episode 44: what’s In and Out for 2025 - food edition!

happy new year! i’ve got my 2025 Ins and Outs list ready to go — plus a London restaurant list, an ode to frozen yogurt, and more!

the moment you’ve been waiting for…. 📝

YES! its here! my 2025 food-related Ins and Outs list! behold all my predictions (and desires) for food and drink and restaurant trends this year.

here’s a few items on this list that may need a bit of explaining:

• charcuterie boards are out mainly because we’ve gotten a bit too lazy with them. three random cheeses and crackers from Trader Joe’s (as much as I enjoy all these things) are boring! I want to see the effort of a full-on appetizer: make a dip! a crostini! a real dish instead of random, mismatched cheeses!

• putting deli containers in the dishwasher being out is just me, calling myself out! stop doing that! they’re not dishwasher safe! the tooxxxinnnsss!

• i’m sick of influencers declaring the subject of their content as “THE BEST RESTAURANT IN DC” as clickbait/rage bait. this restaurant isn’t the BEST - you’re just saying that to increase engagement on your video. let’s find another adjective people! “cool new restaurant” or “gem in the neighborhood” are way better phrases than your declaration of something as ”best” when you certainly haven’t tried EVERY other restaurant in that category. stop faking that you’re a food critic and move on.

• rip and dip bagels bagels are basically made soft enough that you tear them apart and dip the pieces in cream cheese instead of slicing the bagel in half and putting the schmear in the middle. trust me! it’s good!

that’s it for now - please leave your thoughts and questions in the comments below! and thanks to my friends for their input on this list!

what happened to frozen yogurt? 🍦

ten years ago, self-serve frozen yogurt shops littered cities and suburbs across the nation. tweens and adults alike would purchase a cup, pull that beautiful lever of freedom, select a bunch of flavors of sweetened frozen yogurt and then pile on toppings for a “healthy” tasty sweet treat. fast forward to now, and all the shops have vanished! this TikTok from comedian/podcast host Ashley Hamilton summed it up - if only we had known, we would have savored those days!

so - what happened to all those stores? well, frozen yogurt, originally known as “frogurt” was introduced in the 1970s, and grew in popularity with TCBY’s stores in the 80s filling the consumer need for a “healthier” dessert alternative. this continued into the 2000s with the opening of Pinkberry in LA, and its popularity rode the wave of the low-fat low-carb diet trends of the time. to make the business more scalable, manufacturers made a powderized form of froyo, allowing franchisers to start shops all over the country. they were everywhere, and the self-serve multi-handle format only helped its spread, at chains like 16 Handles, Menchie’s, Yogurtland, and more.

in the mid 2010s, the availability of healthy desserts rose, artisanal ice cream shops became trendier, and the popularity of vegan and dairy-free diets led to plummeting sales for froyo as we knew it. one could get low-calorie desserts like Halo Top in any grocery store, so the demand for brick-and-mortar decreased. but, we’re really feeling nostalgia these days, and the “little treat” culture could revive the novelty of the IRL store- or the indie sleaze revival could instead! now, where do I sign the petition…

pickles on the road 🛣️

winter is upon us, which (depending on where you live, I suppose) means snow on the ground and ice on the roads. typically, transportation authorities have used spray salt on the roads to melt the ice and make roads safe to drive on, but theres another hidden solution: pickle brine! while traditional rock salt works, it also leaves a thin white film everywhere and costs billions a year in product and distribution costs. that’s why some communities began to utilize waste from other products, like Wisconsinites with cheese waste, or Canadians with beet sugar.

now, people are talking about use of pickle brine. pickle manufacturers used to use sodium chloride for the brine, but now use calcium chloride. the advantage of CaCl2 for pickling is that it tastes saltier, which means less salt is necessary, resulting in lower-sodium pickle. additionally, it is also good for de-icing roads after its use on the pickles - the brine can freeze at a lower temperature and has less of an environmental impact. others say that organic brines like this are a creative solution, but can still introduce pollutants into the environment. it’s either this or cars skidding everywhere…take your pick!

die (red) dye! ❌

the FDA is now considering a ban on a food dye called Red No. 3. the use of this dye was banned in cosmetics and lotions, after it was shown it can cause cancer in animals in high doses, but it was determined safe in the amounts used in food. though the FDA has considered its approval many times, concern has recently grown again after California passed a law to ban the dye in foods, and multiple states have introduced bills to do the same, raising pressure on the FDA. this has led them to consider a petition to ban the product from the Center for Science in the Public Interest. read more here.

a travel recap of london! 🇬🇧

its here! my regularly scheduled post-travel blog post that somehow justifies my payment to maintain my website domain name! over on aditieats.com you can find all the spots we went to in London in one place, plus my massive Google List with additional ideas and links. check it out!

butter sculptures!! 🧈

as an Iowan I will always boast the butter cow displayed at the Iowa State Fair every year. but this month as I was scrolling past people’s Christmas tablescapes on Insta and Pinterest I noticed a few (small) butter sculptures laid out as centerpieces. BA did a little profile on an artist who makes butter sculptures, and even a full-on tutorial on how to make your own. if you soften the butter and use molds, you can make sculptures and even butter candles for your table! ideas for my next craft night…

f*cked up food

new pants new year new sandwich!

restaurant review: 2024 favs!

instead of just one restaurant in this segment, i’m showcasing my favorite DC restaurants of the year! for each month I picked one favorite meal in DC: we’ve got all the hits - Tonari, Your Only Friend, Bar del Monte and many more. click below!

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d.c. happenings:

openings

• Bangbop Korean restaurants coming to Palisades

• Conduit Road Public House coming to Palisades

• Cafe Fiorello coming Downtown

• another Stephen Starr spot, Occidental coming to Willard Hotel

• Tapori, from Daru folks opening end of January

• Ghanaian restaurant Elmina coming to 14th St

• Ethio Vegan coming to H St

closings

• Meli Wine & Mezze closing in AdMo

• Mozzeria closed on H St

• Cracked Eggery’s parent company filed for bankruptcy (but DC locations are fine!)

• Navy Yard Insomnia Cookies temporarily closed

home cooking 🍸

whyyyy did I decide to do my first post-vacation grocery shop at Whole Foods? as if i’m rich? lol anyways, I had a butternut squash that I used across a few dishes: roasted and served over labneh with crackers, in a pita sandwich, and in a risotto! I also popped open some panang curry paste I picked up from H Mart a bit ago and made a Thai curry, which I hadn’t done in a while and it was so easy!

for New Years my friend Kelsey and I hosted a party called Dips and Sips! people brought dip (and dippers) and sipped on cocktails and wine. for drinks, we did a martini bar with all the fixings: olives, lemon twist, blue cheese olives, and a lambrusco negroni station. we had some great dips (for which sadly I have few pictures): homemade hummus, onion dip, buffalo chicken dip, pickle dip, and a dirty martini dip. it was a great casual theme for the evening!

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that’s it folks! see y’all soon!