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Happy Friday! You may want to set aside some time this weekend to reconsider your stock portfolio if it's heavy on burgers and pizza — restaurant stocks seem to be losing favor with investors, with many at an all-time low right now.
On a brighter note to begin the weekend: San Francisco tourist destination Ghirardelli Square is about to get a lot more hip, and a New York chef has set (another) world record for constructing a massive gingerbread village. Meanwhile, Jamie Oliver is about to open a restaurant in Canada, and his arch-nemesis Gordon Ramsay seems to have zero interest in ever reviving Kitchen Nightmares. All that and more in this Friday edition of Eater Today:
Is the Stock Market Losing Its Taste for Restaurants?
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Shake Shack's IPO created a Wall Street frenzy when it launched back in January — but the appeal of investing in restaurants seems to be fading. The industry is seeing an annual stock market loss for the first time since 2008, with many stocks recently hitting all-time lows; according to Bloomberg, "more than 20 restaurant stocks have slumped at least 10 percent in 2015." Expect investors to look to other industries for bigger gains heading into 2016.
Image credit: vishpool/Flickr
Gordon Ramsay Is Seriously Over 'Kitchen Nightmares'
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Shouty chef Gordon Ramsay's long-running reality series Kitchen Nightmares came to an end last year after 12 seasons in the UK and seven in America. Despite previous rumors that he could resurrect the show, it sounds like Gordon is very much finished with subjecting himself to terrible restaurant food.
This Is the World's Biggest Gingerbread Village
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Successfully constructing a gingerbread house without eating any of the load-bearing walls is an impressive feat in and of itself — but a whole village? For the third row in a year, New York chef Jon Lovitch has smashed the world record for the largest gingerbread village. The village consists of 1,102 different structures and was built in Lovitch's NYC apartment — an impressive feat in and of itself. It's now on display at the New York Hall of Science in Queens.
Image credit: New York Hall of Science/Facebook
Jamie Oliver Expands His Empire to Toronto
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Jamie Oliver is the latest big-name chef to open a restaurant in Toronto: The very first North American outpost of Jamie's Italian is slated to hit the Canadian city next week. He follows in the footsteps of chefs like David Chang, who expanded his Momofuku empire to Toronto back in 2012, and Daniel Boulud, who launched Cafe Boulud at the Four Seasons the same year. Also coming soon: a restaurant from Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto.
Image credit: Jamie Oliver/Facebook
Jonathan Waxman Is Bringing Italian Food to San Francisco's Ghirardelli Square
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San Francisco's Ghirardelli Square has long been known as a place where tourists go to eat chocolate and pose for photo opps. But the tired old tourist trap is now on the verge of revitalization: Chef Jonathan Waxman is about to move in with a second location of his Atlanta-born concept Brezza Emporio and Pizzeria, a casual pizza and pasta spot. The property was purchased by property developer Jamestown back in 2013 — the same company responsible for major restorations of complexes like NYC's Chelsea Market and Atlanta's Ponce City Market (the home of the original Brezza).
Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
