2023

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Disgraced Chef Mario Batali Teases a Comeback on Instagram

EATER

Scott Eisen/Getty Images He’s in his “virtual events” era, apparently After a nearly six-year social media hiatus, disgraced chef Mario Batali is officially back on Instagram. The chef made his comeback to the platform on October 21, complete with a slightly blurry photo of red-sauced pasta and a cryptic announcement: “Mario Batali virtual events coming soon.

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Beef prices are soaring. It won't get better anytime soon

Restaurant Business

With beef inflation expected to stick around for the next few years, steakhouses and meat-focused concepts are creating strategies to manage sourcing and the menu. It's all about being flexible.

Pricing 124
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What’s the future for espresso?

Perfect Daily Grind

It is impossible to deny just how popular espresso is around the world. According to some sources, espresso – after water – is the second most consumed beverage in Italy. Moreover, in the fall edition of its National Coffee Data Trends report, the National Coffee Association states the second most popular specialty coffee beverage in the US is espresso , behind the latte.

Beverage 201
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No One Has What It Takes to Lead Margaritaville

EATER

The exterior of the Margaritaville Resort Times Square. | Clay Williams/Eater Who among us can “work in a constant state of alertness”? Ah, Margaritaville Times Square , a land of contrasts. A beacon of beach chill in the middle of New York’s most upsettingly busy neighborhood. A place with terrible food and surprisingly good cocktails. A place that has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy twice in an attempt to refinance $309 million in debt , raising the question, “If Margaritaville is foreclosed,

Hiring 140
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Less Stress, More Success: Accounting Best Practices & Processes for 2025

Speaker: Amanda Adams, Fractional CFO, CPA

Are you ready to elevate your accounting processes for 2025? 🚀 Join us for an exclusive webinar led by Amanda Adams, a seasoned fractional CFO and CPA passionate about transforming back-office operations for finance teams. This session will cover critical best practices and process improvements tailored specifically for accounting professionals.

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How Butter Beans Went From Gross to Glamorous

EATER

Lille Allen | Eater The unlikely “it” bean of 2023 has had a meteoric rise, thanks largely to vegan and vegetarian influencers who are embracing it as a main character, not a forgettable side dish About six months ago, I started noticing food influencers on TikTok going gaga over butter beans. As an omnivore who loves meat and whose husband leans vegetarian, I often rely on TikTok for recipe inspiration, so the idea of substituting animal protein with beans wasn’t new or shocking.

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The Restaurant Industry Has a Child Labor Problem

EATER

A protest against child labor outside a Popeyes in Oakland, CA | Fight for $15 Over the past few years child labor violations have surged across the food industry. Why? If it seems like child labor has been in the news a lot lately, that’s because it has. In recent months, a number of companies, many of them in the food industry, have been accused of violating federal and state labor laws by allowing children to work long hours in sometimes hazardous conditions.

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Houston, we have a tomato: ISS astronauts locate missing fruit (or vegetable)

The Salt

A missing tomato sparked a lighthearted mystery for the astronauts on board the International Space Station — and it's finally been solved after months of accusations and intrigue.

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Is Your Restaurant AI the Real Deal? Here Are Five Questions to Ask Vendors

Modern Restaurant Management

The restaurant industry is undergoing a technology renaissance. Everywhere you care to look, AI and automation can be found taking on critical roles and supporting restaurants, bars, cafes, and coffee shops still battling against labor shortages and rising inflation. Robots are helping with food prep and even serving dine-in customers. Data-driven analytics tools are allowing restaurants to optimize pricing and personalize menu options.

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MRM EXCLUSIVE: Consumer Data Analytics Reveal Dining Patterns to Attract Customers 

Modern Restaurant Management

The last few years have not been easy for several key industries in the U.S., including restaurants. According to CNN, there are fewer U.S. restaurants today than in 2019 and it is not clear when —if ever — they’re coming back. In 2022, there were about 631,000 restaurants in the United States. That’s roughly 72,000 fewer than in 2019.

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Specialty roasters: How often should you rotate your green coffee?

Perfect Daily Grind

For the majority of roasters, it’s never been as important to stay competitive. With rising energy and labour costs, coffee businesses’ margins are as tight as ever. However, it’s still imperative that roasters continue to sell a variety of coffees to suit a number of consumer taste preferences. But alongside this, roasters also need to make sure all their coffee stays fresh – no matter how many they are selling at any given time.

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Reduce Bias in Hiring: Structured Interview Questions for Employers

Structured interview questions are a valuable tool for reducing bias in hiring. They help: Ensure all candidates are asked the same questions in the same way Level the playing field so all candidates have a fair chance of being successful Improve credibility, reliability, and validity Download the guide to get the most out of your interview questions!

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How has robusta production in Nicaragua developed in recent years?

Perfect Daily Grind

Robusta accounts for approximately 30% to 40% of the global coffee supply; countries like Vietnam, Brazil, and Indonesia are the largest producers of robusta in the world. Robusta makes up as much as 95% of Vietnam’s annual coffee production , while Reuters reported in May 2022 that Brazil’s robusta production was set to increase by 4.1% last year. The latter is an indication that global demand for robusta has been increasing in recent months – thanks in part to rising arabica prices in 2021 and

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Clarissa Wei Knows All Too Well That Food Is Political

EATER

An Rong Xu /Eater In her debut cookbook, ‘Made in Taiwan,’ the journalist uses recipes to tell the story of the island’s people, and take a stand on its sovereignty “I’m not a food influencer or a professional chef,” Clarissa Wei says. “A lot of people are really good at coming up with gorgeous new recipes that no one has ever seen before. That’s not my strong suit at all.

Food 145
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Feast on Sushi, Steak, and Globalization at Iraq’s American-Themed Buffet

EATER

Inspired by a Florida Golden Corral, developed in the Netherlands, and imported to Kurdistan, ABC Restaurant features an assortment of global cuisines all filtered through the semi-autonomous region’s relationship with the U.S. Every Friday at dinner time, a spry-looking Uncle Sam — stovepipe hat, stars-and-stripes suit, surprisingly brown beard — dances his way around the 11 sprawling buffet stations of ABC Restaurant.

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What We Lost in the Lahaina Fire

EATER

Lille Allen/Eater The fire razed Maui’s densest dining town, destroying the fifth-generation-owned Nagasako Okazuya Deli, Maui’s oldest dive bar, the pickle mango stand on Front Street, and so much more Throughout its centuries-long history, Lahaina has been many things to many people: a royal residence, a missionary post, a hard-partying harbor town, a tourist trap.

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Food & Beverage Industry Report 2024

Driven by a diverse and exciting ecosystem of passionate, ambitious, and often young entrepreneurs, the Food & Beverage (F&B) sector is a highly competitive environment full of immense challenges and exciting opportunities. Expert Market’s 2024 industry report, sponsored by Toast, is informed by a survey of 522 U.S. food and beverage professionals, from restaurant owners to food service managers, providing insights into the real-time challenges and opportunities within the industry.

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The Many Causes and Effects of Keith Lee

EATER

Lille Allen | Eater Known to 15 million TikTok followers for his candid restaurant reviews and multi-thousand-dollar tips, here’s how the MMA-fighter-turned-social-media-phenomenon became the voice of a generation of diners There is no shortage of food opinions online. (Hi, you’re on Eater.) But over the past year, Keith Lee has emerged as the voice millions of people turn to for their restaurant recommendations.

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Supermarket Food Waste Is a Big Problem. Is Dynamic Pricing the Solution?

EATER

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images According to a new study, grocery stores could keep more food out of landfills, increase profits, and pad customers’ pockets by adopting a practice widely used by airlines, hotels, and other industries This story was originally published on Civil Eats. Picture yourself grocery shopping. In the bread aisle, you see two loaves identically wrapped; both are perfectly edible, but one is a day older and costs half the price.

Waste 136
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Clarkisha Kent Isn’t Afraid of a Changing Body

EATER

In her memoir “Fat Off, Fat On: A Big B h Manifesto,” the author navigates fatphobia, ableism, and the good intentions that can fuel social inequalities Listen to this article Very early in Fat Off, Fat On: A Big B h Manifesto , cultural critic Clarkisha Kent’s new memoir unpacking how fatphobia, disability, and other social issues intersect, Kent makes her most salient identities known: She is a dark-skinned, first-generation, Nigerian American, bisexual, disabled woman.

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Everything We Know About New McDonald’s Chain, CosMc

EATER

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Starbucks, McDonald’s is coming for you By all accounts, McDonald’s is doing just fine. The fast food behemoth’s sales have been great , with price increases adding to its bottom line. But McDonald’s is also. McDonald’s. It’s just there. Aside from some collaborations with celebrities and the occasional introduction of a new sandwich or sauce, it mostly serves as the unchanging standard against which all other fast food is measured.

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Why Every Small Business Needs an HCM Solution: A Comprehensive Guide

Managing HR tasks like payroll, compliance, and employee data can overwhelm small businesses. That’s where a Human Capital Management (HCM) solution comes in. Our eBook, Why Every Small Business Needs an HCM Solution: A Comprehensive Guide , shows how an HCM system automates tedious processes, ensuring your business stays compliant and efficient. You’ll learn how to simplify payroll, eliminate costly errors, and empower your employees with self-service tools.

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A Square Outage Hits the Service Industry Hard

EATER

Square’s point-of-sale system is used by millions of small businesses. | Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images The point-of-sale system has experienced widespread disruptions to multiple services On Thursday, the payment processing company Square experienced a widespread outage. The point-of-sale system is used by millions of small businesses, including restaurants and food vendors, and the network’s downtime left many of them unable to process transactions.

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Confessions of a Tableside Flambéur

EATER

Lille Allen/Eater A former fine dining server dishes on how the flambé, a dying convention of French haute cuisine, became the ultimate tableside flex I can feel sweat soaking through the armpits of my $5,000 Tom Ford suit and a nagging itch along the starched collar of my custom-fitted tuxedo shirt. Even though I’m working at one of the most popular restaurants in New York City, I’m dressed better than most of the men in the dining room.

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The Kikkoman Soy Sauce Bottle Is Priceless

EATER

The Kikkoman soy sauce bottle in its many iterations. | Photos by Nippon & Co, lottaocean , modemedia , and irokk. Photo illustration by Lille Allen Special releases of the iconic soy sauce bottle can fetch hundreds of dollars online, especially among Americans, who have formed a deep relationship with the Japanese brand It’s a shape so ubiquitous it’s become nearly invisible: an easy-to-grip, pear-shaped glass bodice planted on a sturdy base, a tapered neck swooping up to a red cap, and mos

Design 137
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Finding Joy in the Garden

EATER

My first experience of gardening was a lesson in scarcity and sustenance. Returning to it years later, as an adult with a connective tissue disorder, I would also discover the joy. The summer stretched long and hot in southeastern Ohio, where the Appalachian hills begin their climb. The dirt road painted everything white with dust; a drought had hit us early and promised to cling late.

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Maximize Restaurant Profitability: 5 Key Strategies to Control Costs Effectively

Running a profitable restaurant requires more than great food and service. Our guide breaks down five actionable strategies to help you control costs and maximize profitability. Learn how to track and reduce food waste, optimize labor costs with smart scheduling, make data-driven decisions with regular P&L reviews, and manage fixed and variable costs efficiently.

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The 19 Most Funnest, Most Wildest, Most Unbelievably Extra Restaurants in America

EATER

Lille Allen/Eater The most over-the-top, maximally good time you’ll have while eating Dinner is theater. As long as there have been seafood towers, cheese carts, and singing waiters, we’ve known this. But here in the U.S., some restaurants have embraced the multi-sensory entertainment potential of eating food a little more than others. Would that bowl of tortilla chips be just as crunchy without the live cliff diving show?

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The Next Era of American Fine Dining Is Here, Care of West Africa

EATER

Photos: Teranga, Dept of Culture, Nok by Alara | Illustration: Eater Chefs are spotlighting their culinary heritage on tasting menus, at buzzy pop-ups, and at new restaurants across the country At Dept of Culture, a soft white cheese called wara comes plated with stew — blended and cooked tomatoes, bell peppers, and onions, spiced like many Nigerians prefer it.

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In ‘Les Troisgros,’ a Restaurant Documentary That’s Well Worth Watching

EATER

Zipporah Films In “Menus-Plaisirs — Les Troisgros,” Frederick Wiseman turns his attention to fine dining at three-Michelin-starred restaurant Troisgros None of the cinematic tropes that have come to define today’s food documentaries — sweeping pans, glistening surfaces, a climactic symphony of strings — are present in Menus-Plaisirs — Les Troisgros , a spellbinding new four-hour documentary about the three-starred Michelin restaurant Troisgros.

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The Next Generation of American Cheese

EATER

Lille Allen/Eater The founders of New School cheese say they are making the first “quality” American cheese The joke that people love to hate — or hate to love — American cheese is outdated. We’re at the point where we can all admit it’s good. You ever top a burger with fresh mozzarella and watch as it sits there and does everything but melt? Ever try putting a slice of cheddar on ramen only to witness the puddles of fat sweat out from the clumpy solids?

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Best Practices to Streamline Compensation Management: A Foundation for Growth

Speaker: Joe Sharpe and James Carlson

Payroll optimization can be one of the most time-consuming and complex factors of small business management. Yet, organizations that crack the code on streamlining employee compensation often discover innovative avenues for growth. With the right strategies in place, outsourcing and streamlining payroll processes can result in substantial time and resource savings.

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The Bitter Taste of ‘Not Too Sweet’

EATER

Asian Americans have claimed the phrase “not too sweet” as a defiant shorthand and a cheeky rallying cry. But is that maxim really true? The finale of every childhood family function was the same. Aunties would unveil a tray of gulab jamun and start to circulate the house, or the servers at whatever restaurant was hosting would plop a bowl on the table in front of us.

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The Best Food Books to Read This Fall

EATER

For when you want to read about food, not just eat it. | Lille Allen/Eater With these 11 works of food-focused fiction and nonfiction you won’t mind being cooped up inside as the temperatures drop As the blistering heat of summer subsides, giving way to cooler temperatures and changing leaves, there’s no better time than the present to cozy up with a good book.

Book 145
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The 16 Best Cookbooks of Fall 2023

EATER

Andrea D’Aquino /Eater New books by Sohla El-Waylly, J.J. Johnson, Molly Baz, and more provide plenty of inspiration to return to the kitchen In France, this time of year is called “la rentrée,” a term that translates to both “the return” and “back to school.” I think of it in terms of returning to the kitchen; although many of us never left, the promise of cooler temperatures, however distant, makes the idea of spending real time in proximity to an oven not only palatable but desirable.

2023 145
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Why Do All Chefs Cross Their Arms in Photos?

EATER

Jean-Georges Vongerichten, a master of the crossed arms look, in 2007. | Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images A completely serious investigation of the most popular pose on restaurant websites, TV cooking shows, and photo ops Jamie Oliver does it. David Chang and Christina Tosi do it. Giada De Laurentiis and Emeril Lagasse don’t know what to do with their hands, but they’ve done it.

Magazine 141
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Pricing for Profit: How to Set, Negotiate, and Succeed

Speaker: Igli Laci, Strategic Finance Leader

In today’s competitive market, pricing is more than just a number — it’s the cornerstone of profitability. The right pricing strategy ensures that you capture the true value of your offering, paving the way for sustainable growth and long-term success. Join Igli Laci, Strategic Finance Leader, in this exclusive session where he will explore how a well-crafted pricing approach balances customer perception with business objectives, creating a powerful tool for securing both competitive advantage a