WHERE TO EAT
nytimes.comWHERE TO EATThe classic bars, known as bodegas, are where locals in the Catalan capital take their rituals seriously. If you know where to look, you can join them.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50Part of the MichaelFilter
Members read the whole piece — the writeup, the pull-lines, and the full transcript. Unlock access for $5.50.
Unlock the full reading · $5.50 →A short restaurant guide highlighting Chicago dining spots, from BBQ and bakeries to breakfast cafes and steakhouses. The list includes historic establishments like Lem's Bar-B-Q (a James Beard America's Classic) and newer venues such as the Alston, plus Obama family favorites at Tafari's Kitchen.
Teaching:
• Use the idea of 'classic with a twist' (cornbread French toast, Southern breakfast spins) to cue familiar poses with unexpected attention—e.g., 'Find the sweetness in your standing forward fold by softening the back of your knees.'
• Frame a class theme around nourishment and choice: just as each restaurant offers a distinct flavor, each breath or vinyasa can feed a different quality (strength, ease, curiosity).
• Remind students that practice, like a good meal, benefits from both tradition (James Beard Classics) and innovation (wood-fired steaks at a new spot)—honor the lineage while staying curious.
Writing seeds:
• Essay: 'The Menu of Practice'—compare a restaurant guide to the Ashtanga syllabus: each pose is a dish, some are classics, some are indulgent, and you learn by tasting repeatedly.
• Shala Daily post: 'What's your go-to pose?'—invite readers to name their 'comfort food' asana and reflect on why they return to it.
• Short piece: 'Attention as Appetite'—explore how we choose where to place our focus in practice the way we choose what to eat, and how both reveal values and habits.
• Essay: 'Lineage and Innovation'—use the James Beard Classics vs. new steakhouse contrast to discuss honoring tradition in Ashtanga while adapting teaching for contemporary students.
Idea map:
• Systems literacy: A restaurant guide is a map of a food system; similarly, the Ashtanga series is a map of a practice system—both require repeated engagement to understand.
• Embodiment: Eating is one of the most direct forms of embodied experience; practice is another—both involve choice, sensation, and consequence.
• Attention: Choosing where to eat is choosing where to direct resources and time, just as choosing where to place attention in a pose shapes the practice.
• Practice as method: Just as you learn a city's food scene by eating there repeatedly, you learn your body and mind by showing up to the mat day after day.
Teaching:
• Use the idea of 'classic with a twist' (cornbread French toast, Southern breakfast spins) to cue familiar poses with unexpected attention—e.g., 'Find the sweetness in your standing forward fold by softening the back of your knees.'
• Frame a class theme around nourishment and choice: just as each restaurant offers a distinct flavor, each breath or vinyasa can feed a different quality (strength, ease, curiosity).
• Remind students that practice, like a good meal, benefits from both tradition (James Beard Classics) and innovation (wood-fired steaks at a new spot)—honor the lineage while staying curious.
Writing seeds:
• Essay: 'The Menu of Practice'—compare a restaurant guide to the Ashtanga syllabus: each pose is a dish, some are classics, some are indulgent, and you learn by tasting repeatedly.
• Shala Daily post: 'What's your go-to pose?'—invite readers to name their 'comfort food' asana and reflect on why they return to it.
• Short piece: 'Attention as Appetite'—explore how we choose where to place our focus in practice the way we choose what to eat, and how both reveal values and habits.
• Essay: 'Lineage and Innovation'—use the James Beard Classics vs. new steakhouse contrast to discuss honoring tradition in Ashtanga while adapting teaching for contemporary students.
Idea map:
• Systems literacy: A restaurant guide is a map of a food system; similarly, the Ashtanga series is a map of a practice system—both require repeated engagement to understand.
• Embodiment: Eating is one of the most direct forms of embodied experience; practice is another—both involve choice, sensation, and consequence.
• Attention: Choosing where to eat is choosing where to direct resources and time, just as choosing where to place attention in a pose shapes the practice.
• Practice as method: Just as you learn a city's food scene by eating there repeatedly, you learn your body and mind by showing up to the mat day after day.
Notes from the field
No notes yet · members & customers welcome
- No notes yet. Be the first to leave one.
Join MichaelFilter
Michael Joel Hall’s daily reading — the field journal, critical-thinking cards, and synthesis — as a membership.
$5.50/month · cancel anytime
Join — $5.50/mo →Secure checkout on theyoga.club. A yearly option ($55) is available there too.