Who Knew: Making Moves on Main Street

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‘Who Knew?’ is sponsored by Walter Stewart’s Market. * * *

At the storied Roseland Ballroom in New York City, a wall of plaques used to bear the names of the 700-plus married couples who first met on the institution’s dance floor. It boggles the mind that there was a time when people made each others’ acquaintance doing the rumba–it seems wildly vulnerable to commit to an entire song’s worth of eye contact with a stranger, not to mention quite sophisticated for two adult human beings to have memorized a series of complicated things to do with their feet whilst exchanging origin stories. Nowadays, if the internet is to be believed, kids just DM each other photos of their bathing suit regions and then, presumably, go to Sweetgreen. In real life, though, dance is community.

Who Knew: By the Spoonful

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‘Who Knew?’ is sponsored by Walter Stewart’s Market. * * *

January’s atonement vibes are in full swing, like a sobering cosmic credit card bill for the gin-soaked immoderation we practiced in December. As with every January, I find myself casting about for joy. I want sunlight. I want fun.

Who Knew: Three Restaurants You Need to Visit This Winter, in Descending Order of Fanciness

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‘Who Knew?’ is sponsored by Walter Stewart’s Market. * * *

In chilly weather, there’s no gravitational force stronger than one’s couch and a prestige streaming TV series. It’s dark on the roads, outdoor dining has vanished, and your home is home to the powerful trifecta of pets, sweats, and Harrison Ford’s effortless comedic performance in Shrinking. Your couch is such a fine place to spend an evening. 

But it’s no place to eat. 

I enjoy a sneaky cold-weather dinner out, especially on a weeknight. It’s an excellent chance to trot out the outerwear I missed all summer, take advantage of easy reservations, and, if I’m lucky, a good parking spot.

Who Knew: Long Live the Playhouse

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‘Who Knew?’ is sponsored by Walter Stewart’s Market. * * *

Shared experience is powerful stuff. 

Where, once upon a time, all the world lined up to see Gone with the Wind, The Godfather, or E.T., we now sit in separate little rooms on separate little screens watching algorithmically programmed little dances performed by strangers and their cats and then read torturous think-pieces that ask when we all stopped getting along. Movies often get made now for focus-grouped market segmentations for maximum merch sales, not for all of us, and as a result, there are, at my last count, several thousand installments of the Transformers franchise. Movie palaces around the country (and as nearby as Darien) have been razed to become mixed-use buildings, providing more little rooms for more little screens. I’m sure I sound like a nostalgic old-timer here, but I’ve missed those golden late 80’s afternoons at the Orinda theater (a classic movie palace of the highest order) where le tout 7th grade would also be in attendance, and also, since I’m leaning into my new persona, would you please get off my lawn?

The First and Possibly Only Annual Who Knewies: A Very Subjective Compendium of What’s Best Around Here

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‘Who Knew?’ is sponsored by Walter Stewart’s Market. This month, my husband and I will celebrate our tenth anniversary of calling New Canaan home. While it sometimes feels like it’s only been a week, this has been an action-packed decade. Like Junior Nutmeggers out to earn our advanced badges, we studiously spent our nights and weekends checking out tried-and-true local haunts, finding the best backroad shortcuts, and adopting the cares and cadences of a Fairfield County life. 

Like anyone who harbors secret dreams of being an ungodly hybrid of Oprah and Martha, flying between my stately homes in Montecito and Maine with a trunkful of Loro Piana and a terrified personal staff, I’ve been quietly collecting personal favorites, a definitive list of Approved Things™ to share with friends and visitors to our fair corner of the world. This month, I’m making that list public, so I can share something back with a community that’s given me so much to enjoy.