BA Dominoes, Just Eat Takeaway Grubhub, Fauci comes clean, and more...
Family Meal - Friday, June 12, 2020
Hello Friday,
Sitting at what counts as my desk these days, trying to organize my thoughts around everything going on stateside, when I glance up to see what looks like a PLA Type 074-class landing ship (Yuhai class) making its way across Victoria Harbour. Which reminds me… Eater put together a big One Day in June feature on what dining out looked like around the world on June 2nd, 2020, and your dear narrator contributed the Hong Kong section. I’m not saying it’s the best one in there, but definitely top 18.
Let’s get to it…
The (Media) Fallout – Welp. Bon Appétit leadership continues to implode. After EIC Adam Rapoport resigned earlier this week, Condé Nast video exec (and head of video at BA) Matt Duckor followed him out the door, chased by a series of his own past “homophobic and racist tweets, and allegations of suppressing diversity by Bon Appétit staffers.” That quoted list is part of a headline from Rachel Permack at Business Insider, who separately published a scathing expose on the “toxic culture of microaggressions and exclusion” at Bon Appetit, which had apparently been in the works for a while now (and is well worth a read if you think Rapoport was forced out over a single brownface photo).
Meanwhile, Permack’s colleague at Business Insider, Kat Tenbarge, reported that BA drinks editor Alex Delany was called out by on-screen host Andy Baraghani for using a gay slur in a bad Vine joke. Her reporting then goes on to highlight editorial misconduct(?) accusations from freelance writer Alyse Whitney against both Barghani himself, and now acting EIC Amanda Shapiro.
Is there anything good going on at that place? Maybe. Though this BA staff statement got some blowback for too little / too late from some, I get the feeling there’s a lot more beneath the surface happening right now. I mean, just look at the surface!
P.S. - Personnel-wise, as noted, Shapiro will take over for Rapoport in an acting capacity, and Premack got her hands on an email from Condé Nast Entertainment's president, Oren Katzeff, in which he says “an interim replacement [for Druckor] will be announced ‘as soon as possible.’"
Mr. Katzeff, turns out, may not be the right person to make that hire… Headline in the Daily Beast on Tuesday: “Condé Nast Staffers Expose Entertainment Chief’s Old Tweets About Mexicans and Women.”
If nothing else, very on brand.
The (Restaurant) Fallout – Headline in Eater LA: “Prominent LA Restaurateur Stephane Bombet Wore Blackface at a Halloween Party in 2011.” Key detail from Matthew Kang: “The after hours party was attended by local restaurant industry professionals, food media (including this writer) as well as Picca’s staff.” So, no one said anything at the time, and in the story’s comments section (a cesspool as usual), some questioned why Kang didn’t report this earlier if he was there himself. So, I called Kang to ask. He told me he wasn't a reporter at the time, and didn't even remember being inside the restaurant until he looked through the album in question and found a photo with him in it (at the bar, not with staff or people in costumes, and nowhere near Bombet). When he found out, he told his editors, who agreed that detail needed to be included in the story. From where I sit: Fair enough.
And you know who he was with that night? Current colleague Caroline Pardilla, whose own Eater LA headline yesterday reads: “Stephane Bombet ‘Steps Away’ From Faith & Flower Amid Fallout From Blackface Photo.” Small world.
Meanwhile, in Philadelphia… Eater’s Alexandra Jones reports chef Scott Schroeder is leaving his Hungry Pigeon restaurant after his own recent public stumbles (“Thank you Black America. You had me at hip-hop and fried chicken.”), and the list of restaurants getting called out in this Samantha Melemand piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer is too long to replicate here, but I highly recommend reading through the whole article for a rundown of the many ways industry types are missing the point right now. Sample reaction to one effort: “ummm you forgot #blacklivesmatter in the midst of whatever the hell this is supposed to be.”
There are so many stories like this happening around the country right now, I can’t link to them all here. So I want to end this section with this reminder from Osayi Endolyn: “Stories on the fallout of exposed structural racism in media that don’t include reference to George Floyd’s murder, Black Lives Matter and the global outcry, just don’t get it… It is a black youth-led resistance to systemic anti-black racism and violence that has created an environment where ppl can demand justice everywhere.”
The Delivery Wars – “Consolidation in the world of on-demand food ordering and delivery continues apace. [Yesterday], Just Eat Takeaway — the European company that only just got its own $7.8 billion merger approved by regulators in April of this year — officially announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Grubhub in the U.S. in an all-share deal for an enterprise value of $7.3 billion. The acquisition is not just a big piece of M&A in the food delivery space. It also represents a major competitive swipe, as Uber Eats had also been trying to acquire the U.S. company.” TechCrunch’s Ingrid Lunden and Kristen Korosec have the details here. “Just Eat Takeaway said the combined operation — which processed 593 million orders in 2019 — will have over 70 million combined active customers globally.”
I suppose one could make the case that because these companies handle different markets (read: continents), this is a less anti-competitive alternative to Uber Eats making the winning bid? Results for restaurants, gig workers, and consumers: pending.
The True Cost – Headline in the SF Chronicle: “Coronavirus spurs higher salaries at San Francisco restaurant Sons & Daughters.” Some big numbers via Janelle Bitker: “Moving forward, Sons & Daughters’ employees will earn at least $65,000 per year, with salaries topping out at $90,000. Benefits will include two weeks’ paid vacations, unlimited sick pay and fully paid health insurance, and staff will evenly split 50% of the profits. Tipping is out in favor of an 18% service charge…. Before shelter-in-place, Sons & Daughters started cooks at $19 per hour… didn’t fully cover health insurance and certainly did not share profits. About half of the 14-member staff worked part-time, but now everyone on the team of nine will be full-time and salaried… The tasting menu price will go up from $145 to $175 and wine pairings from $95 to $115.” Results: pending.
The Good Doctor – On Instagram, José Andrés peppered Dr. Anthony Fauci with restaurant-specific COVID questions. Worth a listen if only to reinforce for yourself and your staff what’s already out there. Didn’t transcribe it, but Fauci does say you don’t need N95 masks (standard surgical or cloth will do) or gloves (just wash hands like crazy), and makes a good case for getting to know your local health authority’s contact info. Link here. (Full disclosure, I did transcribe one quote: “I can’t tell you how many times I do myself with hand sanitizer.” – Dr. Anthony Fauci.)
And last but not least – If you’re looking for a little shot of joy, I had no idea Roy Choi was working on his florist game! Here he is on instagram, showing off his latest arrangements to brighten your day. Personally, I think he needs to balance out those big bursts of green with less chloroform-forward chromatics, but, you know what, Roy Choi — you know what, everyone — you belong somewhere you feel free.
And that’s it for today.
I’ll see you here Tuesday for next Family Meal.
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