Lee Tran Lam

How I got this story: I noticed (deep in @nytimes.com's recent story about PST's NY pop-up) a mention of Tamaki opening in Australia.

After some detective work, I tracked down the team launching it here (they brought Mensho Tokyo to Sydney, too).

Sydney's outpost will PST's biggest restaurant ever

Amen

One of Tokyo’s best pizzerias, Pizza Studio Tamaki, is opening in Sydney’s CBD It’ll be its largest global location to date and will sell its famous five-cheese pizza sweetened with honey, plus local-inspired options.

David Chang called it back in 2018: “The best pizza in the world is in Tokyo.”

And one of its best pizzerias opens soon in Sydney.

PST (run by “one of the most talked-about pizzaioli in the world”, according to @nytimes.com) arrives here in May.

My story here:
www.smh.com.au/goodfood/syd...

@praddenkeefe.bsky.social I've been looking for interviews where you talk about your Industry cameo (the name-check earlier in the season was good foreshadowing!) Perhaps it'll happen during London Falling's press tour. Congrats on being a journo we look up to both in real life and in fiction, too!

I cheered when I recognised @praddenkeefe.bsky.social in Industry’s S4 finale (finally, some sound journalism on the show!); it led me to his new book, which aptly shares the murky, false glitz of Industry’s universe. Say Nothing was unputdownable, am excited/impatient for London Falling’s release!

Thanks for countering all the Hamnet hype - so much prestige veneer (or overused Max Richter music) can not disguise how bad it is.

I’m so sorry to hear this - your vital words were a big reason why I subscribed to the newspaper from Australia. I still remember how energising it was to read your Royal Headache review & constantly discover new music through your coverage. Your work is truly brilliant and one of a kind!

As the Israeli bombs fell, my family committed an act of rebellion: we planted a garden in Gaza | Taqwa Ahmed al-Wai Amid constant danger, each planted seed was a tiny act of resistance. As they grew, they offered us food – and a sense of achievement amid the devastation, says Taqwa Ahmed al-Wai, a writer, poet and ...

“To plant is to believe in tomorrow,” my father said, as he pressed them gently into the soil.

Taqwa Ahmed al-Wawi on gardening in Gaza as bombs fall. Corn is a highlight: "30 kernels, bought as popcorn seeds, grew into proud green stalks up to my chest"
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I had wondered if this text had been AI-generated! Sorry @meemalee.bsky.social that you had to cop so much disrespect, especially given your incredibly rich knowledge of the cuisine! If there's one upside to this, people are being reminded of your amazing expertise (which deserves more platforming)!

Diversity Arts Australia’s Statement on the Removal of Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah from Adelaide Writers’ Week

Festivals are a core part of our civic infrastructure, providing forums for exchange, disagreement, and critical public debate. The removal of Dr Abdel-Fattah from Adelaide Writers’ Week undermines these principles, and the widespread withdrawal of writers signals that this breach has been clearly understood by the cultural community.

Diversity Arts Australia stands unequivocally with Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah. We also stand with the greatly respected Festival Director Louise Adler, the writers, First Nations authors, publishers, and cultural workers who have withdrawn in protest, and with all those who are calling for accountability, transparency, and the reinstatement of Dr Abdel-Fattah to the Adelaide Writers’ Week program.

We call on the Adelaide Festival Board to urgently reinstate Dr Abdel-Fattah’s invitation. We call on the Adelaide Festival Board to affirm its commitment to freedom of artistic, political, and cultural expression, genuine cultural equity, and the protection of those freedoms within publicly funded cultural institutions.

We stand in solidarity with all those who are calling for accountability, transparency, and the reinstatement of Dr Abdel-Fattah to the Adelaide Writers’ Week program: diversityarts.org.au/diversity-ar...

Review: Japanese vegan ramen restaurant Towzen opens first Australian outlet in Sydney Japanese vegan restaurant Towzen is pushing boundaries at its third international offshoot, with ramen that incorporates Thai- and Sichuan-style flavours.

Even during a heatwave, the first Australian outpost for a Kyoto vegan ramen restaurant is attracting queues. I wrote about Sydney's Towzen noodle joint (which I liked better than the original in Japan). www.smh.com.au/goodfood/syd...

Thanks so much for your comment - and yes, very grateful for his illuminating and insightful take, too. I’m glad he gave us the big picture!

Even though Sinners was a critical (and, eventually, commercial) success, a Variety post downplaying its financial achievements went viral. “Profitability remains a ways away” was such a weird comment to drop during a movie’s first week of release that people responded in droves. It illustrated how box-office talk cannibalises movie discourse: even when a film does well, there are not-so-subtle reminders that the money could be better. It’s like parents comparing your salary to their friends’ better-earning kids, a situation forever rigged to be unfavourable. Discussion of Sinners’ apparently limited international box office potential also became problematic. The idea that “stories rooted in Black culture can be difficult sells overseas” is “empirically false”, Franklin Leonard wrote on his Substack newsletter. The Black List founder and Hollywood commentator noted on social media, “When was the last time anyone asked the same thing about a movie whose primary audience in the US was white?”

Even though Sinners was a critical & commercial success, Variety’s “profitability remains a ways away”comment during the movie’s 1st week of release was so unwarranted, people responded in droves.

Kudos to @franklinleonard.bsky.social for illuminating why that box office framing was so off.

What is it about movies that turns everyone into number-crunching accountants? We don’t talk about books or other art forms this way. Imagine telling someone how much you loved Hua Hsu’s memoir Stay True, only to cop unwanted analysis of how its hardback sales could’ve actually been stronger? Or being touched by a Camille Pissarro painting, only to be told this guy was kind of a loser in the sales department while he was still alive?

Earlier this year as I finished watching Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, I was surprised by what I heard leaving the cinema. Viewers weren’t chatting about the movie’s mesmerising sequence merging hip-hop, West African drumming and traditional Chinese opera. Or the mathematical fact that any movie is instantly improved by two Michael B. Jordans in its cast. The retina-blazing ’90s fashion hadn’t sparked conversations either, even though costume designer Ruth E. Carter deserves an Order of Australia for giving Melbourne-born label Coogi its greatest onscreen moment since Kath and Kel celebrated their airport honeymoon in matching knitwear on Kath & Kim decades ago. Instead, their first instinct was to break down Sinners’ box office performance.

This piece was inspired by the reaction to Sinners …

Putting the gross in ‘gross earnings’: Box office talk is ruining the movies When did we all become voluntary bean-counters for Hollywood studios?

What is it about movies that turns everyone into number-crunching accountants? We don’t talk about books or other art forms this way. This year, I wrote about how box office talk is ruining movies (via @sydmorningherald.bsky.social's Spectrum) www.smh.com.au/culture/movi...

If you have a moment I’d be very grateful if you read this.

"This promise of an AI future, is really just a collective anxiety that wealthy people have about how well they're gonna be able to control us in the future."

- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.

Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!

Here’s my Spotify Wrapped 🎵✨

"The cyclists arrive at sunrise, rolling through Chicago’s Latino neighborhoods and stopping at tamale carts, elote stands & candy stalls. They buy out every last item — every tamale, every corn cob, every bundle of sweets. Then they load up the food and deliver it to shelters and families in need."

Podcast diversity is ‘woeful’, says new report We are much worse for diversity than film, TV, or music.

According to @usc.edu data reported on @james.crid.land's @podnews.net, 64% of the most popular US podcasts were hosted by men. Such shows are far less diverse than the top movies, TV or music. Worst gender gap? Business & tech shows: men host 92% of 'em! More stats here:
podnews.net/update/woefu...

"My reading can sometimes lag (it's taken me 4 months to read 92 pages of Samantha Harvey's Orbital)" – partly 'cos I savour the book in 2-page bites.

Thought I'd finish it before the next Booker Prize winner was announced – but no, still some pages to go!

Congrats to David Szalay's Flesh, BTW!

OpenAI faces 7 lawsuits claiming ChatGPT drove people to suicide, delusions OpenAI is facing seven lawsuits claiming ChatGPT drove people to suicide and harmful delusions even when they had no prior mental health issues.

Six people died from tampered Tylenol and the company pulled 30 million bottles off the market. ChatGPT is accused of urging seven people towards suicide, and OpenAI just assures us they’re still working out the kinks. Billions in investment, zero accountability.

Love that you are doing that, Sofia/Not Sophie!

Review: Sydney’s only bricks-and-mortar Mexican bakery specialises in hard-to-find treats Pancho Bakery’s busy location means it’s easy to overlook, but its conchas, coyotas and molletes mean this one-of-a-kind shop deserves to be noticed.

At Sydney's only full-time Mexican bakery, you'll find coffee spiked with horchata (it's creamy, cinnamon-sweet & delicious!), an ancient hot chocolate that predates Euro-style cocoa by thousands of years and other rarities. Here's my write-up on Pancho Bakery:
www.smh.com.au/goodfood/syd...

Taylor Swift releasing (needing?) 30+ variants of her new album in 1 WEEK to knock off Adele’s sales record feels cynical. Should a billionaire really squeeze her fans this way? @defector.com on how ‘good art doesn’t come from greed’ is the BEST piece I’ve seen on TLOAS
defector.com/taylor-swift...

Argh, so sorry you have had to deal with that! If coffee names can help people feel a bit more protected, I guess that is a good thing. I really hope you encounter better (and nicer) baristas, too!

You are not alone in this at all and it’s definitely still an issue. This is something that the baristas talked about when I interviewed them - getting three Matts in a row who have ordered strong flat whites. That’s why one of the Matts asked if his order could be for “Batman”!

I ran into one yesterday and asked for the most creative coffee name someone asked for and they said Nintendo!