Ask Me Anything: The Importance of Being Nice

My holiday wishes for restaurants and customers! Plus, great places to eat in Puglia, tips for making a holiday ham better and more...

A HOLIDAY GIFT FROM AZ 

This year, we're offering a fantastic gift to new paid subscribers to Spilled Milk: Sign up and you'll get a code for 25% off everything from Shun Cutlery, Kai, Kai Housewares and Kershaw Knives, with free shipping for orders over $50. The code will be emailed to you once you subscribe, and then you can fill your cart! The discount will be valid until Jan. 31, 2024, and you just need to create an account on the Shun/Kershaw/Kai site while you shop. The code is valid for TWO uses across all of Shun's brands. 

If you're a free subscriber, you can get this gift by going paid. If you're already a paid subscriber, consider giving a subscription to Spilled Milk as a holiday present: Subscribers receive exclusive recipes and travel guides each week and can participate in my weekly "Ask Me Anything" chats.    

Your subscription means the world to me. I’ve spent over 40 years cooking, traveling and growing my community. The small fee helps compensate my team fairly. What's more, some of the proceeds from this newsletter will go toward charities like World Central Kitchen and Services for the UnderServed.

Hello from my house! I’m finally home after a long trip, and no, this is not my only T-shirt. Watch the video to hear all about it.

Thank you for your questions this week. I love taking your questions, and if you’re a paid subscriber to Spilled Milk, you can leave questions in the comments or email them to me. In previous editions of Ask Me Anything, I’ve talked about where to eat in Munich, given tips for reheating brisket and suggested food gifts you can bring to holiday parties.

This week’s questions started with one I care about so much I have a special pre-paywall video where I talk about it: Bernie asked “Any restaurant trends you want to see go away next year? Or wishes? Should customers be nicer?” Here’s what I have to say about that:

OK, let’s get on with the rest of the program….