July 27, 2026

Hi, friend!

Some food stories begin with a family recipe, others with a conversation, and some with familiar names trying something new. This week, we’re thinking about the voices that keep us listening, the dishes worth passing along, and why even the most questionable food combinations can be hard to resist.

Quick Links

Press Play, Then Preheat

Cooking shows are getting looser, chattier, and increasingly resistant to being called cooking shows at all. This new crop trades rigid recipes and spotless studio kitchens for celebrity confessions, real-life kitchen mishaps, and the occasional accidental ASMR.

→ Happy Hour with Ina Garten arrives in September, inviting celebrity friends to her Manhattan apartment for cocktails, mocktails, and conversations she hopes will feel a little less polished than traditional television. Garten has already named Tom Holland and Zendaya as dream guests, though the actual guest list is still under wraps.

→ Meredith Hayden is taking Wishbone Kitchen to Netflix in August, with a weekly video podcast devoted to recipes, kitchen advice, hosting, and the small rituals that turn a house into a home. It’s essentially the cozy private-chef fantasy that made her famous, now expanded into a looser format that leaves as much room for conversation as cooking.

→ Jessie and Lennie Ware’s Table Manners is already a podcast institution, but its latest run has us especially well-fed. Gracie Abrams discussed tour cooking and caramelized leeks; Olivia Wilde revealed why she once believed everyone had to remain silent near a soufflé; and Suki Waterhouse defended cauliflower cheese with baked beans. If you haven’t been listening all along, we recommend tuning in now.

From Boy Band to Bar Cart

*NSYNC’s Lance Bass and Joey Fatone are reuniting, but this time as hosts of E!’s new mixology competition, Cocktail Wars, where bartenders face off in themed challenges for a $10,000 prize. The guest judges range from Lauren Graham and Seth Green to Rachel Maddow, creating what we imagine is one of the strangest group chats of all time. The series premieres August 18.

Current Cravings

→ Claudette Zepeda’s family birria layers beef chuck and short ribs with a deeply spiced adobo before a long braise turns everything tender enough to be stuffed into crisp tacos and dunked in a robust consommé. The recipe, featured in her new cookbook Cooking the Borderlands, is rooted in the celebratory birria de chivo she grew up eating in Tijuana.

→ Espresso lemonade is having another internet moment, now under the name Arnold Espresso. A shot poured over ice-cold lemonade sounds like a coffee shop dare, but the sweet citrus softens the coffee’s bitterness while the espresso keeps the whole thing from becoming overwhelmingly sugary.

→ Fruit Roll-Up popsicles turn two childhood snacks into an instant Magic Shell situation: wrap the candy around a frozen pop, wait for it to harden, then add Tajín, chamoy, lime, or salt if nostalgia alone isn’t doing enough. The pregnancy craving that started it has already pulled in more than 19 million views on TikTok.

Reel Meals

Guess the film from the plate

Answer in footer

Last Bite

A Creamer With Commitment Issues?

Coffee Mate is embracing summer-fling territory with Situation Sip, a limited-edition creamer flavored with strawberry, citrus, and mixed berry. Summer House star Carl Radke fronts the ad campaign, which casts him in a romance with the bottle. The first drop on July 20 was claimed within minutes, with a second and final batch going live July 27 at 2 p.m. ET.

Reel Meals Revealed

Phantom Thread! Reynolds Woodcock’s famously elaborate breakfast order, recited with exacting precision by Daniel Day-Lewis, begins with Welsh rarebit and a poached egg, then continues through bacon, scones, cream, jam, Lapsang souchong tea, and a last-minute side of sausages. We’re full just reading all of that.