Over a bottle of orange wine on the back patio of Carroll Gardens mainstay Frankies 457, Alison Roman percolates with a confidence that cools only when talk turns to the uptick of new people sliding into her DMs.
The New York Times food columnist and best-selling cookbook author (Dining In and Nothing Fancy) has spent the week fielding concerns about pantry stocking, uncomplicated recipes and her preferred nonperishables, mostly on Instagram, where her follower count has grown to nearly half a million.
It’s not the questions catching her off guard — Roman’s candor and engagement have earned the 34-year-old cult-like devotees — it’s who’s asking those questions. "This is a different group, the people who weren’t really cooking before," she.