How Chef Craig Wong Uses Michelin-Level Techniques at His Jamaican-Chinese Restaurant
October 31, 2020
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At Patois in Toronto, Jerk chicken chow mein, pork belly yakisoba, and more dishes from chef Wong’s youth
“I came from the world of fine dining, French cuisine, working in three-Michelin-starred restaurants, and I learned a ton of techniques,” says Patois chef Craig Wong. “I think it’s hilarious that they would be snobby towards our use of things like Ritz crackers. It’s delicious.”
Wong is referencing his prosperity jerk lobster dish, one of the many dishes at the Toronto restaurant that riffs on the ingredients and flavors he recalls from his youth, growing up in a Chinese family and community in Jamaica. “Chinese people go way back in Jamaica, there’s generations and generations of us there,” says Wong. “When we first opened, people had no idea this culture much less this cuisine existed.”
Chef de Cuisine Nicholas Beckford is Wong’s “right hand,” as well as a skillful chef when it comes to rubbing down whole chickens with a jerk rub, skewering them, and smoking them for the restaurant — a process that takes days. Together, they create dishes like jerk chicken chow mein, jerk pork belly yakisoba, prosperity jerk lobster, deep-fried oxtail with rice, dumplings, and peas, and more.
“Jamaican-Chinese food was taught to me by my grandmother. We go back three generations to Jamaica. She was cooking Jamaican food with Chinese ingredients, and Chinese food with Jamaican ingredients,” Wong reminisces. “Fusion for the sake of it is definitely not something that I’m into, but with a mixed background the way that I have, it’s just a natural progression for me to experiment and play with both sides of the cultures and the cuisines.”
Three Eater Editors on the Costs of Winter Dining and a Return to Takeout
October 30, 2020
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The dining domes at Detroit’s East Eats | Courtesy of East Eats
Plastic igloos look cute — but they won’t cut it during a blizzard, nor do they run cheap
The pandemic has made dining as we previously knew it impossible, and serving customers outside has been one somewhat promising lifeline. So have some food trucks, with an inherently outdoor nature, as well to-go cocktails enjoyed by drinkers on the go or in parks.
But none of those are well positioned for crappy winter weather — and as has been widely observed, the solutions that might help restaurants adjust to winter don’t come cheap.
We brought together Eater editors Monica Burton, Brenna Houck, and Ashok Selvam for our Eater Talks event series to break down all the specific challenges restaurants face this season as well as the array of creative solutions. Below are lightly edited excerpts from their conversation, moderated by Eater editor Madeleine Davies, as well as a full video recording of the talk.
Restaurants are making moves to make winter outdoor dining doable.
Monica Burton,based in NYC: “I’ve seen [the plastic dome] ‘igloos’, I’ve seen cabanas — these are the things that are popping up recently.... I’ve also started to see some heat lamps pop up to extend that further.”
Brenna Houck, based in Detroit: “A lot of places [in Michigan] have also installed takeout windows, which is kind of an easy way to do grab-and-go stuff if you're on foot and take it to a park bench and eat if you're outside. And definitely a lot of patio fireplaces and patio heaters are starting to pop up everyone, in addition to the domes.”
Ashok Selvam, based in Chicago: “Food trucks, which have never been a big part of the landscape in Chicago — I’ve seen a couple of restaurants throw in their efforts toward that, thinking it’s more mobile.”
But many outdoor solutions are an expensive gamble that many restaurants can’t afford.
Houck: “The cost of installing these things is pretty high. I spoke to one company that manufactures these ‘garden igloos,’ as they’re called, these plastic domes, and they have had to hike prices because of just the nature of the pandemic right now and costs of all sorts of goods are going up. So they cost about $1,200 to begin with, and if you’re considering all the things that go into that to make those places comfortable, like blankets or a heater — those are all pretty big-ticket investments that now all sorts of restaurants around the country that didn’t normally try to have outdoor seating are now clamoring to get...
You also have to think about how many people are going to be willing to go and sit out there, and is the cost going to balance out the benefit of having those spaces? A lot of places around here [in Detroit] take reservations in advance for those igloos and charge a flat fee to rent them, and that’s a way to judge how many people want to come and sit in your igloo, to help the business determine the cost of that space for a certain amount of time. But for other sorts of seating situations, it’s kind of a toss-up.”
Selvam: “These plastic domes are so pricey. I don’t know if restaurants other than the bigger groups will be able to afford it. We’re seeing them in downtown Chicago, but in the neighborhoods, on the North and South sides, not so much.”
Houck: “It’s also really unpredictable, if you're going to invest thousands of dollars in all this outdoor seating equipment and then suddenly an [official] at the state level says it’s not safe for anyone to be dining outdoors right now. Then you’ve still invested these thousands of dollars in this equipment that you no longer can use... and that is a gamble that some people are not willing to take because they just do not have the financial ability to do it.”
Ultimately, the most realistic solution may be turning back to takeout, in its various forms.
Selvam: “Tomorrow, indoor dining in [Chicago] is going to be shut down. The governor announced that earlier this week. So it’s really going to be delivery and takeout that’s going to drive sales again.”
Houck: “I’ve seen quite a few places are now investing in takeout... [especially] some businesses are trying to get around these third-party apps that obviously charge a lot to individual businesses to deliver the food from the restaurant to your house. So some businesses are trying to hire employees and invest in their own vans and start delivering food themselves. That’s another way that people are trying to strategize around this cold weather situation — some places are shutting down dine-in service and then transitioning back to a takeout-only situation just for the winter, kind of going dormant but still keeping their kitchens open.”
Burton: “It’s been really great to see restaurants do meal kits and more upscale takeout. I’m even seeing restaurants offer wine clubs, which will bring in more revenue for them.”
Houck: “I’m seeing more businesses do Thanksgiving to-go packages than I’ve seen in past years — because I think people are so tired of cooking and also because [the restaurants] aren't preparing for all these holiday parties and aren’t getting those bookings anymore. Also the holiday pop-up bars that it seems we have every year now are turning into to-go cocktails, because that’s a legal thing we can do now in Michigan. I’ve also seen [restaurants and bars offer] different kind of packages — like fun ways to make a nice movie night, or something like that — things that try to making staying home more special.”
Burton: “When it comes to meal kits, I just got one from Xi’an Famous Foods where I got to hand-pull my own noodles at home, which is really fun and makes a great gift or just fun thing to do. I think a lot of restaurants meals that go beyond regular takeout that really add variety to your pandemic dining in a way that’s fun and not-sad-takeout.
One of the nicer things that’s happened to me during the pandemic is that my friends will send me food or send me drinks if I’m having a bad week or just because. And going into the holiday season, that’s a great way to continue to support restaurants: Send your friends food and drinks and nice things.”
How to Bring This Portland Restaurant’s Colorful Outdoor Oasis to Your Home
October 30, 2020
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The fun of dining at Gado Gado isn’t just in the menu. It’s also in its signature playful spirit.
While restaurants around the United States are figuring out how to shift their business to adapt to a new culinary landscape, some teams are having more success making it work. In Portland, Oregon, Thomas and Mariah Pisha-Duffly, the owners of the hit Indonesian restaurant, Gado Gado, have not only figured out how to operate in a socially distanced manner that continues to draw customers (even inspiring them to open a second spot called Oma’s Takeaway), but they’ve managed to maintain the restaurant’s signature playful spirit along the way.
The fun of dining at Gado Gado is apparent in the amped-up flavors of its menu, which draws on Thomas’s Indonesian-Chinese heritage for dishes like Sumatran-style spicy beef rendang (served with coconut rice and a green chile tomatillo sambal), ayam lawar (a shredded chicken and coconut salad with galangal dressing), or a pandan jelly dessert. But it’s the restaurant’s thoughtful Peranakan-inspired design accents mixed in with some psychedelic vintage finds that truly make it an experience. Even now with a closed dining room, the Pisha-Dufflys have brought some of the restaurant’s bold design scheme to its two outdoor patios.
“When we were designing the restaurant, it felt like a really great opportunity to communicate ourselves through design,” says Mariah Pisha-Duffly. “There were a lot of spaces opening up around us that were extremely beautiful but minimal, and we wanted to go the opposite way and do something maximal and full of pattern.” When reimagining the dining room for the outdoors, the duo continued the theme with mismatched rugs, oilcloth tablecloths, and other delightful personal touches, all while trying to keep costs low.
Below, Mariah Pisha-Duffly explains how they made Gado Gado into a colorful outdoor oasis, and how to bring the Gado Gado brand of power-clashing onto your patio or into your home.
Remix your old stuff with new purpose
The black light poster works as decor and a way to communicate instructions for social distancing.
“When we started to rethink the patio for the year of COVID, it felt like working with what we had, and being really resourceful was necessary,” says Pisha-Duffly. “The bathrooms inside Gado Gado are filled with themed ’70s fantasy art. We brought this black light poster outside, and we made little word bubbles on it to let people know where to find their takeout. It didn’t used to be that you needed all these instructions for customers, but you do now, and we wanted to make it beautiful and fun.”
Shop it: Black light posters
Whether you place them in the bathroom or the bedroom, ’70s-style black light posters give the space a trippy element.
Add bold personal touches
Design features like this gallery wall and custom-designed wallpaper had to remain inside.
“Thomas’s family is Chinese, but his grandmother lived in Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia, before coming to the U.S. You see a lot of Peranakan design throughout Southeast Asia — full of patterns, tiles, and intricate carvings. Inside, we have a big portrait of his grandmother painted on the wall by artist Kate Blairstone (she also did our amazing wallpaper with shellfish and birds) and a mask that my grandparents got while living in Indonesia. Whenever you collect something it tells the stories of who you are and what you like, and getting the opportunity to put that in the restaurant was really special.”
Shop it: Patterned wallpaper and paintings
Blairstone has made dozens of custom wall accents that speak to each individual owner’s story. Whether you fancy a version with oysters, flowers, or carrots, she’s available to make works on request that speak to one’s story. You can also find wallpaper with similar motifs on Etsy.
Don’t be afraid to mix and match
Plates and bowls come in various vintage patterns.
“Once I knew we were going to open Gado Gado, I could finally get all this thrift store stuff that I’ve wanted to buy for forever. I would go to Goodwill three or four days a week, just collecting things.”
Shop it now: Power-clashing vintage plates
Part of what makes dining at Gado Gado special is that none of the plates and glassware match, which means each time you dine there it might be a little different. The cornucopia of palettes somehow never feels like too much, but rather, it functions almost like a sewn-together quilt that uses a kaleidoscope of fabrics that come together beautifully. Vintage, granny-esque floral plates are given an exhilarating new life here.
Serve your drinks in ice cream sundae cups
Now that it’s colder, slushie cocktails aren’t on offer. Instead, Gado Gado serves cocktails like this one, the Honey Honey, in sundae glasses.
“This summer we were doing a lot of slushy cocktails made with things like freshly juiced turmeric and ginger, tamarind, coconut, lime, and tequila. We like to add fun garnishes to them, too.”
Shop it now: Old-fashioned ice cream sundae cups
These clear glass tumblers are usually the vessels for heaping scoops of strawberry ice cream with a fudge swirl, whipped cream, and sprinkles, but they are equally useful for spicing up an after-work drink. Add a fun garnish to complete the effect.
Have fun with lights
Gado Gado’s disco takeout tent is no more, but string lights still provide some whimsy.
“Initially we were doing takeout and delivery that was extremely no contact and figuring ways to make the experience personal and hospitable within the framework. We had a takeout tent with disco balls, flashing lights, and fake mangosteens — things that still communicated fun and warmth without physical contact. Someone called it a “block party for one.” And it’s true, we love rainbow lights, to the point that we have a giant fruit bowl full of LED remotes because at this point we own so many rainbow light set-ups.”
Shop it: Party lights
Bring the party back home with these funky light options. “For lighting we like to go really cheesy,” Pisha-Duffly says.
Incorporate more pattern with plants
“We worked with this great company called Appetite that brought us plants such as palms, yucca trees, succulents, and ginseng plants. They have fabric buckets, and when they stopped by they were like, ‘What color palette [are you] thinking of for the bases?’ and we were laughing, like, ‘Nothing is off the table, our restaurant is a rainbow.’”
Shop it now: Fabric planters
Make your table restaurant-worthy
Oilcloth is practical and has the added benefit of being in keeping with Gado Gado’s colorful style.
“Oilcloth is so cool. It’s durable and it’s fairly inexpensive — we have versions with golden floral prints, orange, and a sort of blue and red floral thing happening.”
Shop it now: Oil cloth prints
As Eater has documented in the past, oilcloth is a popular choice for many restaurants, and you can bring it into your own space. Even the messiest of eaters won’t have trouble cleaning them, and the more tablecloth options you have, the more backdrops for taking Instagram-worthy food photos.
Bring rugs outdoors
“Having all the rugs outside was a fun way to create a sense of comfort that’s super affordable.”
Shop it now: Outdoor rugs
Rugs don’t only have to stay inside. These versions can bear the brunt of rainy Portland weather, bringing a little bit of sunshine as they do.
Plus, Tyson is replacing federal inspectors with its own employees, and more news to start your day
After eight years, the sandwich will return on December 2
McDonald’s McRib sandwich has evolved into a cult obsession ever since its launch in 1981. That’s likely because it’s not a permanent fixture on the menu in the U.S. — the chain only rolls it out in short bursts, or in certain regions, and the sandwich has inspired entire websites and groups devoted to it. And now, McDonald’s is releasing the McRib nationwide for the first time since 2012.
good morning to everyone who asked how i was doing last week
McDonald’s has found recent success with its Travis Scott and J Balvin meals, but the chain is still struggling. Over the summer, it reported breakfast sales had slumped, since there were far fewer morning commuters on the road, and sales overall have been down because of government-mandated closures. The McRib is probably an attempt to reinvigorate customers over a “rare” item. Or maybe just to distract from the multipleracial discrimination lawsuits.
And in other news...
In the spring, Tyson proposed a waiver that would replace the work of federal inspectors with its own employees. The USDA granted it, so starting in January, inspection work at its beef processing plant in Holcomb, Kansas will be done internally. Seems sound! [Modern Farmer]
A man sued Canada Dry over a lack of “real ginger,” and the company settled for $200k after years and years of litigation. [Vice]
Another look at how easily COVID-19 can spread in bars. [El Pais]
A study of workers at a Boston grocery store found 20% tested positive for COVID-19, and likely became a “significant transmission source” because they were asymptomatic. [CNN]
The effort to restore Caribou populations, which are central to Indigenous Canadian foodways. [Civil Eats]
Australian officials are concerned about Uber Eats’s policy of photographing IDs for liquor deliveries. [The Guardian]
No matter who wins the election, you won’t be able to get a beer with him. [NYTimes]
Restaurant owners are concerned that no one wants to dine indoors. [NBC]
A bunch of Chicago restaurants spent a lot of money on air filtration equipment to make indoor dining safer, only to have their dining rooms shut down again. It’s almost like the constant back-and-forth of regulations makes things worse for small businesses. [Chicago Tribune]
Here’s hoping bee-less honey is more than just honey-flavored corn syrup. [Fooddive]
Don’t expect the typical turkey meal this Thanksgiving. [WaPo]
According to the New York Times, harassment and abuse has pushed many women to leave the elite GuildSomm program and, in some cases, quit the industry entirely
In the wine world, perhaps no title is more coveted than that of master sommelier. But the New York Times has uncovered a pattern of harassment, sexual abuse, and rape perpetrated by master sommeliers and members of the title-granting organization, which has traumautized and made life near impossible for women who train for the title. Included in Julia Moskin’s Times report are accounts of women who were harassed so intensely that they stopped training entirely.
In the United States, the master somm title is awarded to those who endure years of study through GuildSomm, the educational branch of the Americas chapter of the Court of Master Sommeliers. According to the Times, the educational branch of the organization has seen a massive influx of students since 2012, following the Netflix release of Somm, a documentary that follows the grueling process of training for the test. While many of the 12,000 members of the GuildSomm community are young women, only 24 of the 155 people who have achieved master sommelier status since 1997 have been women.
One of the experts featured in that documentary is Geoff Kruth, one of the court’s leading educators. Kruth is also the founder and president of GuildSomm. In the Times reporting, 11 women recounted experiences of sexual misconduct by Kruth, who denied any wrongdoing. One woman, a Charleston, S.C sommelier named Ivy Anderson, recalls taking Kruth’s champagne class when she was 22. Soon after, seeing that she had bought a ticket to GuildSomm’s 2016 holiday party in New York, he invited her to dinner. According to the Times, he also “invited her, she said, to stay in a Manhattan hotel with him and other court members.” But when she arrived at the hotel, Anderson noticed there was only one bed in Kruth’s room. He told Anderson he and his wife had “an open relationship” and that “sex between master sommeliers and candidates was common.” Anderson, who knew no one in New York, and had nowhere else to stay, recalls feeling that she had no choice but to go along when he initiated sex.
Alleged accounts of Kruth and other powerful men sexually manipulating women in the training program and leveraging their power are numerous throughout the report. Jane Lopes, a 35-year-old wine importer in New York, told the Times that after a dinner in 2013, Kruth “suddenly slid his fingers inside her underpants and kissed her breast.” Rachel van Til, a wine director near Detroit, recalls being flattered when Kruth reached out online to offer to help with her work. After some proffesional back and forth messages between the two, Kruth “sent her a link to a graphic oral-sex guide, and asked which position was her favorite.” Til filed a formal complaint with the court’s board, and Kruth was barred from judging any of her future exams.
But herein lies one of the educational organization’s most deeply rooted failures: the secrecy surrounding the final test to become a master sommelier. “Grading of the final test is cloaked in secrecy,” writes Moskin, “determined by examiners drawn from the senior ranks of master sommeliers.” These are sometimes the very same sommeliers weaponizing their power to harass, abuse and rape female students and those adjacent to them in the industry. Many of the women interviewed by the Times say that they believed interacting with — and sometimes sleeping with — these men was the only way to advance in their field.
Alexandra Fox recalls receiving an unprompted message in 2011 from Matthew Citriglia, a board member on the court from 2005 to 2017. Fox shared with the Times that Citriglia told her in his message that he was coming to Tampa, Florida for “a group dinner for wine professionals.” Only, no one else showed up for the “group dinner” and Citriglia made a pass at Fox when dinner was over. According to the Times reporting:
Mr. Citriglia apologized repeatedly, Ms. Fox said, and she agreed to take a class he was teaching a few weeks later in Cleveland. One night, she slept with a fellow student; when Mr. Citriglia found out the next morning, he closed the classroom door in her face as the class watched. Months later, concerned that he might be an examiner on future exams, she reached out to clear the air; he never responded, she said. “I never did anything further toward certification,” said Ms. Fox, 51.
Reached for comment, Citrigilia told the Times that he did “not agree with the accusations.”
Women who are shut out of the upper echelon of the wine world aren’t only losing access to a respected title or a dream career; There’s the loss of income, too. Master sommeliers score all sorts of glitzy brand partnerships and consulting gigs, and command an average annual income of $164,000 and a median consulting rate of $1,000 per day, according to a 2017 internal survey of the organization.
The Times reporting implicated men at every level of the organization. More than a dozen women told the Times that in the presence of Fred Dame, the court’s co-founder and honorary “chair emeritus,” they were subjected to sexual innuendo and unwanted touching. Dame did not respond to the Times request for comment. Kate Ham, who worked at Verve in Manhattan in 2018, recalls a traumatizing experience with an unnamed master sommelier. After agreeing to have a cocktail with the master sommelier who she met at a company party, “[t]he next thing she said she remembers is waking up in a strange bed, fighting back as he raped her.” Ham is no longer training for the master sommelier title, and tells the Times that she has “no desire to be tested and judged by these people.”
In response to questions from the Times, the court said that it expects members to “uphold the highest standards of professional conduct and integrity at all times.” Just last month, the organization opened an anonymous hotline to report ethical violations. But considering the damage done by countless representatives of the court and master sommeliers across the country, and the careers that have already been bulldozed and gaslit, it seems like much too little, much too late.
Does Free Food (and Other Election Festivities) Increase Voter Turnout?
October 29, 2020
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An 1846 painting by George Caleb Bingham shows the social activity that voting used to be, drinks and all.
Evidence suggests that a hot meal and entertainment can get more people in line
As voter turnout has declined over the decades, campaigns and advocates have taken on a variety of get-out-the-vote initiatives, from phone banking to canvassing to voter registration drives. But what if the voting process itself — that is, the experience of waiting in line for hours, often without food, water, or bathroom access — could be improved, or even made celebratory? In recent elections, several groups — including World Central Kitchen’s Chefs for the Polls and the popular Pizza to the Polls — have organized concerted food-to-polls efforts to nourish the morale (and bodies) of people at polling places. Anecdotally, it seems to be working. And turns out, there is evidence that election festivals, featuring attractions like food, music, and games, can actually draw more voters to the polls.
Here's the Brooklyn United Marching Band & Drumline at Barclays Center early voting site right now. What a town. ( : @Scoboco) pic.twitter.com/izftmDhwih
Historically, Election Day was seen as “a public holiday, involving plenty of stumping, debating, and parading,” Jill Lepore writes in a 2008 New Yorker article about how Americans used to vote. Up until the late 19th century, elections were seen as a big social activity: Voters came to enjoy “free-flowing whisky,” entertainment, and the kind of exposure promised by an event in which “you’re there to be seen,” says Donald P. Green, a political science professor at Columbia University and the co-author of Get Out the Vote: How to Increase Voter Turnout.
According to Green, the advent of the secret ballot, as well as the 75-foot rule — which prohibits electioneering close to where people cast their ballots — set in motion a decline in voter turnout. Turnouts that had been in the 70, 75, and even 80 percent range fell steadily into what it is now: around 55 percent, give or take.
In 2005 to 2006, and again from 2016 to 2018, Green and a team of collaborators — including, in the recent elections, the nonprofit Civic Nation’s #VoteTogether initiative — studied the effects of poll parties on voter turnout using randomized experiments held in different geographic areas, across a range of socioeconomic and ethnic profiles. They held festivals near neighborhood polling sites during early voting or on Election Day. The events, which were advertised beforehand, took the form of neighborhood block parties, barbecues, or marches to the polls, and included food, family-friendly entertainment, dance troupes, face painting, and games, per Green.
The researchers saw an impact: an average turnout increase of 2 percentage points (even taking into consideration the fact that rain affected many of the outdoor events). The festivals had an even bigger impact at early voting sites and in high-profile races, such as the 2016 presidential election. Furthermore, the findings appeared to show that festivals held one year had a “persistent effect” on turnout in subsequent elections, suggesting that there could be long-term habit-forming effects.
Key to the turnout is community outreach, targeting people who might have otherwise sat out the election. Spreading word of the poll celebrations requires postering, canvassing, and phone banking, similar to other get-out-the-vote initiatives. But to Green, the results seem clear: the festivals do draw people, including potential voters.
The role that food plays in that varies, depending on the setting. In Green’s 2005 to 2006 trials, in more affluent areas, food was a “bonus,” but not necessarily the major feature. However, in lower-income environments — which are often more impacted by voter suppression, and thus, long lines at the polls — the food attracted bigger crowds. Green identifies two possible reasons: one being the value of a guaranteed meal; the other, the social aspect of an event with food, fun, and lots of people.
He recalls one festival, held in a financially depressed area, in which free burgers drew large numbers of kids and their parents — and then the community made the event their own. Out of nowhere, he says, a spontaneous dance contest began, with the DJ playing music and egging dancers on. “It was kind of a surreal thing … Everybody gave $1, I gave $1, and the winner got the money. It was amazing how it sprang out of nowhere with no planning.”
If it weren’t for the COVID-19 crisis, according to Green, maybe there would be more election festivals this year. But while full-blown parties might not be possible during the pandemic, at least some elements of those celebrations will persist, particularly in the form of free food at many polling locations. And those efforts, like the previous election festival experiments, could have longer-lasting effects beyond just this election cycle.
“In a very unpleasant waiting experience, especially in a moment in history where no one’s particularly got the patience to wait for anything, if you have to wait for two hours, and you have a burger, then it’s more palatable, literally and figuratively,” says Green. “The response might be, ‘Wow, they’re actually kind of taking care of us citizens.’”
Poll parties won’t fix voter suppression, and they aren’t a replacement for the many ways the government could increase voter accessibility, including automatic voter registration, same-day or online registration, increasing early voting, and restoring rights for currently and formerly incarcerated people. But, at the very least, free food, music, games, and other festivities are easy first steps to making voting feel a little less like a chore.
Eater is part of Vox Media. Find more coverage ofthe 2020 electionacross its other 13 networks: how to vote, in-depth analysis, and how policies will affect you, your state and the country over the next four years and beyond.
As Coronavirus Cases Surge, France and Germany Shut Down Bars and Restaurants
October 29, 2020
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Emptied restaurants 20 minutes before 9 p.m. in Toulouse, one of the French cities with local curfews before the government instituted a national one. | Photo by Alain Pitton/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Plus, pour one out for these closing IHOP and Applebee’s locations, and more news to start your day
European countries shut down bars, restaurants, and other nonessential businesses as part of second-wave lockdown measures
France and Germany are shutting down restaurants, bars, and other businesses and public sites again in an attempt to curb coronavirus infections, which in the past month have spiked sharply across Europe, recently topping 200,000 new cases a day. This second wave comes after a summer of loosened restrictions and a return to economic activity following the initial wave in the spring, when countries like Italy, Spain, France, and the U.K. imposed strict lockdowns.
In France, nonessential businesses, including bars and restaurants, will close, although schools and some sites of economic activity — factories, farms, etc. — will stay open. Social gatherings are banned, and similar to measures in March, people will need to fill out and carry a form to justify leaving their homes. Working from home is expected when possible.
Germany is imposing a partial lockdown starting in November. Restaurants, bars, theaters, gyms, and salons will be closed, while schools and essential businesses like supermarkets will remain open. Unlike in the U.S., the government will compensate small and midsize businesses affected by the closures.
Italy has adopted restrictive measures in a risky piecemeal fashion throughout the month, culminating in an order to close restaurants and bars early each night and shut down theaters and gyms, while other businesses, schools, and museums, remain open.
Belgium, currently one the region’s biggest coronavirus hotspots, has instituted a curfew, shut down restaurants, bars, museums, and gyms, and people are being asked to work from home if possible.
The U.K., where daily positive cases have risen to about 24,000, currently faces pressure to follow France and Germany in imposing nationwide lockdown measures.
Unlike earlier lockdowns, many of these countries’ measures will last about a month, with the hopes of acting as a “circuit breaker,” per the New York Times.
And in other news…
American consumers are starting to stockpile food again amid a surge in coronavirus cases. This time, food companies say they’re better prepared to meet the demand. [Bloomberg]
Spices have been booming as more people cook at home, but some manufacturers are concerned about where to get the packaging materials they need. [WaPo]
As many as 99 IHOP locations are expected to close in the next six months, along with 15 Applebee’s restaurants. [Restaurant Business]
A new app seeks to turn out-of-work chefs into freelance gig workers hireable for private meals and events. That’s certainly an idea! [Forbes]
Wendy’s is running a “scare-thru” (a haunted drive-thru) in LA for Halloween. [Stuff in LA]
At 98, the iconic San Francisco restaurateur is as bold as ever. Now, she shares her life story with her friend, pastry chef Belinda Leong.
Editor’s note: Cecilia Chiangdied on October 28, 2020, at the age of 100. This story, originally published in July 2018, sees Chiang discussing her life, career, and influence on Chinese food in America with close friend Belinda Leong, who notes “hers is a career any chef today would envy.” Looking back at her great successes at the time, Chiang said, “When I started, not that young. I was 30. In a foreign land. Didn’t know the background or the history of the USA. And that’s not very easy. This [is] something I’m very thankful for.”
It’s not an understatement to call Cecilia Chiang one of San Francisco’s most beloved culinary figures. Her first restaurant in town, the Mandarin, opened in 1961 — a time when the white Americans she needed to support her business were far more familiar with egg foo young and chop suey than they were with the traditional dishes she served, like beggar’s chicken and smoked tea duck. Like many restaurateurs, it took Cecilia some time to find her groove in San Francisco, but she did — and by 1968, she moved the Mandarin to a bigger space in Ghirardelli Square, where she presided for over 20 years. Then came the Mandarin Beverly Hills. And then came two more restaurants. Alice Waters and Jeremiah Tower attended her cooking classes. Her cookbook is a must-have for anyone interested in Chinese cooking.
Hers is a career any chef today would envy.
I sat down with Cecilia earlier this year to talk, to hear her tell me her story (again), and to show the world the wonderful woman I’ve come to know as a close friend and mentor.
Cecilia and I officially met at a party at restaurant critic Michael Bauer’s house. I was working at Restaurant Gary Danko at the time, and Cecilia had been in, and said hi, but it was at the party that we really connected. We started to get to know each other, and would see each other around town at events. When I wanted to leave the restaurant to open my own bakery, I turned to her for advice. I was hearing mixed things about the location I was considering. When Cecilia opened her first restaurant in San Francisco, she heard mixed things about her location too.
Cecilia: My first restaurant was on Polk Street. At that time, 1960, Polk Street had no offices, no nothing. Everybody said, “This is a really bad [location] ... This is a pensioner’s area.” I didn’t know at that time what “pensioner” meant.
Others said, “You don’t serve Cantonese food. You don’t serve chop suey; the only Chinese food people know is chop suey.” I said, “I just try to do my best.” I wanted to introduce the real Chinese food to America. That’s how I did it.
I explained that to you. I said, “Don’t listen to everybody, otherwise you’ll get very confused.” That’s how we got to know each other better. Sometimes you’d call me to ask a few questions, because after all, you weren’t experienced [running your own business]. Sometimes little things would happen, and it can hurt your feelings. I told you, “Really, not that important. You just do whatever you can.” I said, “You’ll be just fine.”
I see Cecilia a few times a week. Together we talk, cook, and go out to eat. I asked her to walk me through her typical day.
You probably know my age. I’m 98 now, but I’m still what you can call a self-disciplined person. Every morning I get up at about 9 o’clock, and I have my breakfast, and then make some important phone calls, and then I go to the park. I walk, and also I do my exercise. At my age, I cannot do a lot of very extreme things, like jogging. About three years ago, I fell. I had seven stitches on my head. I injured my shoulder and my leg. At home I use a walker. But I still manage to take myself out. I live alone, but every day I have my routine.
I don’t have a computer, so I read a newspaper, like the New York Times, every day. Not too much local news: the Chronicle, only the food section.
I go out a lot with friends. I love to eat out. When you cook Chinese, you cannot cook a little. Once you cook, you have to have somebody share with you. In Chinese food, the prep work is a lot: You have to cut it, wash it, and slice it, then you eat. That’s no fun at all, so I go out to eat. But once in a while, I get some friends, we just eat, cook together, and have a little fun, a little glass of wine or Champagne. We laugh a lot, talk silly things, have a good time.
I think it’s very important, especially when you’re getting older, to have really good friends, because your own kids marry, have children, they move to somewhere. You need good friends to keep you company.
My friends say, “Cecilia, you’re a really very disciplined person.” When I’m home alone, I don’t drink. I don’t touch any wine, anything. I just eat and get work done. If friends call me, I must return the call. If people ask me to do some work, I do it right away. I don’t drag on. I like to get things done. Every day I have a schedule I put on a piece of paper. I look at every day: “Oh, pretty good, I finished everything today,” then I can sleep better.
People ask me, “What’s the secret?” I have lived such a long life. The first thing I must say, I have to thank my ancestors. We have good genes. My father died at 98 during the Cultural Revolution. My mother died at 94. Those days in China, most people don’t know how poor they were. My father got a little bottle of this much cooking oil a week: Everything was on ration. They were so poor. My father wasn’t sick; they just starved to death, there was no food. Most people don’t know all these things. I think I’m very lucky I have good genes.
Another thing is I try to learn Chinese moderation. I really believe that: Never overeat, or never overdrink. Never overdo it.
Also, I work. I love to work. I take care of my flowers. I planted all these by myself. I fertilize them, I prune them back, I like to work with my hands. I think you do too, Belinda. Look at my hands. I like to use my hands and keep busy.
Cecilia Chiang was born in 1920 in Wuxi, a wealthy town near Shanghai, along the coast of the Chang Jiang River (also known as the Yangtze). When she was 4, her family — including her father’s extended family — moved to Beijing, at the time the capital of “old China.” As Chiang remembers it, her family moved to be a part of the new Republic of China. Even so, she still thinks of herself as a “southerner,” especially when it comes to food.
I’m from a family of 12 children by the same parents. I say that because those days, all the rich families had concubines. Legally you could have two, three wives, and they all lived under the same roof. On my husband’s side, his father had five concubines. Five. But we had no concubines, 12 kids, nine girls and three boys.
Fortunately, we all had good educations; we all went to college. But those days that was not very easy, because we didn’t have enough public schools, it was mostly all private school. Not too many families can afford to send all the kids: Usually people would say, “Oh, the girls ... after they grow up, they just get married, raise kids.” But my father said, “No, I want all my girls to go to college, have a good education.”
Another thing that was very important: Those days, in the Qing Dynasty, they bound your feet, and my mother had bound feet. When my number one sister (we call the eldest sister “number one”) was 4 years old, my mother started to bind her feet, but my father said, “No. You cannot do that.”
My mother said, “Oh, if I don’t bind her feet, who’s going to marry her? Nobody will marry her.” Because that’s the status. Only farmers, the peasants, have big feet. If you’re from a high-class, wealthy family, you have to have your feet bound. My father said, “Don’t worry about it. If nobody marries them, I’ll keep them at home.” This is very unusual. So in our family, we all have natural feet.
In the old days, the girls were not supposed to work. Once you go out to work, the family loses faith: “Oh, you must be poor [to] send your girl off.” Most girls always stayed home. With my older sisters, my father hired this opera-singer tutor.
My parents were very artistic people. They loved music. They loved opera, the grand opera, and they loved all the old paintings. My father loved all these old porcelains, and he also made all these little bonsai with a little tweezer. Doing the bonsai was very unusual. Also, my father played violin, Chinese violin, and then my older sisters started to sing the opera. My older brother also played the violin. I must say since I can remember, we really had a happy childhood.
In summertime, we had a ranch, near Marco Polo Bridge, and you had to take [a] little train to go there. We had a little farm, so we grew all the vegetables, cabbage, carrots, squash, tomato, everything.
In China, we didn’t have ready-to-wear, ready-made things. Everything was custom made; you could not buy anything. We had a tailor and a shoemaker at home, because of all the kids: You had to make clothes and shoes for the 12 of us.
I think about that, about all these wonderful things we had when we were kids. It was very unusual. I mean, those days, everything you had, you just take for granted. But now, I think it’s very privileged: How many families could afford to do that?
After college, I think I probably thought I would maybe find somebody, get married. Like I told you, most of the girls, after their education, just get married, raise the kids, be a housewife. That’s the typical Chinese way: Even now, the wealthy families are still doing that. In our family, not one girl was working, only my two brothers were working.
Then there was the [Second Sino-Japanese] war. Just to make the story short, I walked during the Japanese invasion, I walked from Beijing to Chongqing. You know how many miles it was? Over 1,000 miles. I walked six months by foot. Six months.
I had just finished college, 20 years old. And I have no fear because I am young and honestly because I’m naive. I was more sheltered. The Japanese tried to capture, tried to kill all the students. So we walked at nighttime. We walked all night. In the daytime, we’d find a place to just doze off, because the Japanese airplanes used a machine gun that just killed all the students, all the innocent people. So my sister, number five, and I, we two walked from Beijing to Chongqing.
And one day, I’ve never forgotten. The Japanese airplane was flying so low, just using the machine gun. There was a leg over there, a hand... Another student said, “The enemy’s plane is here, run, run!” But then you’re so scared, you cannot run that fast.
Finally we found a little field. In northern China they grow sorghum everywhere. So we’re hiding in the sorghum field. And when the airplane left, I called for my sister. “Number five sister, where are you? Where are you?” Nothing happened. I was so scared. I thought something happened to her. Then my number five sister called me, and says, “number seven sister, are you okay? Are you okay? Where are you?” I could not talk, I was so scared.
We didn’t even get hurt, but some other students died. That’s an experience that you never forget.
In 1949, Cecilia, her husband, and her daughter took the last plane out of Shanghai before the Communists arrived (her son stayed with her sister in Taipei). They lived in Tokyo, where her husband worked at the Chinese embassy. They had a 350-seat restaurant in the heart of Tokyo called Forbidden City. Two years later, her son was able to join them, and her two children attended an American school in Japan. At that time, one of her sisters (number six, Sophie) was married to an “ABC,” an American-born Chinese person, who ran a newspaper in San Francisco’s Chinatown. He died of cancer a year after the two married, so Cecilia went to San Francisco to spend time with her sister, who found herself a young widow. She slept on the sofa in her sister’s apartment on the edge of Chinatown, near Powell and Clay streets.
My sister didn’t know how to cook, because we had two cooks at home; we never learned how to cook. Not only that, we were not allowed go to the kitchen, because the kitchen servants were all men. Every day we just walked down into Chinatown and ate. I still remember $3 for four dishes and one soup, including tea, rice, everything: Chop suey — mostly tofu and bean sprout — egg foo young, $3. One day we walked there to have lunch, then on the street, somebody called me, “Oh, Mrs. Chiang. We had a hard time finding you.” These were some friends I knew from Tokyo.
They said, “We came here, we want to open a Chinese restaurant. We saw the spot we like, but our English is so bad, we cannot negotiate with the landlord and we need your help.”
I thought my English was just as bad, but I said, “I will try my best and see what I can do for you.”
I set up a date and met the landlord. The landlord was an old Italian, with a very heavy accent. He said, “If you’re really interested this spot, you have to give me a deposit — somebody else now is interested.” I never worked. I didn’t know about business, how to negotiate.
The deposit was $10,000. Ten thousand dollars is a lot of money. My friend said, “We came here as visitor, we don’t have a bank account. We have only cash.”
The landlord said, “Can you give a check?” See how naive I was. I was also young. I send a check for $10,000. Later [those friends] backed out and went back to Japan, I got stuck. What am I supposed to do?
I was just so naive. Later, I just thought how stupid I was. I was totally ignorant. I didn’t know business, I didn’t know the value of the money. Then I thought, What am I going to say to my husband? How in the world am I going to tell him?
I tried to sell it, [but] nobody wanted it. I tried everything, and I felt ashamed. Finally, I said, “I better open the restaurant,” otherwise the $10,000 is just down the drain. I found a couple from Shandong, also from northern China, because I didn’t want anything Cantonese, anything chop suey. I really wanted to bring real Chinese cuisine to the USA. That’s how I opened.
Business at her restaurant, the Mandarin, was hard; the second year in particular was “really quite slow,” Cecilia says now. But she refused to ask her husband for money to fund the restaurant, instead going to the Small Business Bureau, where it was difficult to get a loan as a woman.
I invited them to the restaurant. They had to see it as [a viable] business. At that time I had a manager, who’d asked me a very silly question: “Why, every time I ask you another question, you say, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll make it?’ Why do you have the confidence to think you can make it?”
I said, “You really want to know why? Because all those things on the menu, nobody, not even in New York, nobody serves it. I serve real Chinese food.”
My menu had about 300 items. I had sea urchin at Mandarin, I had shark fin. I told my manager, “You know what? I think my food is really good: Not only tasty, but good quality. Really good, all the best.” I went to Japan, Taiwan, brought back shark fin and sea urchin. I carried it back by the bag.
Also, not one Chinese restaurant had such service. All my waiters were from UC Berkeley, spoke good English, were from really nice families. Those days when you went to Chinatown: “Sweet and sour pork, No. 2.” They called numbers to serve. Those days, they just put the plate down, just threw it on the table. No tablecloths, no carpets in Chinatown. No seats, just a bench.
All my waiters tasted the food I served. They knew the ingredients, and could explain the dishes. So I said, “I have something totally different. I think I am going to make it.” But I still needed luck.
So one day, a man came in. He’s Caucasian but spoke fluent Mandarin to me. He said, “Do you remember me? I’m the owner of Maxim’s.” Maxim’s was a very famous restaurant in China. He’s a Russian. He opened a restaurant called Alexis. He had dinner and said, “After I left China, this [is] the first time I’ve had such real, good Chinese food.”
He said he didn’t think I’d make it, because people were not familiar with my menu. And my location on Polk Street was bad — no parking, no walking, nothing. He said, “I’ll see what I can do, I really want to help you.”
Two days later, he came back with Herb Caen [a prominent San Francisco columnist]. I don’t know who that was. They ordered a lot of different things. He said, “Herb, I’m telling you this is real Chinese food.”
Herb said, “What’s the difference?”
He said, “Eat it and you’ll know.”
Herb Caen came back again.
And all of a sudden, my phone just kept ringing and ringing. I said, “This is crazy.” I didn’t have anybody. I was the one at the front desk. I answered the phone. I didn’t even have a janitor. I was the janitor. I did everything.
Finally it’s full. People were lining up: Because of the Herb Caen article, they wanted to come. I said, “What is Herb Caen? Who is Herb Caen?” People told me he’s the one that can make you, can break you. So Herb Caen really helped me a lot. The dinners really turned around.
At her restaurants in San Francisco and Los Angeles, Cecilia introduced Americans to real Chinese food — and fed plenty of celebrities, including John Lennon and Yoko Ono, friends of Herb Caen. Her son Philip also followed her into the restaurant industry, eventually founding the megahit P.F. Chang’s (he is no longer involved with the chain).
I wanted to know what Cecilia is most proud of. Her answers show just how impressive her career has been, but also the incredible life she has lived.
First thing, when I opened the restaurant, the hardest thing was everything was against me. First, because I’m a female ... I opened before Chez Panisse — Alice was not even open. I’m not Cantonese. The Cantonese treated me so badly, like a foreigner.
And then another thing is, I didn’t speak much English, because when you’re in a college, you learn A, B, C, D, and just how to read. But conversation is not easy. In those days, when I first came, I remember [there was] no television, only radio. So whenever you learned a few words, you put it in a notebook. Put in Chinese and English, try to make a sentence. That’s how I learned English. I’m very proud of it.
I had a good reputation, supported my family. Also we had four restaurants one time. Two Mandarins, one here, one in Beverly Hills. And also we had two little Mandarette. Actually, Mandarette is kind of P.F. Chang’s. That’s how [my son] started that.
I was the only one in my family who did all this. To me it’s pretty amazing, because now it’s nothing, actually, but you just think about ... I’m 98. When I started, not that young either. I was 30. In a foreign land. Didn’t know the background or the history of the USA. And that’s not very easy.
But also I’m very grateful to the United States, because it’s hard. This would never happen in China or Japan for a foreigner. This [is] something I’m very thankful for. But I didn’t plan anything like this.
I never planned anything. That’s why now when I meet young people from China or somewhere else who want to start a business, if they need my help, I always help. I’ve sponsored 26 people: my niece and nephew, an MIT professor, also bankers, architects, doctors, and they’re all doing really well.
I still help them. Because I know how hard it was when I started.
As she mentioned in her daily routine, she’s an avid restaurantgoer. She is plugged into the restaurant scene today — she says her favorite restaurants right now are Benu and Z & Y — and is still known for having a razor-sharp palate. (When I wanted to start my mochi business, I had Cecilia taste my early creations.)
Fortunately, I grew up with good food, because my parents both know food very well. There’s a lot of people that say, “Oh, we love to eat, we love this, we love that.” Doesn’t mean they know the food. Even restaurant owners, I know quite a few. I mean, they really don’t have the palate, a good palate to taste good food and know the difference. I love them, but I know quite a few.
First thing, I have a very good nose, and also I have a very good tongue, because I used to eat out. I lived most my life in Asia, right? So I know Chinese food, I know Korean food, I know Japanese food, but French, Italian: I’m really learning. I never had anything to do with this food. I don’t know it. The only time I learn is when I travel, so I travel a lot.
When I was a student, that time I walked from village to village to the city, I learned the ways are different, the soil’s different. The local people were totally different. And each province had its own dialect. So I learned a lot about the food. About the vegetables, the weather, about the people’s characters. I think that helped a lot for my future about the restaurant business.
And then later I traveled with Alice Waters, a very good friend. We’ve been together to Europe ... maybe five times. We covered all these three-star Michelin restaurants. And one day we went to a restaurant in Europe that was hard to get into. But somehow James Beard said if we really wanted to go, he could call somebody and make a reservation for us.
So Alice, Marion Cunningham, and I went down there. They served a salad. And so Alice tastes it. And Alice said, “Marion, you try it. See what dressing is that.” Marion said something else. Later, Alice said, “Cecilia, have you tried this? Tell me what you think this dressing is.” I tasted it.
I said, “I’m not sure, but to me, it’s walnut oil.”
“Are you kidding, walnut oil? Who uses walnut oil for dressing?”
“Something like that. I’m not sure, but to me...” We called the waiter.
The waiter came. “Tell us, we cannot figure out this oil.” The waiter said it was walnut oil.
And Alice said to me, “You did it again.” Before that, we went to Taiwan. I took her to Taiwan and also Japan, field trips.
I’m just very lucky that I have a good nose, a good palate. This is something either you have or you don’t. Just like a lot of wealthy people are very wealthy, but they don’t have good taste. That’s something money cannot buy.
Belinda Leong is a James Beard Award-winning baker in San Francisco, where she runsB. Patisserie.Michelle Minis a food and travel photographer based in San Francisco. Editor:Hillary Dixler Canavan
Grubhub Hit With Class-Action Lawsuit for Listing Restaurants Without Permission
October 28, 2020
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Business owners say the criticized practice causes “significant damage to their hard-earned reputations”
Two restaurants have initiated a class-action lawsuit against GrubHub for allegedly listing 150,000 restaurants to its site without the businesses’ permission. The Farmer’s Wife in Sebastopol, California and Antonia’s Restaurant in Hillsborough, NC filed the suit with Gibbs Law Group, accusing Grubhub of adding their restaurants to its site despite not entering into a partnership, which causes “significant damage to their hard-earned reputations, loss of control over their customers’ dining experiences, loss of control over their online presence, and reduced consumer demand for their services.”
Grubhub has explicitly made this false partnership part of their business strategy. Last October, CEO Matt Maloney said the company would be piloting a new initiative of adding more restaurants to its searchable database without entering into an official partnership with them, so customers would believe they had more delivery options with Grubhub, and wouldn’t switch to competitors.
It works like this: if you happened to order from a non-partnered restaurant, “the order doesn’t go directly to the restaurant,” says the lawsuit. “It goes instead to a Grubhub driver, who must first figure out how to contact the restaurant and place the order. Sometimes it’s possible to place orders with the restaurant by phone, but other times the restaurant will only accept orders in person. The extra steps often lead to mistakes in customers’ orders and often the restaurant won’t receive the order at all.” GrubHub also wouldn’t warn restaurants before they were listed, which led to restaurants suddenly being inundated with GrubHub orders they never expected.
Often, GrubHub would list outdated menus with the wrong prices, or include restaurants that don’t even offer take-out, leading to canceled orders. The lawsuit includes screenshots from the pages Grubhub created for The Farmer’s Wife and Antonia’s, using their respective names and logos. The Farmer’s Wife alleges the pages are “inaccurate and suggests that The Farmer’s Wife is offering to make food that it does not actually make and has never made,” which the lawsuit claims hurts the restaurant’s reputation, and leads customers to become frustrated with service the restaurant never agreed to provide in the first place. And both restaurants say the language Grubhub uses suggests a partnership that doesn’t exist, and in Antonia’s case, was actively declined when Grubhub approached them.
Grubhub declined to comment to Eater about the lawsuit. Last year, a Grubhub representative told Eater it was adding restaurants without their permission “so we will not be at a restaurant disadvantage compared to any other food delivery platform,” but said it would “without hesitation remove any restaurant who reaches out to us and doesn’t want to be listed on our marketplace,” putting the onus on any restaurant owner to proactively check Grubhub to be sure their business isn’t being listed. However, according to the lawsuit, Grubhub has not removed The Farmer’s Wife’s or Antonia’s from its site, despite multiple requests to do so.
The same rep also previously told Eater that Grubhub essentially hoped that adding restaurants without their permission would convince them to join. “When we add restaurants they’ll see orders, and see the benefit of the Grubhub platform,” she said. Unfortunately, this has been a common practice with the third-party delivery industry. In 2015, DoorDash got in trouble for delivering In-N-Out without its permission, and Postmates has also added restaurants without their permission. There’s also the practice of delivery services confusing restaurants. Last January, chef Pim Techamuanvivit noticed her restaurant Kin Khao was listed on DoorDash, even though it doesn’t offer delivery, and the menu looked totally different. It turns out DoorDash had listed the ghost kitchen Happy Khao Thai as Kin Khao. Grubhub has also been sued over its phone practices. Munish Narula of Philadelphia restaurant Tiffin sued the company for “charging commissions on those phone calls that are routed through Grubhub, without his knowledge, even if the phone calls don’t result in a customer placing an order.”
The lawsuit comes at a time when in-person dining restrictions and safety concerns are driving more restaurants than ever to use delivery to stay afloat, and when there has been renewed scrutiny of the practices of third-party delivery services. Over the past few months, Instagram posts outlining just how much delivery services like Grubhub and DoorDash charge restaurants have gone viral, with diners outraged at how much of their money isn’t going to the restaurant they wanted to support. “For example, one restaurant owner recently posted a statement from Grubhub showing that out of $1,042.63 in 46 pre-paid orders, he received only $376.54 from Grubhub,” says the lawsuit, presumably referring to a post from Giuseppe Badalamenti, owner of food truck Chicago Pizza Boss, about his March earnings. Brooklyn restaurant Hunky Dory also recently shared its delivery fee breakdown, saying $619 in sales on a rainy Friday night was only $464.25 after Caviar/DoorDash fees.
Third-party delivery services have proliferated because they allow a restaurant to outsource delivery, which can be costly and time-consuming to implement in-house. But this transparency has led to more calls to order from restaurants directly, and multiple cities to cap the commissions these services can collect. “Restaurant owners should be able to affirmatively decide whether to affiliate with Grubhub to offer delivery and takeout services,” said Steven Tindall of Gibbs Law Group in a statement. “For Grubhub to unilaterally add restaurants to its platform without their permission or authorization, the company is improperly denying restaurant owners the right to make their own business decisions and to control the reputations they have built.”
The dining domes at Detroit’s East Eats | Courtesy of East Eats
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City Winery [Official Photo]
An 1846 painting by George Caleb Bingham shows the social activity that voting used to be, drinks and all.
Emptied restaurants 20 minutes before 9 p.m. in Toulouse, one of the French cities with local curfews before the government instituted a national one. | Photo by Alain Pitton/NurPhoto via Getty Images
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