Blake Lively's absolutely wild sex scene in Another Simple Favor
After all, one of the many twists in the 2018 dark comedy thriller (spoiler alert!) was that Anna Kendrick's character, Stephanie, slept with her brother, and possibly had a child with him. That led to Blake Lively exclaiming one of the film's most memorable lines: 'Brotherf**ker!'
Obviously, Another Simple Favor had to live up to that dark, scandalous reveal, and then some. Directed by Paul Feig, with a script written by Jessica Sharzer and Laeta Kalogridis, this sequel picks up seven years after the events of the first movie.
Emily is fresh out of prison (some murder, some attempted murder, no biggie) and newly engaged to an Italian dreamboat. She's planned an extravagant wedding on the isle of Capri, and she wants Stephanie as her maid of honour. Stephanie goes along, in part to boost her follower count, and in part because Emily threatens to sue her. Just girlfriend stuff!
Warning: Major spoilers for Another Simple Favor ahead. Seriously, stop reading now if you don't want to be spoiled.
Let's get this out in the open: Blake Lively has sex with herself in Another Simple Favor, and yes, it's wild.
After both Emily's ex-husband Sean (Henry Golding) and her new husband Dante (Michele Morrone) are mysteriously murdered, Stephanie dusts off her detecting skills. She uncovers that Emily's supposed stillborn triplet, Charity, is still alive. We learned in the first movie that Emily's real name is Hope, and that she was a triplet, but that one sister died in childbirth. (The second sister, Faith, was killed by Emily.) But it turns out, Charity isn't dead. She was stolen by Emily's Aunt Linda, raised in complete isolation, and was driven insane out of loneliness and abuse.
All this brings us to the incest scene — or should I say, twincest scene — in Another Simple Favor. Charity (also played by Lively) shows up at Emily's hotel room, surprising her with her existence. With an armful of creepy dolls and a dreamy, childlike sort of insanity, Charity promises Emily she will 'fix everything' so that the two of them can be together forever.
Before Emily can react, Charity injects her with a drug. Then Charity lies Emily's immobile body down on the bed, arranging her sister's limp arms around her in an embrace.
In Emily's unwilling arms, Charity sweetly confesses to murdering Sean, and reveals her plan to kill Dante.
'I'm not your sister, I'm you. And you're me. And we're one,' Charity croons to her twin, stroking her hair. 'We don't need Dante or Sean or Stephanie. We don't need a woman or a man, we just need each other.'
Then, Charity begins to walk her fingers down Emily's torso, as she says, in a breathy voice, 'I'm only ever going to make you feel good. So good. So good because it makes me feel so good. Do you want to see what I mean? Blink if that's OK.'
The camera pulls back, so we don't see if Emily actually does blink or not. All we know is that Charity says, 'Yay! OK!' and then reaches her hand … down there.
Maybe Emily did blink, maybe she didn't. But it's clear from her expression that this is, without question, a violation. But Charity keeps going. Emily, rendered motionless from the drugs, can only move her eyes.
'We're gonna love this,' Charity promises. 'We can feel so good at the same time.'
Then she flips herself atop her sister, and promises they will have 'this' forever. She seals that promise with a kiss.
Yep! That really just happened, and it's absolutely wild. The scene never gets more explicit than that kiss, but the implication is all too clear: Charity had sex with drugged-out twin sister.
The movie walks a delicate line with this one. On the one hand, this is sexual assault, which feels quite a few shades darker than the movie's darkly comedic tone. On top of that, the abuser, Charity, is clearly the product of a lifetime of abuse. It's much harder to play this subject off as part of the heightened, delicious fun. Much easier to do that with murder!
That said, I think Another Simple Favor does pull it off. This scene is relayed via a flashback, from Emily to Stephanie. Stephanie tactfully asks Emily if she's OK, which helps soften the blow.
At least the movie took the time to acknowledge just how dark that scene was, before getting back to the fun stuff.
And, of course, Stephanie couldn't resist hitting Emily with a line of dialogue that makes this whole thing feel inevitable and scandalous in the best way: 'Sisterf**ker!'
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7NEWS
14 hours ago
- 7NEWS
Catherine threw three coins in the Trevi Fountain and immediately met the man she would marry
Catherine Tondelli was standing underneath the Trevi Fountain, on a summer's evening in Rome, about to throw three coins into the fountain's waters. Growing up in the US, Catherine had seen romance movies set in Italy. She'd read books about Rome. She'd heard the city's famous fountain was impressive. But nothing could have prepared her for the first view of the marble figures, illuminated by moonlight. 'Suddenly, there it was — a massive, breathtaking fountain,' Catherine tells CNN Travel today. 'It was a blue moon that night, which was really beautiful. The fountain was gorgeous.' Catherine was standing with her mother, Mary Lee, watching the water cascading over the statues. Catherine's mother encouraged her to embrace the tradition of throwing coins into the Trevi Fountain and making a wish — or three. Mary Lee took three coins from her purse and pressed them into her daughter's palm. 'Honey,' she said, 'You took me on this beautiful trip. I think it's time you met someone special. Make a wish.' While Catherine was happily single, she enjoyed the idea of embracing this Roman tradition. So, smiling at her mother, she went ahead and threw each coin over her shoulder, with her right hand. 'Just like in the movies,' recalls Catherine. 'Then, all of a sudden, I heard this voice just saying, 'If you want the wish to come true, you must throw with the left hand because it's closer to your heart'.' Catherine turned around and there he was: Fausto Mezzana. An Italian stranger who was about to change her life. A Trevi Fountain connection Catherine met Fausto in front of the Trevi Fountain in the northern summer of 1999. Back then, Catherine was 39 and based in California. After a couple of difficult relationships, she'd resigned herself to the idea she might never find a life partner who could support her dreams and cheerlead her ambition. But Catherine was happy with her life. She enjoyed being single. She felt fulfilled. 'I didn't really care,' Catherine says today. 'I had my cats, I had a great job.' Catherine's job involved working for a major cosmetics company, selling high-end products to luxury hotels. And through a stroke of good luck, it was via this company that Catherine won a trip of a lifetime to Italy. When her name was picked for the trip for two, Catherine knew right away who she wanted to accompany her: her mother, Mary Lee, a retired airline accountant. 'There was no one else in my life I'd rather take,' says Catherine. The resulting trip was 'beautiful,' says Catherine. 'We went to Venice, and we went to Florence, and then the last night was in Rome, and my mother said, 'Let's go to the Trevi Fountain',' recalls Catherine. Three coins in the fountain That's how Catherine found herself throwing three coins in the fountain and then standing, face-to-face, with Fausto Mezzana for the first time. After explaining the throwing of the coins with the left hand, Fausto asked Catherine and her mother if they knew what each of the three coins in the Trevi Fountain symbolise. When the American women said no, Fausto said: 'The first coin, you come back to Rome. The second coin, you find your love in Rome and the third coin … you marry a Roman.' Catherine and her mother looked at Fausto, then each other and laughed. Ice broken, Fausto introduced himself — he was from Rome, he explained, and worked for an Italian airline. He said he was out for an evening stroll around his home city, because summer evenings in Rome were his favourite. Mary Lee immediately bonded with Fausto over their shared aviation jobs. Soon, the two were deep in conversation about the travel industry. But as Mary Lee and Fausto talked about airplanes and airports, Fausto kept making eye contact with Catherine. Catherine couldn't take her eyes off him, either. 'He was very cute. He was very handsome, he was very funny. He made me and my mum laugh so much,' says Catherine. 'There was an immediate connection … They say, you know, ' colpo di fulmine ' in Italian, which is 'the love at first sight'. And I really believe that. I think I looked at him and was like, 'Oh, my God, this fountain works magic'.' And while Catherine didn't necessarily believe all of the coins' wishes were about to come true, she did feel like 'destiny, whatever you want to call it' had suddenly intervened. 'Suddenly, it felt like fate,' she says. A tour of Rome at night Like Catherine, Fausto wasn't sure if he'd ever find love back in 1999. He was 45. He'd had a few relationships, but none had lasted long. He enjoyed his airline job and moonlighting as an actor working in television commercials. But he wanted someone to share his life with. 'I said, 'My God, I think in my life something must change, because I can't continue like that',' he tells CNN Travel today. When he met Catherine at the fountain, Fausto felt like she was a 'present from the sky'. He liked her mother, too. 'He was so sweet to her,' says Catherine. 'They were both airline people. So airline people sort of find each other. They always have this common bond.' Looking back, Fausto jokes it's the 'best strategy to attack the mother to conquer the daughter'. But he genuinely enjoyed Mary Lee's company — as much as he was also struck by Catherine from the moment he saw her throwing the coins into the Trevi Fountain. 'The first impression, for me, was the beauty,' says Fausto of Catherine. Right away, he says, he knew it was about to be 'a magic night'. It helps, Fausto adds, that Rome is such an incredible backdrop for romance. 'The night in Rome in summertime is so beautiful,' he says. Catherine, Fausto and Catherine's mother talked for some time that evening, standing as a trio in front of the Trevi Fountain. When Catherine and Mary Lee told Fausto they'd just arrived in the city, he suggested he could take the two of them on a tour of Rome, stopping off at all his favourite spots. Fausto suggested reconvening in the Piazza Navona a little later that evening. Catherine's mother enthusiastically agreed, but Catherine was a little more hesitant. Sure, she was charmed by Fausto — but he was also a stranger. 'Mothers can tell' 'I said, 'Mum, we just met him. Maybe he's a fountain hanger. Maybe just hangs around fountains picking up women',' recalls Catherine. Her mother dismissed this suggestion. 'She goes, 'Oh, no, honey, I can tell. Mothers can tell.' She was convinced he was this great guy,' recalls Catherine. So Catherine and her mother reunited with Fausto at the Piazza Navona later that night. 'When they arrived, I was in a big Audi,' Fausto says. 'They were both surprised. The mother said, 'Oh my God, a four-door car.' So maybe she was thinking I'd arrive like Gregory Peck, you remember, with a little motorbike …' Despite her initial disappointment at the lack of Roman Holiday vibes, Catherine's mother was glad to see the car — they'd been walking around all day. She happily got inside. Catherine was still more hesitant. But her nerves soon dissipated as Fausto drove around Rome, pointing out everything from the Coliseum — illuminated under that blue moon — to his favourite jazz bar. She was charmed by the attention Fausto showed Mary Lee and found herself fascinated by his stories of his life in Rome. 'Thank God I listened to my mother,' Catherine says today. 'He took us on this whole trip and showed us everything.' Later, when Catherine's mother retreated to the hotel to sleep, Catherine and Fausto stayed out for several more hours. "Maybe she was thinking I'd arrive like Gregory Peck, you remember, with a little motorbike …" They bar hopped, talking and laughing into the next morning. Already, 'something had happened so fast,' as Fausto puts it. Catherine felt the same way, especially when Fausto took her to his house and played his piano. 'Oh my God, it was so beautiful,' says Catherine. 'I'm a musician too. I play trumpet. So, it was like, 'Oh my God. We both love music. We both love the arts. We both love the culture'.' 'It was a very magic night,' says Fausto. 'We just had so much fun,' adds Catherine. 'I didn't want the night to end … It was a night you remember forever.' The next day, Fausto invited Catherine and her mother out for dinner. Catherine enthusiastically agreed, but her mother declined, with a knowing glance between Catherine and Fausto. 'She said, 'I can see that you have a connection with each other, and I really would love to give you guys the night together to get to know each other better',' recalls Catherine. When Catherine protested — sure, she wanted time with Fausto, but she also wanted to spend the vacation time with her mother — her mother feigned tiredness. 'She was completely lying,' says Fausto today, laughing. But Catherine and Fausto were grateful for more time together. That evening they stayed up late again, talked about their past relationships, their passions, their family, their hopes for the future. And then, when it came time for Catherine to travel home to the US the next day, she gave Fausto her business card. 'I knew that I wanted to be in touch with him. I knew that I was going to be more than this, and I wanted it to be,' she says. 'We kissed under the hotel window.' A surprise plane ticket Catherine reluctantly returned to California, hoping she'd hear from Fausto but unsure what the future held. 'The whole flight back home I was very sad and didn't talk much to my mum,' she recalls. But she'd barely been back in the US a few days when Fausto got in touch. 'He sent me a ticket and asked me to come back for four days — to see if our chance encounter was real or if it was just that I was on holiday,' recalls Catherine. 'He told me he had never felt this way before and wanted to know if I felt the same.' Catherine had to negotiate extra vacation time with her boss. She was honest with her manager, saying: 'If I don't go, I'll always regret it.' He reluctantly agreed to four days off, warning Catherine any more vacation and she'd lose the job. 'So I went, I took the risk, and it was great. It was four beautiful days,' says Catherine. Over those extra days in Italy, Catherine and Fausto became more and more sure they wanted to be together. 'I finally found somebody that I was really attracted to — not just physically, but also mentally. And for me, someone who can make me laugh is so important, and he was really entertaining and charming,' says Catherine. 'I'm like, 'Finally, I meet someone I really, really want to be with and he lives, you know, 14 hours away on a plane'.' But Catherine was determined to 'fight for this one,' as she puts it, and Fausto was too. The two committed to a long-distance, cross-continental relationship. 'Every month commuting from Rome to California. California to Rome, Rome, California …' recalls Fausto. This mammoth journey was made a little easier by Fausto's job offering complimentary airline tickets. 'Thank God, that helped us keep the relationship going,' says Catherine. Nevertheless, 'the first year was very hard,' says Fausto. He really struggled with the regular farewells. In the end, they stopped using the word 'goodbye'. 'I would say, 'I'll go left',' he recalls. 'She said, 'I go right'.' Then, after about a year of long distance, Catherine found herself at a work conference speaking to a guy in her industry who mentioned he was looking for a marketing executive willing to relocate to London. Catherine's ears perked up — the UK was one step closer to Italy. But it also wasn't as intense as moving to Rome. She put herself forward for the London role. 'I was not lucky in love — lucky in my job, but not in love. And I didn't want to make another mistake,' says Catherine today. 'So, I said, 'I really want to take this one slower, and I'm going to move to London … Every weekend, we will be together'.' 'You're thinking about moving for this man you met at a fountain?' While Catherine thought moving to the UK over Italy was the pragmatic choice, her California friends and loved ones still raised an eyebrow at the decision. 'My girlfriends were like, 'You are crazy. What are you doing? You're thinking about moving for this man you met at a fountain, throwing your coins?',' she recalls. Catherine's twin sister was especially dubious. She'd never met Fausto, and wasn't sure what to make of him. 'She was mad at him,' says Catherine. 'She's like, 'You can't take my twin away from me.' Because twins are sort of like one unit. 'And so when he came in, it was very hard for her. It took her a long time to really start to love him and get to know him, and she finally did, but I had a lot of resistance from a lot of people.' The night before Catherine was due to leave California, she woke up in a sweat, these voices of resistance reverberating around her head. 'It's a major step in your life,' she says today. 'You're leaving your family, you're leaving your career, you're leaving your country that you've lived in … It wasn't just moving to another state, it was moving to another country.' But Catherine's mother Mary Lee encouraged the move — even as she feared the distance. She'd seen how Fausto made her daughter light up. How the two of them worked as a team. She knew leaving California was the right step for Catherine. Catherine moved to London on August 10, 2000. Compared to the trek across the Atlantic, Catherine and Fausto found navigating the distance between London and Rome easy. Due to differences in pet quarantine laws in the UK and Italy, Catherine's beloved cats settled in Rome with Fausto. Every other weekend, she'd visit Rome to see Fausto — and the cats. 'He started feeding them prosciutto and mortadella, and of course, he fell in love with them,' Catherine says. Planning for a future together As the couple became more and more committed, Catherine and Fausto started talking through what their future could look like. Catherine had always wanted children and Fausto also loved the idea of being a father. 'But, by the time we met, I was almost 40, so then we tried … but at that point, as a woman, you have this clock,' says Catherine. Catherine says the couple's view on kids became: 'If we have them, great. If we don't, it's OK too. We have a great life.' One evening, while visiting Catherine in London, Fausto broached the idea of Catherine moving to Rome, permanently. 'He said 'I would like to spend the rest of my life with you, you are a lioness and I am a lion … we need to be together. Neither one of us could be with a sheep',' Catherine recalls. 'He said, 'I love that you are a lion. I have been waiting for my lioness my whole life'.' Catherine was touched. And she felt seen. 'I loved that because I always seemed to be with men that were intimidated of me or my career and he fully embraced my independence, strength, career, etc,' she reflects. And in another twist of fate, that same weekend Catherine saw a listing for a hotel company in Rome looking for a marketing director. 'I went to Rome the next week and interviewed and got the job,' she says. In autumn of 2002, Catherine moved to Rome. She and Fausto bought a house together. It was an exciting step, but adapting to life in Italy was also a 'long learning curve' for Catherine, who by then had spent a lot of time in Rome, but had still to master the Italian language. Catherine and Fausto adopted a system: they'd spend one month speaking to one another exclusively in Italian and then one month in English, switching it up each month. This method seemed to work. Soon, Catherine became more confident speaking Italian. Adjusting to Italian life was also made easier by Fausto's family and friends embracing her with open arms. 'It was a warm welcome that I had here, a beautiful welcome,' says Catherine. 'It would have been much more difficult had they not been so accepting of me.' If language was Catherine's biggest struggle when she moved to Rome, for Fausto, living with a romantic partner for the first time was his biggest adjustment. On top of cohabitation being a new experience for Fausto, his relationship with Catherine was the 'merge of two different cultures, two different traditions, two different feelings,' as he puts it. Their differences led to occasional clashes. But the foundation of love never wavered. The relationship grew stronger as they settled into Roman life. In September 2004, Catherine and Fausto decided to get married in Vitorchiano, which Catherine describes as a 'breathtaking medieval town' in Viterbo, central Italy. 'We took over the entire place — a 14th-century church for the ceremony, and the reception in a former convent that had been converted into a hotel,' she recalls. Catherine's family — including her twin sister and beloved mother — all gathered in Vitorchiano for the ceremony. Catherine loved having them all there to celebrate with her. As for Fausto, he always loved spending time with Catherine's family, especially her mother Mary Lee. Their early bond over their love of aviation in front of the Trevi Fountain blossomed into a great relationship. Mary Lee often visited Italy, and Catherine and Fausto made regular trips to California. Wishes do come true Today, over 25 years since Catherine and Fausto crossed paths at the Trevi Fountain, they still live together in Rome. The couple never had children. 'I wish we could have, but it didn't happen in the end,' says Catherine. Fausto reflects that had he and Catherine met earlier, they may have had kids. But he also thinks their relationship thrived because they met a little later in life, when they knew exactly what they wanted. 'Sometimes there is the destiny to life,' he says. 'If this story happened when we were 25, 30 years old, I think we wouldn't be here now.' 'Maybe not,' agrees Catherine. 'I think we had to get to a point where we really knew what we wanted.' Both Catherine and Fausto remain passionate about work, and encourage each other in their professional pursuits. Catherine has her own meeting and event agency and serves as the president of the Professional Women's Association in Rome, while Fausto works as an actor and musician. The couple are primarily based in the Italian capital, but they've also been busy renovating a home in green, hilly Umbria over the past few years. 'It is finally finished,' says Catherine. 'We love our home, just outside of Orvieto.' Fausto still plays piano and Catherine still plays the trumpet. They enjoy playing together — usually for fun, just the two of them, but occasionally for an audience. 'We open up our house in Umbria for summer concerts where the village bring their chairs and sit in our backyard to hear our music,' says Catherine. 'We project images of the songs on our house, so it's kind of like 'Cinema Paradiso' but with our own music and film.' In between work and concerts, the couple can also be found biking together, cooking, playing tennis, working on house projects and doting on their cats. These shared interests are a big part of their relationship, says Catherine, but what's even more important is their shared value system. 'We generally have similar morals, and make each other laugh,' she says. 'We respect each other, we give each other independence, he is good to my family, I am to his.' Fausto and Catherine always enjoy recalling Catherine's fateful 1999 trip to Italy and the moment the couple met for the first time, after Catherine threw the coins in the Trevi Fountain. 'I can remember every detail about that night,' says Catherine. 'I look back … and I still get excited. The first night being with him. Even today, 25 years later, I go, 'Wow.' It brings up a lot of emotion for me, and happiness. I never looked back.' As for Fausto, he remembers the night just as vividly, especially the moment he first saw Catherine and thought she was 'a present from the sky'. 'It's a moment that remains in my mind like yesterday,' he says. On that first night, Mary Lee took a photo of Catherine and Fausto in front of the Trevi Fountain. They'd only just met. But Mary Lee had a feeling this was going to be a moment they'd want captured for posterity. She was right. And almost every year since, on the anniversary of their meeting, Catherine and Fausto have returned to the fountain and recreated the picture, arm in arm in front of the stone statues. 'I would never in a million years think one day I would be marrying the man I met at a fountain and moving to Rome and living here. But it happened,' says Catherine. 'Sometimes wishes come true.'
Perth Now
2 days ago
- Perth Now
Blake Lively slams Justin Baldoni's legal team
Blake Lively has slammed Justin Baldoni's legal team for trying to turn their legal battle into a "public spectacle". The former Gossip Girl star is suing her It Ends With Us co-star and director for sexual harassment and retaliation and she's now filed a motion requesting the judge agrees to a protective order which would see her sit for her deposition on 17 July at a redacted location, with everyone attending to be identified in advance. The movie came after a lawyer for Justin - whose counterclaims against Blake and her husband Ryan Reynolds for extortion and defamation were dismissed last month - previously said he wanted the deposition to be taken in public for people to see. Attorney Bryan Freedman told People magazine in May: 'Hold the deposition at MSG, sell tickets or stream it, and donate every dollar to organizations helping victims of domestic abuse." Following the court filing, Blake's representatives hit out at the 41-year-old actor's team. They told People magazine: 'Ms. Lively is looking forward to her deposition next week, and it should follow the same rules as every other witness in this case.' 'Justin Baldoni's lawyer has tried to make this matter a public spectacle at every turn, even proposing to sell tickets to a televised deposition at Madison Square Garden,. "This is a serious matter of sexual harassment and retaliation and it deserves to be treated as such.' The new filing revealed Blake, 37, asked the judge to block Justin and his team from selecting where the deposition takes place. Her lawyers wrote: "[Baldoni's team have] not denied that their intent is to manufacture a harassing publicity stunt by requiring Ms. Lively to parade through paparazzi, or by inviting unknown attendees to the deposition, including members of the media or social media influencers, or any other number of abusive tactics. 'Since virtually the inception of this litigation, Defendants have used even the prospect of Ms. Lively's deposition to generate press interest. 'The high-profile nature of this litigation, and the nature of Ms. Lively's retaliation claims, demonstrates a substantial risk of the deposition turning into a publicity event and potentially attracting interested individuals who could pose security risks." The Another Simple Favor star's lawyers insisted the filing was a "reasonable request to prevent the risk of annoyance, harassment, and verbal or physical threats," and alleged Justin's team 'appear to seek another public relations moment, or to create conditions for intimidation or harassment.' A trial is set to take place in March 2026.
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
America has some genuinely terrible food. It also has some of the best
But how about the Pacific Northwest, the region that takes in the likes of Oregon and Washington State, of Seattle, Portland and Willamette Valley? Seattle is a surprise winner, with a cuisine based largely around ingredients native to the Puget Sound, upon whose shores the city sits. This is oyster country, though you'll also find Dungeness crabs, geoduck clams, prawns, abalone, salmon and herring. The city's dining scene doesn't begin and end, however, with seafood. At Beast and Cleaver, chef Kevin Smith runs a whole-beast butcher shop that morphs into a whole-beast restaurant on weekends. At Sophon, Karuna Long serves up Cambodian Khmer cuisine. At The Walrus and the Carpenter, star chef Renee Erikson takes much of what makes Seattle great – the fresh seafood, the high-quality meat, the experimental flare – and turns it into something even more beautiful. Oh, and then there's Portland, in Oregon, with its incredible array of craft breweries, its diverse range of South-East Asian eateries, and its wine bars specialising in the fruits of the Willamette Valley, possibly the best wine region in the US, just an hour down the road. Let's continue the gastronomic adventure. Let's go to Las Vegas, of all places, a city in a desert, but a magnet for celebrity chefs drawn by the riches of the famous Strip. The truly great food here, however, is served up in the suburbs, away from that neon catwalk. At Esther's Kitchen, chef James Trees serves up classic Italian soul food that's been tweaked for modern audiences. At the Golden Steer, meanwhile, they're char-grilling artisanal steaks in a historic location on an old strip mall. And Tacos el Gordo does some of the best Mexican food north of the border. There are more foodie destinations around the country. New Orleans is a justifiably famous hub for Cajun and Creole cuisines, though there's also great Italian-American food here, and wine-matched fine-dining at the likes of Saint-Germain. Chicago – known around the world now thanks to cheffy TV series The Bear – has a food scene to back up its new-found fame, with everything from Michelin stars to down-home deep-dish pizza. Honolulu is another crowd pleaser, the home of the poke bowl, among plenty of delicacies native to the state, served up in appropriately relaxed surrounds. And there's Austin, Texas, a sure-fire winner thanks to its deeply ingrained culture of barbecue and Tex-Mex cuisine. Many of these cities specialise in a certain cuisine, or are known for a certain dish. Though sometimes, it's the dish that earns the fame, and which is adapted and copied throughout the country. In fact, in many states, you will find regionally specific versions of certain foods that are often very different to their counterparts in other states. Pizza is one. There's the famed New York slice, a huge pizza with a base that's thin and pliable enough to require folding in half when you pick it up (mostly to prevent it from drooping and dropping all your pepperoni on the floor). But then there's New Haven-style pizza, thinner and more heavily charred than its NYC cousin. There's Detroit-style pizza, rectangular, thick and doughy. Chicago has its famed deep-dish pizza, which is a cheese-lover's dream (and a dieter's nightmare). And in St Louis they have thin, round pizzas cut into square slices. Burgers are another specialty with regional variations: the Frita Cubana in Florida, with crispy potato strings piled up inside; the Juicy Lucy in Minnesota, with cheese stuffed into the meat patty; the Oklahoma-style onion burger; and New Mexico's green chile cheeseburger, to name a few. Then you have lobster rolls (different in Maine to Massachusetts), and clam chowder (different in Manhattan to Boston). And finally there's barbecue, surely their greatest gift to the culinary world, a seemingly simple practice of smoking or grilling meat, though one that will be subtly different in every state you visit, with different cuts of meat, different cooking techniques, different sauces and different sides. Enjoy pulled pork sandwiches in Memphis, Tennessee; pork ribs slathered in thick, sweet sauce in Kansas City; whole-beast cookery in North Carolina; vinegar-based sauces in South Carolina; and juicy, smoked brisket in Texas, where powerfully flavoured sauces are considered almost sacrilege, because meat is king. Is this the stuff, you have to ask, of a culinary wasteland? Does this sound like foodie hell? Not quite. Five dishes you have to eat in the US Gumbo, Louisiana This is the classic Creole stew, a hearty mix of meat, sausage and shellfish, bathing in a heavily flavoured broth. That soup is thickened with a rich roux that's made from either okra or file (dried and ground sassafras roots), the choice of which will be determined by where in Louisiana you happen to find yourself. Regardless, the gumbo will be served on rice, and it will be robust and delicious. Loading Pizza, everywhere Pizza is Italian, of course. But it's also American. Think of the classic takeout pizza chains – they're all American. And there are distinctly American styles of pizza too, from the gigantic, floppy New York slice to the Chicago deep-dish, all slathered in sweet, oregano-rich tomato sauce and oddly yellow mozzarella. Wherever you are in the US, pizza is always a good option. Barbecue, everywhere Here's another nationwide cuisine that is rich in variation and local pride. Almost every US state has its own style of barbecue – some with tomato-based sauces, some vinegar-based; some focused on cuts of beef, others pork – and they're all good for their own reasons. This sort of slow, patient gastronomy promotes the idea of community, not to mention passionate cookery, and should be on everyone's hit list. Lobster roll, New England The attraction here doesn't require a lot of explanation: you take your lobster meat, you put it in a soft roll. Keen? Course you are. Lobster rolls, in the north-eastern states that make up New England, are a classic that make use of a readily available though still luxurious ingredient. The only question is, do you prefer yours drowned in butter, or slathered with mayo? Shrimp and grits, South Carolina Here's another classic soul food dish of the south, this one native to the Carolinas and Georgia. Shrimp and grits is a traditional breakfast dish – the grits are dried ground corn cooked in chicken stock and then mixed with cheese, topped with grilled prawns and often sauteed mushrooms. And your day is off to a good start.
