Pre-paid, pre-marketed food for thought
Pt. 2 of the reservation wars, Padel, Midnight at BonBon, and a photo essay on the Noma Projects Greenmarket.
A particular detail on growing up — For the first time in my life, I can’t look up to the class of kids in the year above me for guidance on what lies next. Adulting in a city like New York in particular leaves extended in-transit time to myself: to-and-from work, walking to the grocery store, gym, on the way to a dinner. In these moments, often when there’s too much in my brain, I let music wash over my thoughts. At once meditative. Elevator music was designed in a similar manner, to calm people’s nerves but rather from the terrifying new experience of the elevator “…perceived by many as floating domiciles of disequilibrium, inciting thoughts of motion sickness and snapping capables.” It’s the popular theory we’ve concluded on. But maybe people’s fears lied in more than the technology itself, in the idea of suspended state of place. In-between-ness so often lacking in today’s era of hyper consumption and efficiency.
Longer note this time. Sharing my photo essay on Noma Projects at Union Square Greenmarket at the bottom.
On My Mind:
Kim Kardashian’s private equity firm hits fundraising hurdles. I haven’t followed the firm close enough (they invested in Truff via SPV) but I’d imagine it’s hard fundraising for consumer funds right now, even tougher when the press is watching KK’s every move. I wonder how PE veteran Jay Sammons feels about being photoshopped onto a bright green backdrop of 100-dollar bills. 🤑
New Tech in Retail Stores. Have you used Zara, Uniqlo’s self-check out? I think it’s pretty neat but some think otherwise. Amazon is pulling back “Just Walk Out” (using cameras, AI, sensor trackers to determine what’s taken off of shelves and charge card on Amazon account file) to focus on selling the tech to 3rd-party small-format stores (clever).
Watch out TikTok, Uber Eats is coming? Uber Eats is testing a TikTok-like short-form video feed for merchants in NYC, SF, and Toronto. There are others battling for the space: Atmosfy, BiteSight, Beli not for video but for list keeping and comparison ratings.
PT 2 OF THE RESERVATION WARS, from The New Yorker’s piece on the reservations landscape. I do quite enjoy the little reservation history lesson: “In the twentieth century, the growth of the middle class, suburbanization, and the advent of the newspaper restaurant review made telephone reservations the norm—until the Internet changed everything… By 1999, a crop of new Web sites—RSVIP.com, Reservemytable.com, Foodline.com, OpenTable.com—were competing to automate the process.” + Some other important and rather concerning details:
Appointment Trader cleared almost $6M in reservation sales the last 12 months.
Reseller PerceptiveWash44 compares reselling dinner reservations to playing Candy Crush.
There’s a whole network of private reservationists with Hollywood clientele (Nicky DiMaggio claims to befriend owners and managers but uses Appointment Trader himself).
Restaurant reservation membership Dorsia offers reservations at a premium (high minimum prepayments for the meal).
Some restaurants sort their waiting lists internally to prioritize VIPs, regulars.
Resy gives AmEx cards priority.
Guest data will follow you around via the core reservation platforms (as I mentioned last time).
Restauranteurs hate resellers and love members club models to avoid no shows.
The going rate for an afternoon in line at Lucali is $55 on TaskRabbit. People are insane.
Demystifying Members Clubs: Crest Surf Clubs for surfing in Mastic-Shirley. Continuum Club for wellness in a 25k-square-foot flagship in Greenwich Village. Elevate. Clubs fill memberships before opening.
Crest sent me a note on their business plan to be cash flow positive on day one and pay back the project <24 months.
On Ezra Klein’s NYT OpEd: “A few months ago, I euthanized that Gmail account. I have more than a million unread messages in my inbox. Most of what’s there is junk. But not all of it. I was missing too much that I needed to see. Search could not save me. I didn’t know what I was looking for. Google’s algorithms had begun failing me. What they thought was a priority and what I thought was a priority diverged. I set up an auto-responder telling anyone and everyone who emailed me that the address was dead.”
Have you heard of Hey? If you’re in venture, chances are high you use a (better) competitor called Superhuman. Curious that NYT writer Ezra Klein put together what seems like a sponsored ad on Hey woven into a reflection on the state of our messy digital lives. But he’s not wrong, the internet does feel “so crummy” these days and if anyone who knows me knows my Gmail inbox is exactly the “shame closet” Klein describes.
Meet the Michelin-starred chef designing burgers for McDonald’s:
René Mammen’s fried chicken burger: “…the base is laid with a tangy herb mayo, then crispy chicken, lettuce and tomatoes – and then it is topped with a delicious pickle relish. It's straightforward. It is well. It's Homestyle Citrus Urtemayo.”
The NYC bus situation. Do you see people pay bus fare? Ever? While I do enjoy the bus I don’t have the history to know when the free-bus-ride phenomenon began but the the new “Please pay before you enter” automation is not a solution.
When did you hear of Padel? NYT writes a (very late) expose on Padel (a mix of squash and tennis of Mexican origin), although NYT writer Amelia Nierenberg rightfully clarifies the reason for the delay: “Americans, bewitched by pickleball, are late to a global sports craze”. This Curbed look book from when Padel Haus first opened is fun. And professional tennis player Rafael Nadal has partnered with Playtomic (padel and tennis booking platform), bringing the sport further into spotlight.
What’s new in celebrity packaged goods. Not a celeb-founded brand but Eva Longoria joined Siete as an investor and strategic advisor — Siete is top notch IMO. FOUNDER JESSICA ALBA TO STEP DOWN FROM ROLE AS CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER AT THE HONEST COMPANY FOLLOWING A RECORD Q4 PERFORMANCE: Good for Jessica.
Tabs /to buy:
TBC on a review of this turmeric blend. Curious about Stars + Honey: Texture doesn’t seem great but enjoy their flavor profile section showing flavor change as it relates to time.
These one-of-a-kind jeans. I love a homemade look. Reminds me of my graduation pants but WAY more epic:
I tried to detox this section. More next time. 😊
Tabs /to spend:
Anyone at Google want to take me for a lunch date so I can try Goldie?
@Laureniseating: Tried Tatiana and Gage & Tollner. Still awaiting Meju and Din Tai Fung.
Sofreh Cafe returns! Everything sounds incredible: “tahini date banana bread ($8), latifeh (a cookie sandwich with rose cream and pistachio, $8), milk bread with nigella seeds ($5, or $12 when served with clotted cream and housemade marmalade), bereshtook (made with chickpea flour and Valrhona chocolate, $3), walnut egg yolk meringue (four for $5), cardamom cake with rose ($8), chickpea cookies with cardamom (six for $5).” $55 for a Prospect Heights Spring date?
I see pink BonBon bags EVERYWHERE. Recent grads line up until midnight on weekends. Guess we really don’t want to grow up: “Last week, we came here instead of going to the bars,” said Katie Miller, 23, who works in e-commerce. “It’s a great Saturday night.” Spend on candy over drink tabs? The team opened a 3rd store in Red Hook, Brooklyn.
Try beanless coffee at Bluestone Lane? More on the coffee here.
I don’t really know what this is but I love it. Back in the fall I planned a pasta making class for my team which was great too.
Noma Projects at Union Square Greenmarket, NYC. @nomacph @nomaprojects
I remembered late one evening that Noma Projects was at the tail end of their New York City tour, a collection of pop ups in collaboration with NYC food establishments. Three-Michelin-Star restaurant Noma has been dubbed the world’s best restaurant and recently launched Noma Projects to “share the knowledge, innovations and flavours of noma beyond the four walls of [their] restaurant in Copenhagen.”
Early the next morning, I ventured over to Union Square Park, lingering past stands of fresh bread, jars of honey, a crochet stand, succulents. Embarrassingly, I hadn’t before stopped to observe. For me, Union Square was rushing-to-the-R-Train, waiting-for-the-R-Train, impatience in a car between one destination and the next.
One of the earliest forms of the “pop up” in Western culture was the farmers’ market. A chance for independent producers to sell directly to consumers, farmers’ markets were seasonal or recurring but never permanent. It’s fitting, then, that Noma Projects ended their New York City tour with a cooking demonstration in Union Square Park.
When I arrived at the scene, there was already a long line to try the food, neighbors chatting in place, taking photos of one another. Staff were dressed in bright blue, some artfully placing lines of fresh vegetables on small wooden plates, others grinning in motion probably from the palpable energy of the crowd. A woman wearing wired earphones, perceivably mid-conference call, held her phone up high to capture the fleeting moment, juggling a laptop in the other hand, her small wooden plate resting on computer keys. One neighbor met with disbelief. Could one really experience Noma in the park without proper documentation?
A man in bright blue on the grilling station noticed cameras around him and held up finger hearts. A women watching his grill commentated, “It’s the new thing these days.” “Try New Things” the bright blue shirts read. It was a tasting menu in a most untraditional sense, first of performance, second of food and of dialogue. From producer to consumer.
I’m excited to soon report back on some very exciting restaurant visits and a trip to MAUM! For all wondering, crochet has not yet begun.