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This post originally appeared on December 2, 2017, in Amanda Kludt’s newsletter “From the Editor,” a roundup of the most vital news and stories in the food world each week. Read the archives and subscribe now.
This past Wednesday, LA Weekly food editor Katherine Spiers lost her job alongside everyone else on staff (save one editor). On November 3, Houston Press food editor Gwendolyn Knapp lost her job alongside everyone else on staff (save the editor-in-chief). One day earlier, all of the reporters and editors at the DNAinfo and Gothamist networks around the country — many of whom covered restaurant openings and food-related stories in their beat reporting — lost their jobs when the owner of their publications laid everyone off.
We’re seeing belt tightening and consolidation in other major national food brands, but it’s the local and regional pubs I worry for. I may or may not even notice if two sister food magazines combine recipe testers or copy editors or even editors-in-chief, as sad as it is. But goddamn you if you take away an alt weekly restaurant critic. Or that reporter attending the liquor license hearings. Or if you trim the pages of my food section.
Listen: An excess of useless food and restaurant content persists across print, digital, and social platforms. Not all food media needs to exist. But I’ll never celebrate the demise of a local rag or the layoff of a great beat reporter, even if they compete with one of Eater’s own local sites.
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Opening of the Week: 1-800-LUCKY
Who’s behind it?: The crew behind Miami nightlife destination and taqueria Coyo Taco.
What is it?: A 10,000-square-foot food hall with Japanese, Vietnamese, and Chinese vendors.
Where is it?: Wynwood, Miami.
When did it open?: Wednesday, November 29.
Why should I care?: It’s Miami’s first food hall, but will be one of many open in that town by the end of the winter. And while it might be one of the first new-fangled Asian food halls in the states that I’ve heard of, there’s another one coming to Houston next year from a different developer.
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A Gift Guide Interlude
In my experience, the best gift to get for literally anyone is food related. Spouse who has everything, cousin you never speak to, sister who’s always changing hobbies, father who doesn’t like the same books as you — just get ‘em all a food thing.
If you need some help, we have a mega, all-encompassing annual gift guide, as well as city-specific guides in Austin, Charleston, Denver, Miami, New York, Seattle, the Twin Cities, Washington, D.C., and Detroit. My contribution was this kouign amann from Manresa, which is probably the best thing I’ve ever eaten this year. And I can personally vouch for the cuteness of the Shake Shack plushies, which are currently on the couch in our office.
Can’t get enough of holiday shopping? We also have a pop-up gift guide newsletter with never-before-seen Eater faves, AND an IRL holiday market for you readers in New York.
On Eater
- Intel: Pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini is facing some gnarly sexual harassment claims; Houston’s Hugo Ortega will expand to LA in 2019; a giant, three-part Middle Eastern complex opened in Philly; a coffee shop in Denver attracted rage for a sidewalk sign that read “Happily gentrifying the neighborhood since 2014”; the founder of Montreal’s iconic Jewish deli Beautys died; the Michelin UK account did something stupid (again); Franklin Barbecue in Austin reopened after a fire; the Tips for Jesus guy is indeed a PayPal VP; very-big-deal chef Erik Anderson is the new chef at very-big-deal restaurant Coi in SF; food memorabilia from the show Parks and Rec are up for auction; April Bloomfield’s LA restaurant opens next Friday; Houston chef Chris Shepherd launched a sandwich delivery business; Chipotle CEO Steve Ells is stepping down; fans of chef Heston Blumenthal’s famous creation meat fruit need to check out HOLIDAY MEAT FRUIT; and here are some new details on the forthcoming Nomad in LA.
- Openings: Very beautiful Asian street food restaurant Hai Hai in Minneapolis; the luxurious Bellemore in Chicago; Sean Brock’s Appalachian-themed Husk in Greenville; a four-level arcade bar in San Francisco; omakase spot Juku in New York; and Detroit’s first Chick-fil-A.
- Reviews: Three stars for Octavia in SF; two stars each for El Quinto Pino and Txikito in NYC.
- How Buffalo Wild Wings turned bar food into a $3 billion deal.
- When male chefs fear the specter of “women's work.”
Off Eater
- Serena Williams had a salad wall at her wedding. [People]
- On struggling with anorexia while working in a restaurant kitchen. [Taste]
- Two white guys are opening a ramen restaurant called “Misohawni.”[Mashable]
- Real-estate maven Steve Kamali predicts massive consolidation in restaurants in 2018. [LinkedIn]
- Feeding the need: Expanding school lunch programs. [CBS]
- Conjure up the moodiest image of ice cream cake you can muster. Now set that cake on fire. Now see how how The New York Times did it better. (bonus: words by Gabrielle Hamilton). [NYTMag]
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