The Symposium’s Saucy History

The symposium in ancient Greece was a formal postprandial drinking party for men, during which topics of interest were discussed as tongues were loosened. Plato has famously documented it. In its series, “Archaeology Abridged,” the Archaeological Institute of America is offering a Zoom lecture by Kathleen Lynch, a professor of classics at the University of…

Red Sauces With the Carbone Touch

Major Food Group has introduced three jarred pasta sauces. They’re straightforward renditions of marinara, chunky tomato-basil and spicy arrabbiata, worth keeping in the pantry for an easy dinner. As for preparing Carbone restaurant’s famous spicy rigatoni vodka, some day the sauce line might include it, but not at this time. The jarred sauces offer fine…

Make Sake Cocktails This Sakura Season

In Japan honoring sakura, cherry blossoms, is perennial in spring. For the occasion, the Japan Society has organized a virtual celebration with a Zoom class about sakura-themed sake cocktails, including Cherry Blossom Fizz, Sakura Highball and Ichigo Cocktail (ichigo means strawberry). Participants will receive the link in advance, with recipes, lists of ingredients and equipment,…

New Porcelain Designed With the Chef in Mind

Made In, the company that sells cookware directly to consumers, has introduced French porcelain baking dishes, manufactured by a company that has been in business for more than 200 years. The generous square, oval and rectangle pieces — available now and designed in collaboration with the chef Nancy Silverton — are white with a choice…

Sex Is Finally Back In Fashion

Courtesy of the Designer; Getty; Imaxtree; Lisa Aiken, the fashion and buying director of Moda Operandi, is reminiscing about the party that followed the Jacquemus resort 2020 show—the highly Instagrammable one, set in the lavender fields of Provence during the golden hour. “So many of the attendees were in dresses that were sheer or had…

Trivia Found a Way in the Pandemic

Back in early 2019, Missy Steak started hosting Drag Trivia, a twice-monthly event in the Boston area featuring performances by her fellow drag queens. Between acts, Missy would pose questions to the audience about pop culture and current events, gently teasing those who hadn’t been keeping up with the latest on, say, the General Motors…

Asparagus Season!

Good morning. Long ago, when I was working in the newsroom and going out to eat roughly a dozen times each week, I’d sometimes grab my pal Gilbert and walk briskly through the Theater District to a not-very-good restaurant with big plate-glass windows onto the street. We’d sit on stools at the bar and eat…

When Is the Met Gala in 2021?

The second show, “In America: An Anthology of Fashion,” will be held in 21 of the American period rooms and will center on 300 years of historic narratives both personal and political. Some are well-known, like the Battle of Versailles and names like Oscar de la Renta and Bill Blass, but others are more obscure,…