Nola silence, Nordic stars, Regan-Hamlin moving UP, Yelp lives, and more...
Family Meal - Tuesday, February 19th, 2019
Hello Tuesday,
Let’s get to it…
First, a First – Here’s something I did not know, from Justin Phillips in the SF Chronicle: Now that Tanya Holland has officially opened her new Brown Sugar Kitchen, “Not only is it Holland’s first restaurant in San Francisco, it’s also the first black-owned restaurant to ever open in the Ferry Building.”
Michelin Season – The 2019 Nordic Countries guide is out, “Covering Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland, there are… three new two stars, including René Redzepi’s highly-acclaimed Copenhagen restaurant Noma. Jacob Holmstrom and Anton Bjurh’s Gastrologik in Stockholm and KOKS, located on the Faroe Islands, were both elevated from one star to two; 29-year-old head chef Poul Andrias Ziska also received the Michelin Guide Nordic Countries Young Chef Award.” Press release and links to country by country lists here. Handwringing over Noma 2.0’s missing third star to follow.
Filling the Silence – In New Orleans, The Times-Picayune’s Brett Anderson reports on Sucré’s silence regarding previously reported “accusations of sexual harassment and power abuse” against former chef and co-founder Tariq Hanna, and uses that silence as a jumping off point to both remind the public of the accusations, and reach out to Sucré’s big retail and cross-branding partners to ask them their thoughts. Note to management: Sure doesn’t look like food media is giving up on these stories, so maybe instead of silence, energy is best spent finding a better story to tell…
TV Dinner – Netflix released the trailer for Season 6 of Chef’s Table, and Grubstreet’s Chris Crowley says, “This latest season will spotlight a black chef for the first time: Mashama Bailey of Savannah, Georgia’s the Grey. The other featured chefs include Asma Khan, of London’s Darjeeling Express; Italian butcher Dario Cecchini; and Sean Brock, with hints in the trailer that his episode will focus on his sobriety and the effects of sudden fame.”
That Hotel $$$ – Per Peter Meehan in the LA Times, “Jessica Koslow, the chef of Sqirl in East Hollywood, and Gabriela Cámara, best known as the chef of Mexico City fixture Contramar, will open Onda in June at the Proper Hotel in Santa Monica.”
And via Eater’s Farley Elliott in DTLA, “Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne, two of the most awarded chefs in the city, are ready to try their hand at a slightly different kind of project in Downtown’s South Park area, where they’ll be doing all the food and beverage for an entire hotel. Goin and Styne have partnered their Lucques Group up with Proper Hotels to develop a collection of restaurants, bars, and in-room dining options for the group’s upcoming property at 11th and Broadway in Downtown.”
Meanwhile back east, Serena Dai reports, “Chef Gabriel Kreuther is bringing his expertise on the finer things in life to Baccarat Hotel New York, a lavish Midtown hotel from the French crystal company where he’s just been named culinary director.”
Moving on UP – “The chef and owner of Michelin-starred Elizabeth and Japanese pub Kitsune in Chicago is taking her fascination with foraging to the next level with the opening of the Milkweed Inn in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Iliana Regan tells Eater [Detroit’s Brenna Houck] that she and wife Anna Hamlin have acquired a remote 150-acre wooded property in Nahma Township near the Hiawatha National Forest with plans to create a farm and inn for secluded summer weekend getaways.”
That sounds so wonderful, and I wish them nothing but the best of luck, and apropos of nothing at all here is the trailer for the new Pet Sematary remake starring John Lithgow.
The Earnings Elite – Headline from Danni Santana in Skift Table: “Yelp Beats Earnings and Predicts Double-Digit Revenue Growth Through 2025… The user-generated review site grew revenue by 11 percent over the period, up to $244 million, due to a double-digit improvement in advertising revenue. Yelp’s overall revenue for the year also jumped 11 percent to $943 million, according to the company.” Welp, about a billion a year ain’t bad…
The Accelerator – This Laura Hayes article in Washington City Paper is mostly about the specific pros and cons of joining the new food accelerator program at Union Kitchen, a D.C. community kitchen, but it’s also a useful read for anyone thinking of joining any of the many similar operations starting up all over the country: “Every food-related accelerator is different in terms of set-up, duration, mentor network, and give and take… Food-X [NYC] provides entrepreneurs with $65,000 in cash and values its programming at $50,000 in exchange for 8 percent equity. The Food Foundry [Chicago] takes 3 percent equity in exchange for an investment package it values at $100,000. TERRA in San Francisco takes zero equity because of its strategy that pairs startups with corporations, which foot the bill. By comparison, Union Kitchen asks for 10 percent equity, does not provide any cash upfront, and does not publish the estimated value of its total programming.” To be fair: What is the estimated value of having Whole Foods buyers saved in favorites?
The Fire Sale – “Last year, formerly massive Houston restaurant group Cherry Pie Hospitality disappeared entirely from the city’s restaurant scene. Before going away, though, two new lawsuits filed against the company alleges that it sold off its much-lauded restaurants in a fire sale without paying debts it owed first. The suit, filed in Harris County District Court in late December, alleges that Cherry Pie Hospitality failed to make good on a $1 million loan extended to the company by an investor named Max Levit.” Full story from Amy McCarthy in Eater Houston.
For Design Fans – Hello, I am new to the Barton G. phenomenon but have decided from the look of this photo spread that where before I knew nothing about the sophisticated subtlety of golden gorillas, now I know less.
And that’s it for today.
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 Noma’s third star (I KNOW YOU’RE HIDING IT SOMEWHERE) 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!