Pandemic profiteers, The Chicago Fee, Balthazar vanity, and more...

Family Meal - Friday, December 11, 2020

Hello Friday,

Tuesday’s issue of Family Meal — Time Magazine’s first ever Substack of the Year as far as you know — is copy/pasted below as usual. If you want to get Family Meal delivered on both Tuesdays and Fridays…

FYI: I’m sorry, but today’s relatively short FM is almost entirely about delivery apps, and then ends with a link to a post-vasectomy photo of a famous restaurateur.

They can’t all be winners. (Time understands.)

Let’s get to it…

The Opinion – Headline on the NYT Op-Ed page: “Apps Are Helping to Gut the Restaurant Industry.” Summary kicker from Greg Bensinger: “DoorDash’s I.P.O. [this week] will mint countless new millionaires. But is an industry designed to enrich the elite and built atop a growing heap of struggling restaurants truly worth celebrating?”

The Celebration – Headline on the NYT tech page: “DoorDash Soars in First Day of Trading.” Key numbers from Erin Griffith: “Shares of DoorDash soared in their first day of trading on Wednesday, capping a year of outsize growth for the country’s largest food delivery company. DoorDash stock rose 86 percent above its initial public offering price of $102 to close the day at $189.51. That valued the company at $72 billion… more than the market capitalization of Domino’s Pizza and Chipotle Mexican Grill combined.”

I know each and every one of you will want to reach out to congratulate the heroic VCs, founders, and leadership who took DoorDash public amid this murderous pandemic. If you want to include a number value in your card to make it more personal, CNBC’s Robert Frank tweeted a photo of three big winners and their new net worths: “Tony Xu, $3.1 billion. Andy Fang, $2.8 billion. Stanley Tang, $2.8 billion.”

NB: I’m not saying anyone with spare cash should short a stock right now — or ever follow my financial advice — but I agree with what Xu, the company’s CEO told Griffith in the NYT: “DoorDash’s ‘astonishing’ valuation made him think investors had overemphasized the effects of the pandemic. ‘When you get to this market cap level, there are questions about where do you go from here?’ he said.”

I don’t know, maybe French Laundry?

The Chicago Way –While WaPo’s Tim Carman reports DC City Council closed the loophole wherein DoorDash could ignore the District’s delivery fee caps when dealing with DashPass members, Eater Chicago’s Ashok Selvam says, “Last week, DoorDash customers in Chicago began seeing a new charge added to their delivery and takeout orders. Below the subtotal, the third-party ordering service had affixed a $1.50 ‘Chicago Fee,’ offering this explanation: ‘Chicago has temporarily capped the fees that we may charge local restaurants. To continue to offer you convenient delivery while ensuring that Dashers are active and earning, you will now see a charge added to Chicago orders.’”

Sean Connery voice (RIP): “He adds a cap. You add a surcharge. He sends one of yours to the aldermen. You send one of his to the cost-conscious constituents. That’s the Chicago Fee.”

The Delivery PR – And finally on the delivery front, per Selvam’s national colleague Jenny G. Zhang’, DoorDash rival “Grubhub is introducing a new set of tools for restaurants to drive online orders without having to pay the Grubhub extra marketing commissions. With the tools — which include a direct-order link to use in email or on social media, a customizable button to put on restaurant websites, and a QR code to print on signs and mailers — restaurants will still have to pay Grubhub an order processing fee, as well as a delivery fee if they use Grubhub drivers to fulfill the order, but they won’t have to pay the marketing fees that eat into already thin margins.” Press release here.

The Local Lobby – Forgot to mention this in Tuesday’s (below) section on messaging, but industry people across the country would do well to keep up connections with their colleagues in DC. They held a stimulus demonstration outside the Capitol this week, and are uniquely positioned to influence the politicians making decisions on federal relief. You may not be big on social graces, but….

And last but not least – I’m not sure a man posting post-vasectomy bandage pictures on Instagram needs anymore attention right now, but whatever you think of him, Keith McNally’s new Vanity Fair piece on the origin, design, build, and success of Balthazar is still probably worth a read. He shows off the picture that inspired the bar, takes an expected swipe at “these ardently prudish times” (“I asked two waitresses from my vodka bar, Pravda, if they would like to model topless for the sculptor”), and laments his falling out with Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson of Frenchette, (“Sadly, since they left Balthazar, the three of us haven’t spoken. Which is a pity, as I’m very fond of Nasr, and I miss him terribly. He’s also the godfather of my son George.”).

To be honest, I’ll be very interested to see food media’s reaction to McNally’s upcoming memoir, which I can only assume is going to be… some kind of artifact.

And that’s it for today. Tuesday’s edition is below for those who missed it!

I’ll see paying subscribers here on the 15th, 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 the market capitalization of Domino’s Pizza and Chipotle Mexican Grill combined 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 copy/paste of the Family Meal that went out Tuesday, December 8th, to paying subscribers. If you’d also like to get Tuesdays’ on Tuesdays…

The Scapegoat, The Singled-out, The Opportunities, and more...

Hello Tuesday,

And hello paying subscribers only!

Quick update from Hong Kong: There have been around 100 cases a day for the past week or so here, with 78 new cases yesterday. In a population of 7.5M, that means restaurants, already allowed only two to a table, are now mandated closed for dinner.

Let’s get to it…

The Messaging – PR readers (and anyone who wants to weigh in), I would really love to hear your thoughts on what the united message for independent restaurants should be right now. Obviously, this will vary greatly depending on your end goal (are you in the we-should-be-allowed-to-open-safely camp, or on the shutdown-with-federal-aid side?), but if you had a few million dollars for a national ad campaign in support of the restaurant industry, what would it say right now?

Reason I ask: I’m seeing some understandably scattershot discourse, especially around the outdoor dining bans going into effect in CA. For example…

The Selective Enforcement Approach – This has a lot in common with the scapegoat approach below, but is slightly different in that it focuses on pointing fingers at other industries, which is by definition a bit fraught — there is always a chance that the end result of “This isn’t fair!” will be, “You’re right! No one should have the nice thing.”

Sample headline: “She Couldn’t Open for Outdoor Dining. The Film Crew Next Door Could.” NYT summary of the messaging in question: “On Saturday… a restaurant owner shared a video on social media showing tents, tables and chairs set up as a catering station for a film crew — just feet away from her eatery’s similar outdoor dining space, which has sat empty since the restriction went into effect late last month. ‘Tell me that this is dangerous, but right next to me — as a slap in my face — that’s safe?’ Angela Marsden, who owns the restaurant, Pineapple Hill Saloon & Grill, said as the video panned from her outdoor dining space to the film crew’s catering site.”

Mardsen’s logic is disputed by officials quoted in the piece, but her very real, very raw emotions in the video are probably pretty persuasive to some minds. (Yes, you are reading my very detached, cold-hearted thoughts right: Maybe the industry would benefit from more public tears?)

The Scapegoat / No Evidence Approach – Sample headline: Brooke Williamson has an op-ed in the LAT this week titled, “Restaurants have become pandemic scapegoats. My last one is struggling to survive.” In it, she hits the key point in this approach: “Restaurants are being treated as scapegoats — quick to be blamed for a spike in COVID-19 cases, without evidence. The most recent Los Angeles County outdoor dining shutdown, which went into effect Nov. 25, seemed like it was just another in a series of government restrictions that make zero scientific sense.”

Italics mine on “without evidence,” which is the phrase that seems to make this strategy mutually exclusive to the more heroic sounding, “We’re doing our part. We just need some help!” tone the Independent Restaurant Coalition has been trying to strike.

Meanwhile – SF Chronicle critic Soleil Ho — in a newsletter searching for “direct, debt-free” support for an industry / people she loves — called restricting outdoor dining, “a logical health policy step but a punch in the stomach for the restaurant industry,” even though her hyperlink there leads to another Chronicle article headlined: “Outdoor dining is about to shut down in parts of California. Is it really spreading the virus?” that feels decidedly undecided about what makes a logical health policy.

And then there is the related (most) important question of staff and the risk/reward of keeping open in any capacity (including in the takeout factory BOH).

So… Again I ask: If you could get a 60-second commercial in front of every household in America, what would you tell them right now?

OK. Moving on...

The Opportunity – Food & Wine is pressing ahead with their annual Best New Chefs list. In his F&W Pro newsletter, EIC Hunter Lewis writes: “We are reaching out today to ask you, Best New Chef alumni, industry insiders, cooks, and contributors, to share the names of chefs on the rise… Your nominations matter. They are an integral part of our scouting process as F&W Restaurant Editor Khushbu Shah begins the search for the 33rd class of Best New Chefs. Please email meno later than December 18 with the names of chefs who you believe are on the rise in the U.S. and who have less than five years’ total experience leading a restaurant kitchen, regardless of age. They can work as an executive chef or executive pastry chef (or the equivalent, in terms of creative and overall leadership in the kitchen). Please keep in mind that these candidates don’t need to be working in traditional brick-and-mortar restaurants. They can also be leading nontraditional restaurant formats such as pop-ups, food trucks, and more.”

Good luck, all!

And don’t forget that nominations for Eater’s “New Guard” are also open until January 17, 2021.

And on the media side: The deadline to apply for NYT Fellowships, including for the Food section, is tomorrow, December 9th, at 5PM EST. Sam Sifton already has my cover letter, so I ask that he please forward this email to Dean Baquet in lieu of a CV. Thank you.

The Move On – On Instagram Sunday, Daniela Soto-Innes announced: “After careful thought and consideration, I am moving on from my role as Chef/Partner at Cosme and Atla. I am excited for the next phase of my career and to pursue other passions and dreams.” No clear details on the next phase, but Eater NY’s Erika Adams reports, “She’ll continue working with partners Enrique Olvera and Santiago Perez on Elio, which opened earlier this year in Las Vegas. It’s not clear whether she’ll remain part of Casamata, the hospitality company she’s been a part of with Olvera and Perez. Her name was notably absent from the group’s Los Angeles openings of Damian in October and last week’s opening of taco window Ditroit.”

And last but not least: For Photography Fans – Missed this last week, but this Eater London piece on “After Lockdown, London Restaurants Go Again,” is full of very street, very fun, off-kilter, flash, storefront photos from Michaël Protin. I’m sure Adam Coghlan’s accompanying text says something smart, but honestly, I just scrolled right through and grinned at the grit. Felt better than limping down the long list of NYC’s 2020 closures NY Mag featured this week. But that’s me. To each is own…

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 a logical health policy step 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!