Even the ‘Great’ Restaurant Groups Can Foster Bad Behavior

This post originally appeared on March 10, 2018, 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.

First, please check out our new guide to eating through Texas. We’ve been publishing regional versions of our 38 guides for a couple years now, but this one is completely blown out, with recs on where to stay and what to do when you aren’t eating, Bill Addison’s take on the state of Texas dining, and a :fire: piece by Meghan McCarron about all the complex and fraught reasons why Tex-Mex doesn’t get the pride of place it deserves compared to barbecue. You will devour it, I promise.

Illustrations by Paige Vickers

Second, I want to call out Eater’s latest investigation into sexual harassment in the restaurant industry, this time at legendary restaurateur Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group. At a restaurant group as big as his, there are bound to be bad actors. But our sources were incredibly frustrated by the fact that certain chefs were given second, third, fourth chances when there should be a zero-tolerance policy for harassment.

Meyer either knew this was happening and thought the HR response — sensitivity training instead of firing for at least two chefs with repeated complaints — was satisfactory, or he didn’t know and was out of touch with the problems of the rank and file. As a longtime fan of the work Danny Meyer has done to professionalize the industry, both options are disappointing. I’m at least heartened by hearing that they’ve been cleaning house since the fall.

Opening of the week: Crustacean

Photo by Wonho Frank Lee

Who’s behind it?: Helene An, with chef Tony Nguyen.

What is it?: This is the reopening of a glitzy, two decade-old, celeb fave. The revamped restaurant will feature a brand-new design and a new menu with a mix of classics (caviar-topped tuna egg rolls presented in smoking cigar boxes, for one) and a variety of rethought Vietnamese items.

Where is it?: Beverly Hills, Los Angeles

When did it open?: It’s officially reopening on Tuesday, March 13.

Why should I care?: I’m mostly intrigued by the plate in the lead image. Also, it’s fun when a longstanding place tries to reinvent itself, not just with a casual refresh, but with an out-and-out makeover (complete with an underfloor water feature).

On Eater

• Intel: the Miami locations of Michael Solomonov’s Federal Donuts and Dizengoff closed suddenly; a rogue OpenTable employee made a bunch of fake reservations to sabotage a rival reservations site; former Top Chef contestant Jennifer Carroll returns to Philly with The Finch; Nigella Lawson and Ruth Rogers will be keynote speakers at the next Cherry Bombe’s Jubilee; LA’s cultishly loved underground stand Burgers Never Say Die is getting a real space in Silver Lake; a Twin Cities icon is going to be bulldozed for apartments; Dallas now has Fruity Pebble churros; Brooklyn fave Olmsted is expanding its backyard; Detroit now has a weird/cool cocktail bar-slash-perfume shop; Chicago critic Michael Nagrant is now writing for himself; female-only co-working space The Wing is hiring bartenders and cooks in D.C.; the team behind Charlie Bird in New York opened the lavish new restaurant Legacy Records; Montreal fave Joe Beef opened its Little Italy wine bar; Atlanta’s renowned Staplehouse is back to tasting menu only; the drama of Chicago restaurant Grace continues as the owner alleges former chef Curtis Duffy took $10K in truffles and produce; the San Jose airport is getting a Shake Shack, Chick-fil-A, and Trader Vic’s; Portland’s sixth Pok Pok will open in the Nike HQ; Davelle, a tiny Japanese all-day cafe, opened in New York; Lazy Bear co-founder John Litz snagged a location for a casual new restaurant in SF; power duo Ted Kilpatrick and John DaSilva are opening Chickadee in Boston later this year; and a famous Singaporean snack chain is coming to the UK.
• Reviews: Kaya in SF and L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon in NYC.
• Google found a buyer for their Zagat fire sale.
• How a major Italian art movement influenced the design of LA’s Rossoblu.
• Noma’s head of R&D Mette Søberg explains the dishes on the new menu.
• How #brands capitalized on International Women’s Day.
• The spicy catfish stew served at the border between North and South Korea.
• Where to eat Houston’s finest crawfish.

Off Eater

• As the only person on the subway reading the print Times every day, I adored this piece from Times columnist Farhad Manjoo about how much more peaceful life is when you get most of your world news from the paper instead of social media. [NYT]
• LOL I can’t get over this slideshow: 50 states: 50 female chefs [USA Today]
• Bon App has a lovely feature in the latest issue about Nana Wilmot, a chef at Le Coucou, and here’s the accompanying video [BA]
• Cool thing: Tablet’s 100 Most Jewish Foods [Tablet Magazine]
• Today in bwuahahaha Juicero news [Boing Boing]
• Just one of the many amazing details in a piece about the superfans opening the first American franchise of a restaurant chain from India’s biggest celeb chef [NYT]:

On a recent Sunday afternoon, Mr. Ghotra, 46, and Ms. Kaur, 45, hurried into the restaurant, which has been in soft-opening mode since August and will officially open this spring. They had parked their olive Maserati Levante so it stretched over two handicapped spots.

Ms. Kaur, who speaks rapidly and mainly in superlatives, was talking about getting her hair colored at the salon, while Mr. Ghotra, the more subdued, data-minded half of the pair, quietly organized the business cards at the host stand.

• Oh hello, gorgeous. Check out Conde Nast Traveler’s splashy travel guide to important destinations around the world [Conde Nast Traveler]
• Looking back at five years of leaning in [Bloomberg]
• Love that the Times published a package of long-overdue obits [NYT]
• All New York restaurants are boring as hell [Grub Street]
• Tamar Adler and the rise of the quiet cook [WaPo]

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