Slovenia Minted As Culinary Destination With First-Ever Michelin Stars
Five restaurants in Slovenia, the tiny yet fertile country bordering Italy, Austria, Hungary, Croatia, and the Adriatic Sea, have just received their first-ever Michelin stars. Celebrated chef Ana Ros earned two for her restaurant, Hisa Franko, and several other Slovenian restaurants earned one each. “Finally we have confirmation that Slovenia is a good gastronomic destination,” says Ros. “It comes at the right time because times are not easy for tourism and restaurants.” Hisa Franko, located on the Italian border in Kobarid, has attracted an endless parade of destination diners who can’t get enough of Ros’s hyperlocal, hyperseasonal ingredients and boundary-pushing dishes like mock guacamole made from lovage and smoked eggs, suckling pig stuffed pasta, and fermented wild magnolia flowers. Another first for Michelin’s just-released 2020 Guide to the “Main Cities of Europe”: Krakow, Poland now has a restaurant with a Michelin star in Bottiglieria 1881.
Bipartisan Bill Proposes $120 Billion In Relief For Independent Restaurants
Last week, Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) presented new legislation to begin a $120 billon pandemic relief fund for independent food service and drinking establishments. The Real Economic Support that Acknowledges Unique Restaurant Assistance Needed to Survive Act (the Restaurant Act) aims to offer restaurants grants so long as the ownership companies are not publicly traded and make $1.5 million or less in revenue under normal circumstances. Funds provided by the bill are in addition to any loans are grants received through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), and restaurants may use the grant for payroll, benefits, mortgage, rent, protective equipment, food, and other expenses.
On a call with reporters, Blumenauer said that independent restaurant revenue is down 51% from last year as a result of COVID-19 and that independent restaurants face unique challenges not faced by corporate-owned chain restaurants. Since April, the Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC) has been pushing Congress to create this $120 billion stabilization fund, even though the National Restaurant Association and the International Franchise Association (IFA) criticized it for not including franchisees and small chain restaurants. The latest bipartisan version of the Restaurant Act does include franchisees but only those with 20 locations or less.
Food Halls Plan Their Comeback
Massive food halls and public markets rely heavily on close proximity vending, high customer traffic, and communal tables. As they plan reopening amid the pandemic, safety is now the top priority. “We only have one shot at opening and we have to make sure it’s the right time,” says Didier Souillat, CEO of the six Time Out Markets in Lisbon, Chicago, Montreal, Boston, New York, and Miami. Souillat says the Lisbon and Montreal locations will likely open in late July or early August with U.S. halls to follow. Upon entry to reopened Time Out Markets, customers will be welcomed by an ambassador who will explain new health and safety rules and procedures. Signs urging customers to keep six feet apart will be posted throughout the buildings, and technology will track the hall’s total capacity based on foot traffic, sending alerts to general managers when capacity is within 10% of the 50% limit.
In Santa Monica, California, the Social Eats food hall never fully closed but immediately revamped its business and continued modifying it, at least six times, according to founder John Kolaski. “One of our first steps was implementing a contactless solution so guests can order ahead for takeout and delivery,” says Kolaski. The new online ordering platform at Social Eats consolidates all nine of the food hall’s dining concepts into one point of sale system so customers can combine items from all or some of the vendors into one to-go bag. Similarly, food halls around the country have revamped their services in preparation for safe and efficient service upon reopening.
Top Chef Champ Defends Artful Fusion Cuisine
Last week, this season’s Top Chef All-Stars television show concluded, and Bay Area chef Melissa King emerged victorious. Up against chefs Bryan Voltaggio and Stephanie Cmar, King was tasked with serving a group of culinary legends in Tuscany, Italy. Her winning dishes of char siu glazed octopus with fennel, squash agnolotti with Szechuan chili oil, grilled squab with persimmon porcini and fermented black bean, and Hong Kong milk tea tiramisu successfully honored Italy’s culinary traditions while infusing them with the food and flavors of her Chinese family. Her final tiramisu dish brought eighth-generation Italian butcher Dario Cecchini to tears. “It respected the traditions of Italy,” said Cecchini. “Melissa made an interpretation of one of our traditions and she made it from the heart.” Fusion food can be tricky both culturally and on the palate. “I do a lot of research,” said King. “I travel to these countries, I eat the food of the locals as much as I can. I tried to keep the authenticity of the flavors and the tradition that is behind [it] in all of these cultures, but hybrid[ize] it in a way that’s very subtly and tastefully done.”
Chicago’s Acclaimed Fat Rice Restaurant Closes Amid Mistreatment Allegations
Since March, Chicago restaurant Fat Rice has been closed for dine-in service but has continued operating as the grocery store and meal kit service, Super Fat Rice Mart. After recently posting support for the Black Lives Matter movement, owners Abe Conlon and Adrienne Lo have now closed Fat Rice altogether. Upon seeing the posts of support, former Fat Rice employees called out Conlon, sharing multiple stories of mistreatment. Some former employees tossed their Fat Rice shirts in a pile in front of the restaurant, while others burned their uniforms.
The reckoning also reignited a long-running debate over the restaurant’s cultural appropriation of Macau cuisine and Conlon’s attitude toward other cultures. The chef admitted to having an anger problem but denied claims about physical altercations. Conlon apologized for his behavior both in the kitchen and in the fight against systemic racism in the U.S., saying, “I have participated in and upheld a system that needs to fall.” He went on to say, “If Fat Rice needs to fall along with that system, I am ready for that.”
Russian Chefs Get Naked To Protest Restaurant Closures
Hundreds of Russian restaurant owners and chefs have stripped down for social media photos protesting restaurant closures as other businesses open back up. “We are naked because we are left with nothing,” said Arthur Galaychyuk, owner of the Relab Family bar chain in Kazan, whose 20 employees took part in the campaign. Russia is still in the process of reopening and so far hair salons, shopping malls, book stores, food stores and pharmacies have been permitted to operate. But restaurants have been left waiting for approval.
Restaurateurs Change Business Models For Successful Reopening
As restaurants across the U.S. begin to reopen, restaurateurs are switching business models to stay alive as restrictions such as capacity limitations impact profitability. In Washington, D.C., Christianne Ricchi of Ristorante i Ricchi launched the I Ricchi Food Club with a four-course Tuscan dinner to be ordered ahead and picked up at the restaurant. Customers who sign up for a four week subscription get a 20% discount, and Ricchi includes a candle, optional wine pairing, and tasting notes to help recreate the restaurant experience at home.
Greg Baxtrom decided to close his Brooklyn restaurant Olmsted until there is a coronavirus vaccine, turning the main dining room into a food bank and the private dining room into the Olmsted Trading Post. “We sell about 200 items,” says Baxtrom, “many of which people can’t get at their regular grocery store, plus prepared foods from our menu.” The chef is adding delivery and expanding the grocery operation to keep it going after Olmsted reopens. Baltimore’s Alma Cocina Latina also went through a permanent transformation. After partnering with Mera Kitchen Collective and Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen, chef-owner Irena Stein converted the Venezuelan restaurant into a relief kitchen. Stein serves 3,000 meals a week, and “I am going to continue the relief kitchen going forward,” she says, “operating it during the day to feed communities in need, and opening as Alma Cocina Latina only in the evening.”
In San Francisco, Peter Hemsley decided to completely remodel his art gallery restaurant Palette, separating the bar from the dining room and eliminating a retail space in favor of online sales. “Going forward, I see the gallery gaining a reputation as a place to hang out with a drink and bar food,” says Hemsley.
Thai Seafood Restaurateurs Given 723 Years In Prison For Fraud
Apichart Bowornbancharak and Prapassorn Bowornbancha, two executives at Laemgate Seafood restaurant in Thailand, were accused last year of selling low-price tickets for seafood buffets. About 20,000 customers ordered and paid online, but the orders were canceled without refunds when the owners claimed they didn’t have enough food to fulfill the orders. About 350 people filed complaints with the police, asking for refunds totaling $64,300.
Apichart and Prapassorn were found guilty on 723 counts. Each executive was sentenced to 1,446 years in prison, but since they confessed, the sentences were reduced to 723 years. They were also required to pay a fine equivalent to about $116,300. While the restaurateurs were sentenced to 723 years, Thai law limits jail terms to 20 years. Each defendant has one month to appeal the judgment.
New York City Establishes $3 Million Fund For Small Restaurants
To help restaurants recovering from the pandemic, New York City announced a new program that will give $3 million to 100 small restaurants in 27 neighborhoods, including Bed-Stuy, East Harlem, Mott Haven, Jamaica, and Stapleton on Staten Island. Eligible restaurants can get up to $30,000 specifically for helping with payroll costs. Restaurants that take advantage of the funds are required to pay workers a minimum of $20 per hour before tips until the end the program. Restaurants must also provide workers with longterm financial support and offer free meals to members of the community suffering disproportionately from COVID-19 such as high-risk seniors and low-wage essential workers.
Eligible restaurants will not have immediate access to the funds, as restaurants must pay employee wages up front then file documentation of wage payments for reimbursement. NYC’s Human Resources Administration is overseeing the program and will provide up to 25% of the total funds awarded up front to eligible restaurants. The program will favor restaurants that can “commit to ‘high-road’ employer practices” after the program ends, including race and gender equity initiatives at every level of employment and paying every employee the minimum wage of $15 an hour before tips within five years of the restaurant’s reopening.
Black Chefs Prepare For Poignant Juneteenth
Juneteenth commemorates the date of June 19, 1865 when enslaved Africans in Galveston, Texas, learned from Union General Gordon Granger that they were finally free, two years after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Often considered African-Americans’ independence day, this year’s Juneteenth comes amid the coronavirus pandemic and a resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement fueled by police brutality. While social distancing may alter the holiday, black chefs around the country look forward to reaffirming the importance of this historic day.
Eduardo Jordan, the James Beard award-winning chef-owner of JuneBaby, Lucinda and Salare restaurants in Seattle, says that JuneBaby’s mission has always been to educate diners about the foodways of the African diaspora. Since the pandemic began, Jordan has been feeding essential workers from his restaurants, and he’ll continue that mission well past the June 19 holiday.
Danielle Bell operates the L.A. catering company and dinner series called de Porres, and she is making her annual Juneteenth celebration different this year by sending out a newsletter menu from which customers can place orders for barbecue and other traditional foods. Barbecues are central to Juneteenth celebrations, and those traditions live on regardless of social distancing. “It’s different from any other cookout,” said Jonny Rhodes, the owner of Houston’s Indigo restaurant in Trinity Gardens, a mostly black and Latino neighborhood. “It’s a time of collective freedom.” Indigo transformed into a grocery store to stay afloat during the pandemic, and this Juneteenth, Rhodes remains focused on the importance of his primary business goal: ownership of the 800-square-foot building that houses his business, as well as six acres outside of the city.