Batali Discovery, FTC warning shots, podcasts, chair skirts, and more...
Family Meal - Friday, September 23, 2022
Hello Friday,
And hello from Hong Kong, a place… you can realistically visit! Just announced this afternoon, hotel quarantine is dead starting Monday. Arrivals will still not be allowed into restaurants and bars for three full days after they get here, but that is nothing compared to the 21 day quarantines the government was dishing out only months ago.
Taiwan and Japan also announced big opening up moves this week, and as a veteran of three relatively light Hong Kong quarantine stays (7 days, 7 days, 3 days), I say: Finally.
And… welcome?
Let’s get to it…
The Batali Show – Last weekend, a reader sent me a tiny blurb on a new Discovery+ documentary on Mario Batali. When I included it in Tuesday’s Family Meal (copy/pasted below as usual for non-paying subscribers), I assumed it was going to be a bit of a rehash / dramatic reenactment of known accusations. But on Wednesday, the NYT’s Julia Moskin and Kim Severson reported: “Now, in a new documentary film, one of the women [included in Batali and Joe Bastianich’s $600,000 settlement deal with over 20 employees last year] identifies herself publicly and gives a detailed account of what she described as a sexual assault by Mr. Batali.”
I’ll let you read those details for yourselves, but you will not be shocked to learn that the upstairs room at the Spotted Pig plays a starring role.
Can’t comment much more without watching first. Trailer here:
The Regulators – Gig economy companies like Uber, DoorDash, et al. are on notice. Last week, the FTC voted to newly commit itself to: “holding companies accountable for their claims and conduct about gig work’s costs and benefits; combating unlawful practices and constraints imposed on gig workers; and policing unfair methods of competition that harm gig workers.”
As Expedite’s Kristen Hawley said on the podcast we just recorded, a big government agency just told the delivery kings, “We’re watching you.” Lobbyists must be thrilled.
The Podcast – Now that I’m back home and hopefully settling into a routine, Hawley and I are planning to settle into weekly podcast publishing. This week, we talk Batali, the FTC, and a (fingers-crossed) feel good ghost kitchen story. If you want to hear what I sound like when I am thinking about how to write about things (confused), combined with Hawley’s smart takes on restaurant tech (a la her excellent Expedite newsletter), check it out here:
Quick minute notes: 03:50 - Batali; 09:00 - A true indy makes delivery-only moves; 13:52 - FTC sends a warning to gig-economy companies; 18:47 - Why that matters; 20:43 - Some similar trouble with tip credits; 24:05 - “The longest, funnest outro” (per KH).
P.S. - This is very early days for this project (we don’t even have cool music), so all suggestions, help, or whatever is very much welcome.
And last but not least: For Design Fans – There is a lot going on in this Eater spread of the new Per L’Ora hotel restaurant, “An Opulent Downtown LA Dining Room.” Maybe too much? I’m all for maximalism, but do all those black circles add up to something a little occult about that central mantel? (Is it missing two statues? What does it mean, Dan Brown?!)
And I’m not so sure rooms count as “opulent” when the furniture all looks like it’s covered in “Grandma knew the kids were coming” washables?
Apologies to you chair skirt fans. De gustibus, etc.
And that’s it for today! Except of course for Tuesday’s paid edition, which is copy / pasted below as usual. If you’d like to get Tuesdays’ on Tuesdays too…
I will see paying subscribers here on Tuesday, and everyone else back here Friday for next Family Meal.
And don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and Instagram, and send tips and/or the longest funnest outro to andrew@thisfamilymeal.com. If you like Family Meal and want to keep it going, please chip in here. If you got this as a forward, sign up for yourself!
Here begins the Family Meal that went out to paying subscribers on Tuesday, September 20, 2022:
NYT 50 Best, Batali doc, Sweetie Pie hit, and more...
Hello Tuesday,
And hello from… home! Got out of my mandatory 3-night Hong Kong quarantine at 9:30AM this morning with nary a hint of COVID, but just enough of a tickle-in-my-throat to make the poor taxi driver double check his mask alignment several times along the way.
Big headline here today: “State official signals Beijing’s blessings for Hong Kong reopening to world.” “Blessing” = “Permission” we hope. And when quarantine does finally end, there are some restaurant types here who sure could use your tourism dollars if you’d like to stop by this lil’ Special Administrative Region for a bit. With Beijing’s blessings, of course.
Let’s get to it…
The Lists – The NYT is out with their very own 50 Best: The big “Restaurant List 2022.” Too many (50!) to list here, but congrats, all!
One interesting thing reading through this list: Just how much focus is on the food itself. If that doesn’t surprise you these days, here’s a quick(ish) comparison of recent list prologue kickers:
F&W Best New Chefs: “Welcome to a rising generation of culinary talent that’s committed to leading and feeding others with a deep sense of integrity and hospitality—and to cooking up incredibly delicious, deeply personal, culturally grounded food. Welcome to the 2022 Best New Chefs.”
Bon App 10 Best New Restaurants: “Restaurants are approaching things differently than in the past. They’re giving center stage to regional foodways that many of our cities have sorely lacked. They’re cooking food that shakes off the expectations and burdens of what certain cuisines are supposed to look or taste like. They’re putting staff first in ways that feel new and inspiring and just right. And they’re having a hell of a lot of fun. Even when we were on our second or third dinners (so many double dinners!), my fellow editors and I left those meals feeling like we’d been part of something truly special… these 10 new restaurants exemplify exactly how special a restaurant can be.”
NYT Restaurant List 2022: “While some of our picks debuted just this summer, others have been around for decades. The one thing they do have in common: The food is amazing. These are the 50 restaurants we love most in 2022.”
The food!
Granted, those first two lists dealt specifically with “new,” which may have forced their hands a bit, but I searched for some key Newsmax red flag words in the NYT piece, and there were relatively few mentions of flavor-agnostic social terroir beyond “shining a spotlight on X culture’s food” talk. Brett Anderson blind links back to his February 2021 piece on Gregory Gourdet’s workplace efforts at Kann in Portland (which only opened a month and a half ago!), and only after we hear about a pork-neck bisque that “will forever change how you think of cabbage” does Kim Severson let us know that Leah & Louise in Charlotte is “is the first of five new places [Greg and Sabrina Colliers] and their restaurant group have planned for [a complex] designed to provide opportunities to Black cooks and managers.”
Feels like a subtle, but important choice — not new, but worth noting. NYT says: “You are going to want to go here for the food! Oh, and side note…” while others tell their readers: “You are going to want to know about the complexities behind the food, which, by the way, bonus…”
For TV Fans – There’s a Mario Batali documentary coming to Discovery+ this week? TV Insider says “Batali: The Fall of a Superstar Chef” will premiere this Thursday. “Behind the charisma and charm lurked a dark side that eventually caught up to Mario Batali when multiple women came forward with horrific accounts of harassment and their powerlessness in fighting back.”
For TV Fans Too – Maybe a little less on your restaurant scandal radar, but if you’re big into reality restaurant TV, TMZ reports: “‘Welcome to Sweetie Pie's’ star, James ‘Tim’ Norman is guilty of setting up his nephew's murder ... according to a Missouri jury. The former reality TV star was convicted of three counts -- murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud -- after the jury deliberated for 3 days.”
And last but not least: The Critics – Eater NY is out with an opposing opinion chit-chat review where Ryan Sutton and Robert Sietsema bicker over Michael Solomonov’s Laser Wolf in Brooklyn. Headline: “Laser Wolf Is a Stunner of a Williamsburg Skewer Spot, Unless You Hate It!” I genuinely think this style of review is informative and great, especially because it reminded me of such Troy McClure reviews as, “You Might Not Like This Place I Like,” and “Maybe You’ll Enjoy This Thing I Didn’t.”
And that’s it for today!
I’ll see you all back here Friday for next Family Meal.
And don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and Instagram, and send tips and/or the one thing they do have in common to andrew@thisfamilymeal.com. If you like Family Meal and want to keep it going, please chip in here. If you got this as a forward, sign up for yourself!