The Bombay Club Turns 30

How Ashok Bajaj redefined Indian cuisine
Nalligosht

Nalligosht / Jessica van Dop

BY: Victorino Matus  — 

In 1961, Cecilia Chiang opened a tiny restaurant in San Francisco called the Mandarin. It offered authentic Chinese cuisine that attracted a devoted following. Victor Bergeron of Trader Vic’s fame was a fan. But more important was man-about-town Herb Caen of the San Francisco Chronicle. On the one hand he called it a “little hole in the wall.” On the other, he said it had “the best Chinese food east of the Pacific.” Seven years later the Mandarin moved to Ghirardelli Square—expanding from 65 seats to 300—becoming one of San Francisco’s premier dining destinations.

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Editor's Blog

Chicago, Suburban Mayors Call for Hike That Could Make Illinois’ Gas Tax Highest in Nation

Rahm Emanuel / Getty Images

BY: Cole Lauterbach and Greg Bishop - Watchdog.org

Suburban mayors joined Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to ask Illinois lawmakers to raise the state’s gas tax by 20 to 30 cents a gallon, a proposal that could make Illinois’ motor fuel tax the highest in the nation and ensure that per gallon taxes increase yearly with the rate of inflation.

Trump: Mulvaney Will Be Acting White House Chief of Staff

BY: Andrew Kugle

President Donald Trump announced Friday thatDirector of the Office of Management & Budget Mick Mulvaney will be acting White House Chief of Staff after John Kelly leaves the position at the end of this year.

The Great Wall of Democracy

Column: China's drive to the Western Pacific
U.S. Marines deployed from Okinawa, Japan participate in the U.S. and South Korean Marines joint landing operation at Pohang in South Korea
BY: Matthew Continetti  — 

OKINAWA—I’ve had to wait on the tarmac for planes ahead of mine to take off before, but never F-15s. Naha airport here shares a runway with Japan’s Air Self Defense Forces, leading to delays whenever Japanese fighters scramble to counter Chinese incursions into the airspace above the Senkaku Island Chain in the East China Sea. The pace of such incursions has accelerated over the last half decade. The Japanese scrambled a high of 1,168 times in 2016, mostly in response to Chinese activity. The sight of active afterburners on a U.S. commercial runway would be shocking. In Okinawa, it’s everyday life.

Bah, Humbug

A Christmas Carol, again and again
BY: Joseph Bottum  — 

In the midst of all the new Christmas books that every year brings us, in the midst of all the made-for-Netflix holiday programs, in the midst of all the productions of The Nutcracker, in the midst of all the seasonal movies (from It’s a Wonderful Life to Die Hard), in the midst of all the Yuletide television specials, it might be worth remembering an indisputable truth about Christmas art: The single most successful bit of seasonal fiction is Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol.

‘Vox Lux’ Review

A hypnotic meditation on fame
Vox Lux
BY: Sonny Bunch  — 

Vox Lux might be great. I’ve watched it three times now; each time I’ve become more convinced of this notion. And if it is great, its greatness derives in no small part from the voiceover narration of Willem Dafoe.

‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ Review

If any comic book movie deserves a best picture nomination this year, it's this one
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
BY: Sonny Bunch  — 

There’s no reason Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse should work, really. It mucks about with concepts that only deep readers of the comic books will be familiar with. It introduces half a dozen new characters in an incredibly short amount of time. It is brought to life in an odd animation style that serves as an implicit rejection of the super-slick Pixar/Disney ideal that has come to dominate animated films in recent years.

The Great Wall of Democracy

Column: China's drive to the Western Pacific
U.S. Marines deployed from Okinawa, Japan participate in the U.S. and South Korean Marines joint landing operation at Pohang in South Korea
BY: Matthew Continetti  — 

OKINAWA—I’ve had to wait on the tarmac for planes ahead of mine to take off before, but never F-15s. Naha airport here shares a runway with Japan’s Air Self Defense Forces, leading to delays whenever Japanese fighters scramble to counter Chinese incursions into the airspace above the Senkaku Island Chain in the East China Sea. The pace of such incursions has accelerated over the last half decade. The Japanese scrambled a high of 1,168 times in 2016, mostly in response to Chinese activity. The sight of active afterburners on a U.S. commercial runway would be shocking. In Okinawa, it’s everyday life.

Bah, Humbug

A Christmas Carol, again and again
BY: Joseph Bottum  — 

In the midst of all the new Christmas books that every year brings us, in the midst of all the made-for-Netflix holiday programs, in the midst of all the productions of The Nutcracker, in the midst of all the seasonal movies (from It’s a Wonderful Life to Die Hard), in the midst of all the Yuletide television specials, it might be worth remembering an indisputable truth about Christmas art: The single most successful bit of seasonal fiction is Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol.

Chicago, Suburban Mayors Call for Hike That Could Make Illinois’ Gas Tax Highest in Nation

Rahm Emanuel / Getty Images
BY: Cole Lauterbach and Greg Bishop - Watchdog.org  — 

Suburban mayors joined Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to ask Illinois lawmakers to raise the state’s gas tax by 20 to 30 cents a gallon, a proposal that could make Illinois’ motor fuel tax the highest in the nation and ensure that per gallon taxes increase yearly with the rate of inflation.

Trump: Mulvaney Will Be Acting White House Chief of Staff

BY: Andrew Kugle  — 

President Donald Trump announced Friday thatDirector of the Office of Management & Budget Mick Mulvaney will be acting White House Chief of Staff after John Kelly leaves the position at the end of this year.