Eater: All Posts by Adam H. Callaghanhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52682/favicon-32x32.png2017-07-13T14:32:00-04:00https://www.eater.com/authors/adam-h-callaghan/rss2017-07-13T14:32:00-04:002017-07-13T14:32:00-04:00Fine-Dining Star Blaine Wetzel on Ending the Willows Inn Stage Program
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<figcaption>Inside the Willows Inn kitchen | Bill Addison</figcaption>
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<p>“It wasn’t like we were relying on free labor for the restaurant to operate”</p> <p id="cv3bRO">The Willows Inn, one of the Pacific Northwest’s most acclaimed fine-dining destinations, <a href="https://www.eater.com/2017/6/26/15876834/willows-inn-ends-staging-internship-wage-lawsuit">recently shut down its stage program</a> after being ordered by the Department of Labor to pay $149,000 in unpaid wages and damages to 19 kitchen employees. Staging (from the French for “trainee”) is <a href="https://www.eater.com/2017/4/13/15265868/restaurant-intern-staging-worlds-50-best">common in the highest echelon of the food world</a>, as many young cooks — the Willows Inn’s two-time James Beard Award-winning chef Blaine Wetzel included — work unpaid stints at famous restaurants to network, gain experience, and pad their resumes. But in the U.S., this kind of unpaid or underpaid labor is technically illegal, and the Department of Labor seems to be cracking down. </p>
<p id="2fUCNe">The story broke as Eater was wrapping <a href="https://www.eater.com/2017/7/6/15883794/restaurants-san-juan-islands-washington-hogstone-aelder-willows-inn">a tangential piece about the challenges of operating restaurants in remote locations</a> like the islands off the coast of Washington, so in an interview with Wetzel, the discussion turned to staging. Below is the full portion of that conversation, edited for clarity.</p>
<p id="D8x78j"><strong>Is it hard for you to staff such a remote, seasonal restaurant?</strong><br>Blaine Wetzel: No, we have a fantastic staff, we just have some of the best and brightest in the industry. </p>
<p id="XB5ysD">Most of the [staff here] worked in some of the best restaurants in the country. The average age is about 30, everyone has years of experience in top restaurants. Most people like the job so much, and the island, that they stay. We don’t really experience a lot of turnover. We also offer a really competitive compensation. People enjoy the culture and environment. They stay for usually several years.</p>
<p id="KmOsVO"><strong>So the off-season isn’t a deterrent?</strong><br>It’s really been a huge benefit for this industry, this niche of fine-dining restaurants that are tasting menu only. This type of restaurant is such an ambitious and passion-filled part of the industry, it’s usually combined with a strenuous schedule. I think us having the time off every year is a real benefit in that it offers some balance in a field where that’s rarely the case.</p>
<p id="nsvqdX">As well as being open four days a week some of the year, we’re closed for three months. That’s part of the reason we really get the best in the industry applying for positions here, because it’s a really unusual combination. Most independent restaurants like this cannot survive, especially in the U.S., without being in a major city. Staffing is one of the best parts of the job: I get to meet new people and work with my friends.</p>
<p id="hdYCn7"><strong>You recently shut down your staging program. Is that going to cause staffing issues?</strong>Not really. I came up staging. I got the chance to travel the world and work in great restaurants, being inspired, and eventually getting a position in a restaurant and learning a lot that I wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to. It has been a norm in the industry.</p>
<p id="vI4PNE">I think in this country, maybe times are changing, because it is kind of a gray area: someone who’s passionate and wants to be in the kitchen and try to learn as much as possible but doesn’t really have specific responsibilities. In the U.S., in order to be in line with regulations, they need to be from an accredited school, doing a workshop program, or hired as a normal employee. So we’ve just hired more chefs instead of <em>stagiaires</em>. [There is also] a minimum wage internship. </p>
<p id="Uxmx6Q">[Now when chefs] that were coming from out of the country [reach out] with any requests, we just say we’ve discontinued staging programs but we accept internships from schools. As far as staffing levels it hasn’t been an issue.</p>
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<cite>Bill Addison</cite>
<figcaption>The Willows Inn</figcaption>
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<p id="Qi88JQ"><strong>Will this ripple throughout the industry in the U.S.? Is the DOL cracking down?</strong><br>That was made clear, that this has been a focus nationally. In conversations with the agent, she’d been specifically assigned to target staging. As soon as I learned that staging — something that was common practice in the industry — is technically not legal, we discontinued that. However, a slightly altered version of that [would be], for instance, a workshop program. People [would] pay $200 to come for a month and have a syllabus, activities, and perform a similar function. Or if someone’s coming from an accredited school. So, making sure that we’re to the T with everything as far as regulations are concerned is important.</p>
<p id="L9An3A"><strong>So you’re not worried about the cost of paying for that labor?</strong><br>We didn’t use a stagiaire to replace a hired staff member. It wasn’t like we were relying on free labor for the restaurant to operate. These were people who were young aspiring chefs and cooks from around the country who wanted exposure to what we were doing and opportunity to learn. So we’d often just have one extra hand in the kitchen to show what’s going on. So, no, there hasn’t been any sort of impact as far as staffing or payroll or something. In fact, we haven’t had anybody staging in 2017.</p>
<p id="6yu860"><strong>So some people could continue to stage for free if they’re willing to pay for the privilege?</strong><br>We haven’t done a workshop program yet — unclear if it’s an avenue we would consider, just giving an example of what is acceptable for staging. As soon as we learned that distinction, we adjusted our operation. It is such a common practice in the industry, it’s hard to imagine. Maybe it’s a practice that is dated and aging and not going to be something that is as regular in the future.</p>
<p id="0WNpR7"><strong>It seems like staging might make more sense in some European countries where people have universal healthcare and can be more secure working for free.</strong><br>I agree. If there’s a conflict, it won’t last that long. If there’s not, I think it’s been a time-honored apprenticeship and tradition in kitchens.</p>
<p id="EkPUCO"><strong>How do you respond to the </strong><a href="https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20170626"><strong>Department of Labor’s accusation in a press release</strong></a><strong> that you were having stagiaires do things like paint the exterior of buildings?</strong><br>I think that was a misquote: It said painting the exterior of the building, that never happened. We’re in a hundred-year-old restaurant here, with an older kitchen, wood floors that are beautiful, wood windows, and cabinetry, so we paint the kitchen two, three times a year. It doesn’t take long, we always have gallons of paint on hand. At the end of the week everyone rolls up their sleeves and puts a coat of paint on the kitchen. </p>
<p id="xHxRpM">I think the wording was intentionally harsh. With wording like “$50 a day for up to 14 hours a day,” combined, that’s not true. There were days a person would work 14 hours, and there were times a person made $50 a day, but that would be otherwise someone who was working for free but got an allowance, food paid for, housing paid for. And a separate person might be working 14 hours a day, a crazy day, but combined [it was] not the case. There’s been no issue as far as payroll for staff.</p>
<p id="wAHRnj"><strong>So you think the press release was intentionally misleading?</strong><br>It was kind of made to sound like staff were being underpaid, but in fact it completely revolved around stagiaires. “Painting the exterior of the building” was outrageous, along with the slave labor verbiage they used. It’s unfortunate that the verbiage that was used describing the situation made it seem as if we were underpaying staff, and kind of abusing someone who came to learn. But both are not the case.</p>
<aside id="xgWIMy"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Washington Fine-Dining Restaurant Willows Inn Nixes Stage Program","url":"https://www.eater.com/2017/6/26/15876834/willows-inn-ends-staging-internship-wage-lawsuit"},{"title":"The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Get by With a Lot of Unpaid Labor","url":"https://www.eater.com/2017/4/13/15265868/restaurant-intern-staging-worlds-50-best"},{"title":"Paid Labor Is the Moral, Competitive Thing to Do","url":"https://www.eater.com/2017/4/16/15310200/unpaid-labor-intern-stage-restaurant-news"}]}'></div></aside><aside id="nIjTnV"><div data-anthem-component="newsletter" data-anthem-component-data='{"slug":"eater"}'></div></aside><p id="4F8ShR"></p>
https://www.eater.com/2017/7/13/15961958/willows-inn-stage-intern-program-blaine-wetzel-interviewAdam H. Callaghan2017-07-06T15:32:00-04:002017-07-06T15:32:00-04:00For Restaurants in the San Juan Islands, a Beautiful Setting Brings Serious Challenges
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<p>How chefs deal with a remote location, off-seasons, and a housing shortage</p> <p id="jI7cCq">“This is a business for crazy people,” says Jay Blackinton, a three-time James Beard Award semifinalist for Rising Star Chef of the Year and one of <em>Food & Wine’s</em> best new chefs of 2017. “This isn’t a place to make money. Up here it’s even worse.” The business is running a restaurant, but <strong>“up here” refers to Orcas Island</strong>, a picturesque member of the San Juan Islands off the northwest coast of Washington.</p>
<p id="zvj7ZD">Blackinton is describing the unique challenges, including seasonality, of operating a restaurant accessible from Seattle only after a few hours’ ride by car and ferry. “Starting right now, we will be slammed until mid-September when the weather starts to turn. Then it just turns off and gets really slow,” he says. “You want full-time employees all the time, but you can’t have that, so we try to make work for people.”</p>
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<cite><a href="http://suzi-pratt.com/">Suzi Pratt</a></cite>
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<p id="sdhyZ6">Blackinton owns Hogstone’s Wood Oven, which started as a rustic pizzeria in 2013 but quickly added more creative and ambitious tasting menu options as the chef was inspired by his ingredients. The islands are amazingly fertile, and almost all of Hogstone’s food comes from local farms, like Maple Rock, where Blackinton also works. These tasting menu experiences thrilled the intrepid restaurant elite, who’ll happily go off-grid for unique experiences and a taste of true terroir, but stymied many unsuspecting tourists. “What a lot of people do on the islands is they make places that are — I’m gonna get mobbed for saying this — pretty mediocre. Because that’s what most people expect, want, and are willing to pay for. We’re mostly not the pizza place people are looking for,” he deadpans.</p>
<div class="c-float-right"><aside id="DEIQyd"><q>“This is a business for crazy people. Up here it’s even worse.”</q></aside></div>
<p id="X0aaRJ">Now, Blackinton is trying to ease confusion by moving the casual Hogstone’s to the lovely backyard, currently being revamped, and opening Aelder in the dining room, offering four-, seven-, and 12-course experimental menus almost exclusively by prepaid reservation through <a href="https://www.eater.com/2015/6/2/8712953/nick-kokonas-ticketing-system-tock-launches-in-beta-today">the online ticketing system Tock</a>. When Aelder opens on July 7, walk-ins will be allowed to order the four-course menu, or be directed to Hogstone’s out back.</p>
<p id="ASP6ff">Seattle, generally, has been slow to embrace this kind of strict reservation policy. But most restaurateurs, certainly ones who work with limited ingredients, dream of having diners locked in, eliminating one major variable affecting service — and the bottom line. “We get a lot of people who come up here just to eat here,” he says. “So why wouldn’t people be willing to do that? I think it’s going to work well.”</p>
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<figcaption>Aelder</figcaption>
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<p id="HhN6uq">Aelder is part of a<strong> growing trend of hyper-local high-concept restaurants</strong> separated from Washington’s coast by a stretch of water. It joins the ranks of the revered Willows Inn on Lummi Island and Ursa Minor on neighboring Lopez Island. Chef Nick Coffey, who previously pushed boundaries in the tiny kitchen of Seattle’s Barjot then helped award-winning chef Matt Dillon open Ciudad last year, opened Ursa Minor in April after years of visiting the island and feeling awed at the natural beauty and bountiful harvest.</p>
<p id="HsdOuV">Coffey, recognizing the importance of balancing local and tourist business, ran a successful Kickstarter campaign, raising more than $30,000 based on his desire to fully support Lopez Island’s many artisan producers and growers with menus that will rotate frequently. “Like many businesses on the island, we need the visitors to help sustain us through the slower times,” he says. “But we want to build a restaurant here that the residents are proud of and dine in as often as they’d like.” And, as many entrepreneurs have discovered since crowdfunding exploded, the support can be as valuable as the influx of cash. “Kickstarter does create a network around you of people that are vested in the business and interested in it succeeding,” Coffey says. “They’re telling their friends; it’s a great networking tool as well as fundraising.”</p>
<div class="c-float-right"><aside id="ciItyt"><q>“You’re trying to fill the restaurant during those two busy months then scaling back the rest of the year.”</q></aside></div>
<p id="WZHr1M">As a first-time restaurateur, Coffey’s doing his best to prepare for the highs and lows of island living. “There’s about two months of really busy season so you’re trying to fill the restaurant during those two months then scaling back on the rest of the year until you’re a little more established,” he says. Ursa Minor is only open Thursday to Sunday right now, and might drop Thursdays after September. Coffey also plans to close in January and February, typically the slowest months of the year.</p>
<p id="n5ajFG">Even the Willows Inn, despite its reputation as a “<a href="https://www.eater.com/2016/9/22/13018268/willows-inn-lummi-island-food-review">fine-dining astonishment</a>” with two-time James Beard Award-winner Blaine Wetzel at the helm, still has an off-season. “We’re fully booked most of the year, but we still definitely feel the effect of <strong>a seasonal fluctuation in business levels</strong>,” says Wetzel, who apprenticed at Denmark’s two-Michelin-starred Noma and seems to have brought a bit of that restaurant’s magic with him when he took over the inn’s kitchen on Lummi Island. “That’s why we’re open just four days of the week in the winter and early spring.”</p>
<p id="S9ZxbT">Wetzel, who helps run the company’s farm — yes, another restaurant with a farm — and forages regularly with his staff, admits that the pickings get slimmer in the winter, since it’s so windy that no locals are fishing or diving for shellfish. But he says it’s not sourcing food that’s challenging — “The ingredients here are amazing, way more than enough” — it’s the mundane things.</p>
<p id="M1VQ1S">Lummi is just five to 10 minutes from the mainland by ferry, but the ferry is too small for deliveries, which means the inn can’t operate the way most restaurants do, relying on regular deliveries of fresh linens and cleaning chemicals. There’s not even a dumpster out back — what garbage truck would empty it? To underscore the isolation, Wetzel’s phone keeps cutting out during an interview. “Another challenge you have to deal with: Half the time you have no signal,” he says. “The internet’s so bad we have to have like four satellites to have decent speed for guests.”</p>
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<figcaption>San Juan Islands</figcaption>
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<p id="UcjRG7">Naturally, staffing is a challenge, but not for lack of interest. “I’ve had many people reach out over the years who wanted to work here, and I’d love to have them in the kitchen,” Blackinton says. “But it’s impossible to find places for people to live. It is and isn’t my responsibility to make sure people have a place, but I have to keep looking for those resources if I want to continue to have staff in the future. I’m short a cook right now, but I have no idea where they would go, because everything’s pretty filled up here.” One of his long-term goals is to add rooms to his operation.</p>
<p id="m9LDWt">Coffey agrees finding housing for employees is difficult. “On my staff, there’s one guy still looking for a place, basically couch-surfing right now,” he says. “But for the most motivated people, it eventually works out.” More accommodations would certainly make people’s transition to the island easier. “People want to come from further away to work in the restaurant,” he says, “and even some kind of hostel or shared bedding situation would be much appreciated. It’s a constant concern in the community.”</p>
<div class="c-float-right"><aside id="8CYDbl"><q>“It’s impossible to find places for people to live.”</q></aside></div>
<p id="qdbs5R">In its favor, the Willows Inn does have rooms, and plenty of people are willing to come from all over the world and intern for little to nothing to gain experience at such a highly regarded restaurant. The Willows Inn recently shut down its stage program, though, and <a href="https://www.eater.com/2017/6/26/15876834/willows-inn-ends-staging-internship-wage-lawsuit">has been ordered</a> by the Department of Labor to pay $149,000 in unpaid wages and damages to 19 former stages. “As soon as I learned that this, something that was common practice in the industry, is technically not legal, then we discontinued it,” says Wetzel, who himself staged in his career. He also says ending the stage program wouldn’t affect payroll or quality. “It’s not like we were relying on free labor for the restaurant to operate,” he says. “These were young, aspiring chefs and cooks from around the country who wanted exposure to what we were doing and an opportunity to learn. We’d often just have one extra hand in the kitchen to show what’s going on.”</p>
<p id="UDyBOu">Wetzel says his staff — which can include 15 cooks for 30 diners on a given night — are compensated competitively, and consider the limited schedule and significant off-season bonuses. “This type of restaurant is usually combined with a strenuous schedule,” he says. “I think us having the time off every year is a real benefit in that it offers some balance in a field [where] that’s rarely the case.”</p>
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<figcaption>Hogstone’s Wood Oven</figcaption>
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<p id="uRi0iq">When asked why they stick it out on the islands, all of these chefs agree: It’s worth the challenge. “It’s hard to answer this question because it sounds so dumb, ‘Oh, it’s just a beautiful place.’ But it’s home,” Blackinton says. “If you have the opportunity to do something like this in a place that feels like home, then it’s a no-brainer, as far as fulfillment of your spirit goes.”</p>
<p id="zqXaqC">As for visitors, they can stop in and reap the reward as they please. “You figure it out and you get access to some of the best products in one of the most beautiful and wild areas in the country,” Wetzel says. “These islands are so abundant, with small farms, old farms, native tribes that fish, kind of eccentric or artisanal people and producers. And it’s not just a new thing, <strong>it’s been that way a long time</strong>.”</p>
<p id="KHjShC"><a href="https://seattle.eater.com/authors/adam-h-callaghan"><small><em>Adam H. Callaghan</em></small></a><small><em> is the editor of </em></small><a href="https://seattle.eater.com/"><small><em>Eater Seattle</em></small></a><small><em>. </em></small><a href="http://suzi-pratt.com/"><small><em>Suzi Pratt</em></small></a><small><em> is a Seattle-based photographer.</em></small><br><small><em>Editor: Hillary Dixler</em></small></p>
<aside id="O1DIAB"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"10 Restaurants Worth a Drive from Seattle","url":"https://seattle.eater.com/maps/where-to-eat-seattle-road-trip-olympia"}]}'></div></aside><aside id="3hjN72"><div data-anthem-component="newsletter" data-anthem-component-data='{"slug":"eater"}'></div></aside>
https://www.eater.com/2017/7/6/15883794/restaurants-san-juan-islands-washington-hogstone-aelder-willows-innAdam H. Callaghan2017-02-20T13:04:00-05:002017-02-20T13:04:00-05:00Should You Be Drinking Makgeolli?
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<img alt="Korean rice liquor paired with food at Seattle’s Girin." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/md5_3aNNJd4WHe4BF28s8c0wd3o=/179x0:1959x1335/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/53324555/Makgeolli_Girin_Seattle_17.0.jpg" />
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<p>How one Seattle brewer hopes to make Korean liquor big in America</p> <p class="p--has-dropcap p-large-text" id="tlkGUO">If you’re not Korean and you’ve heard of<em> makgeolli </em>(pronounced <em>MAHK-oh-lee</em>), it may have been through the handful of trend pieces that have appeared over the past 10 years. Publications from <a href="http://travel.cnn.com/seoul/drink/makgeolli-rice-wine-revolution-takes-hold-seoul-475853/">CNN</a> to the <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2012/10/15/makgeollis-makeover/"><em>Wall Street Journal</em></a> have traced the resurgence of <em>nongju</em>, another name for makgeolli, which means “farmer’s liquor.” This centuries-old unfiltered grain alcohol is brewed to about 6 or 8 percent alcohol by volume with rice as its primary sugar source; its distinctive milky-white appearance, sweet-sour flavor profile, and light effervescence are charming in a way that might perplex the uninitiated.</p>
<p id="c0Cr2n">Once the most consumed alcohol in the country, makgeolli suffered as younger generations of Koreans turned away from the “drink of peasants” and toward foreign specialties like beer. But earlier this decade, makgeolli became hot again: Bars dedicated to serving it have popped up throughout South Korea, rappers wave plastic bottles of it in music videos, and celebrities drink boutique versions. Also, it remains inexpensive, which is sometimes unfashionable but always appealing.</p>
<p id="Pz6yeZ">Makgeolli is still relatively obscure in the U.S., but Cody Burns — the brewer at Seattle’s Girin Steakhouse, one of the city’s upscale odes to Korean food — is working to change that. Girin opened two years ago in the Pioneer Square neighborhood, just south of downtown; late last year, the restaurant got its domestic winery license <strong>to make its own makgeolli</strong> after nearly two years of wrangling with the government about how to classify and permit the process.</p>
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<p id="ydVMqo">“What drew me in was how symbiotically makgeolli went with food,” Burns said. “The naturally occurring acidity and carbonation in makgeolli works as a really nice palate cleanser in between bites.” But Burns had never homebrewed in his life and couldn’t find much information about the makgeolli process in English, so his results for the first half year were, as he describes it, “pretty abysmal.” After some pointers from makgeolli brewing instructor Stephanie Ji-A Lee at Susubori Academy, though, he struck gold, and he now he refines his process in a tiny room above the bar at Girin.</p>
<p id="9djIoW">Burns brews his makgeolli traditionally, in the same porous clay crocks that would be used for making kimchi or other pickles. The process means a unique character builds over time, as with sourdough. He’d like to experiment with encouraging this continuous fermentation process, though for now he cleans and sanitizes the containers between each batch, and his makgeolli gets most of its funkiness from fermentation driven by <em>nuruk</em>, which Burns orders from Korea.</p>
<p id="2B2uvr">Nuruk is a dry cake of wheat, barley, and rice that hosts a variety of wild yeasts, bacteria, and koji mold spores; these go to work on cooked sweet rice, turning starches into simple sugars then into alcohol over the course of a week. Unpasteurized, these tiny powerhouses will allow the beverage to further mature in the bottle, coaxing complex enzymes and flavor compounds from a drink that beautifully complements the spicy, sweet, sour, and savory notes so prevalent in Korean cooking.</p>
<p id="6iSb9W">You might not know any of this, however, if you’ve only ever tried a cheap plastic bottle of imported makgeolli. Before making their way stateside, these imports have to be pasteurized for shelf life, stunting the drink’s growth and highlighting single-noted sweetness over complexity. “I found it to be interesting, but I wasn’t super impressed,” Burns says of the insipid stuff available in America. But when he and the Girin team visited Korea, Burns fell in love. “Sitting in a little tent-restaurant outside of the fish market, I had real homemade, alive makgeolli for the first time,” he says. “Right then and there I was like, ‘Why is this not a thing? I want to make this.’”</p>
<p id="aM0tLe">Burns touts the freshness of his makgeolli, an important quality in a country otherwise awash in pasteurized approximations. Makgeolli isn’t perishable, per se, as its yeast and bacteria create an environment hostile to spoilage,<strong> but its effervescence increases over time</strong>, its flavors change, and it has a disputed shelf life. At Girin, Burns tries to sell his makgeolli bottles for the time period between two days and two weeks, at which point he thinks the flavors become less palatable — before reaching another high point at five months. Before serving it to guests, he decants his makgeolli into golden tea kettles; guests pour from these into small bowls that they use as drinking vessels.</p>
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<p id="05ywS0">Burns isn’t the first to try to introduce Americans to fresh makgeolli, though he’s in a small field. New York City restaurant Take 31, a gastropub in Koreatown, has a popular house-made “makgulli” that it serves icy with add-ins like yuzu and banana. Chicago’s Slow City Brewery was the country’s largest and highest-profile makgeolli maker when it opened in 2013, partly thanks to support from parent company Baesangmyun, a longstanding Korean alcohol producer and owner of a spirits museum. Slow City went all in, making its makgeolli the right way, down to breathable bottle caps that allow the beverage to continue fermenting in the bottle without exploding. Unfortunately this feature also drastically limited its shipping potential.</p>
<p id="1ntGgK">After a couple of years and despite a fair amount of media attention, Slow City disappeared quietly. Burns heard a rumor that the brewery had a falling out with its Korean parent; he also hears suggestions that some American-based graduates of a Korean makgeolli brewing course want to band together to buy Slow City and revive it, a plan he supports.</p>
<p id="kiBHZM">But likely the first makgeolli maker in the country has brewed a fresh version in relative obscurity — hidden away an hour and a half northeast of New York City by car — for five years. Dudukju owner Rosalyn Kim, who emigrated from Korea 30 years ago, also got her start by partnering with a South Korean brewery, Andong HaeKok, where she learned her technique and obtains her nuruk starter to this day. </p>
<p id="gW4G49">Since 2012, she has sold her brand, NY Mak, from her small Wurtsboro farm and to a handful of liquor stores and Korean restaurants in the Queens neighborhood of Flushing. But she says she <strong>operates her facility well below capacity </strong>because she simply hasn’t encountered enough demand for the drink. “It’s unknown to many people, and it’s hard to handle,” she says, which means it can’t travel far. In its unpasteurized form, makgeolli is truly a locavore’s dream.</p>
<div class="c-float-right"><aside id="NFFRuT"><q>“Only a few non-Koreans come in and ask about it.”</q></aside></div>
<p id="8cOd4b">Kim says her live makgeolli goes through at least four distinct phases of bottle maturation. Her window of opportunity is perhaps a little wider than Burns’, but her small hometown has no built-in market, and she insists on replacing bottles that sit in restaurants or liquor stores longer than desired. It’s partly why she’s cautious about opening new accounts at places where staff might not be motivated or educated enough about the product to move it at the proper rate. She suggests that true makgeolli connoisseurs tend to develop taste preferences; similarly to wine lovers, they walk a fine line as they age vintages to evoke new and delicious flavors, balancing the risk of losing a bottle to undesirable and potentially unpredictable shifts.</p>
<p id="pYeaW3">Leiser Liquors is a family-run liquor store that has an entire section dedicated to Korean beverages. Employee Romeo Ruiz says that Kim’s NY Mak is the second-best-selling makgeolli at the store, after a Korean brand. “At first it didn’t [sell well, so Kim] had to buy back the spoiled bottles, but now it’s okay,” he says. “We’re in Flushing in the middle of a big Korean neighborhood, so customers come in and know what they want already. They’re knowledgeable. Only a few non-Koreans come in and ask about it.” That will likely change.</p>
<p id="qPnFk9">Two decades ago, unfiltered Belgian-style wheat beer was a hard sell, too; just ask <a href="http://maine.eater.com/2015/1/27/7911067/interview-rob-tod-allagash-brewing-company-twenty-year-anniversary">Allagash Brewing Company founder Rob Tod</a>, who says he couldn’t <em>give</em> his flagship Allagash White away when he started his small operation in Maine. After 22 years of craft beer growth and education, though, that same cloudy beer is on tap in hundreds of bars and considered one of the world’s best. Meanwhile, even more esoteric styles, like wild-fermented sours, have amassed their own serious followings. Point being, Americans have a tendency to first balk, then embrace the unusual, and makgeolli is certainly that.</p>
<p id="35iYES">In Seattle, Burns has been amazed at diners’ positive responses to the drink. He assumed it would be an acquired taste, but found that “people take to it right away.” Of course, he benefits from a built-in market in a city of nearly a million, teeming with curious tourists and tech money. The two house versions of makgeolli — one cask-strength at 12 or 13 percent alcohol by volume, the other diluted — are highlighted on the first page of Girin’s beverage menu, and knowledgeable staff are on hand to ease people into the new experience. Given the reception, Burns is ambitious: He’s testing new recipes, exploring options for packaging his product for retail sales, training an assistant brewer, and <strong>planning to upgrade to an off-site brewery</strong> when, not if, demand allows.</p>
<p class="c-end-para" id="G2HnDe">After all, Korean cuisine has <a href="http://www.eater.com/2017/1/6/14182230/food-trends-2017-restaurants-dining">finally, fully arrived in the U.S.</a>, and it’s not a stretch to imagine restaurateurs at the forefront of the movement serving makgeolli — NYC’s modern-Korean spot Oiji already <a href="http://ny.eater.com/2015/8/11/9127975/oiji-korean-restaurant-review">features the spirit in its cocktails</a>, and perhaps one day, James Beard Award-nominated chefs Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi will carry Girin’s makgeolli at Joule, Revel, and Trove, their esteemed Korean restaurants in Seattle. Rosalyn Kim can feel the shifts in tiny Wurtsboro: The market is growing, she says, “little by little.”</p>
<div id="wBGEjW"><p class="credit"><a href="https://twitter.com/AHCallaghan">Adam H. Callaghan</a> is the editor of Eater Seattle and a freelance writer/editor covering food, beverage, and travel. <a href="http://suzi-pratt.com/">Suzi Pratt</a> is an internationally published Seattle event and food photographer and blogger.<br>Editor: <a href="http://eater.com/authors/erin-dejesus">Erin DeJesus</a></p></div>
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https://www.eater.com/drinks/2017/2/20/14645442/makgeolli-korean-rice-wineAdam H. Callaghan2015-12-31T13:30:02-05:002015-12-31T13:30:02-05:00Craft Brewers Are Leading the Flat Beer Trend, In a Good Way
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<img alt="Sam Adams Utopias." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/U-C-z-IDXUAGXyWLNHuPZKa8ywQ=/0x64:960x784/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48473113/eater1215_national_sam_adams_utopias_fb_roger_h_simpson.0.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Sam Adams Utopias. | <a href='https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10207497991633709&set=a.1062618771482.11308.1406366319&type=3&theater'>Roger H Simpson/FB</a></figcaption>
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<p>You can sip these big, bold beers slowly.</p> <p>Flat beer is trending, at least according to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-31/still-ales-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-flat-beer-trend" style="background-color: #ffffff;">a new report</a><span> from <i>Bloomberg</i>. Not your typical wounded soldiers found littering the kitchen the morning after a holiday party, </span><span>"predominantly big and bold" (and expensive) beers are increasingly being packaged without carbonation by craft brewers around the world. There's Sam Adams' annual Utopias, a sweet, rich, $200 concoction whose flavors and alcohol content (which hovers around 28%) are quite brandy-like. Or The End of History from Scotland's BrewDog, which released just 12 bottles of its 55% ABV, $800 ale with "more in common with eau de vie than beer, with big notes of juniper, berries and caramel-apple."</span></p>
<p>The elevated alcohol content helps preserve these brews as they age and the maltiness works well with the oxidation that eventually affects all beer, a process that can introduce unpleasant notes of wet cardboard in the worst cases or pleasant overtones of sherry, fruit, and other sweet treats in the best cases. Most of these examples come in resealable containers, Bloomberg notes, as this is "beer you can drink and store pretty much like whiskey" without fear of bubbles escaping.</p>
<p>Missing from the Bloomberg feature is the classic exception to the rule of these high-octane beasts: the Belgian Lambic. This low alcohol, wild-fermented, flat, sour style traditionally made near Brussels employs hops that have been aged to minimize their potent flavors and aromas. Typically quite dry and wine- or cider-like, Lambic can be drunk as a standalone product, though it's rarely found in the U.S. (Those sweet Lindemans versions are not a proper representation.) More common is the Gueuze, a blend of multiple Lambic vintages that is then carbonated. Perhaps an increased appreciation for non-fizzy styles will convince more Lambic producers like Cantillon to export the rarity.</p>
<p><b>Eater Video:</b> <i>Six Essential Facts About Sour Beer</i></p>
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https://www.eater.com/2015/12/31/10695062/flat-beer-trendAdam H. Callaghan2015-12-31T10:30:03-05:002015-12-31T10:30:03-05:00Kansas Waiter Gets Fake $20 Tip Telling Him to Find Jesus
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<figcaption><a href='https://www.flickr.com/photos/theredproject/4074016218/'>Michael Mandiberg/Flickr</a></figcaption>
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<p>TipsForJesus, this ain't.</p> <p>A server in Wichita, Kan., where the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.eater.com/2015/12/3/9732294/minimum-wage-america-by-state">tipped minimum wage</a> is only $2.13 per hour, apparently <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/BEANBURRlTO/status/681949013801709568">received a rude surprise</a> this week when a $20 tip turned out to be a fake. "Don't be fooled! There is something you can have more valuable than money!" the pamphlet read when unfolded; it exhorted 17-year-old Garret Wayman to "get yourself a Bible and start reading it, beginning with the Book of John."</p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">someone seriously left this as my tip today. pissed is an understatement. i was so excited when i saw $20 <a href="https://t.co/czntdlgoqS">pic.twitter.com/czntdlgoqS</a></p>
— garret (@BEANBURRlTO) <a href="https://twitter.com/BEANBURRlTO/status/681949013801709568">December 29, 2015</a>
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<p><i>TechInsider</i> <a target="_blank" href="http://www.techinsider.io/20-tip-bible-pamphlet-2015-12" style="line-height: 1.5; background-color: #ffffff;">spoke to Wayman</a>, who said of the positively un-Christian bait-and-switch, "He just left that. I wanted to tell him that I only make $3 an hour and bust my a-- at my job to make way less than I deserve, but he was gone by the time I had the chance to." Although the story hasn't been confirmed, similar examples abound, with <i>TechInsider</i> pointing to two additional instances shared to Reddit, and other Twitter users, like 11-time Jeopardy winner Arthur Chu, commiserating.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">The one time someone tipped me with one of these as a tour guide at least it came with a real one <a href="https://twitter.com/BEANBURRlTO">@BEANBURRlTO</a></p>
— Arthur Chu (@arthur_affect) <a href="https://twitter.com/arthur_affect/status/682068484272992257">December 30, 2015</a>
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<p>Wayman's experience is the exact opposite of how the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.eater.com/2015/12/21/10633006/tipsforjesus-osteria-mozza-5k-tip" style="background-color: #ffffff;">megatippers behind TipsForJesus</a> operate. The group's mysterious members leave thousands of dollars in gratuities for servers throughout the country and share pictures of their philanthropy to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/tipsforjesus/" style="background-color: #ffffff;">Instagram</a> with hashtags like #GodBless.</p>
<p><span>Asked by a clueless Twitter user "why are you pissed?" Wayman responded, "</span><span>because i work for money not for fun. last i checked believing in god doesn't make car payments or buy food". Wayman tweeted about some stingy law enforcement officers, too:</span><span> "</span><span>once i served a group of police officers and the only tip i got was a coupon that said 'a life laid on the line' LIKE SERIOUSLY". </span><span>Terrible customers have also been known to write </span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.eater.com/2015/8/24/9197699/lol-tip-stiffed-server-new-jersey-receipt-ugh" style="line-height: 1.5; background-color: #ffffff;">the acronym "LOL"</a><span> or even </span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.eater.com/2015/4/15/8421403/customer-racist-slur-zipperhead-receipt-thai-restaurant-california" style="line-height: 1.5; background-color: #ffffff;">racial slurs</a><span> on receipts in lieu of money. Each incident strengthens the case for </span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.eater.com/2015/10/19/9570295/no-tipping-restaurants-faq">abolishing tipping</a><span> at restaurants.</span></p>
https://www.eater.com/2015/12/31/10693404/kansas-restaurant-fake-tip-bibleAdam H. Callaghan2015-12-17T14:00:02-05:002015-12-17T14:00:02-05:00Latest Report Suggests Vegetarians Are the Ones Killing the Planet
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<figcaption>Sean Gallup/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>The Carnegie Mellon study contradicts recent advice from the UN.</p> <p>Everyone wants to save the planet — but when it comes to actually doing it, sometimes it's hard to know whose advice to follow. Early this year the United Nations suggested that <a target="_blank" href="http://www.eater.com/2015/2/16/8048069/un-says-veganism-can-save-the-world-from-destruction">adopting a vegan diet</a> could counter the "unsustainable" Western preference for meat and dairy. New research from Carnegie Mellon University, however, seems to directly contradict that prescription.</p>
<p><a style="line-height: 1.24;" href="https://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2015/december/diet-and-environment.html" target="_blank">The university's new report</a> says "following the USDA recommendations to consume more fruits, vegetables, dairy and seafood is <b>more harmful to the environment</b> because those foods have relatively high resource uses and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per calorie." A co-author of the study, professor Paul Fischbeck, warned about the resources required to produce many vegetables. "Eggplant, celery and cucumbers look particularly bad when compared to pork or chicken," he said.</p>
<p>So what's a consumer to do? Overall, <a target="_blank" href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10669-015-9577-y">the study concluded</a> that the best way to shrink the food chain footprint — albeit by a minor nine percent — is to simply lower caloric intake and get obesity under control. Co-author Michelle Tom, a Ph.D student, said, <b>"What is good for us health-wise isn't always what's best for the environment.</b> That's important for public officials to know and for them to be cognizant of these tradeoffs as they develop or continue to develop dietary guidelines in the future."</p>
<p>As for what's best for us health-wise, the World Health Organization <a target="_blank" href="http://www.eater.com/2015/10/28/9631480/michael-symon-facebook-rant-who-meat-cancer">caused an uproar</a> recently <span>when it categorized red and processed meats as </span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.eater.com/2015/10/26/9615096/whole-foods-recall-red-meat-bacon-cancer-starbucks-new-frappula">cancer-causing agents</a> — but<span> </span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/27/9622990/world-health-organization-bacon-meat-cancer-risk-minor">as The Verge pointed out</a>, the risk is incredibly small<span>.</span></p>
https://www.eater.com/2015/12/17/10421384/healthy-diet-study-carnegie-mellonAdam H. Callaghan2015-12-17T11:32:01-05:002015-12-17T11:32:01-05:00A New Game of Thrones Beer Is Coming; Reindeer Deliver Beer Via Sleigh in UK
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<img alt="Box Steam Brewery's reindeer-powered beer delivery service." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/N03YoCEhwUi3CAjSiWJDKaDqJuY=/150x0:1050x675/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48273293/eater1215_national_box_steam_brewery_reindeer_delivery_.0.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Box Steam Brewery's reindeer-powered beer delivery service. | <a href='https://www.facebook.com/BoxBrew/photos/a.238034649668609.1073741829.235745943230813/600582243413846/?type=3&theater'>Box Steam Brewery/FB</a></figcaption>
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<p>Also, a controversial beer named for Gandhi gets a name change.</p> <p><i>WOODBRIDGE, CONN.</i>—<b>New England Brewing Co.</b> announced <a href="https://www.facebook.com/58798029455/photos/a.150221444455.113584.58798029455/10153862146044456/?type=3&theater" target="_blank">via Facebook on Wednesday</a> that its coveted Gandhi-Bot double IPA is now called G-Bot: "Same exact beer, just a new-ish label." <a href="http://www.courant.com/business/hc-gandhi-bot-new-england-brewing-1217-20151216-story.html" target="_blank">The <i>Hartford Courant</i> reports</a> that the company faced a lawsuit from those who "claimed the [original] name dishonored the memory of Gandhi, who abstained from alcohol and was part of the temperance movement in India." To its credit, the brewery apologized and worked swiftly toward a resolution, meeting with Indian-American community leaders. Notably, the other beer pictured in the Facebook announcement, Imperial Stout Trooper, led to a cease-and-desist from Lucasfilm and the subsequent addition of Groucho Marx glasses to the image.</p>
<p><i>WILTSHIRE, ENGLAND</i>—If there arose such a clatter on your lawn the other day, it could have been Comet and Cupid, two live reindeer helping <b>Box Steam Brewery </b>deliver beer via sleigh to UK pubs in time for Christmas. The British company <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BoxBrew/photos/a.238034649668609.1073741829.235745943230813/600582243413846/?type=3&theater" target="_blank">shared a picture on Facebook</a> with the caption, "We're lowering our carbon hoofprint this Christmas." The managing director of the Holt-based brewery <a href="http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breakingnews/offbeat/brewery-making-festive-beer-deliveries-with-reindeer-power-34292214.html" target="_blank">told the <i>Belfast Telegraph</i></a>, "We'd be delighted to export to the North Pole, and we can lend a helping hand if there happened to be any large-scale gift distribution businesses in that region experiencing a seasonal rush."</p>
<p><i>COOPERSTOWN, N.Y.</i>—<b>Brewery Ommegang</b> is releasing its sixth official <i>Game of Thrones</i> beer in March 2016, just in time for the acclaimed HBO show's season six debut in April. Called Seven Kingdoms Hoppy Wheat Ale, the 6.9 percent ABV beer "is a marriage of a traditional Belgian-style wheat and a hop-forward American ale — but unlike so many of the marriages on the show, the resulting hoppy wheat is pleasant, playful and inspired," according to <a href="http://www.ommegang.com/blog/a-look-at-seven-kingdoms-hoppy-wheat-ale/" target="_blank">the company's announcement</a>.</p>
https://www.eater.com/2015/12/17/10411420/game-of-thrones-beer-gandhi-bot-name-changeAdam H. Callaghan2015-12-17T09:56:50-05:002015-12-17T09:56:50-05:00Feeling the Heat, Le Cordon Bleu Is Closing Its U.S. Cooking Schools
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<figcaption><a href='https://www.facebook.com/LeCordonBleu/photos_stream'>Le Cordon Bleu</a></figcaption>
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<p>The American operator of the French schools is facing new governmental regulations.</p> <p>My, how the times are changing: Following a period of <a style="line-height: 1.5; background-color: #ffffff;" href="http://www.eater.com/2011/7/27/6666745/culinary-school-enrollment-keeps-increasing-for-some-reason" target="_blank">massive enrollment increases</a> during the recession, for-profit operator Career Education Corporation<b> </b><a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151216005338/en" target="_blank"></a><a target="_blank" href="http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Le-Cordon-Bleu-to-End-Culinary-Classes-in-US-362705821.html">announced Wednesday</a> that it would close all 16 <b>Le Cordon Bleu </b>culinary schools in the U.S. The last day for enrollment is January 4, 2016, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Le-Cordon-Bleu-to-End-Culinary-Classes-in-US-362705821.html">according to NBC Chicago</a>; after that, all current students will be allowed to finish but no new ones will be accepted.</p>
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<p><span>Le Cordon Bleu is "considered today the largest network of culinary and hospitality schools in the world," </span><a style="line-height: 1.5; background-color: #ffffff;" href="http://www.cordonbleu.edu/home/en" target="_blank">according to its website</a><span>. In the 1950s, Julia Child attended the Paris school, which — it is important to note — is run separately from the U.S. affiliates along with the London campus and will not be shutting down operations.</span></p>
<p>Career Education Corporation had considered <a href="http://www.careered.com/press-room/press-releases/career-education-corporation/career-education-announces-intent-to-divest-le-cordon-bleu-colleges-of-culinary-arts" target="_blank">selling its cooking schools</a>, <span>but revealed that closing them would be "a quicker and ultimately cheaper option," </span><a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/mollyhensleyclancy/le-cordon-bleu-will-close-all-us-schools#.rpjYX6m6BA" target="_blank">BuzzFeed reports</a><span>. The company cited "the impact of the federal government's new regulations on career colleges" for its decision, referring to "</span><span>the Obama administration's gainful employment rule, which cuts off federal financial aid to schools where graduates borrow money at high rates to pay for school but earn little after graduation." When reached by phone for further information or comment, a representative for the school hung up. </span></p>
<p><a style="line-height: 1.5; background-color: #ffffff;" href="http://www.eater.com/2011/7/27/6666745/culinary-school-enrollment-keeps-increasing-for-some-reason" target="_blank"></a><span>Le Cordon Bleu and other culinary institutes in the U.S. have </span><span>come under increasing scrutiny</span><span> for their outrageous tuition costs, high drop-out rates, and dismal job prospects. Eater </span><a href="http://www.eater.com/2015/7/23/9011517/culinary-school-costs-tuition-starting-chef-salary-worth" target="_blank">analyzed the data this summer</a><span> and found overwhelming evidence that culinary school isn't worth it. These for-profit centers have even been sued for their </span><a style="line-height: 1.5; background-color: #ffffff;" href="http://www.help.senate.gov/imo/media/for_profit_report/PartII/CEC.pdf" target="_blank">deceptive recruiting tactics</a><span> and falsified rates of post-school job placement. Career Education Corporation settled one class action lawsuit from former students to the tune of $40 million.</span></p>
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<p><b>Eater Video:</b> <i>This is how prices have changed in the food industry</i></p>
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https://www.eater.com/2015/12/17/10401492/le-cordon-bleu-cooking-school-america-closingAdam H. Callaghan2015-12-15T14:00:02-05:002015-12-15T14:00:02-05:00The 12 Best Lines From Playboy's Profile of Guy Fieri
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<p>If you hate Guy Fieri, you're about to feel highly conflicted.</p> <p>In his <i>Playboy</i> profile, "Guy Fieri Is the Hero We Need," self-described "dickhead" and "snob" Jeremy Repanich reluctantly goes to bat for flame-wearing <i>Diners, Dive-Ins, and Drives</i> host (<a href="http://www.eater.com/2015/11/14/9731718/best-lines-guy-fieri-gq-wine" target="_blank">and winemaker</a>) <b>Guy Fieri</b>, loved by the masses <a target="_blank" href="http://www.eater.com/2015/11/25/9800562/anthony-bourdain-guy-fieri-feud">and despised by "leaders of the artisanal food movement" like Anthony Bourdain</a>. To make his case, Repanich speaks with owners of dozens of small, independent restaurants throughout the country that have "nearly all" seen an increase in business after appearances on the <i>Food Network</i> show. Check out the best lines from the story that will leave you feeling conflicted about "the crown prince of Flavortown."</p>
<p>— Will Horowitz of Ducks Eatery in New York on his firm reluctance to be on Fieri's show: "'When they approached me, <b>I was trying to think of original ways to say no,</b>' Horowitz told me. 'It wasn't even a consideration.'"</p>
<p>— On Fieri's effective ice breaker: "'I think he noticed I was a little held back at the start, so he had us do some mezcal shots to loosen me up,' Horowitz says. It got them off on the right foot. 'The person we ended up hanging out with was super nice and down to earth.'"</p>
<p>— Repanich on Fieri's bombastic persona: "<b>He's a supernova of kitsch.</b>"</p>
<p>— On critic Pete Wells' scathing review of Fieri's Times Square restaurant: "The article mined a rich vein of Fierifreude.<span>"</span></p>
<p>— Repanich on Fieri's cred: "I also found that while leaders of the artisanal food movement snobbily dismiss Fieri, they fail to recognize that Guy has become a champion of restaurants who operate with the ethos foodies hold so dear."</p>
<p>— Beth Barden of Succotash in Kansas City on why she prefers the positivity of Fieri's show to other Food Network offerings: "'Like, on a <i>Kitchen Nightmares</i> kind of thing, if you accept the help the show is offering, you have to know that you kind of give up your right to be treated with a certain level of dignity,' Barden says. 'That's not my jam. I'd rather die gracefully on my own. I am not looking for Food Network-sanctioned euthanasia.'"</p>
<p>— Repanich on the evolution of the celebrity chef: "What Fieri represents to the haters is the last and final stop of the celebrity chef: <b>Emeril Lagasse taken to extreme.</b> [...] While Lagasse looks ostensibly normal, Fieri's entire essence, from the glasses to the hair to the jewelry to the beard, is a catchphrase."</p>
<p>— Repanich on Farsh Askari's unfair Fieri diss in <i>Slate</i>: "Askari praises Nigella Lawson, the very same host who makes 'Loaded Potato Skins' chock full of cheese, sour cream and fried bacon, because he enjoys the soothing English tone of her show, ignoring the fact that she serves food that could very easily appear on a Triple-D. He knows he can't just argue against Fieri's comportment alone, because that wouldn't carry as much weight. It forces him to concoct other reasons for his distaste of Fieri, despite the hypocritical corner it backs him into."</p>
<p>— Jackie Sappington of the Country Cat in Portland on the trouble of judging a book by its cover: "You can look at Guy, and say, ‘He's such a dude.' But that's his personality. Looking beyond the superficiality of that, <b>he's really helping a lot of small business owners</b>."</p>
<p>— Sarah Simington of the Blue Moon Cafe in Baltimore on the profound effect Guy Fieri's show had on her business: "It took me from living on a couch and upstairs at the restaurant and sharing a car to being able to actually now have a house. My mom's been able to retire."</p>
<p>— Repanich on Fieri's people skills: "He was clearly more than some vapid host just taking his marching orders. Fieri [...] helped defuse a situation where a guy was blasting his stereo outside in an attempt to disrupt the taping (It took $100 and a chimichanga to resolve it—Fieri had hoped a chimichanga alone could have done the trick)."</p>
<p>— Repanich on the "goddamned heart attack" of a deep-fried chimichanga featured in one episode: "I imagined Guy's critics thinking, 'There he goes again,' if they saw him featuring this meal. <b>Then I imagined those same critics if they'd first heard about this chimichanga from Anthony Bourdain.</b> They'd think it was an act of genius."</p>
<b>Eater Video:</b> <i>10 facts you didn't know about Guy Fieri</i>
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https://www.eater.com/2015/12/15/10217866/guy-fieri-playboyAdam H. Callaghan2015-12-15T11:00:03-05:002015-12-15T11:00:03-05:00Ex-Subway Spokesperson Jared Fogle Will Appeal His Sex Crime Conviction
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<p>No word yet what arguments he'll use in his appeal.</p> <p><b>Jared Fogle</b>, the former Subway spokesperson <a target="_blank" href="http://www.eater.com/2015/8/21/9189639/fbi-informant-jared-fogle-monster">described by an FBI informant</a> as "a monster" for the child pornography and underage sex crime case that led him to a 15-year jail sentence this summer, has filed a notice of appeal. <a target="_blank" href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ecfe5b80caae474b9a91c581559aecb8/ex-subway-pitchman-jared-fogle-files-notice-appeal-0">The <i>Associated Press</i> reports</a> that "Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven DeBrota said Tuesday that prosecutors cannot comment yet 'because we won't know his grounds for appeal until his brief is filed.'" Fogle's appeal arguments, to be heard by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, are due January 25.</p>
<p>In July, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.eater.com/2015/7/7/8906389/fbi-raided-home-of-subway-guy-jared-fogle">the FBI raided</a> the Zionsville, Ind. home of the former weight loss icon for the Subway Diet, confiscating electronics and media. By August, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.eater.com/2015/8/1/9083891/subway-jared-fogle-texts-underage-sex-franchisee">texts had surfaced</a> in which Fogle admitted to paying for "amazing" sex with a 16-year-old. He even told one victim his preferences were "the younger the better."</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.eater.com/2015/8/19/9177329/jared-fogle-ex-subway-spokesman-registered-sex-offender" style="line-height: 1.5; background-color: #ffffff;">In August Fogle pled guilty in August</a><span> to collecting child pornography and traveling to engage in illicit sexual conduct with minors, one of the many twisted euphemisms employed throughout the case that notably avoids the word "rape," making the victims sound more like willing partners than victims. Minors in this country cannot legally consent to sex; as such, the term "statutory rape" seems entirely fitting for Fogle's actions. He is now a registered sex offender, and is </span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.eater.com/2015/10/23/9604590/taco-bell-croissant-tacos-noma-australia-tickets" style="line-height: 1.5; background-color: #ffffff;">paying $100,000</a><span> in restitution to each of 14 victims of his crimes.</span></p>
https://www.eater.com/2015/12/15/10212312/jared-fogle-subway-sex-crime-appealAdam H. Callaghan