There’s too much to digest out there. Here’s a taste of what happened in the food world this week. |
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Here’s what you might have missed -
Zohran did a mukbang: In a live video, the New York City mayor announced $1.8 million in restitution for fast-food and retail workers over violations of the city’s Fair Workweek Law and Protected Time Off Law, all while eating Taco Bell and Dunkin’. One of the administration’s enforcement actions was against Taco Bell and Dunkin’ for not giving workers predictable schedules. “We’re at the combination City Hall and Taco Bell,” Mamdani said, in another play to the millennial contingent. That’s my mayor.
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Tom Sietsema went to Noma. Not everyone was happy about it: After stepping down from his role as the Washington Post’s restaurant critic in October, Tom Sietsema has started his own newsletter, called Next Course. Its inaugural issue was a review of Noma’s Los Angeles residency. Sietsema sticks mostly to the food, while acknowledging the context of his meal: “The remaining Noma players took to heart the entertainment mantra: The show must go on. So could I enjoy the show?” But as one person wrote in Sietsema’s Instagram comments, “With so many good restaurants who treat their people well struggling, why do you choose to elevate this?”
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Shot, chaser. Khushbu Shah argued that we no longer need fine dining: In her newsletter Tap Is Fine!, the former Food & Wine restaurant editor asked: “What if we just got rid of fine dining?” Shah’s take: “Fine dining as a whole is poisoned at the root,” pointing to the continued reliance on the brigade system in many high-end kitchens, as well as the unsustainable approach many of these kitchens have to both ingredients and workers.
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“I’m cancelable. But I’m not a cat killer.”: Three years after Horses chef Liz Johnson accused her husband and business partner, Will Aghajanian, of torturing and killing their pets, Aghajanian finally spoke out in a new piece in Air Mail. The report by Kelly Loudenberg attempts to absolve Aghajanian of some of the heat, noting, for example, that Johnson allegedly hired a witch to put a curse on him after the initial Grub Street piece. The Los Angeles restaurant closed earlier this year.
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A Humans of New York post raises hundreds of thousands of dollars for a NYC restaurant owner: On Monday, the popular social media account featured Angel Moreno, who opened the vegan restaurant Caravan of Dreams in 1991. The post detailed how Moreno, who is 76, had been swindled out of $300,000 and was running the restaurant on credit. On Wednesday, Humans of New York shared that readers had raised nearly $175,000 to help Moreno and keep his restaurant open.
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Trader Joe’s expanded its recall again: The FDA added nearly 10 million pounds of frozen vegetable fried rice to the grocer’s ongoing recall over a risk of broken glass. Maybe now’s the time to learn how to make fried rice from scratch?
- “I’d smoke Biscoff if I could”: My favorite quote of the week came from a report in the Guardian about how Biscoff cookies became a social media sensation.
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Baseball season has started, ushering in a new season of unhinged stadium food (like a 2-foot-long quesadilla). We’ve updated our guides to Camden Yards, Citi Field, Citizens Bank Park, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Nationals Park, Rate Field, T-Mobile Park, and Wrigley Field.
- This week, Michelin announced new additions to its California guide in the Bay Area and Los Angeles (plus one restaurant in Montecito).
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Good news for fans of Birdie G’s: The LA restaurant, which closed in December, has found a new home in Century City.
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From Punch: Who gets to own a cocktail recipe? Bar owners explain how they handle the question of credit on their menus.
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I was quoted in a CNN piece this week about the rise of ube globally and the challenges that success is posing in the Philippines.
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What I’m consuming this weekend |
Lots of dim sum, or at least that’s the plan; it’s been way too long since my last taro puff. Thanks to a friend’s recommendation, Golden Unicorn in Manhattan’s Chinatown is at the top of my list right now, but I welcome other dim sum recommendations if you feel strongly enough. Cart-focused places preferred! (Speaking of which, you can find a list of everywhere I’m planning to eat next on the Eater app.) Other than that, it feels like the weekend to finally end my winter standoff with the farmers market. Is it too optimistic to hope for ramps?
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