Hotel $ for Meyer and Starr, Mr. Chow weds, Delivery bulls and bears, and more...

Family Meal - Tuesday, February 12th, 2019

Hello Tuesday,

Relatively slow news weekend on the Family Meal front, so fair warning: The unnecessary Aerosmith link at the end of this may sneak up on you quick.

Let’s get to it…

That Delivery $$$ - “Just days after Postmates filed confidential paperwork for an initial public offering, the latest news in the on-demand delivery space is that competitor DoorDash is in the process of raising a $500 million round, The Wall Street Journal reports. The round would reportedly value DoorDash at more than $6 billion and possibly up to $7 billion… Earlier this year, the food-delivery startup became the first startup to operate in all 50 states.” Story and links from Megan Rose Dickey in Techcrunch.

Meanwhile, at Grubhub, Skift Table’s Erika Adams had this take on Friday: “Grubhub says it's not interested in short-term profits, which is great because it's not posting the short-term profits that investors want to see. The company's earnings forecast for the first quarter missed analyst estimates enough to send shares sliding as much as 21 percent on Thursday morning.”

That Hotel $$$ - In D.C., WaPo critic Tom Sietsema broke into his regular reader chat last week with this “FOOD FLASH: I just got off the phone with Danny Meyer, the founder and CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, who tells me his company is partnering with the forthcoming 225-room Thompson Hotel in The Yards to open a full-service restaurant and rooftop bar sometime in 2020.”

And in NYC, Eater NY’s Serena Dai reports, “The sprawling Hudson Yards development has added another high profile player to its dining roster: Stephen Starr — the James Beard-award winning restaurateur behind Le Coucou and Upland — will be running the restaurant and bar operation in the Equinox Hotel, the first hotel from the gym brand.”

Phew. Those guys all needed a big break.

Zach R., Straw Cop – Per the AP, D.C.’s plastic detectives are out and about enforcing the city’s new ban – warnings for now, fines starting in July. “At Lotus Express, the inspector, one of three dispatched by the city to check cafeterias, bars and restaurants, scribbled the restaurant’s name on the paper sleeve of the plastic straw and tucked it into his back pocket, along with two others from scofflaw restaurants. He planned to later check whether they floated in water, another telltale sign of prohibited plastic.” Also, witches.

For Design Fans – And the 2019 Wallpaper* Design Award for Best New Restaurant goes to… Noma. Which, fine. Congrats! It does look like a lovely spot, and I hear there’s a fox. But my vote goes to runner up Ristorante Cracco in Milan (more pics here), where, “In preserving and accenting the arched doorways, elaborately carved friezes and ornate wooden panel work, the designers have cleaved close to the aesthetics and spirit of the galleria, while lightly inserting modern touches such as rust-red carpets sporting whirls and circles, mosaic floors, tiles inspired by a Gio Ponti design, and bright wallpaper patterned with colourful daisies.” (NB: Nothing existed before now, and design writers are right to refer to patterned carpets and colorful wallpaper as “modern touches”. Don’t fear the future.)

And last but not least – Headline under WEALTH in Bloomberg: “Marrying at 79 Brings Out the Romantic in Restaurateur Mr. Chow”. That’s the best article for video of Chow dancing with his 30-year-old bride, Vanessa Rano. Best for a good pic of the bride and groom on their big day, plus various Instagram shots of the venue: W Magazine. Best for a slideshow of celebrity guests including Heidi Klum, Cheech Marin, Corey Feldman, Gus Van Sant, Paige Powell, Ed Begley Jr., and Wyclef Jean (who preformed): Flaunt.

Here’s Amanda Gordon in the Bloomberg piece: “The event, marking Chow’s fourth marriage, was a testimony to the power of love found late in life. Chow danced better than most grooms half his age, and on stage he shared how meeting Rano in an elevator had melted his heart, healed his trauma and turned him into a poet. Some of his lines became lyrics in Jean’s performance, including the hard-to-follow but worthy advice ‘Never miss a beat or a single night.’”

I know what he means. Heck, I don’t want to close my eyes. I don’t want to fall asleep. Cause I’d miss you, baby, and I don’t want to miss a thing.

I’ll see you here Friday for next Family Meal.

And don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and Instagram, and send tips and/or testimonies to the power of love found late in life 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!