Soleil's first reviews, NYT's new critics, Meet the Netflix food execs, and more...
Family Meal - Tuesday, February 26th, 2019
Hello Tuesday,
A quick, media-focused one for you today.
Let’s get to it…
The Critics – New SF Chronicle critic Soleil Ho was on the paper’s podcast yesterday, revealing that she will be taking over the food section some day this week to publish five reviews in one go. 99% sure I heard them as: Chez Panisse, La Folie, La Calenda, Nyum Bai, and an undisclosed Chinese restaurant, but you can work it out for yourself just past the 31 minute mark on Stitcher or iTunes.
The Critics Too – Per Eater’s Serena Dai, the NYT’s Hungry City column “is undergoing some changes: Longtime critic and the column’s founding writer Ligaya Mishan will now only be writing two a month — and other critics will be filling in on remaining weeks.” Keep your eyes out for Marian Bull and as-yet-unnamed others.
The Opportunity – If you want your own food show on Netflix, Cale Guthrie Weissman invites you to “Meet the executives who have made Netflix food TV” via this long-read in Fast Company. I know you want to read it because Peter Meehan is quoted as saying, “Everybody wants a Netflix show. Nobody doesn’t want a Netflix show.” (Presumably the LA Times is a nice consolation prize.)
The Opportunity Too – FYI, there appears to be a new private chef gig available with a person by the name of Cardi B in LA.
Two Year Stand – There will be no EMP Summer House this year, according to news site 27east.com. The Hamptons are over.
The Close – In LA, “Downtown vegetable paradise PYT is set to close early next month. That’s per chef Josef Centeno, who told [Eater’s Farley Elliott] over the weekend that he would be letting go of the popular space… It looks like Francis Miranda and Cyrus Batchan are taking over… The pair are also co-owners and managing partners in Mei Lin’s Downtown project Nightshade.”
Some Sad News: Media Edition – Looks like Seattle Weekly’s Eat-Drink-Toke food/weed section – and the rest of the alt-weekly – is no more. Or at least will never be the same: “The company will retain two employees to manage the website as well as a ‘multimedia sales consultant.’ The content will be all freelance work, plus crossposts from the company's other papers.”
cc: Maimon Kirschenbaum – Not directly restaurant related, but I imagine this is what wage-theft lawyers are reading in the New York Times this week: “A Multimillion-Dollar Payday, at the Carwash. Wage-theft cases are notoriously hard to prove, and they almost never pay out. But for some of the most marginalized laborers in the city, justice was served.”
And last but not least – Welcome back to Eater EIC Amanda Kludt, who returned from parental leave just in time to see Eater NY’s “Ultimate Guide to Chinese Food in NYC” launch this week. She promises to get to your email from November ASAP. Same.
And that’s it for today. If anyone knows anything useful about Malaysian food or the area around Penang, I’ll be there next week and could definitely use some tips…
But before that trip, I’ll see you here Friday for next Family Meal.
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