletter was hilarious, so essays are good too.
Hi, Adam- I love your newsletter but am not a podcast person. I would love to see the Ten Questions in a text format -it looks like a lot of fun, but I never click through to listen to it.
Keep up the great work!
Going to chime in with the other super fans encouraging you to keep doing what you're doing: I enjoy not knowing what's going to be in each week's newsletter--it's always a fun surprise. One thing (that might be a little selfish of me) is less overlap between your social media and the newsletter so that there are even more surprises :-)
My very favorite thing is the 10 questions! I'm so glad you're continuing that. I like the broadened theme for the podcast and would only say that I don't need every guest to be a celebrity or well-known person. I remember Death Sex & Money went from being mostly normal people to mostly celebrities and they totally lost me. So please at least keep a mix of some regular folks (food industry or otherwise) on the roster. I do listen to the celebrity shows, but I'm not any more interested in them as people than I am in someone your know who just loves to cook or eat. As for content, I like it all - reviews (of cookbooks, cooking shows, restaurants), recipes, and beyond -- I am up for all of it. Thanks for carrying on your work -- I'm a long-time fan and I'm glad you're still doing what you do.
Hey Adam, just wanted to take this opportunity to day how much I appreciate you and your writing. I've been a follower of yours since the early blog days. I read all your recipes and restaurant reviews and I love seeing the little snippets of your life with Craig, Winston, and your great dinner party guests. I must admit I don't listen to the podcast - no offense but I already have too many to listen to regularly, and just not enough time! That's on me, I'm sure it's awesome... Keep up the wonderful work, you are really one of my favorite food related influencers/bloggers/dare I say celebrities, and I hope to keep following you for many more years to come. Much love (is that weird ?!) from a fan in France.
I think you have such a great balance going on right now. I’ve read you for years, and I love seeing you thriving, with such a great mix of things going on. Keep doing what you’re doing - it’s excellent! (I will add I especially enjoy your essays; they always feel like a treat.)
Really enjoy your newsletters, restaurant reviews, recipes, whole dinners you made. Don't have much chance these days to listen to podcasts, so not so much in to them. Someone suggested equipment reviews and that's a terrific idea. I'm trying to find bakeware right now and it's a huge pain. Thanks.
Great newsletter. Thx
I enjoy your newsletter and I like the links you provide. Keep on doing what you are doing!
Hi Adam, I am new to your newsletter and I love it! I especially like recipes and your takes on what you added, and why. As I live abroad (as not in the US), I am "less interested" in restaurants reviews just because I cannot go and try them for myself ;-)
I love your news letter and your podcast. I specially like to watch you cook and getting a quick glimpse of Winston. Makes my day! Something about your voice… I also love the restaurant reviews, because I used to live in Silverlake and Atwater is one of my favorite areas 😊👏🏼👏🏼❤️🐶
I'm really enjoying your newsletter format! I love the recipes and menus that you share as it helps to inspire my own cooking. I also enjoy your restaurant reviews and photos even though I live in Canada and not LA. I love how you can share parts of your everyday life and how you can be humorous and informative at the same time. I have been listening to your podcast since the beginning and I am getting used to the new format..the yodelling works for me! :)
I really enjoy your restaurant reviews. Not that I'll ever get to Merica, but I like to imagine up the things you eat. Some are so culturally different to my food experiences that they are a wonder to me. I love Winston. I'm such a fan of a good ginger dog, and he's a good ginger dog. Perhaps you could give him a segment on what he likes to eat.
Actually, I love the whole Newsletter, just as it is, random and all. I like the ingredient sorties, because again, they are often foreign to me. I like that you show us your own cooking and sometimes I think your diet needs a perk-up with more veges, and then you talk about your lunch of salad and I put my thinking back in my wardrobe of thoughts.
Keep doing what you're doing. It's good.
Adam - I really like the changes you made to your newsletter - well I really liked the blog thing before too : ) I love how you personalize the cooking/baking info you share, your pix, the restaurant reviews, your interviews and the links ! I became a "subscriber" a couple months ago after resisting for awhile but now I think of it as paying for a magazine subscription. Thank you for such wonderful content. I look forward to all the wonderful things you will be sharing with us. Chris in San Francisco
I'm a reader from your very early blog days and it's been so much fun to follow you and your career all these years. I love the recipes, restaurant reviews, travel pieces and I've always enjoyed all the music. I was introduced to Kiki and Herb on your blog! Always appreciate your own playing and I kinda enjoy the yodeling too. So, please, more of the same. I wouldn't mind reading the podcasts at all. Congrats on your long term success