The Avengers, aided by DALL-E.

– Seth Unger

Casa Gilardi, CDMX

After spending time in Dubai I can say that I would never choose to come here of my own volition. It is a place without a sense of place, designed to be appreciated best as a high resolution, over-saturated rendering – never to be walked through or biked – and certainly not designed that way.

They have a mass transit system, but no one uses it. Hordes of rooftop hotels, but it's too hot to go swimming. And their restaurants are stacked on top of one another, seven plus deep, spread across a handful of malls.

The cabs are Lexuses. The Ubers are Audis. The cars parked next to the valet look like they're on an audition for the Fast and Furious franchise.

The city is 85% ex-pats – this is confirmed – making it feel like an English speaking Babylon catering to those with extreme wealth. Any random photo would feel right at home in your 8th grade Spanish textbook: multicultural AF. Emirati men stand out in white thwabs, all others looks like either The Situation or a metrosexual dandy that just got his hairs cut two minutes ago. Most women are taking a cue from the Real Housewives playbook and running with it.

Malls smell like incense. Cabs like cologne. Buildings seem to be in a nonsensical competition for either best or worst of all time.

But still... it's kind of fucking cool. It's a city that encourages you to come up with the craziest idea you've ever had and find a way to make it happen, oh but guess what, they already have that here. Maybe there's no sense of place because it just got here and it hasn't had enough wine cooler to let it's personality come out yet.

Anyway, when the food and hotel are paid for by someone else it makes it easier to appreciate a place – even if that place is no place.

Remember when Brussels sprouts were the most hated on vegetable?* Now, it’s a challenge to find a restaurant menu that omits this powerhouse member of the cabbage family. It is with good reason that there has been a Brussels sprout renaissance: they’re versatile, complex, and easy to prepare. They could even be considered healthy if they weren’t paired so often with a fatty, crispy, meat candy like bacon, (sigh) ...bacon.

I prepare Brussels sprouts often, and I rarely stray from this flexible recipe that allows a high degree of customization to your cruciferous craving.

Start by cutting the tip of the stem-end off your sprouts. Next, bisect each longitudinally. You have now prepped your veg.