James Norton
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jrnorton.bsky.social
James Norton
@jrnorton.bsky.social
2.3K followers 440 following 530 posts
Editor of Heavy Table (@heavytable.com), author of Lake Superior Flavors, generally in pursuit of tacos. Writes The Cookbook Test every Sunday morning: (https://thecookbooktest.substack.com)
thecookbooktest.substack.com)
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jrnorton.bsky.social
James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 3d
Midwest Express was a dream. Flew it from Boston to Milwaukee every chance I got, which was a lot. I think their coach experience was ahead of numerous modern 1st class experiences. Those cookies!!
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Reposted by James Norton
heavytable.com
Heavy Table @heavytable.com · 4d
Tomorrow in the newsletter: Chi-Chi's 2.0. Huge buzz! Surprisingly challenging reservations! Can this reanimated dinosaur survive in a modern environment absolutely stuffed with terrific Mexican and Mexican-inspired dining?
Exterior photo of Chi-Chi's Mexican restaurant in Saint Louis Park, Minnesota. Becca Dilley / Heavy Table A blue bowl of fried ice cream covered in whipped cream and caramel drizzle from Chi-Chi's in Saint Louis Park. Becca Dilley / Heavy Table
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jrnorton.bsky.social
James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 5d
this year’s crop of home-grown pumpkins is in SERIOUS TROUBLE
A set of 11 elaborate pumpkin carving tools in a knife-roll style case. The handles of the larger tools have jack-o-lantern faces on them. An absurd amount of home-grown pumpkins and other squash including at least six good jack-o-lantern candidates
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jrnorton.bsky.social
James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 5d
I don't think the idea of cultivating a loyal core audience exists in the same way (thus, for example, the Washington Post melting down, if you assume Bezos had any goal other than just smashing the paper to bits.) If you're just churning traffic and mining clicks, loyalty is mostly irrelevant.
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jrnorton.bsky.social
James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 5d
When I was working in printed-on-paper newspapers (20+ years ago) we would factcheck opinion pieces. An opinion piece premised on distortions or outdated data or straight-up lies discredits the whole paper, or at least that was the thinking.
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jrnorton.bsky.social
James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 6d
Honestly more for us than for him, I don’t think he’d fully absorbed what “teddy is lost” fully entailed.
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jrnorton.bsky.social
James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 6d
We once drove back 45 minutes while
roadtripping (90 minutes total!) to retrieve a beloved teddy bear from a park. Fortunately the bear was still there!
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jrnorton.bsky.social
James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 9d
absolutely worth an amendment
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jrnorton.bsky.social
James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 9d
the Scandinavians have rights we Americans haven’t even dreamed up yet
An IKEA gravy packet that reads: “Allemansrätten is everyone’s right to field, forest, and a fine meal with savoury sauce”
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jrnorton.bsky.social
James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 10d
Now I do! I take back everything negative that I wrote!
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jrnorton.bsky.social
James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 10d
Cheers!! I swear that I have a functional sense of humor, it’s just that if you’re going to be playful with menu items, at least present something that’s crude in a fresh way!
jenieats.bsky.social JeniEats @jenieats.bsky.social · 10d
Speaking of honest food talk- I love my @heavytable.com Friday newsletter especially when it starts a sushi restaurant review with, “It’s the year 2025; do we, as a society, still need a Double D roll? Or a “Screaming ‘O’” roll?

😂
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jrnorton.bsky.social
James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 12d
The ones I know have been bad for 3-4 years by my count - years ago we took our kids with some regularity, but they got so unreliable that we took Noodles out of rotation. No regrets!
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Reposted by James Norton
fivesixzero.bsky.social
fivesixzero @fivesixzero.bsky.social · 14d
Just witnessed someone trying to fireb*mb Fletcher’s Ice Cream in NE. Saw a dude acting weird next to a parked car in front of the place. I walked by, heard a smash through my earbuds, smelled gasoline/kerosine. Turned around, snapped some photos instinctively. Thankfully they suck at molot*vs.
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jrnorton.bsky.social
James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 14d
They opened (and closed) on Hennepin Ave. a number of years ago. Truly memorable pizza, in a "flaming Porta-Potty" sort of way. Hopefully they've dialed things in since then.
heavytable.com/giordanos-in...
Giordano’s in Uptown, Minneapolis – Heavy Table
heavytable.com
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jrnorton.bsky.social
James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 14d
Excellent question! There was no explanatory signage.
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jrnorton.bsky.social
James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 14d
I’m a CSM alum and loved the newspaper back in the day, but its health coverage was necessarily constricted by church doctrine. It wasn’t the paper’s strong suit (and apparently still isn’t.)
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jrnorton.bsky.social
James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 14d
That would make sense. And my first guess is that they’re built to last for a week at the lowest possible cost versus sold / disposed of every day.
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jrnorton.bsky.social
James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 14d
It’s weird that Lunds offers such mediocre doughnuts considering the whole store is priced / marketed as a premium spot. They would honestly do better just buying from Cub / Cub’s wholesaler.
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jrnorton.bsky.social
James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 14d
Like - how is one company making thousands of ordinary-looking, mass produced pretty good doughnuts, while another makes thousands of ordinary-looking, mass produced inedible bricks of trash? You would think the make methods and products would converge on a tolerable average.
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jrnorton.bsky.social
James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 14d
I take for granted how all-around decent and basically tasty Cub doughnuts are. Cub was closed today so we grabbed doughnuts from Holiday instead. Instant compost. Absolutely inedible. Would love to know how they do it.
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Reposted by James Norton
catacalypto.bsky.social
Cat Manning @catacalypto.bsky.social · 14d
pleased to announce that there seems to be a passive-aggressive conflict roiling the august pages of Cooks Illustrated, Fall Harvest recipes edition. allow me to explain:
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jrnorton.bsky.social
James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 16d
seems like a great opportunity to have the American eagle ripping his liver out, over and over again. not sure if it's the smartest message to send out to the world, but at least it feels honest and thoughtful.
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bombsfall.bsky.social
Down Here For Your Soul @bombsfall.bsky.social · 17d
Started watching Columbo. This may be the greatest show ever made. My prior Columbo experience outside of pop culture osmosis is Peter Falk in Wings Of Desire. Wenders told us the truth: he was an angel.
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m.pahuski.com
matthew @m.pahuski.com · 21d
Happy Columbo’s Day
Screenshot from Columbo. He his talking to his dog, which is sitting is the drivers seat of a car. “Okay, I’m gonna put you in charge. You take care of the car. You’re a responsible dog. When I get back, if the car’s okay, I’ll give you another cookie.” “If the car’s gone,” “I’ll give you another cookie anyway” “because I love you.”
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Reposted by James Norton
columboscreens.bsky.social
columbo screenshots @columboscreens.bsky.social · 26d
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