There are two new three-star restaurants in the most Michelin-starred city

Tokyo is the latest stop on Michelin’s international dining guide tour, and the French tire company continues to be particularly generous with its starred designations in the Japanese city, which has more Michelin-star restaurants than any other. In the 2021 guide there are two new restaurants with three stars, two with two stars, and 18 restaurants earning their first Michelin stars.

Sazenka becomes the first Chinese restaurant in Tokyo to earn three Michelin stars. According to Michelin, the restaurant led by chef Tomoya Kawada “combines traditional Chinese flavors with Japanese techniques.” L’Effervescence, a French restaurant that earned two stars back in 2015, joins Sazenka at the three-star level, bringing the total number of three-star restaurants in Tokyo to 12.

There are now 42 two-star restaurants in the city, thanks to the addition of Japanese cuisine restaurant Kutan and Sushi Kanesaka, which offers customizable omakase, while the one-star total jumps to 158 restaurants. It’s a relatively diverse group that includes sushi, Japanese and Chinese cuisines, as well as a few representatives of European cuisine, including four French-influenced restaurants and one Italian.

Michelin also awarded six restaurants its new sustainability award the Green Star, including new three-star restaurant L’Effervescence. As always, the guide also covers more reasonably priced Bib Gourmand restaurants. There are 35 additions this year and another first: New Bib Gourmand restaurant Enrique Marruecos becomes the first Moroccan restaurant to appear in Tokyo’s Michelin guide. See below for the full list of Tokyo’s new Michelin stars.

New three-star restaurants

L’Effervescence

Sazenka

New two-star restaurants

Kutan

Sushi Kanesaka

New one-star restaurants

Akasaka Ogino

Au Deco

Azabu Wakei

Esterre

Faro

Makiyaki Ginza Onodera

Hato

Itsuka

L’Intemporel

Juko

Onarimon Haru

Oryori Katsushi

Series

Shigematsu

ShinoiS

Sushi Murayama

Sushi Sugaya

Sushiya Shota

• These Are The Newly Starred Restaurants In The MICHELIN Guide Tokyo 2021 [Michelin]

Plus, José Andrés writes about the hunger crisis, and more news to start your day

Mario Lopez is somehow the perfect choice to play hot Colonel Sanders

In the stuntiest of stunts, KFC and Lifetime are releasing a “mini-movie” (read: extended commercial) starring Mario Lopez as a buff, salt-and-pepper-haired Colonel Sanders.

Appropriately named A Recipe for Seduction, the Lifetime original will premiere on December 13. Judging from the trailer, it looks like the Colonel — hired as a household’s new chef who walks around in a tight shirt and jaunty ascot — will be involved in some kind of love triangle (or quadrangle?). The phrase “secret recipe” is uttered at least three times within five seconds. Other Lifetime hallmarks that are shown include an illicit affair, someone holding a knife threateningly, and a tied-to-a-chair-with-duct-tape-over-the-mouth situation.

This portrayal is the latest in a long line of sexy Colonel Sanders depictions. Take a walk down memory lane with me: there was anime dating simulator Colonel, CGI influencer Colonel, and shirtless Chippendales Colonel, among many variations. The real Harland Sanders was “often said to be a womanizer,” according to journalist and Drive-Thru Dreams: A Journey Through the Heart of America’s Fast-Food Kingdom author Adam Chandler.

If anyone can pull off playing a hot, cringe version of the man, the myth, the legend himself, it’s the equally hot, cringe actor Lopez. Now to sit back, relax, and wait for him to say the words “finger lickin’ good” at some point.

And in other news…

• Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Nestlé have been named top plastic polluters for the third year in a row by Break Free From Plastic’s annual ranking. [Guardian]
• The Trump administration’s Farmers to Families Food Box program is supposed to end on December 31, but it’s winding down early in some areas due to funds running out, coupled with huge demand for the food boxes. [WaPo]
• José Andrés on the need for the government to fight the hunger crisis. [WaPo]
• An estimated 10,000 restaurants could close in the next three weeks, according to the National Restaurant Association. [CNN]
• Orders for plant-based meat alternatives spiked on Grubhub this year, according to the delivery app’s year-end trend report. [VegNews]
• McDonald’s is changing franchise fees, in some areas increasing them in order to reallocate more funds to restaurant employees. [NRN]
• Pizza Hut’s triple-decker treat box returns for the holiday season. [BI]
• Coffee shop proprietor and TikTok-er Nick Cho is working with another TikTok-er to create a coffee blend named after TikTok duets. [Instagram]
• Small Publix recall on holiday cookie platters in some locations due to undeclared pecan allergens. [Publix]

• All AM Intel Coverage [E]

From the Editor: Everything you missed in food news last week

This post originally appeared on December 5, 2020 in Amanda Kludt’s newsletter “From the Editor,” a roundup of the most vital news and stories in the food world each week. Read the archives and subscribe now.

I am a gift guide fiend. I don’t have that many people to shop for. I don’t shop all that much for myself. But I love perusing lists of products and items that have escaped my attention, of fashionable bowls and useful gadgets and pungent sauces I could have in my life if I just clicked a button.

Luckily, here at Eater, we have a plethora of guides, from our big national picks of products and experiences to locally focused lists in over a dozen cities we cover. I especially love the local ones, because they have restaurant-related products my New York friends might not know about. So, because exactly one reader asked me, I’ve sifted through all of these and added some of my faves to offer a very brief, but hopefully helpful, restaurant- and food-themed gift guide.

Eater Wine Club

This is very much a shameless plug for something my team launched this year, but I sincerely love it. We created the wine subscription box that we wanted in our lives: A monthly offering of exciting wines chosen by extremely cool wine pros from our favorite restaurants and wine shops across America. I gifted myself a four-bottle ongoing subscription and sent one-off boxes to some select aunts, cousins, and friends.

Melissa Weller’s ‘A Good Bake’

I got my hands on the new baking book from my favorite itinerant pastry chef, Melissa Weller, just before Thanksgiving, and her approach to an all-butter crust 1,000 percent upped my game last week. Her recipes are challenging but provide huge payoffs, so I recommend the book for any dedicated baker in your life. Same goes for Claire Saffitz’s Dessert Person. Her recipes are harder than I think she thinks they are, but they’re worthwhile for any true, ahem, dessert person.

A Restaurant Blanket

King

I’m a sucker for good restaurant merch, and I’ve taken a shine to the latest COVID-appropriate offering: blankets. I got one at NYC’s Raoul’s last week — it’s $15 and akin to an airplane blanket — and am eyeing the ones at Hunky Dory and Four Horseman. The King blanket is something to behold, but I can’t personally pony up the $120.

Cookie Stamps

My colleague Lesley Suter just convinced me to buy these pricey cookie stamps to bring some extra joy and professionalism to my holiday cookie experience. Forty dollars seems like a lot to invest in a seasonal baking accessory, but I feel like these have the potential to stick around for decades. I’ll be very smug if my grandchildren end up using them someday.

A Stylish Bento Box

Poketo

I am not this person, but I have a lot of people in my life who would swoon over this cute bento box collab between Poketo and Takenaka. It’s a good gift because you might not want to spend $40 sprucing up your own lunch life, but you know a friend who deserves it.

Other ideas

Cozy, funny, and/or stylish restaurant merch; an exciting condiment from Dana Cowin’s collection of products from women-owned brands as a stocking stuffer; Culinary Backstreets’ travel-inspired gift box; the poignant and funny Waffle House Vistas; and the arch and wildly useful cocktail book Drink What You Want from John deBary.

Or (!) just go to our How to Help guide and make a donation in your friend’s name.

Meanwhile...

More cities around the country are pulling back on dining. Dallas is now at 50 percent indoor capacity, Vegas at 25 percent, D.C. heading to 25 percent. The enforcement of new restrictions has ranged from pulled liquor licenses and fines (Michigan) to arrests (Staten Island).

In LA, where only delivery and takeout is allowed, restaurateurs are demanding evidence to prove outdoor dining has led to a rise in COVID-19 cases, and a judge agreed that officials need to offer up the data. Meanwhile, some cities within LA County are threatening to secede from the health department’s jurisdiction to avoid the restrictions. But it will all be moot if the whole region of Southern California enters a state-mandated stay-at-home order in the next few days.

One prominent restaurateur in the area is calling for an industrywide rent strike.

Elsewhere, restaurants across the country are entering hibernation mode as they see little upside to trying to stay open through fits and starts and colder weather. Other groups, like Danny Meyer’s USHG and Chicago’s Boka Group, have shifted to takeout and delivery only.

And in London, the month-long lockdown ended this week, as restaurants and pubs eased into a new phase of uncertainty.

Wonho Frank Lee

Openings: In London, Cafe Deco, chef Anna Tobias’s long-awaited ode to the beauty of brown food; in D.C., Michael Schlow’s American Glover Park Grill; in Cambridge, a stateside iteration of Tehran’s La Saison Bakery; and in LA, the craziest-looking restaurant I’ve seen all year, a Peruvian place in Eagle Rock called Chifa.

— Closures: Yours Truly in Los Angeles; Blue Smoke in New York; and Pok Pok Wing in Vegas.

— In other news: A survey from One Fair Wage found that the pandemic has exacerbated sexual harassment within restaurants; Chicago implemented a fee cap for third-party delivery services; the group behind Alinea and Next will open two restaurants within an upcoming downtown skyscraper; and star Raleigh restaurants Bida Manda and Brewery Bhavana fostered an atmosphere of misbehavior, abuse of power, and inappropriate sexual conduct.

— Some sweetness: We tested out the best way to send cookies in the mail; Joshua David Stein reviewed Steve McQueen’s excellent Mangrove; dive bar owners shared their grief over the death of Alex Trebek; and Ryan Sutton discovered Colombian diner Empanada Mama is still nourishing its Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood (even late at night) during the pandemic.

Off Eater

• If you, like me, are starting your holiday cookie baking today, please check out some gorgeous cookie packages from Bon Appétit, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the LA Times, and Kitchn.
• Faces of a fast-food nation. [TNY]
• New York magazine’s whole issue about pandemic partying is a wild ride. Here’s a good place to start. [NYM]
• And in the world of third-party delivery platforms, delivery workers continue to suffer as the companies seek out stratospheric IPO valuations. [NYT; The Verge]

Support OKC’s restaurants with Doritos-topped burgers, old-school prairie Lebanese food, and “Banh Jovi” banh mi

After five years of unmitigated growth, the 405 diningscape was due for some contraction coming into 2020. Years of expansion helped build Oklahoma City’s scene into a rich tapestry of cultures and flavors, including the vibrant Asian District north of downtown, a range of Mexican, Central and South American flavors to the south and west, and a community of Black-owned restaurants growing out of the East Side. Never forgotten was the local love affair with beef, pork, catfish, and chicken, particularly when they’re fried, smoked, or both.

The COVID-19 pandemic became a reality for Oklahoma City in mid-March, when a game between the hometown Thunder and the Utah Jazz was abruptly postponed. The expected slump morphed into permanent closure for many restaurants. While much of the state operates without a mask mandate, Oklahoma City, Norman, and Edmond all have municipal mandates in place, while indoor dining is allowed at 50 percent capacity with tables at least six feet apart.

With a lot of determination and a bit of luck, operators have made the best of pandemic-era dining. Those who had never considered carryout learned to love delivery and curbside pickup. Buffeted by assistance programs in Oklahoma City and suburban Edmond to retrofit parking spaces into outdoor “streeteries,” restaurateurs made clever use of outdoor seating, helped by a mild summer to attract customers to new patios and backyards. With a vaccine still months away and winter in between, outdoor heaters and even greater renovations are popping up all over the city. With a bit more luck — and plenty of support from diners — restaurants may just make it through the colder months too.

Here are 15 of Oklahoma City’s many deserving restaurants that are pivoting, remodeling, and even flourishing during the industry’s most challenging chapter.

Prices per person, excluding alcohol:
$ = Less than $15
$$ = $15 - $25
$$$ = $25 - $35

Dave Cathey has been Food Editor for The Oklahoman in Oklahoma City since 2008. He writes The Food Dude column, and is the author of Historic Restaurants of Oklahoma City and A Culinary History of Pittsburg County: Little Italy, Choctaw Beer and Lamb Fries.

Plus, Chick-fil-A is suing over chicken price-fixing, and more news to start your day

Wendy’s to entice customers with celebrity gamer meals and impossible-to-get console giveaways

Earlier this fall, rapper Travis Scott’s partnership with McDonald’s — which was so popular that employees were required to learn Travis Scott catchphrases, and ingredients for the limited-time meal started to run out at some locations — showcased the power of a smart celebrity endorsement in the age of social media. Now Wendy’s has cut its own deal with a new batch of stars, partnering with Uber Eats and five Fortnite streamers to sell branded meals and give away gaming prizes, including items that are so in demand they’re next to impossible to find in stores.

Between December 8 and December 12, customers who order a streamer’s branded meal will receive an Uber Eats Prize Pass with a code, which they can enter on a website to see if they’ve won anything, per CNN. Prizes include gaming merch, gift cards, and “the console no one can get,” referring to next-generation gaming consoles like the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X, which are seemingly sold out everywhere.

While Wendy’s has dabbled in video game promotions before, last year releasing its own arcade-style games on Giphy, this latest partnership offers interesting insight into where youth culture has shifted (after all, where the young and the cool are, the brands follow). Popular musicians like Travis Scott have always made sense for partnerships, but streamers like Myth, Flight, ItsShafu, xChocoBars, and Tfue — who, between them, have tens of millions of followers on Twitch and social media — are less-explored territory, although Twitch boasts more than 26 million average daily visitors, according to its press pack. With streaming only becoming bigger, there will likely be even more celebrity gamers hawking fast-food meals in the future.

And in other news…

• The Cheesecake Factory has agreed to pay a penalty of $125,000 after the Securities and Exchange Commission found that the restaurant chain, which famously told landlords that it wouldn’t make April rent, misled investors about how the COVID-19 pandemic was affecting its financial health. [WSJ]
• Chick-fil-A filed a lawsuit accusing Tyson Foods, Perdue Farms, and other chicken suppliers of price-fixing poultry. [Bloomberg]
• After 26 years, Popeyes is leaving South Korea. [Korea Herald]
• Food delivery companies have benefited enormously from the pandemic (their gig workers, meanwhile, haven’t been so lucky). But what happens after the pandemic ends? [CNN]
• Jacques Pépin’s wife Gloria, to whom he had been married for five decades, died this weekend, the chef shared on social media. [People]
• A former poultry farmer on how the meatpacking industry failed workers during the pandemic. [Business Insider]
• A review of lab-grown chicken: “I would rather the many millions of dollars that are going into developing lab-grown meat went to helping farmers update and rethink their practices — to assist them with creating sustainable, regenerative models.” [The Guardian]
• The King’s Hand:

• All AM Intel Coverage [E]

Incarcerated people, abolitionists, lawyers, and lawmakers paint a grim picture of the state of food inside the Commonwealth’s prison system, especially during the pandemic

The Adirondack Barrel Cooperage toasts all of their barrels using “The Dragon”

“There’s a discrepancy between coopers and distillers of how much flavor comes from the barrel and how much comes from the actual distilling process,” says Adirondack Barrel Cooperage co-owner Joe Blazosky.

“We think it’s around 80 percent of the flavor. But...we’re the coopers,” he laughs.

Prohibition severely hurt the whiskey and bourbon barrel-making industry in the Northeast. Noticing a lingering demand for quality spirit barrels in and around Remsen, New York, husband and wife team Joe and Kelly Blazosky decided to set up their own cooperage.

It all starts with the wood. Adirondack Barrel Cooperage receives American oak wood from Missouri, and ages it two to five years. Joe explains that Missouri wood imparts some of the best flavors in the U.S. into spirits, because of the area’s heavy rain and snow, which washes out tannins. This type of wood is mostly impervious, therefore good at sealing out water.

The wood is hand-placed into a machine that shapes each slat into the correct shape with specific angles so that the wood will fit together around the diameter of the barrel. It’s then placed in a ring called a mise en rose, and metal rings are placed around them to help them keep their shape.

Next comes the heating and charring process. The barrels need to be heated in order to make it pliable enough to bed. The Adirondack Barrel Cooperage is among the few cooperages in the country that uses actual fire in this process, as opposed to steam. It’s also the only company in the U.S. that uses a charring and toasting machine lovingly dubbed “The Dragon.” Designed in Scotland, the machine consistently toast the inside of their barrels by bursting it into flames. Toasting the inside starts the caramelization process, which allows for the barrels to impart complex flavors in spirits, like smoke, coconut, vanilla, caramel.

The barrel is cooled, a hole is drilled into the side and cauterized, and the bottom is sealed. The barrel gets sanded down, and then new, house-made hoops get added to them. Every barrel is then rinsed and checked for leaks, and sealed up to be shipped.

“Other cooperages that are large are machine driven and automated. I didn’t want to do that, I still wanted to be a cooper,” says Joe. “I love working with wood, always have. I’ve built million dollar homes but setting up a cooperage and creating these barrels was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

Outdoor dining must cease, gatherings are forbidden, and nonessential trips are not allowed until at least January 4

Eater editors analyze the many, many cookie packages, features, and recipes this year

Whether or not you’re choosing to celebrate them this year, the winter holidays are almost upon us and with them comes the usual glut of recipe content to inspire home cooks. While holiday — especially Christmas — cookies are old territory for cooking content-makers, editors this year made cookies the main focus for holiday cooking packages and features. But which packages offer the most service or useful tips to readers? The most exciting recipes? The coolest design? And what does it all mean?

Below, a conversation among four Eater staffers, attempting to decipher the 2020 holiday cookie madness.

“12 holiday cookie recipes to

end the year on a sweeter note”

Washington Post

Jenny Zhang: One of my favorites, visually speaking — looks like they took a page from NYT’s cookie package from last year.

Hillary Dixler Canavan: I like the interstitial photographs a lot, but I have issues with the black background and the lead image. There’s nothing particularly festive about this presentation?

Lesley Suter: The cookies themselves feel like a good mix of “I can do that” and “oh that looks neat.” Approachable. But yes the deep jewel tones with the stark shadow do carry a bit of 2020-apropos doom and gloom.

Nicholas Mancall-Bitel: I wonder if the individual cookie pics are too close though? Especially the raspberry rye cookies just sort of unnerve me.

LS: Maybe the cookies are a little sad? Also is that cookie generator tool new? Because I am a fan!

JZ: They’ve had the tool for at least a year or two! But I’m glad they’re continuing to update it.

NMB: I wish it had features for texture though. Like chewy versus crumbly versus whatever.

HDC: This assortment of 12 recipes is a good mix, I think. WaPo wasn’t alone in this year in sourcing from a group of contributors rather than relying on one writer, or just staff, even.

JZ: I like that approach to sourcing.

NMB: The chef illos are cute.

LS: I selfishly like how many LA chefs there are, too.

JZ: The layout is also one of the most user friendly, especially on mobile. In between the visuals + usability + recipe mix, it’s one of the top of the bunch imo.

NMB: Feels cohesive.

HDC: This feels like a project they put effort into, unlike some food publications who did cookie things this year. YOU CANT MAKE ME NAME NAMES jk I’ll totally name names dm me!!!

LS: Yep, this is an actual “package” from start to finish.

HDC: Okay to wrap up: Is there a cookie in this piece that you’re actually excited to bake or eat?

JZ: Lemon and cream cheese cookies!

NMB: Corn linzers.

LS: Corn linzers for me! Walnut and five-spice thumbprint a close second.

HDC: Sesame blossoms for me.

JZ: Quite a few of these seem actually Doable for plebes like me, which is always a plus.

“Comfort Cookies”

Bon Appétit

HDC: So this isn’t a cookie package, rather it’s a cookie feature inside a holiday package.

JZ: I’m just going to throw this out there: I don’t like the nested infinite scroll thing for an entire package.

NMB: Agreed! This entire thing feels so overwhelming. My eyes hurt.

LS: The fact there’s the side nav bar makes me okay with it, but yes it’s a LOT. The photography is usual BA greatness (like how cute is that damn piggie?) and love the side-by-sides!

JZ: Yeah photos are gorg. Great typography too.

HDC: It’s helpful that each section has its own background color. That way when I got to the Marcus video I realized I was done. AND AGREE — these side by side photos of single/group cookies are so good. This cookie mix also feels like a good balance of expected versus unexpected. The comfort theme was a good one, and not dissimilar from the WaPo intro.

LS: I want a little more to draw me in editorially maybe? Like, more words?

HDC: A very writerly ask. I get the sense that we’re looking at a list of magazine blurbs.

JZ: Yeah but tbf I doubt many people are looking at this kind of list for the words.

LS: Ambition level-wise: a lot of these seem harder than I will attempt.

NMB: I do feel like these are some of the more unique cookie recipes of the bunch. Definitely didn’t expect to see moon pies.

LS: Also, my kids aren’t going to like 95 percent of these. Where’s my crowd pleaser?

HDC: It’s a good mix, I think. There’s the basic categories you’d expect in a holiday cookie list — a linzer, a bar cookie, a ginger cookie — but all with a twist of some sort.

JZ: This is like the archetypal fancy food mag cookie feature, i.e., beautiful, slightly unattainable, but interesting to look at and dream about.

LS: Exactly.

HDC: But Lesley is right, this is definitely putting out an “hip adult dinner party that is maybe happening indoors despite COVID” energy.

LS: Yes! Adults like seeds n’ nuts. Kids... do not.

HDC: Is there a cookie in this piece that you’re actually excited to bake or eat?

JZ: I desperately want someone to make me Rick Martinez’s marranitos enfiestados. But no, I will never make them myself.

LS: Moon pies had me at potato chip.

HDC: Hard same. Give me the moon pie.

NMB: I again will go for the linzers, especially because tahini and also the “fake lattice.”

“How to Make the Perfect Box of Cookies”

New York Times

HDC: I will start by noting this is a two-part cookie feature, nested into the Holiday 2020 package, which TRICKED ME into thinking the big holiday cookie package from 2019 was new but wasn’t!!

JZ: Interesting how they basically did a 180 from last year’s jewel box of a package. This is pure service as opposed to pageantry.

LS: Super cohesive theme, which I like.

HDC: I think this is really clever, to use the through-line of creating a cookie box as a way to highlight excellent holiday cookie recipes. I should probably also note here that I am a Melissa Clark super-fan.

JZ: There’s a lot of utility here.

NMB: Yes, love the practical tips. Also the gif up top is all the inspo I need.

LS: While I like spreading the love to different chefs, I love a single, experienced voice to hold my hand.

HDC: I also like the use of video! It doesn’t feel forced, it feels playful. I love the lead image.

JZ: I wish they went for a different styling/photo approach than to use the typical top down natural lit over marble thing. But my guess is that this makes it as approachable as possible. Kinda let down on the wow factor though.

LS: Yeah, this is all about sum of its parts.

NMB: Everything seems very doable.

HDC: That’s why I love Melissa! :sobs openly:

LS: You’re not crying I’m crying!

JZ: Accessible queen!

NMB: She’s the warm reassuring voice I need when facing the prospect of filling a cookie box.

JZ: I bet she could sell her cookie boxes for $50 each and people would buy them. Maybe that’s underpricing them, idk.

HDC: If by “people” you mean “my coworker Hillary” yes definitely.

JZ: New revenue stream idea for NYT Cooking :’)

HDC: Sifton, call us! Do you all find her conclusions different from the Eater holiday cookie mail experiment?

LS: The powdered sugar DOES NOT HOLD. We learned that. Those snowballs are toast in the mail.

NMB: I like that she addresses packing multiple kinds of cookies, like don’t pack them together for too long or the flavors will cross-contaminate, and think about visual variety.

LS: Right, she mentions her downfall with including a spicy cheese cracker.

HDC: Melissa makes mistakes JUST LIKE US :sobs openly: Is there a cookie in this piece that you’re actually excited to bake or eat?

NMB: She included rugelach, which won me. The PB&J thumbprints also look fun.

JZ: +1 for rugelach.

HDC: +2 for rugelach (but also those brownies)

LS: It‘s not highlighted individually, but the cornmeal lime shortbread sounds dreamy.

“The L.A. Times 2020 Holiday Cookies”

L.A. Times

JZ: Oh boy.

HDC: I’d say this one is a package of recipes, with a helpful tips article included. I really like the tips and tricks article in this package — actually useful, and stuff I never think about.

LS: What I will say for it is that the words here are of sufficient quantity and very good. I liked reading it!

HDC: Same! I wish the package had more visual heft, though.

JZ: Yes. There’s not much that distinguishes it from everyday content.

LS: Also just organizationally very complicated and confusing.

NMB: The grocery list post combining ingredients for all the cookies also seems ambitious, but maybe somebody out there really will bake them all.

HDC: Also this one is more like WaPo: a collection of contributors.

LS: I love all the chefs, but also know Ben Mims to be Clark-ish in his very smart dolling out of service and wish there were more of him!

HDC: Yes! This package needs more BEN. But I do think, especially this year, it’s nice to put the spotlight on local chefs.

LS: And it’s a good mix!

HDC: This is mean but the lead image looks like a stock photo.

LS: I can’t wait to see it in print honestly.

NMB: Doesn’t help that all the cookies are also bland in color.

LS: Yeah, like maybe just one sprinkle?

HDC: What do we think of the recipe mix though? I think it’s pretty darn comprehensive.

JZ: Seem to skew a bit more “conventional with one small twist” aka approachable, at least.

LS: Is this not the place to talk about how I don’t think biscotti should be included in any holiday cookie roundup because they’re terrible?

JZ: Agree.

HDC: Woah woah strong disagree. I think biscotti are nice dipped in after-dinner coffee!!

JZ: Dry-ass sticks.

NMB: If it needs to be dipped, it cannot stand up on its own.

HDC: Some can!! But also I do believe they are best dipped. And I won’t be shamed for this.

LS: Oreos are best dipped too, but they’re also like, edible solo!

HDC: Okay wrapping up: Is there a recipe you’re excited to bake or to eat?

NM: I’m a sucker for tahini anything.

HDC: The brown butter espresso cookies.

JZ: Cardamom raspberry bars!

LS: I’m also on the tahini train, plus they look just like a very good chocolate chip cookie.

HDC: This is maybe the most variety in our answers to the prompt so far?

LS: A good sign for the lineup!

“Quarantine Cookies”

The Kitchn

HDC: I will describe this as a high-touch feature. Nay, a package. This one is my favorite visually.

LS: Very cute. Very pre/post 2020 mood.

JZ: Pleasantly surprised.

HDC: I really enjoy the cookies revealing the recipe creator!

LS: Also boldly anti-scroll, which I love.

NMB: I’ve been reading a lot of pop-up picture books with my nephew and this gives me the same joy.

HDC: Joy is a good word — this is very joyful. Which cookies should be?? Even in 2020, cookies should still be able to elicit joy. (Presumably this is what all these publications were banking on, too.)

JZ: I will say I wish they had the cookie name/type on the cookie graphic itself instead of tap to reveal for ease of skimming / just knowing which cookies are here without hovering over each one.

LS: Also maybe it’s just the lighting, even, but they all look very doable and not scary.

NMB: They’re also mostly round and look like cookies, which is a nice change from the everything must be variety feeling of the others but still varied in other ways.

JZ: These would make cute stickers. Another revenue opportunity??? I’m in business mode.

HDC: This is another mix of contributors, rather than one person or entirely staff.

LS: Each recipe also has a Tester’s Note which provides a lot of good first-hand service.

HDC: There’s also some overlap in contributors across these packages.

JZ: Yeah you can kinda tell who are the go-to cookie experts.

NMB: I appreciate they took the idea of “summing up the year” in lighthearted directions.

HDC: This is also the least explicitly “holiday.” What do you all think of this carrot cake cookie?

NMB: I’m intrigued.

HDC: I can’t decide whether I am excited about this or not. I love carrot cake, but I’m having trouble with separating out my love carrot cake from my love of the ~crumb~. I think I’m intrigued too.

LS: Wait which is the carrot cake cookie? I just had to click to reveal all of the cookies, which now makes me see Jenny’s point. I love carrot cake. I love cookies. The math seems pretty simple here. Also Joanne Chang and Deb Perleman’s contributions look very similar.

HDC: It’s maybe a misplay to have two pretzel-chocolate things? The photos are so appetizing across this package though — like even the molasses cookie looks great (could have easily just been kinda boring to look at). Overall, I just feel this package punches above its weight.

LS: Definitely.

JZ: I think there could be a little more variety (like five of the cookies look very similar purely aesthetically, and again the no words problem), but agree that this is impressive from The Kitchn and just keyword cute!!!

HDC: Is there a recipe here you’re actually excited to bake or eat?

NMB: You mean beyond the carrot cake cookie?

HDC: lol yes I think we’ve all decided we want carrot cake cookies.

LS: I actually think the ube crinkle is my favorite riff on that classic of the bunch. Also a fun color!

JZ: Oh you know what, I wish they had a jammy/fruit cookie. As it is I would lean towards lemon tea cake cookie purely for the lemon flavor.

“Everything You Need to Know About Cookies”

Food & Wine

HDC: So this is a package — Food & Wine put cookies on their cover in print. But this package doesn’t really pack a lot of punch digitally; it’s a list of the included content with link outs to articles.

LS: But in print oddly there’s like one cookie recipe? The main package is about candy but that’s also fine!

HDC: Oh really? I just got my issue yesterday but haven’t opened, I assumed it was a giant cookie issue!

LS: Nope. Though the headline and picture would leave one to think that... unless I missed it!

NMB: I feel like you have to dig for the good stuff, like the tip in the shipping cookies piece about slipping a piece of white bread in with soft cookies. Or the cool inclusion of the krembo among the cookies recipes.

HDC: I also love this headline: “The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe for Every Occasion.” Like thank you for acknowledging that chocolate chip cookies contain multitudes. (Very clever way to link back to previously published recipes imo).

LS: Yeah in general I can’t tell what’s new to this package and what’s just an update, which is a good thing. But I have to say I don’t feel very INSPIRED by this package. It doesn’t make me want to bake a bunch of cookies.

NMB: Agreed.

HDC: So I think the inspiration/aspiration zone comes from this Most Beautiful Cookies roundup (which again, links to previous content, not to new recipes).

LS: What even are those caramel meringues peeking in from the side?? I want.

HDC: They are these coconut krembos, they are gluten-free, and they are from March!

LS: They look hard.

HDC: So many publications worked on versions of “how to mail cookies” this year (us included!) but I really appreciate that Food & Wine went a step beyond and collected all the mail-by dates for the various postal services. That is true service. Thank you, Kat Kinsman!!

NMB: I also enjoyed Kat’s cookie essay for real feels.

JZ: I think the package hed “Everything You Need to Know About Cookies” about sums it up: perfectly serviceable, comprehensive, perfunctory. A one-stop shop, even if not the most inspiring.

HDC: And to wrap: Is there any recipe highlighted in this package that we’re actually excited to eat or to bake?

NMB: Krembos! Though definitely not for shipping.

HDC: From the beautiful cookies piece, the cardamom shortbread cookies with dulce de leche peda filling are enticing.

JZ: Krembos minus the coconut!!

LS: I’m frightened but titillated by those krembos!

Which was the best cookie package?

JZ: WaPo

NMB: Gotta go with Melissa Clark — so much service!

LS: WaPo I think.

HDC: I’m stickn with Kitchn. The end!

A tweet describing the incident drew outraged comments online but wasn’t entirely true

Flat jobs growth and a provisional decline in restaurant jobs could pressure lawmakers to reach a stimulus deal soon

Plus, the biggest TikTok food trend of the year, and more news to start your day

Scott reportedly made $20 million from the deal, which also boosted sales for McDonald’s

The Travis Scott meal at McDonald’s — a medium Sprite, a quarter pounder with bacon, and fries with barbecue sauce — was a bona fide phenomenon when it was introduced in September. Ordering one became a TikTok trend, to the point where McDonald’s trained workers to recognize internet catchphrases and the lyrics to Scott’s “Sicko Mode” as they were processing drive-thru orders. Scott made it to Forbes’ 30 under 30 list, where the magazine called him a “brand whisperer,” and he admitted to making $20 million from the McDonald’s deal — $5 million from the original endorsement, and $15 million in merchandise sales. Which, yeah, that chicken nugget pillow was pretty good.

Scott was apparently very hands-on in the deal, which happened after McDonald’s, losing money throughout the pandemic, saw Scott post on Instagram about eating at McDonald’s and reached out to him. Scott named the meal (which is something he’s been ordering since he was a kid), drew animation for the TV ad, developed his own merchandise, and came up with the catchphrase “Tell them Cactus Jack sent you.” According to Forbes, “McDonald’s debuted the meal in September, and its U.S. same-store sales, a key indicator of a restaurant company’s health, swung from an 8.7% drop in the second quarter, at the height of virus lockdowns, to a 4.6% gain in the third,” thanks in no small part to Scott.

Forbes also reports that Scott is working on a line of hard seltzers with Anheuser-Busch InBev, so he’s not slowing down anytime soon.

And in other news...

• A new study from Korea shows how quickly COVID-19 can spread inside a restaurant — in one case, a person was infected from about 21 feet away in under five minutes. Which is why, once again, the government should cancel rent and pay restaurants to stay closed instead of forcing them to operate in dangerous conditions in order to stay in business. [JKMS]

• Pancake cereal was TikTok’s top food trend of 2020. [Food Network]
• And we didn’t need hard data to tell us the spicy chicken sandwich is still reigning supreme. [ABC]
• Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis are filming a new show in Italy, which will debut in January on discovery+. [Delish]
• Bill Palmer, the founder of Applebee’s, died yesterday at the age of 70. [NRN]
• Nestle is investing $3.6 billion “over the next five years as part of its long-term goal to cut in half its emissions by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050.” [Fooddive]
• *Muppets’ Pigs In Space voice* Radishes! In! Spaaaaaace! [CNN]
• The new “viral” Dunkin’ drink is very purple. [Dunkin’]

• All AM Intel Coverage [E]

https://ift.tt/2JK56Ro

Called Thirteen, the new eatery will open in Midtown early next year

The months-long loss of revenue and the inability to reach a favorable rent agreement were cited as reasons for the closure of the 18-year-old establishment

But there are a whole list of requirements

Plus, the Court of Master Sommeliers elects a new board after its sexual harassment scandal, and more news to start your day

The star is also encouraging fans to record musical “Oreograms” for loved ones

Oreo has been on a streak of releasing more flavors and colors than anyone could dream of, releasing everything from birthday cake to chocolate peanut butter pie to carrot cake — and let us never forget the horrors of the fruit punch Oreo. And now, the brand is getting celebrities in on the chaos by teaming up with Lady Gaga for a line of cookies inspired by her album Chromatica. The vanilla-flavored Oreos feature hot pink wafers and neon green cream, and are stamped with images inspired by the album.

The limited-edition cookies — available in January — are being paired with the “Sing It With Oreo” campaign, which asks fans to record musical messages of kindness on its website to send to loved ones across the country, all for a chance to eventually meet Lady Gaga or go to a concert once it’s safe. Musical messages of kindness in the service of scoring concert tickets amid a pandemic that’s resulting in record hospitalizations and deaths — the American dream.

And in other news...

• Frank Carney, who at 19 co-founded Pizza Hut with his brother, has died at 82. [CBS]
• After the Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas suspended seven men over allegations of sexual harassment and abuse, the non-profit has elected a new board. However, internal rules limited who could run, and thus the new board doesn’t appear so different from the old. [NYTimes]
• Chef Rick Bayless has launched a subscriber-only YouTube channel, in an effort to keep some of his staff members employed. [RBO]
• Yelp put a hold on French Laundry’s comments after the page is flooded with people frustrated that politicians like San Francisco mayor London Breed and California governor Gavin Newsom dined in large groups at the restaurant. [Mercury News]
• Masterchef UK contestant Philli Armitage-Mattin, who bills herself as an expert in ‘Asian’ cooking, has apologized for calling Asian street food “dirty.” She says she never meant it in a derogatory manner. [Instagram]
• Mario Lopez and Pauly D are launching cloud restaurants with Grubhub: Mario’s Tortas Lopez and Pauly D’s Italian Subs. [FSR]