Plus Steamed Chicken, La Cabra, & my DMs are closed (unless you are a brand or an invitation) hello party girls I don't check Hot Literati's DMs very much because I've been prioritizing engaging with members on the website-- members who post, come to book club, and more. But I did check them briefly today. Being a niche-internet celebrity is sometimes fun and sometimes very confusing. I will occasionally receive DMs of people who saw me in target and think I'm shorter than th

On July 6th, 2026 I, hailo, headed to downtown Wichita to visit NICHE's Culinary School. Photo by Kevin Colborn Niche is a part of Wichita State's Technical School, training the next generation of chefs, restaurant operators, and others suited to disrupt the hospitality industry. Hospitality is an industry close to my heart--in DECA competitions as a teenager, I always competed in hospitality events, and I spent two years in New York working for a very exciting restaurant-tec

It's May. One of those balmy days, quite warm with raindrops speckled throughout the day. I'm walking down Orchard St, coming up from Grand and I see him, sitting outside. Erwin, with his strong, kind face, looking down at his phone. So I sneak up really quiet and drop into the chair in front of him. "Hello!" I say. He laughs. I laugh... "You know, I always remember you," he says, taking off his phone case to reveal a Hot Literati sticker. We grow up in a lot of places. If we