What Dining Era Would You Time Travel to?

All interviews have been edited for length and clarity.

1970s: A Vineyard in Provence

On December 11, 2025 in New York, restaurateur Andrew Tarlow will transport Borgo to a 1970s Provençal vineyard as part of The Resy Rewind dining series. Get tickets for the multi-course dinner and experience here (terms apply).

You’re paying tribute to Richard Olney for your dinner. How did you first come across him and his work? 

Andrew Tarlow: My path to Richard Olney was through Chez Panisse, Kermit Lynch, and cookbooks. I didn’t know him personally but have been most inspired by his joy of life, his joy of eating, his joy of drinking. His curiosity, and his ability to find, assess, and connect talent. He’s an American cook who ended up among some of the greats. He introduced Lulu (Lucie Peyraud, the matriarch of Domaine Tempier) to Kermit and to Alice Waters, and that cookbook (“Lulu’s Provençal Table”) was really a starting point for Chez Panisse and a whole new generation of American cooking.

Did you own any of his cookbooks? Were they foundational to your way of cooking? 

I have all his cookbooks, including most of his Time-Life books. I’ve always been inspired by how he writes about food and his approach. It inspired the Diner Journals, it inspired everything.

Have you been to Provence?

I went to Provence the first time as a teenager. I mean, it’s a magical place. Just look at Van Gogh’s paintings. Come on.

What are you excited about for your Resy Rewind dinner?

The wine pairings! And our surprise zine. I want guests to feel connected to that time and place, and to the through line that leads to how we cook and serve food now, including at Borgo.

1980s: Naples’ Italo-Disco Era

On December 4, 2025 in Chicago, chef-owner Jason Hammel will transform Lula Café into a disco hot spot straight out of 1980s Napoli as part of The Resy Rewind dining series. Get tickets for the multi-course dinner and experience here (terms apply).

What do you remember most from your trips to Italy?

Jason Hammel: I lived in Italy between 1995-96 and spent three months there in 1992. It was a transformative time for me. I lived on the piazza where there was a huge central market, and I watched the farmers bring food in every morning. I learned to cook then. And I definitely remember the fashion of the 90s there. It was full of fake American trends — fast fashion and bright, obnoxious colors and absurd denim. And the Naples tradition of the food and drink: so connected to the earth.

What excites you the most about this 1980s era of Italian disco?

The way one decade opens into the other, like a spilling out. Uncontrolled. Disco to me was connected to my father, who was a bachelor. He had a king-sized bed and a velvet painting of a nude woman in his bedroom. He had lots of cologne and a 1979 Datsun 280Z. Marlboro reds. He was a bookie on the side, a teacher by day. He embodies this era for me.

I see this dinner as an expression of that man. His promise. How he saw his identity. And ever since, my fascination with Naples has been about that part of my family. The way these pieces of culture existed and then decayed, declined.

Are there any restaurants that you looked to for inspiration?

Mimi Alla Ferrovia is the one.

What do you want diners to take away from your Resy Rewind dinner?

It’s got to be a blast.

1980s: A Throwback Night at Talésai

On December 6, 2025 in Los Angeles, chef-owner Kris Yenbamroong will turn back time and transform Night+Market Sahm into his parents’ restaurant, Talésai, as part of The Resy Rewind dining series. Get tickets for the multi-course dinner and experience here (terms apply).

What are some your earliest memories of Talésai?

Kris Yenbamroong: Talésai opened the same year I was born, and both of my parents were owner/operators. So, many of my earliest memories are from the restaurant. It was a place where I attempted homework in the corner booth before guests arrived, where I napped in the small office, where I hosted birthday dinners with friends. Having parents in the restaurant industry isn’t easy, they’re often working during holidays or leaving your soccer practice early. But from early on, I had a front-row seat to the world of hospitality and entrepreneurship. Also, the celebrities: Jack Nicholson, Mick Jagger, Warren Beatty, Guns N’ Roses, Leo, et al.

What do you remember most about the restaurant?

I remember how fancy it all seemed. The white tablecloths, the fresh orchids on the tables, the Thai modern art. It was unlike anything else in L.A. I remember how proud my family was when my grandmother was on the cover of a magazine with Nancy Silverton and Thomas Keller. And I remember eating much different food than what we were serving. Before a shift, the kitchen would snack on spicier larbs and pungent curries, while the guests were eating milder dishes like pad thai.

How did Talésai inform your cooking and restaurant philosophy?

When I opened Night+Market in 2010, I felt it was the antithesis to Talésai — casual, loud (both in the music and the food), unapologetic, and among the first two or three venues for natural wine in L.A. But as time went on, I realized how many similarities we shared. Both restaurants were about putting Thai culture on stage, about being convivial spots to meet with friends and have fun, to throw parties, and to drink good wine. It was then that I started to see Night+Market not as a totally different thing, but as an evolution of the original thing. And through the years, I’ve gone back to a lot of the dishes that my grandma created.

What dishes can we expect during your Resy Rewind dinner?

My dad’s invention, Prakas’ ribeye. A dish that emphasized umami long before it was discussed in the public mainstream. We’ll prepare the dish with Westholme wagyu, Thai basil, garlic, and chile. Tableside, we’ll grate Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

Is there anything you’d like diners to take away from the experience?

That the restaurant landscape in 2025 wouldn’t exist without the pioneers from decades ago. This project excited us mostly because we get to pay our respects to the ones who paved the way. My feeling is that a lot of new chefs and proprietors fail to acknowledge the people and places that inspired what they do. We’re proud to be 15 years in, and we’re excited to give diners a taste of what inspired Night+Market.

1980s: A Minnesota Supper Club

On December 9, 2025 in Atlanta, chef-owner Parnass Savang will transform Talat Market into a 1980s Minnesota supper club as part of The Resy Rewind dining series. Get tickets for the multi-course dinner and experience here (terms apply).

What does the Midwest evoke in you? 

Parnass Savang: I’ve never lived in the Midwest, but I am pretty curious about the region because my girlfriend is from Minnesota. Learning more about her and her family’s traditions, her mindset, has been fascinating. I feel that there’s pride in the old traditions, respect for nature, and ideas about inclusion and diversity. They accepted refugees — a connection my dad had when he was a refugee — and there are similarities with Hmong culture and parts of Thai food.

Why the focus on 1980s Minnesota supper club culture? 

It’s so different from what I currently do — the style of food, the cheesiness of 80s plating. It’s an era of dining I’ve only seen through books and old YouTube videos. Originally, our idea was just going to be “Minnesota Midwestern foods,” until someone threw out the term “supper club” from our brainstorming session. I thought it was a pop-up dinner series at someone’s house, but I started to look into it and it was a lot more different than I thought. Supper clubs have lots of history.

What are you excited about for your Resy Rewind dinner?

I’m really excited about the entire menu because it’s like a journal entry of my experience of Minnesota up to this point. At Talat, we don’t usually cook with butter, but during this dinner, butter is king — it’s so full of dairy and gluten, which is why it’s going to be a very fascinating and fun experiment to mesh them together.

I’m excited about — and nervous to do — the stuffed strudel right. I’ve helped my girlfriend’s mom make it a couple of times, and I’ve created memories with her. It’s so familiar and unique to the Midwest culinary world. I’ll be putting little Thai touches here and there, like ranch jaew for the Thai fried cheese curds, grape and Honeycrisp Jell-o with a fish sauce, lime juice dressing, and herbs.

We also definitely want a lodge feel, with taxidermy birds and fish hanging on the walls. I want our guest to experience my travels through Minnesota, and I want them to feel like they are in the Midwest. To experience something they haven’t had in the city, and to have homesick Midwesterners feel like they are back home.

1988: A Pojangmacha in Korea

On December 10, 2025 in Washington, D.C., executive chef and partner Angel Barreto will transform Anju into a pojangmacha straight out of 1980s Korea as part of The Resy Rewind dining series. Get tickets for the standing cocktail experience here (terms apply).

Set the scene for us: Why did you decide to pay tribute to 1980s pojangmachas, these iconic Korean tent bars?

Angel Barreto: There was a lot of excitement in Korea during the 80s leading up to the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Korea was in the midst of industrialization and modernization as the country was still recovering from the war.  This excitement brought upon many changes to the cultural landscape of Seoul, and it revitalized pojangmachas — or pochas — these tent bars that people would go to for drinks and food after work. It was here that a lot of what’s known today as “Korean street food” was developed.

Danny [Lee, Anju’s chef-owner] spent two summers as a child in Korea in 1986 and 1987 and would eat at some of these pochas with his family. It created memories that still linger to this day, of older ladies cooking by themselves for crowds of guests, of the smell of Korean rice cakes simmering in broth, and of watching all the adults drinking Korean beer and soju.

How will you bring the pocha experience to Anju for your Resy Rewind dinner?

We’re excited about the design and layout of the space, of having a tent built on our patio. It’ll be great to see guests walking in and immediately be handed a paper cup with a rice cake and fish cake skewer in a savory broth, one of the hallmarks of these menus. Korean food is having a moment right now and we’d love for guests to see and experience how some of these viral dishes on social media started and where they came from. We’re also excited to showcase our own modern twists to these dishes. On the beverage side, we will definitely be featuring a ton of soju, somaek, and makgeolli in various forms. We also want to have a karaoke lounge, as that’s obviously a huge component of Korean eating and drinking culture.

Is there anything else you’re excited for diners to experience?

The playlist. 1980s and early 90s Korean music saw the rise of what’s now known as K-pop. One of the pioneers of Korean hip-hop from the 80s was called Seo Taiji and Boys. Other iconic groups such as DJ Doc, H.O.T., and Kim Gun-mo expanded the genre from there, so we’d love to showcase these groups during the experience.

Pro tip: Angel Barreto and Danny Lee highly recommend watching a couple of episodes of K-drama “Reply 1988″ to get you in the mood ahead of Anju’s Resy Rewind experience.