The Angel is Going Bicoastal
New York is our new home, but L.A. is still in the mix. A sharper, smarter, bigger, better evolution of this newsletter is landing in 2026.
Hello, angels!
I’m excited to officially announce that The Angel is coming back in January. Most of you know that I moved back to the East Coast in October, and I’m now based in Brooklyn again. Because my reporting and point of view drive this newsletter, it’s no longer (primarily) focused on the culinary landscape of Los Angeles. We’re starting fresh in New York City, where I was born and raised and where I began my food writing career.
That said, we’re not abandoning L.A. In more very good news, we’ll be publishing a monthly missive from sunny Southern California, written by The Angel’s new editor, the brilliant Jamie Feldmar. That’s right: we’re going bicoastal.
I’ve always found the most satisfaction as a writer—as a reporter, really—working locally, digging into the food scene around me. It’s what I’m doing anyway. I’ve been obsessed with eating my way around town since I was a kid growing up in Greenwich Village, and it’s where I can bring the most value to you. I can share where I like to eat in London (and I will), but I can most confidently tell you who’s shaping the food world right now, how restaurants and dining culture actually function, and why taste, trends, and behavior take hold in the city where I live and eat every day.
The Angel, as a name, is obviously a play on Los Angeles. I’m not changing it, though, because it means many other things, too. Ultimately, The Angel is me, alongside trusted voices you’ll come to know through Plugs and beyond.
Ok, so what, if anything, will be different about The Angel?
For starters, the domain is now theangel.nyc. While the newsletter won’t be exclusively focused on New York City—and will still have plenty of L.A.—New York is its new home. (Also, theangel.com costs a small fortune, and while I considered theangel.xyz, it felt too crypto-y.)
All previous Los Angeles-specific stories now live under the L.A. section of the site, linked in the top navigation. And if the homepage looks a bit bare right now, that’s because we’re about to start filling it with new reporting and fun franchises.
As for the content, here’s what you can expect:
Shorter, sharper dispatches on where to eat in New York and Los Angeles and what currently matters in each respective food scene
New York-based Plugs and other themed recs from friends of The Angel
Fun, reported specials, like what chefs are buying at the Union Square Greenmarket and why restaurants are obsessed with horses
Tight, hyper-specific lists (shrimp cocktail, anyone?)
The occasional voicey essay, and the occasional rant
Plus, one big story every two months. Jamie will be instrumental here, helping me deliver deeply reported profiles of the people you’re fascinated by and substantive features that examine the food world in New York and beyond.
Please send any and all tips to emily@theangel.nyc. Paid subscriptions will start back up on January 1st.
We’ll be back next month with new, improved, and regularly scheduled programming. Until then, enjoy the holidays. And if you missed it, here’s my inaugural New York letter: My New York in 25 Restaurants, a personal and cultural history told through dining out.
Since I’m here, a dozen (mostly edible) items I’m digging this holiday season here in New York…
King Christmas Cake & The King Cookbook
Juici Patties, purchasable by the dozen (or, even better, after a meal at Kabawa or Bar Kabawa, ask for a few of Paul Carmichael’s sensational goat patties—plus coco bread to go with—to take home)
Pink celery (and gorgeous wreaths!) at the Union Square Greenmarket
Oneg babka, from the shop or shipped via Goldbelly
Stone-milled flour from Brooklyn Granary
California citrus, grown at Ojai’s Marmalade Grove
Barney Greengrass blintzes, served with sour cream and raspberry jam
Forthave Green, a riff on Chartreuse made in collaboration with Blue Hill at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture
Rincon Tropics’ Carpinteria avocados, sold at Rigor Hill Market and drizzled with Inez’s 2025 Olio Nuovo!
Soy sauce sesame seeds by SOS Chefs
Tamar Adler’s new book: Feast on Your Life: Kitchen Meditations for Every Day
And some links I’ve liked recently…
Really, really good: This life gives you nothing. Your attention is all you have. Wasting it is annihilating. [Blackbird Spyplane]
The illustrator Zoé Albert hilariously depicts common French expressions in Pardon My French — an utter delight in my inbox
Bill Addison reveals his face! [LAT]
Jonathan Nunn names the 99 best restaurants in London [Vittles]
Tamar Adler on what it actually takes to make the best chocolate cake in the world [Vogue]
Hannah Goldfield reports on the arrival of my new neighborhood bakery, Diljān, specializing in Afghan bread and pastries [New Yorker]
Robert Sietsema analyzes Zohran Mamdani’s choice of restaurants
& Luke Fortney tells us Where to Eat like him [Robert Sietsema's New York, NYT]
Helen Rosner reviews Babbo, posing the question: why keep it going at all? [New Yorker]
Chris Black with a fair critique on Substack [GQ]
Annie Shi advises how to buy birth year wines [A Nibble And A Glass Of Wine]
Reilly Cox’s excellent gift edit for readers of Zoe Latta [Rotting On The Vine]
Xavier Donnelly’s dream kitchen design exercise for New York’s ‘It’ chefs [Magasin]
I was surprised myself how hard I took the news that the newsletter was leaving, I am THRILLED LA will still be covered!! (I live and die by the LA Plugs map!)
The bicoastal model makes way more sense than trying to maintain credibility in a city you no longer live in. Food writing is so hyperlocal that trying to cover a scene remotely always feels hollow. Had a similar situation with a publication I worked with where teh writer kept covering a city they'd left two years prior and it showed in every piece - all the energy was gone. The localdaily-eating perspective you mention is what actually matters, not the occasional parachute-in takes. Smart move bringing Jamie in for LA coverage rather than trying to stretch thin.