Bloomfield back, Matheson acts, Ten Five fights, and more...
Bloomfield back, Matheson acts, Ten Five fights, and more...
Family Meal - Friday, February 17th, 2023
Hello Friday,
I hope you all made an outrageous amount of Valentine’s and Super Bowl money because I am so glad that news cycle is over.
Let’s get to it…
The Prodigium – “Chef April Bloomfield — known in equal measure for memorable meat-centric fare and being caught in the middle of one of the biggest restaurant scandals of the #MeToo era — left her last remaining NYC restaurant two years ago, and she’s since remained out of the public eye. Now, she’ll be returning to the city’s restaurant scene, only this time in Brooklyn rather than Manhattan, with restaurateur Gabriel Stulman, of West Village staples like Joseph Leonard, Jeffrey’s Grocery, and Fairfax.” Details via Melissa McCart in Eater NY.
Back in 2017, Bloomfield was faulted for allegedly turning a blind eye to Ken Friedman’s behavior (and some guests’!) at the Spotted Pig, as reported by Julia Moskin and Kim Severson in the NYT. Now, she’s part of what will probably be a growing cohort of MeToo and MeToo-adjacent people easing back into the public world of indie restaurants after post-accusation / pandemic hiatuses of one length or another.
Everything case-by-case (Bloomfield was mostly accused of intentionally ignoring problems at a time when a lot of people were intentionally ignoring problems, including media et al.), but will be interesting to keep an eye on their receptions…
The Media – Confirming news reported in Family Meal a few weeks ago, Eater London editor Adam Coghlan posted a farewell letter on Tuesday: “After five and half years, as of February 2023, Eater London will cease regular publication. Unfortunately, as a result of economic circumstances in the U.S. right now, a daily news and service outlet in London can no longer be a commercial priority for the business. In the future, the site’s core maps will be updated on a quarterly or bi-annual basis. But for now, and for me, the site’s editor, it is time to say goodbye.”
Both Coghlan and editor James Hansen were laid off as part of the Vox layoffs last month.
Michelin Season – The Miami guide is doing its trickle thing, with eight new inclusions released on the official site this month. Congrats to Brasserie Laurel, Fiola Miami, Lido, Lion & the Rambler, Rosie’s, Tambourine Room, The Gibson Room, and — Family Meal’s new official best name award winner — Walrus Rodeo.
The Ads – If you missed the Super Bowl, there were two restaurant-related ads I paid (a little) attention to. First was Door Dash making a big play for grocery delivery with Matty Matheson (described by The Daily Meal as an actor “who plays a chef in the food-centric Chicago-set Hulu series ‘The Bear’”), Raekwon The Chef (of the Wu Tang Clan that we — me and you? — will be seeing live in Hong Kong in two weeks), and Nickelodeon’s animated Tiny Chef.
Second was a whole bunch of celebrities trying to please Puff Daddy (forever Puff Daddy) and get a contract to sing a new jingle for Uber One, the Uber delivery subscription service that apparently needed a Super Bowl ad to remind me it existed.
Uber One: That one thing that exists, remember?
The Suits – In LA, “Ten Five Hospitality, a limited liability company that served as the managerial face of some of the city’s most important new openings — including chef Wes Avila’s Ka’Teen, French-inspired lounge Bar Lis, Palm Springs-y live music venue and cocktail bar Desert Five Spot, the Tommie and Thompson hotels, the Chap, and Evan Funke’s consistently packed Mother Wolf — is locked in an escalating fight with the Relevant Group, the developers and current owners of the buildings in which those businesses sit.” That fight, reported in detail by Eater LA’s Farley Elliott, includes both a trademark battle and a truly wild tug of war over employees (“We’ll give you $200 to switch companies!” but also “If you switch you’re fired!”).
Good luck to the employees!
The Student Boat – PSA: “Applications for the 2023-2024 James Beard Foundation Scholarships are open, from February 7 to March 31, 2023.” There are scholarships for women in wine; women-identifying and BIPOC individuals attending or planning to attend culinary school; “students faced with extreme challenges [looking for] a second chance to overcome these hardships and follow a culinary path”; various merit-based candidates divided around the geographical diversity of the Beard award categories; and… Texans.
Information here. Good luck, all!
And last but not least: The Cops and the Coupons – On Twitter this week, I described this piece from Hanna Raskin’s The Food Section Substack as: “Maybe the most charming interview of a cop/restaurateur who owns a seafood restaurant (famous for roast beef) that ends with ‘one last question. When I was looking you up online, I saw you lassoed a 9ft gator last year?’ I've ever read.” Not sure there’s much I can add to that here except to say: You should read it.
Spoiler alert: They catch the murderer.
And that’s it for today! Unless you haven’t had enough… in which case you should listen to Expedite’s Kristen Hawley and I discuss a bunch of this stuff on our Restaurant Week podcast, which you can hear via her newsletter (with a link to Apple podcasts, etc), or right here:
I’ll see paying subscribers back here Tuesday, and everyone else on Friday for next Family Meal.
And don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and Instagram, and send tips and/or Palm Springs-y live music 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!