Author | Lightnews

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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James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 12h

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!!

Reposted by James Norton

Heavy Table @heavytable.com · 22h

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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James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 1d

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

James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 1d

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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James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 1d

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 An opinion piece premised on distortions or outdated data or straight-up lies discredits the whole paper, or at least that was the thinking.

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James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 3d

Honestly more for us than for him, I don’t think he’d fully absorbed what “teddy is lost” fully entailed.

James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 3d

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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James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 5d

absolutely worth an amendment

James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 5d

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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James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 7d

Now I do! I take back everything negative that I wrote!

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James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 7d

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 @jenieats.bsky.social · 7d

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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James Norton @jrnorton.bsky.social · 8d

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!

Reposted by James Norton

fivesixzero @fivesixzero.bsky.social · 10d

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.