Chefs Angie Rito and Scott Tacinelli founded Don Angie in 2017, a modern Italian American restaurant celebrating the red sauce cuisine synonymous with Italians in America. The restaurant has achieved plenty of acclaim, earning and then losing a Michelin star, publishing a popular cookbook under the title Italian American, and achieving fame on social media like TikTok. Perhaps no better symbol of their success is the famous spiral lasagna dish.

Let me begin by saying we were in the Flatiron district. I know, those words sound silly even as I type them out. Why would anyone be there of all places? My wife was at a coworking space and we were meeting my brother who was coming from the Upper West Side, and suddenly it seemed like the easy place to meet.

Shalom Japan has been around quite a while, opening back in 2013. The chefs are a married couple, Aaron Israel and Sawako Okochi, and the menu is a collaboration merging their two respective culinary cultures – Jewish and Japanese cuisine. The result, of course, is remarkable. The restaurant remains at hit on tastemaking sites like The Infatuation and they regularly receive the Michelin Bib Gourmand.

This whole dinner began because we had taken our toddler with us to the grocery store, and as we walked through the produce section he was insistent we buy an orange pepper. And then he wanted a yellow pepper. And then a red one. It was like we were writing If You Give a Mouse A Bell Pepper in real time.

I met up with an former roommate at Hill Country Barbecue Market and feasted on meats.