Issue 40 — Dynamic Pricing, House Accounts + a Latke for the Table
Plus a lot of recent bites...
Bites
Whole Foods heard out about the shoppy shop and wants in.
ICYMI Paul Mescal’s Adidas matched his Sweetgreen bag perfectly. 🥗
Mak Center is raffling off a private prix fixe dinner for 8 with Mina Park and Kwang Uh of Baroo in the Schindler House courtyard — random collab, but OK! Love them both. Get a raffle ticket here.
Gjelina is finally reopening in New York, following a fire that kept the restaurant closed for over a year. Their return comes with the introduction of ‘House Accounts’ — a member’s only VIP status in partnership with Blackbird. It’ll cost you $5k-$10k, depending on the tier. Here are the perks.
More on old-school hospitality from Ben Leventhal (Blackbird) + Shelley Armistead (Gjelina) here.
Arts District’s Pali Wines is now Neighborhood Winery — expect Pét Nats + Jewish deli fare. 🍷
I keep getting ads for these instant lentils, and although I’m not really in the market, I think it’s a pretty good idea.
Graza teased their new product with a game of I Spy.
Little Fish’s outdoor window at Dada is now open — fresh paint by Jenna ofc.
Sunny’s Green Tahini Toast will be at Canyon all month long. (Just wish you could buy the new flavor there to take home!)
Fishwife x Fly By Jing dropped their second collab — Smoked Salmon with sweet + spicy Zhong.
Butter is the main character, but you probably already knew that. 🧈
Táche just dropped a pistachio milk latte. Excited to try!
🗓 Coming Up…
3/13 Dada Bar opens in Echo Park.
3/16 Celebrate Woon’s 5th birthday with karaoke, a noodle piñata, food / drink specials, + a dessert pop up by @eatdomi. (New merch for the occasion, duh!)
3/16 Bar Coucou is also celebrating their birthday + they’re popping bottles 🍾
3/17 Sala Whittier & Boy Blue present Spring Fling “Food Fair”
3/13 - 4/24 Pasjoli brings LA restaurant royalty together for six fun-filled dinners
3/01-3/31 Kumquat’s March drink is a ‘Lychee Hongcha’. Their sister coffee shop, Loquat’s Spring special is a ‘Geisha Old Fashioned’ finished with muscovado syrup and maraschino cherry.
The Future of Digital Menus + Dynamic Pricing
We’re used to dynamic pricing when it comes to calling a Lyft, or buying a concert ticket. It’s sometimes referred to as ‘surge pricing’ depending who you ask… We don’t really see it as much in restaurants or grocery stores. Milk that expires today costs the same as milk that expires next week.
Wendy’s just announced a plan to update their digital menu displays to support dynamic pricing and daypart offerings, AI-enabled menu changes and suggestive selling. This isn’t a new concept for shopping online. I get dynamic ads / pop-ups offering discounts for the exact item I was looking at, sometimes while I’m still shopping on the site. The fact that prices could change in front of your eyes while standing in line to order chicken nuggets + a Baconator… is definitely new.
Could prices change specifically as YOU walk in to a restaurant? Based on say… your previous spending patterns, income level, how far you drove to be there...? Two years ago I read this headline ‘Creepy New Tech May Soon Predict Your Restaurant Order by Your Gender’, and that didn’t take off… so I think we’re good for a while.
P.S. Kristen Hawley wrote the BA article linked above, and she also writes this newsletter, ‘Expedite’ (which I think you’d enjoy). She covers restaurant technology and the future of hospitality.
Recent Bites
Qin West Noodle — Got back from Lisbon craving spicy noodles. This is my go-to delivery at the moment. I usually get 2 meals out of it, and it ages reeeaal good.
Tinned Fish Salad — Had several variations of this last week to cure my craving for crunchy greens. I’ve been buying these bags of pitted castelvetrano olives so I can just throw ‘em straight into my salads and snack on them all day. A perfect little luxury.
Sqirl — Get a Latke-Tot for the table and get it Essie style — comes with crème fraîche topped with Tsar Nicoulai Trout Roe, capers, dill, and in-house beet cured lox. 🐿
Gjusta — This salmon belly I got with my salad costs about $1 mil but it was worth every penny. She’s perfect.
Mazal x Challadad x Camber Challahfornia Dreamin’— 3 of my faves together for one big carby meal. Challah a part of EVERY course. I wasn’t shy about taking a doggy bag home. Thanks for having me, Maddy!
Azay — I’ve started a little tradition of taking my friends out for Japanese breakfast for their birthday. It was LORN’s turn. Such a special meal that jumpstarted a whole afternoon of wandering around Little Tokyo. I could browse Marukai Market for hours.
Poltergeist — Jason asked if I had been to Poltergeist so I decided it was time… I went with fellow goner and salad lover, Katie. We didn’t go for the vibe (it’s in an arcade after all). We went for the salads.
The Thai Caesar has frisée, smoked anchovies, a lot of parm, lemongrass (key flavor) and of course… the puffed rice crouton. The first few bites of this were really impressionable. But as we kept chatting, the parm wilted the frisée and we kept turning for bites of the other salad on the table.
Green Goddess Salad may look simple but it packs a punch. Little Gem Lettuce, Coconut Lime Leaf Vinaigrette, Tarragon, Pandan Flakes. The dusty bits made me think of Doritos. Tangy salt bomb. I think we liked this one better.
Origin’s KBBQ — Camber knows how to open a restaurant 👀 I brought a bunch of friends with me to hover around the charcoal grill, sip soju + eat corn cheese. I let them handle the meat… (which they loved!) I got my own personal japchae. ;) This KBBQ spot is a PARTY.
Yee Rustic Inn — Ended up here at the tail end of a spontaneous Sunday Funday (as Jesse would call it.) Martinis were crisp, wings were had. E-40 on the juke. Great dive.
Queen St. — I finally had the yellowfin tuna frites that Chloe’s been raving about for weeks. She says it’s her fave restaurant of the mome and I get it. It’s a very sexy dish, paired with McDonald’s style fries + swimming in a ponzu chili garlic gravy. “I dream about the sauce.” — Maddy
Cod Liver Soba Noodles — these quite literally brought me to tears. Food tastes better when someone else makes it for you. Period.
🔗 Last Week’s Most Clicked Link
This Heinz Ad feels like something Don Draper would have thought up.
Thnx 4 da bday brekkie 😘
Glad the world Alfredo didn’t make it into this issue