I’d just walked out the door of Alfalfa after enjoying a nice salad there when I unexpectedly confronted a pair of “piercing blue eyes.” It was Sean Wilentz, the subject of a recent post here. He gave me what seemed a look of disdain, then hustled down Nassau, too swift to catch except at the risk of my coming across as a stalker.

So many questions. “How come you never acknowledged my post, Professor Wilentz? And what do you think about salads? Tacos are one thing, but can we live on salads?”