Le Journal

Fish Cheeks — the Thai seafood restaurant from co-founders Ohm Suansilphong and Chat Suansilphong, along with Jenn Saesue and Pranwalai Kittirattanawiwat — has launched a new delivery and takeout spot. The restaurant, called Little Cheeks, under chef Dustin Everett, is on DoorDash, Uber Eats, Seamless, and Grubhub; it’s the newest sibling to Fish Cheeks locations in Noho and Williamsburg, as well as Bub’s Bakery. The menu centers on comfort food dishes the team says they grew up eating, such as pad Thai and zabb wings. It’s available around the Noho and Williamsburg Fish Cheeks’ locations. Daniel Humm is a children’s book author now Daniel Humm, the chef behind Eleven Madison Park, has moved into children’s publishing. His new picture book, Daniel’s Dream, out on Tuesday, January 20, is framed as an inspirational story drawn from his childhood, about imagination, confidence, and believing your small ideas might turn into something bigger. The book is co-written with author Roda Ahmed — best known for Mae Among the Stars, a bestselling children’s book about astronaut Mae Jemison — and illustrated by Diana Pedott. It’s being published by HighTree, Ahmed’s independent imprint, which focuses on children’s books centered on representation and global storytelling, and arrives bundled with extras like activity worksheets, reflection prompts, and a behind-the-scenes video. It’s not Humm’s first go-round as an author: he has written five books, one of which costs $500. Marcus Samuelsson has launched a mentorship program Marcus Samuelsson is launching a new fellowship program called the Rise Residency, offering mid-career culinary folks — chefs, food writers, sommeliers, food entrepreneurs, and recipe developers — two weeks at the Catskills artist retreat Denniston Hill, plus a $5,000 stipend. It follows with six months of mentorship with Samuelsson, along with others, such as Dawn Padmore, a vice president of the James Beard Foundation Awards, and Chip Wade, the CEO of Union Square Hospitality.  Backed by the Mellon Foundation, the program centers on providing “creative leaders in the food space the opportunity to engage artistic practice at the turning point of their careers,” according to a press release.

We’re into the back half of January, and (regular season) conference title races are beginning to take shape across college basketball. This week saw plenty of movement in the AP Top 25 polls, resulting from multiple upsets and ranked matchups on both the men’s and women’s side. Let’s take a look at where things stand now. Men’s Basketball AP Top 25 1. Arizona (61 first place votes) 2. UConn 3. Michigan 4. Purdue 5. Duke 6. Houston 7. Nebraska 8. Gonzaga 9. Iowa State 10. Michigan State 11. Illinois 12. Texas Tech 13. BYU 14. Virginia 15. Vanderbilt 16. Florida 17. Alabama 18. Clemson 19. Kansas 20. Arkansas 21. Georgia 22. North Carolina 23. Louisville 24. St. Louis 25. Miami (OH) Where is UNC? The Tar Heels had the biggest drop in this week’s poll, falling eight spots to #22 after losing back-to-back games at Stanford and Cal. Personally, I’m about 50/50 on whether they should be ranked at all, but we’ll likely get a definitive answer to that this week when they host Notre Dame (Wednesday) and travel to #14 Virginia (Saturday).  Biggest Winners Kansas reentered the poll at #19 after decisive home wins over then-#2 Iowa State and Baylor, St. Louis entered the poll for the first time since the 2020-21 season at #24 after improving to 17-1, and Miami (OH) earned its first ranking in 27 seasons at #25 after moving to 19-0. Within the poll, Clemson moved up four spots to #18 after home wins over Boston College and Miami (FL).  Biggest Losers Iowa State had the biggest fall after UNC, dropping seven spots to #9 after losing at Kansas and Cincinnati. Utah State went from #23 to unofficial #31 after losing at Grand Canyon, Tennessee went from #24 to unofficial #30 after a home loss to Kentucky, and Seton Hall went from #25 to receiving zero votes after home losses to then-#3 UConn and Butler.   Conference Breakdown Big 12: 6 Big Ten: 5 SEC: 5 ACC: 5 Big East: 1 WCC: 1 A-10: 1 MAC: 1 Marquee Matchups This Week #15 Vanderbilt (16-2) @ #20 Arkansas (13-5) – Tonight at 9:00 PM ET on ESPN #22 North Carolina (14-4) @ #14 Virginia (16-2) – Saturday at 2:00 PM ET on ESPN #11 Illinois (15-3) @ #4 Purdue (17-1) – Saturday at 3:00 PM ET on FOX #6 Houston (17-1) @ #12 Texas Tech (14-4) – Saturday at 6:30 PM ET on ESPN #23 Louisville (13-5) @ #5 Duke (17-1) – Monday at 7:00 PM ET on ESPN #1 Arizona (18-0) @ #13 BYU (16-2) – Monday at 9:00 PM ET on ESPN Women’s Basketball AP Top 25 UConn (30 first place votes) South Carolina UCLA Texas Vanderbilt LSU Michigan Louisville TCU Iowa Kentucky Ohio State Michigan State Baylor Maryland Oklahoma Tennessee Ole Miss Texas Tech Princeton Duke West Virginia Alabama Nebraska Washington Where is UNC? Still unranked, but up from unofficial #28 to unofficial #27 after beating Miami (FL) at home and Florida State on the road. The Tar Heels travel to face Georgia Tech on Thursday and host Syracuse on Sunday. If they win both of those games, there’s a decent chance they’ll find themselves back in the Top 25.  Biggest Winners Duke reentered the rankings at #21 after stretching its winning streak to 10 games, West Virginia reentered at #22 after a one-point home loss to then-#10 TCU and a road win at Cincinnati, and Washington reentered at #25 after beating Indiana on the road and Minnesota at home. Within the poll, Baylor moved up four spots to #14 after double-digit wins at Utah and BYU.  Biggest Losers Iowa State went from #19 to unofficial #31 after losing at Colorado and Oklahoma State, Notre Dame went from #23 to unofficial #28 after a home loss to then-#9 Louisville, and Illinois went from #25 to unofficial #26 after losing at then-#8 Michigan. Within the Top 25, Kentucky slid four spots to #11 after losing at Mississippi State.  Conference Breakdown SEC: 9 Big Ten: 7 Big 12: 5 ACC: 2 Big East: 1 Ivy League: 1 Marquee Matchups This Week #10 Iowa (16-2) @ #15 Maryland (17-3) – Thursday at 6:00 PM ET on NBC #11 Kentucky (17-3) @ #17…