Booms and bulls, Delivery frauds, A "wine prince" accused, and more...
Family Meal - Friday, April 9th, 2021
Hello Friday,
Took Tuesday off and am, of course, overwhelmed by all the news big and small that happened while I was “away.” Should be caught up, but if I missed anything key, please let me know!
Let’s get to it…
The Boom – While restaurateurs around the country pin “Roaring 20s” memes to their back office vision boards, Miami is already shooing clappers (a portmanteau of clubbers and flappers I’m trying to make happen) away. Per Eater EIC Amanda Kludt: “Winter is always high season in Miami. But this year, the combination of loose restrictions in Florida, tight restrictions elsewhere, great weather, a rise in domestic travel, and pent up demand has led to a major boom in the hospitality industry, or what Eater Miami editor Olee Fowler is calling ‘our season on steroids.’” Fowler spoke with Kludt and Daniel Geneen on the Eater Digest podcast this week, alongside Cote owner Simon Kim, who says of his new location in the city: “Honestly, if I wanted more business, God would strike me.”
Cote Miami is obviously operating at a very specific place and time — and Kim warns would-be prospectors the gold rush can’t be sustained indefinitely: “It’s not like Miami, all of a sudden, can support 20 percent more restaurants overnight.” (also per Kim: there’s nothing to rent in Tuscany) — but the stat that most jumped out at me in the episode was actually from Vegas. Per Kludt: The “highest traffic post on Eater in March was the guide to the 38 best open restaurants in Las Vegas. Las Vegas is another very open town right now. I think it shows that there is just a lot of interest in going to places like Miami, like Vegas, and getting out there.”
Which maybe explains why about half the headlines in Eater newsletters these days start with numbers (lists!) and the subject of Eater Houston’s yesterday was “The Eater 38 is back, y’all.”
Boom?
The Bulls – Meanwhile, as Starr, Major Food Group, et al race to cash in on Miami, ThinkFoodGroup is planning more new spots in Chicago (Eater’s Ashok Selvam has those details) and NYC (via Florence Fabricant in the NYT), including multiple concepts at the Manhattan Ritz-Carlton. To paraphrase José Andrés: “We chefs, we feed the few. But during emergencies like this pandemic we have to find ways to feed the many. But after this pandemic, we are going to find ways to feed many of the few more. Ka-ching.”
For the Somm: The Mayor – SF Chronicle Special Report headline: “Four women say Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli, ‘prince’ of Wine Country, sexually assaulted them.” The article from Alexandria Bordas and Cynthia Dizikes comes with a warning: “Note: This story contains graphic and detailed allegations of sexual assault that may be upsetting to readers and survivors of sexual violence.” And… it definitely lives up to that warning, which makes it hard to quote any one section here without jumping those guardrails. So I’ll just say read it if you can, and for context, here’s Chronicle wine critic Esther Mobley in her newsletter this week: “The investigation into Foppoli is also noteworthy because it’s one of the few published accounts of alleged sexual misconduct within the U.S. wine industry. When there have been high-profile allegations in the wine world in recent years, they have mostly pertained to the restaurant side of things, not wineries themselves.” More to come?
Some Sad News – “Martha Lou Gadsden, whose name became synonymous with the finest in traditional Charleston cooking, died on the morning of April 1. She was 91.” That’s from Gadsen’s obituary in the hometown Post & Courier by Hanna Raskin, but her passing also got full write ups at the NYT (from Kim Severson), NPR ( with archival audio from the All Things Considered crew), Today (via Amethyst Ganaway), and more, including a brief roundup of tributes by Parker Milner in Charleston City Paper.
The Institution – Sticking in the Carolinas for a second, with Bill Smith (kind of) retired, Eater’s Matthew Lardie reports, “Chef Carrie Schleiffer, executive chef at Alley Twenty Six in Durham, has taken on the additional role of executive chef at Crook’s Corner… For co-owner Shannon Healy, a breath of fresh air at Crook’s is welcome. ‘This is an institution, not a mausoleum,’ he says.” Easier said than done when a restaurant has already been named a JBF “America’s Classic,” but good luck, all!
The Imposters – A weird one from Janelle Bitker in San Francisco. Someone named Anna Zhao is listed on permits for two delivery-only concepts allegedly impersonating established restaurants Wagyu Mafia and (now closed) Blowfish Sushi. The staff claim not to know who the owners are, and a follow-up piece says that now guests are wondering who else could be fake, and the delivery companies are refusing to spell out their SOPs for verifying authenticity or dealing with fraud. If only there were tech companies nearby with experience verifying identities online…
For Design Fans – I can appreciate a restaurant where the view is the design feature, but am still impressed that in LA, the 71 Above team has gone two flights down, taken over the 69th (nice) floor terrace of their building, and apparently… scattered some Ikea patio furniture on a carpet of AstroTurf? (Photos by Wonho Frank Lee.)
For Design Fans Too – The basement under Doi Moi in DC has officially reinvented itself again, so now we get to take an interior design tour through three tabs of time with Eater photo spreads of the exact same space now (leather walls, beaded curtains, blue velour); last concept (“a cocktail bar inspired by destination weddings”); and the original (bright white / put-a-bird-on-it).
And last and least – If you like to look at pricey custom kitchen gear, you’ll love watching Daniel Boulud walking around his $270k Athanor setup and showing off his $7k duck press. If you like to observe footwear conscious hygiene, you’ll cringe watching a fully shod Daniel Boulud stand on the inside of the oven door of his new Athanor setup, smile, close it, and walk away…
And that’s it for today!
If you’re on Clubhouse, Kristen Hawley and I will host our usual food news discussion on Monday at 10:30AM Eastern / 7:30AM Pacific. Our guest this week will be SF Chronicle Food editor SerenaDai, so come with questions, Bay Area types!
Otherwise, I’ll see paying subscribers here Tuesday and everyone else on Friday for next Family Meal. If you want to get Tuesday’s on Tuesday…
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