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# What do you want to eat more of in 2026?
- URL: https://www.cascadepbs.org/the-nosh-with-rachel-belle/2025/12/what-do-you-want-to-eat-more-of-in-2026/
- Published: 2025-12-17T20:20:29.000Z
- Updated: 2025-12-18T22:38:36.000Z
- Description: We asked locals about their food New Year's resolutions, and we got restaurant recommendations, baking goals and dreams of canning.
- Author: Rachel Belle
- Tags: The Nosh with Rachel Belle, Culture, food, Your Last Meal, News, #article, holiday, #news

*Editor’s Note: Rachel Belle is down for the count with a winter cold* *this week* *(fingers crossed it clears up in time for the holidays, and that she is currently consuming* *some sort of delicious, electrolyte-rich* *soup.* *Pho, perhaps? Now I want* *pho.)* *I’ll* *be kicking things off for us this week, and Rachel will be back in your inbox in the new year.* *\- Sophie Grossman* 

The holidays always seem to be followed by a flurry of diet culture content; listicles and TikToks and social media discourse about carb cutting, macro counting, intermittent fasting and other restrictive food-related New Year's resolutions. Bah humbug to that. 

> *This story is adapted from *The Nosh with Rachel Belle newsletter*. If you’re not a subscriber,* [*you can sign up here*](https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/182322/subscribe/1?ref=cascadepbs.org)*.*

In the true spirit of the season, we asked local food people – reporters, cookbook authors, restaurant owners – what they want to eat *more* of in the new year. Their answers ranged from candied fruit to French dip sandwiches to salmon rillette, and we hope they inspire you to eat well (whatever that means to you) in 2026\. 

**Scott Heimendinger**  
Founder, [Seattle Ultrasonics]({external%5Furl~https://www.seattleultrasonics.com~ultrasonics}) & culinary innovator

I want to eat more fussy little hors d'oeuvres in 2026\. Moreover, I want to *make* more fussy little hors d'oeuvres in 2026\. Not (just) because I'm a fancypants, but because it means I've carved out sacred time away from the chaos of work and the world to stand in my kitchen with a glass of wine and fiddle with precise little knife cuts and puff pastry and mascarpone in a piping bag for hours. It's not the final product that counts; it's the act of spending mindful time making them. Salmon rillette in a cone. Stuffed morels. Tempura pearl onions. Pan de Cristal with paper-thin jamón ibérico . These are the rocks in my 2026 hors d'oeuvre zen garden.

**Naoise McGee**  
Events Manager at [Book Larder]({external%5Furl~https://booklarder.com/~book larder})  
  
I want to eat more Vietnamese food and more South Asian food, in general. We have an embarrassment of riches here in Seattle and we need to make sure they stay around! [Billiard Hoang]({external%5Furl~https://www.instagram.com/billiardhoang/?hl=en~billiard hoang}), [Voi Cà Phê]({external%5Furl~https://www.voicaphe.com/~voi ca phe}), and [Tony’s]({external%5Furl~https://www.instagram.com/tonysbakeryanddeli/?hl=en~tony's}), here I come. [Roy’s Southern Thai ]({external%5Furl~https://roysouthernthai.com/~roy})on Phinney Ridge is a great new spot that everyone should try.

In 2026 I’d love to start candying and preserving fruit, especially winter citrus and all our gorgeous Northwest cherries, under the tutelage of the cookbook author Camilla Wynne; her books [*Nature’s Candy*]({external%5Furl~https://booklarder.com/products/natures-candy-timeless-and-inventive-recipes-for-creating-and-baking-with-candied-fruit~nature's candy}) and [*Jam Bake*]({external%5Furl~https://booklarder.com/products/jam-bake-inspired-recipes-for-creating-and-baking-with-preserves~jam bake}) will be my guides.

**Hsiao-Ching Chou**  
[Cookbook author]({external%5Furl~https://booklarder.com/search?q=Hsiao-Ching+Chou~cookbook})

I love French dip sandwiches, and I want to eat more of them — and find the best one in Seattle. I also want to practice making biryani, because it’s so good!

**Naomi Tomke**  
Food and Drink Editor, *Seattle Met*

My new year’s eating resolution is to eat more food with more people. In my job, it’s often easier to just run out and grab a bite I need to try, or to pop into a restaurant on my own when I’m nearby. But one of the great joys of eating is sharing a meal. So, even though it makes things far more complicated and requires much more planning, my resolution is to share more meals with other people. And that goes for meals at home, too! Inviting people over for casual meals *and* cool dinner parties.

**Holly Robinson**  
Co-Owner at [Sunny Hill]({external%5Furl~https://www.sunnyhillseattle.com/~sunny hill})

In the new year, I want to revisit more of the classics. These are the restaurants I love but somehow forget when someone asks, “Where should we go??” [Le Pichet]({external%5Furl~https://www.lepichetseattle.com/~le pichet}) is my birthday spot, Palace Kitchen for show nights, [Stoneburner]({external%5Furl~https://www.stoneburnerseattle.com/~stoneburner}) is for friends in town and everyone needs something different, [Tai Tung]({external%5Furl~https://www.taitungrestaurant.com/~tai tung}) for all the obvious reasons. And at home, my goal is to cook more from my pantry, freezer and garden. There’s nothing better than pulling together a meal from what's on hand, versus going to a grocery store for one or two ingredients. It feels so efficient!

**Zoe Kahn**  
[Seattle sandwich and bagel enthusiast]({external%5Furl~https://www.instagram.com/zoekahn/~zoe kahn})

This will not surprise anyone who knows my platform, but I want to eat more sandwiches in the new year. I've been compiling a savable [Google Maps Sandwich List]({external%5Furl~https://maps.app.goo.gl/thk19qTSnbQiSgSe9~sandwich list}) that covers places I've been and places I want to try soon. Here are a few I'm particularly excited about: the Pan Con Mechada from [Bad Chancla]({external%5Furl~https://www.garzonpnw.com/bad-chancla~bad chancla}), the chicken Caesar wrap from [Vindicktive Bar and Wings]({external%5Furl~https://www.vindicktivewings.com/~vindicktive}), and the focaccia sandwiches from [My Friend Derek's]({external%5Furl~https://myfrienddereks.com/~my friend derek's}).

A goal I have for 2026 is to make my own olive oil cake! Other than carrot cake, which is my weakness and will hopefully be my wedding cake, olive oil cake is one of my favorite desserts. Also, I want to get back into bread-making. During Covid, I was doing a lot of baking (like many others), and I was perfecting a challah recipe. I hope to get back to that in the new year.

**Mark DeJoy**  
Seattle food writer

Food goal for 2026 (and every year, really): Go to those certain few restaurants I’ve been meaning to try forever. January is a great time to get into a restaurant: It’s an infamously slow month, so reservations tend to be readily available. The atmosphere at restaurants is more mellow, too, so there’s more time to be chatty with the staff if they’re up for it. And ultimately, it’s good to give places business during the slow season. I'm really looking forward to heading to White Center for [Sap Sap Lao Deli & Cafe]({external%5Furl~https://www.sapsaplaodeli.com/~sap sap}), South Park for [Bajon en Seattle]({external%5Furl~https://bajonenseattle.com/~bajon}) and Hillman City for [Mi Patría]({external%5Furl~https://www.instagram.com/mi%5Fpatria%5Fseattle/?hl=en~mi patria}). All three specialize in cuisines (Lao, Argentine and Puerto Rican, respectively) that are boldly flavorful and not very common in the area.

**Andrew Rubinstein**  
Owner & “Bagel Mensch” at [Hey Bagel]({external%5Furl~https://www.heybagel.net/menu~hey bagel})

At home, I want to expand my pizza making to dialing in a good NY style pizza and finally taking on some tavern style pizzas. I also resolve to eat out at more at the restaurants on my list this year. I’m so wrapped up in bagel land, that I just don’t get out enough. I’ll get new stretchy pants to accommodate!

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For newsletter-exclusive content, including my Taste of the Town Q&A with a notable Pacific Northwest person (this week it’s [Seattle artist](https://www.milrany.com/?ref=cascadepbs.org), illustrator and creative director Stacy Milrany[](https://www.milrany.com/?ref=cascadepbs.org)), subscribe below!

Have a food- or drink-related question? (Need a restaurant rec? Have a mystery that needs solving?) Send me a note: [rachel.belle@cascadepbs.org](mailto:rachel.belle@cascadepbs.org) 

XO   
Rachel Belle