Flowers, chocolates, and expensive dinners. Last year, I bought so many of these for Valentine’s Day that I have been living off them ever since. Every morning, I braid my hair with a new set of flowers and sigh as I dig into my daily breakfast of chocolate and leftovers. But, thank God, the day when I can give away my extra chocolates and flowers has come again! Oh, you know what else I have a lot of? Valentine’s Day cartoons! Here are some of the finest; I hope you’ll enjoy them with a nice handful of chocolate and some flowers in your hair, just like I do.
Colin Stokes is a former member of The New Yorker’s editorial staff.
Goings On
What we’re watching, listening to, and doing this week, online, in N.Y.C., and beyond. Paid subscribers also receive book picks.
Our Local Correspondents
Why You Can’t Get a Restaurant Reservation
How bots, mercenaries, and table scalpers have turned the restaurant reservation system inside out.
By Adam Iscoe
Profiles
Padma Lakshmi Walks Into a Bar
Since leaving “Top Chef,” Lakshmi has found herself in a period of professional uncertainty. What better time to try standup comedy?
By Helen Rosner
Annals of Gastronomy
A Martini Tour of New York City
My month of vermouth-rinsing and fat-washing.
By Gary Shteyngart
Our Local Correspondents
Donald Trump Is Being Ritually Humiliated in Court
At his criminal trial, the ex-President has to sit there while potential jurors, prosecutors, the judge, witnesses, and even his own lawyers talk about him as a defective, impossible person.
By Eric Lach