- With the Super Bowl just days away, tech/shipping/grocery giant Amazon is teasing its television ad for the big game. The premise: What if Echo voice assistant Alexa lost her voice? The solution to this problem involves a number of celebrities, including shouty chef Gordon Ramsay, filling in. As expected, Ramsay berates an Echo user who asks for help with making a grilled-cheese sandwich.
The world isn’t ready for a voice that sounds this bloody good. Let’s do this @Amazon ! #ad pic.twitter.com/lj1eAzpjyk
— Gordon Ramsay (@GordonRamsay) January 30, 2018
- Goop, actress/lifestyle guru Gwyneth Paltrow’s health wellness company, just held a summit in New York City. It sounds like the goings on were pretty bizarre, which is in line with most Goop things.
- Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, the New Haven, Connecticut, icon that serves what some claim to be the best pies in America, is expanding to Rhode Island for its 10th location.
- Florida-based grocery favorite Publix has some explaining to do. The supermarket chain reportedly doesn’t cover pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), an HIV-prevention medication, under the health insurance plan it offers to employees.
- It’s still January, but it’s never too early to start thinking about long summer days filled with glass after glass of rosé. However, another light varietal, Lambrusco, may overtake that pink drink as the essential warm-weather pairing this year.
- This Sunday’s Super Bowl LII will be the first in history to qualify as zero-waste. Instead of taking a trip to the landfill, discarded food containers and papers will be recycled and composted.
- A California assemblyman has proposed a state bill that would make plastic drinking straws available at sit-down restaurants only by request. The current version of Assemblyman Ian Calderon’s bill puts the onus on servers to hold out on the straws, and those who do not comply could face as much as six months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine. Some of his fellow legislators have called the proposal absurd, but Calderon claims his intention is simply to “raise awareness about the detrimental effects of plastic straws on our environment.”
- A wine made from Georgian grapes is blowing up on Instagram because of its extremely dark, almost black, color.
- Robots that can do your grocery shopping have been on the market for a little while, and now there are robot delivery cars to take those groceries straight to your door. Get a robot who can put your groceries away and cook your dinner, and you’ll never have to get off the couch again.
- Old-man rocker Bon Jovi now has his own wine label.
- And old-man rapper Jay-Z may be opening his own restaurant.
- Warner Brothers has trademarked the name “Central Perk,” which means the famous Friends coffee shop could be popping up in real life. Could fans of the hit ’90s series be more excited?
- Vegan restaurant By Chloe’s new London location will indeed serve traditional vegan foods, but they’ll all be made with vegan modifications, of course. Example: Instead of fried cod, the fish and chips will be made with crispy tofu.
- Anyone who wants to live like Erez Komarovsky should read Taffy Ackner’s new profile on the Israeli baker in Saveur.
- Steven Cook, co-owner of Zahav, explains why he and chef Michael Solomonov decided to describe the celebrated Philadelphia restaurant’s cuisine as Israeli instead of Middle Eastern.
- And finally, based on this trailer for the new 50 Shades of Grey movie, it looks like Ana and Christian will get hot and heavy with a pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.
