Celebrity Chefs Teach Online Cooking Classes For Restaurant Relief Fund
As people cook at home more instead of eating in restaurants, Airbnb has launched a series of Online Experiences featuring chefs such as David Chang, Edward Lee, Claudette Zepeda, and Rōze Traore. The virtual cooking classes take place throughout the summer, and each class costs $75–100. Proceeds from most of the classes support chef Edward Lee’s LEE Initiative Restaurant Reboot Relief Program. Proceeds from the class taught by chef Rōze Traore, who is a two-time open heart surgery survivor, will help fund Harboring Hearts, a nonprofit that provides emergency financial support and food delivery to heart surgery patients and their caregivers. The chefs will host all four cooking classes on Zoom with a cap of 10 participants, and participants will be able to interact with the chefs while receiving feedback via Zoom. More Online Cooking Experiences classes are planned, including chefs Roberto Ruiz, Jun Lee, Nicola Dinato, Soo Ahn, Paolo Gramaglia, Cristina Bowman and more.
Ghost Kitchens May Be Here To Stay
In a San Francisco parking lot, an unmarked trailer powered by a generator churns out meals for six different “restaurants,” including WokTalk, Burger Bytes, Fork and Ladle, Umami, American Eclectic Burger, and Wings & Things. The restaurants are run by Reef Technology, and its trailer’s parking space is only one of 1.3 million parking spaces that Reef manages in 4,500 locations throughout the United States and Canada. At least 70 of those parking spaces are occupied by Reef’s delivery-only kitchens or “ghost kitchens” that prepare food for customers who order online only.
Run by a culinary team that includes former executives from Potbelly and Jamba Juice, Reef’s virtual restaurants are part of a growing trend. Other ghost kitchen companies include Zuul, Kitchen United, Deliveroo, Panda Selected, and CloudKitchens, which is run by Uber founder Travis Kalanick. CloudKitchens leases kitchen space and delivery-only service to chefs and small-business owners who couldn’t otherwise afford the expense of opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant. Uber Eats, working with both Reef and CloudKitchens, now delivers meals from 7,000 different virtual restaurants. According to journalist Matt Newburg, an 11,000 square foot CloudKitchens commissary in Los Angeles houses 27 kitchens that prepare meals for 115 delivery-only restaurants. Even the national chain Ruby Tuesday, announced it is leasing kitchen space to third-party restaurant brands to prepare delivery-only meals. .
Vegas Culinary Union Files Lawsuit Demanding Better Employee Protections
Both the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and the Bartenders Union Local 165 have filed a lawsuit against hospitality companies MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment. The lawsuit alleges that several restaurants, including The Signature at MGM Grand, Sadelle’s Cafe at the Bellagio, and Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen & Bar at Harrah’s Las Vegas, did not provide adequate rules and procedures to address the spread of COVID-19. “This lawsuit … is the just the beginning of the culinary union’s legal efforts to make sure workers are fully protected,” said Geoconda Argüello-Kline, the Culinary Union’s secretary-treasurer. Multiple workers have come forward with statements regarding the incident. “I did everything to follow social distancing,” said Jonathon Munoz, food server at Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen & Bar. “We follow the strict protocol for three months. And now I come to work with a company that breaks protocol within a week…I feel the company doesn’t care about my wife or my kids.” At The Signature at MGM Grand, bellman Sixto Zermeno says he tested positive for COVID-19 on June 11 and attempted to “warn the Signature and its parent company MGM Resorts, but was not contacted for two days, even as co-workers with whom he had worked, including one who later tested positive for COVID-10, continued to work.”
States Roll Back Restaurant Reopenings As COVID-19 Cases Rise
States including Washington, Florida, California and Texas are rolling back their restaurant reopening dates as the United States sees a second surge in coronavirus cases. According to Johns Hopkins data, the country’s seven day average of coronavirus cases increased by 42% the last week of June. That’s roughly 38,200 cases within the week. As the numbers were released showing a sharp spike in cases, Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee postponed the planned reopening of the state’s restaurants and bars on Saturday. California Gov. Gavin Newsom followed suit and ordered the state to close its bars last Sunday. As case numbers climb up in states throughout the nation, more and more states have rolled back reopening restaurants for inside dining, limited them once again to takeout, delivery, and in some cases limited outdoor dining. The sudden backpedaling has made it even harder for restaurants that ordered food and rehired workers in preparation for reopening on the weekend. .
2.2 Million Restaurants May Shutter Worldwide, Industry Analyst Says
As restaurants struggle to stay in business during the pandemic, several have already filed for bankruptcy protection or closed operations, including large chains like Le Pain Quotidien, Chuck E. Cheese, Souplantation, and Sweet Tomatoes. “Based on our estimates, we believe up to 10% of all restaurants globally will disappear, with 20% or more also going through a restructuring process,” said Aaron Allen, founder of industry consulting firm Aaron Allen & Associates. With roughly 22 million restaurants worldwide, Allen estimates up to 2.2 million restaurants may close permanently. OpenTable, which tracks restaurant activity via its reservation services, estimates the failure rate could be even higher. CEO Steve Hafner says 25% of U.S restaurants or roughly 66,000 American establishments may close permanently. These estimates add useful data to the Restaurants Act now under consideration in Congress, a bill that would establish a $120 billon pandemic relief fund for independent restaurants.
David Chang’s Momofuku Restaurants Issue Coronavirus Safety Guide
Momofuku released its COVID-19 guide to health and safety for its employees, guests and restaurants, hoping other hospitality businesses may also find it useful. Among the various rules in the guide, guests must wear masks into any Momofuku restaurant and have their temperature checked upon entry. If a guest’s temperature is above 100.4°F, they will be asked to leave. The procedures were created with the intent to share them across the foodservice industry. “Our goal is to not only implement these procedures into our restaurants to keep our teams and guests safe,” says the introduction, “but also to make them available and accessible to anyone who might find them useful for their own businesses.”
World’s Best Restaurant Repositions Itself With The Moon And Stars
Last year, the French Riviera restaurant Mirazur was named the world’s #1 restaurant by World’s 50 Best Restaurants, which has been ranking top tables since 2002. During lockdown, chef Mauro Colagreco did some soul searching and decided to completely remake Mirazur’s menu based on biodynamic farming, an agricultural method similar to organic farming with the addition of planting and harvesting calendars based on the phases of the moon and its gravitational pull. Mirazur reopened June 12, and Colagreco now serves leaves and salad greens on “leaf days,” when the “energy” and flavor are most concentrated in the leaf of the plant. The same is true for fruit days, flower days and root days, an approach meant to serve the highest quality, most flavorful food available.
Colagreco sources ingredients from five organic and biodynamic gardens in the Menton area with a total area of about 12 acres. The chef’s move to sourcing biodynamic ingredients is part of Mirazur’s recent sustainability efforts, which include a commitment earlier this year to go completely plastic-free. While the award-winning chef knew he could reopen Mirazur as it was before the pandemic, he found such deep peace among the plants in his gardens during lockdown that he wanted to share that experience of peace with his guests. “Our goal is not to be the best restaurant in the world,” says Colagreco, “but to provoke emotions in our diners and to cook with passion.”
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.”
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.
Restaurants Step Up Their Takeout Game
A Zagat survey of 7,000 people found that only one-third of respondents plan to dine at restaurants the week they reopen, and 20% plan on waiting three months. As restaurants gradually reopen, takeout and delivery have become essential components of most business models. According to restaurant market research firm NPD, delivery sales this April were 115% higher than last year. As a result, restaurant supply company US Foods saw a 25% jump in sales for its takeout containers, especially eco-friendly containers, specialty vented containers for fried foods, and containers for cakes and desserts. Sales of tamper-evident labels are also up 160% as restaurateurs invest in better packaging to gain consumer trust.
In Chicago, DineAmic Hospitality’s co-owner Luke Stoioff says the company’s restaurants worked hard to “make our delivery food look as beautiful as our dine-in food,” using specialty plastic tableware and packaging as well as other refinements. Some restaurateurs are even investing in custom packaging to help deliver the in-restaurant experience at home. French chef Daniel Boulud, the owner of Michelin-starred restaurant Daniel in New York thinks the Michelin Guide will soon institute a “delivery” classification to grade that service much like other restaurant services. .
