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urban anthropology
Posts Tagged “
Restaurants
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urban anthropology
Nightlife
The Nail In The Coffin For Amy Sacco?
Is this the end of Amy Sacco? We're going to say it is. The onetime NYC nightlife queen's restaurant Bette in Chelsea—formerly considered a complement to her club Bungalow 8, a food-and-fun empire that would never be destroyed—is closed. No big to-do; just a lock on the door, and the end of an era. What happened? More »
Mistakes
McDonald's Shuns Miracle Weight Loss Man
When the movie Super Size Me came out, showing the ravaging effects of a monthlong fast food diet, it was terrible PR for McDonald's. The company spent tons of money combating the perceptions from that one overwrought documentary, seriously! And now, in what can only be described as a gift from the marketing gods, some fat guy has gone an all-McDonald's diet and actually lost 86 pounds (pictured: before and after). But the company won't sign him as a spokesman. You shallow fools! You think he's too ugly, DON'T YOU? More »
drugs
Everybody Hopped Up On Wacky Fruit
Wild urban youngsters these days are all eating magic fruit and guzzling Tabasco sauce, and there's really nothing you or the authorities can do about it. Internet-savvy hipsters flock to Long Island City rooftop parties where a dealer/ guru named "Supreme Commander" hands them crazy berries to chew on, sending them into blissful fits of uncontrolled food-sampling. If it spreads, this "flavor tripping" phenomenon threatens to destroy the traditional notion of exotic seasonings that hip chefs in hip restaurants in hip neighborhoods have worked so hard to achieve. Because, let's face it: these magic berries sound awesome: More »
and now they're dead
Florent, Well-Liked Meatpacking District Bistro, to Close June 29
Florent, the long-standing neighborhood 24-hour bistro that's welcomed 7a.m. clubbers and regular folk alike since 1985, has been warning of its demise for months now. The owner, Florent Morellet, vowed to stay open for as long as he could. Now it's official: the last day of business will be June 29th—the rent went up to over $30,000 a month. Frank Bruni eulogizes the restaurant in the NYT today—comedian Jackie Hoffman tells him, "It was kind of like the halfway house of restaurants. If there was a pre-op tranny or someone who just wasn't finished yet, or a burn victim — anyone could go in there and not be judged." Meanwhile, Florent Morellet himself explains why he didn't want press hype in the early days—and what he did to restaurant reviewers who betrayed his wishes. More »
advertising
Celebrity Supergroup Redeems Racist Taco Bell Ads
Taco Bell's Value Menu slogan is "Why Pay More?" But if a rapper were to say it, they would say, "Why Pay Mo'?" Because black people can't talk right, ha! Cannily tapping into urban culture, the fast food chain is running a "Why Pay Mo'?"online promotion, complete with a Rap Name Generator (mine is Super Fly H. Nach!). Taco Bell's beef tastes like dog food, and their ad agency is making them look like a bunch of tone-deaf racists. But I can almost forgive them for all that, because their site's "Why Pay Mo' Rhyme Generator" allowed me to create a hip hop supergroup featuring evil columnist Andrea Peyser, Spitzer hooker Ashley Alexandra Dupre, drunk Post editor Col Allan, and author of the year Keith Gessen, all kicking rhymes about the fat value menu. Action photos below!: More »
advertising
Economy's Innocent Victims: Weird Ads
Sure, the current dicey economic climate has reduced America to nation of terrified food hoarders. But more importantly, it has cost us some of our annoying and unnecessarily strange advertising icons: Applebee's Wanda Sykes-voiced talking apple, and a bunch of guys running around in bizarre red pigtail wigs on behalf of Wendy's. Take a moment to mourn them. "Both campaigns were meant to attract younger diners," the Times reports. But they failed, because kids aren't doing as many drugs these days, I guess. The companies' new advertising strategy? "Hey, look at our food." More »
food
Pope Birthday Cheese Selection Revealed!
A restaurant owner in DC writes an essay about the experience of hosting the Pope's birthday party. He started planing the event six months in advance. He ordered a 12 square-foot cake in the shape of St. Peter's Square that was too beautiful to cut. He even flew to Italy just to get the plates made! The lunch menu included imported Puglia mozzarella, zucchini blossom truffle tagliolini, braised veal cheeks, and orange fallen truffle. Not mentioned: the tip. [WP]
food
US Restaurants Distract You, Steal Off Your Plate
Restaurants are calling in expert consultants to help them give you less food for the same amount of money. This clearly goes against the American way, which is embodied by the $5.99 Denny's Grand Slam Breakfast. The Washington Post reports that the tough economy is hurting restaurants' revenue across the country, and they're turning to devious tactics like smaller plates, lighter forks, and more vegetables to make you less likely to notice that your steak has gotten smaller. And the menus are being tweaked—apparently we are all psychological sheep. More »
How The Other Half Eats
BusinessWeek has a slide show of the "The World's Most Expensive Restaurants." Joel Robuchon in Las Vegas is the priciest of all in the US, at $360; Masa wins in New York with its $350 tab. But the most expensive restaurant in Palm Beach is only $95? That place has really gone to hell. [BW]
how things work
Who Does Frank Bruni Have to Blow for a Reservation at Momofuku Ko?
Momofuko Ko is, as NYT food critic Frank Bruni tells us, "a new restaurant from David Chang, and David Chang is at this point the New York restaurant world's equivalent of Tiger Woods or Roger Federer." It has 12 seats. Their democratic Web 2.0 booking system requires everyone—yes, everyone—to go online at 10 a.m. and make reservations for the limited number of seats available that week. We love the idea. No calling Graydon Carter's office for a chance at the Waverly: here's the one place in New York where your precious connections and friends can't get you preferential treatment over the slobbering masses lining up for their share of the fancy chow-time. More »
Bad Restaurants Despair
A judge in Ireland has decided that newspapers there do have the right to publish negative restaurant reviews, overturning an earlier ruling that awarded a Belfast pizzeria $50,000 for a bad review. The ruling pleased champions of press freedom, but it also means that there is now no reason for NYC restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow to move to Ireland. [Breitbart]
A judge in Ireland has decided that newspapers there do have the right to publish negative restaurant reviews, overturning an earlier ruling that awarded a Belfast pizzeria $50,000 for a bad review. The ruling pleased champions of press freedom, but it also means that there is now no reason for NYC restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow to move to Ireland. [Breitbart]
public relations
Did Philippe Really Spy On Celebs? Tell Us!
You may have heard that the Upper East Side restaurant Philippe found itself in a dicey position today when someone told Page Six that staffers there have been relieving their boredom by watching security camera footage of celebrities like Diddy and Tom Brady cavorting in the restaurant's private rooms. We hope you also noted that their spokesman, superflack and CAPITALIZATION FAN Ronn [sic] Torossian issued a stern defense of Philippe, saying it is "completely and utterly false" that anyone could be watching the tapes. To which we would only add: please email us if you have any information to the contrary. Although such contrary information, of course, does not exist. [Ronn's firm is also looking for a new HR director. We encourage Gawker readers to apply!]
robert irvine
Massive Celebrity Chef Also Massive Liar
Robert Irvine, the nerdy, crewcut, heavily muscled celebrity chef who rose to fame with his show "Dinner: Impossible" on the Food Network, may be suffering from a serious case of pants-on-fire. Irvine had big plans to transform the fine dining scene in St. Petersburg, FL with two new fancy restaurants. He ran around town entering partnerships, hiring consultants, and generally proclaiming himself to be a food VIP. But the local paper noticed that, three months after the scheduled opening date, the new restaurants are still unfinished construction sites. So they did some investigating [SP Times], and it turns out that most of Irvine's big-shot credentials are just a huge pile of unseasoned poop! More »
restaurants
Touchy Restaurateurs Not Scared of Bloggers
While we're on the subject of emotional restaurateurs, who've already got their hands full dealing with Times food critic Frank Bruni, let it be known that they don't give a damn what the foodbloggers say. You might already be familiar with celebchef Mario Batali's "Why I Hate Food Bloggers" manifesto on Eater last summer. Now he adds, in Jay Rayner's forthcoming book The Man Who Ate the World, that said bloggers can "suck [his] dick." More »
newspapers
For Restaurants, Times Still Mighty
With all the talk of newspapers' declining influence, and amidst all the food blogs, a bad review from Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni will still throw your kitchen into absolute chaos, Le Cirque founder Sirio Maccioni reveals to Portfolio. "Who's [Frank Bruni]? I don't know him," he snarks. (Oh, and it's hard even for Maccioni to get a reservation at the Waverly Inn: "You have to call Vanity Fair."). After the jump: how a bad NYT review in 2006 prompted him to change everything. More »
Feed Bags
New York Magazine's Grub Street blog has a little interview with Michael Rankin, a waiter at Brooklyn eatery Diner. In it he discusses his various celebrity encounters and gives some behind-the-scenes restaurant dish. He talks about how the restaurant basically served Superbad's McLovin' alcohol, even though he is woefully underage. It's also a pretty efficient reminder that not every waiter is Noam Chomsky. A favorite quote: "I love getting people from out of town — I can tell they're freaked out because their waiter just sat down next to them. They look completely shocked and terrified." Now they've seen everything! [Grub Street]
New York Magazine's Grub Street blog has a little interview with Michael Rankin, a waiter at Brooklyn eatery Diner. In it he discusses his various celebrity encounters and gives some behind-the-scenes restaurant dish. He talks about how the restaurant basically served Superbad's McLovin' alcohol, even though he is woefully underage. It's also a pretty efficient reminder that not every waiter is Noam Chomsky. A favorite quote: "I love getting people from out of town — I can tell they're freaked out because their waiter just sat down next to them. They look completely shocked and terrified." Now they've seen everything! [Grub Street]
