Best of 2017: Food Writing

The quiet architect of Mission Chinese as we know it is ready for life after Danny Bowien (and Ivanka Trump)

I visited a dozen Olive Gardens to ponder the meaning of a chain

America takes more than it gives. The Indian restaurants Rao used to go to, the ones located in overlooked strip malls on the outskirts of big Texas cities, serve as an example of this. Once a tie to her community and culture, they either became fetishized by culinary explorers or are forgotten by the younger generation who are, “opening restaurants using Texas flavors and American marketing — no sudden phulkas or honor payments,” like the Indian restaurants she grew up sneaking into. Those were the places where, “To eat was to fantasize, as if watching a movie about teens in India; we tapp…

Talia Lavin on rediscovering dill in Russia, where the herb is sprinkled on seemingly everything.

It was the first I had endeavored on my own. The experience was . . . formative.

The long read: The oh-so-Instagrammable food movement has been thoroughly debunked – but it shows no signs of going away. The real question is why we were so desperate to believe it

In California, millions of dollars' worth of almonds, walnuts, and pistachios are disappearing. Farmers are perplexed, the cops are confused, and the crooks are getting richer. We sent Peter Vigneron to the Central Valley to take a crack at the crimes.