I met Chandler in a hip Silverlake coffee shop. We began with the question of whether or not LA has, or can have, a proper music scene. Despite the outpouring of electronic music from the city right now, it seems that there are few shows from local (adult) acts to back it up. Chandler: Yeah. I mean, I don’t even think there can be a scene in LA. There is, like, subculture.

In the first decades of the 20th century, if you lived west of the Rocky Mountains, one of the best bargains around was a bowl of cheap noodles, served up for a dime at a Chinese or Japanese “noodle joint”.  Aside from the noodles, these establishments had other attractions. They stayed open late into the early morning hours, had private booths with doors that closed, and usually offered strong drink, louche entertainments and the possibility of lively company.

Click here for the WTC recipe index, and scroll to the bottom of this post for a printer-friendly version of today’s recipe. Happy Thanksgiving week! Living in California — way across the country from our families in North Carolina — has meant nine years of totally different Thanksgivings. Our only Thanksgiving tradition is having no Thanksgiving tradition. We are turkey nomads; wherever we are invited, that is where we end up!

When I committed to the idea of asking Chicago chefs (and a few owners who are the identity of their restaurants) to name their personal Chicago Mt. Rushmore (thanks Dave Andrews for proposing this whole idea), I didn’t really calculate the verve with which they’d answer. I figured a few of the 60 or so I reached out to would humor me. I had no idea that 48 souls (media and creators added another 15 - you can read their thoughts here) would commit their time and energy to this.

I truly can’t believe that 2️⃣ 0️⃣ 2️⃣ 4️⃣ is already here and we’re officially in Year 2️⃣ of Ask a Chief of Staff! After nearly a year of just building through word of mouth, we figured it was time to build up our online presence. Our website houses our Upcoming Events as well as this newsletter. If you’re a member of the Ask a Chief of Staff Community, you’ll also be able to access our Community Directory and Resources here too!