Introducing 'PABLO, MICHELIN POET'

A new mutual aid initiative from the crew who brought you 'EMIL IS MY EDITOR'

We here at…whatever the fuck we’re calling ourselves, (un)incorporated, got together a few months ago when one of our own was in a dire situation and tried to use what clout and goodwill we collectively have accumulated on the Stack to put him in a better position to get out of it.

We have found ourselves in a similar position this week, and we intend to do what we can to answer the bell again.

The situation:

Pablo Báez is a brilliant, criminally under-read, fundamentally decent member of this community whose former boss is doing him dirty, and as a result, he’s in a bind while he waits for his next job to begin.

Pablo is also a chef with Michelin credentials. (You know, when he’s not too busy writing excellent fiction and poetry for us.)

So instead of simply asking you to help a guy out and providing a link to Buy Me a Coffee (which is down for the moment anyway), we want to help Pablo offer you some of his best self—both as a chef and a poet.

How it works:

Find Pablo on Venmo ( handle: @jpvb89, last four digits: 4145), throw in the cash for your order with the memo “Michelin Poet.”

Then send him an email at ouroborosmorb@gmail.com with the subject “Michelin Poet,” include a screen shot of your receipt, and make your request. He’ll be back to you with your order in under 48 hours.

The Menu:

• $5 will get you a new nickname. (No, we’re not kidding. James Worth used to be James Worth and now, after Pablo got through with him, he’s PAPI fucking BOSTON. You can’t put a price on that kind of street cred.)

• $25 will get you a personal recipe from a Michelin chef’s collection. What have you always wanted to know how to cook? Let this man tell you how it’s done.

• $25 will, alternatively, get you a personalized poem, posted (and boosted like crazy by us, the undersigned) on Substack and dedicated to you for being fucking awesome.

• $40 will get you both, with a poem related to the dish, posted (and boosted like crazy) and dedicated to you for being fucking awesome.

• $100 will get you a VIP consultation—this is far broader and more in-depth than just getting a single recipe. Get better at cooking something you or your hypothetical (or very real) significant other will really dig. AND you get a poem about the experience (boosted and dedicated as above) and a nickname.

You get a little extra exposure and a good deed on your name—and even more fundamentally, you get to feel good about yourself for doing that good deed for someone we share this space with, whether you know him or not.

Fiction is culture.

We get to decide what that means for us. And we the undersigned think it ought to mean that we have each other’s backs when the need and opportunity present themselves.

Love,

Tom, Fitz, Andrew, Zani, Zivah, Nick, Slater, Luke, Papi Boston, and the Editor.

—

MICHELIN POETRY

(to be updated as new entries appear)

In honor of

Andy Futuro

: "Sticks and Stones Play Suits and Ties" 5/19/25

In honor of

Zivah Avraham

: “Stars of Av” 5/20/25

In honor of

Elizabeth Lamont

: “In ár gCroíthe go deo” 5/20/25

In honor of

Tom Schecter

: “Son of No Master” 5/22/25

In honor of

Jessica Maison

: “—” 5/23/25

In honor of

Lyndsey Resnick

: “Carnival of Gnats” 5/26/25

In honor of

J. Michael Hall

: “Huginn & Munnin” 5/27/25

(Video of the first Michelin Poetry mini-roundtable 5/28/25)

In honor of

P.K. Anthony

: “Bend as a Bowe and Breathe” 5/29/25

In honor of

Emil Ottoman

(and the Saint) : “Ursa Major” 5/29/25