From French Fry Induced Happiness to Usher’s Sick Roller Skating Skillz–Here’s WTF is Happening In February (Oh, and Happy Valentines To Those That Celebrate)
There are things in life that cannot be avoided: Death, Taxes, and Valentine’s Day. Once a year, we all stop to buy bad chocolates packaged in heart-shaped boxes and the minimum number of roses required to keep our partners happy.
For many of us restaurant folk, we also have to work a few gnarly shifts pushing out whatever specials our romantically disinclined Chefs see fit to sex up the food-cost numbers. The customers (oh, I mean “guests”) don’t make matters any less grim. Nothing says failing marriage like a middle-aged couple doom-scrolling their way through the prix-fixe menu. At least the tip is usually included.
But on the bright side, Valentine’s Day is the unofficial start to the restaurant year. The long, cold nights of January are mostly behind us. Spring will make its presence known in the coming months as flowers and patio furniture pop into existence from seemingly nowhere. We’ve survived another winter—make good on the coming good weather.
For those of us who like to eat their feelings, science has some thoughts. The good news is that some foods do improve our moods. The bad news is that neither “vodka” nor “redbull” are on the list. Instead, look for foods rich in mood-regulating tryptophan–think turkey and chicken. Other so-called comfort foods like “cake” and “cold fries in the pass” only give us short-term spikes of happiness, causing us to crash out and feel even worse than we started. So stop chasing empty carbs and go for some real foods that sustain you. (You can read that as a metaphor about romantic relationships as you see fit.)
Usher never left. Usher dropped his 9th studio album, Coming Home, and held the release party in Las Vegas on Sunday. Performing in front of a crowd of 61,946, including celebrities like Taylor Swift, Gordon Ramsay, and Patrick Mahomes, Usher sang, danced, and showed off his roller skating prowess. The album release party drew an even bigger audience through various telecasts, adding up to 123.4 million viewers. In case you missed it, here’s the full set.
Hidden costs of food carts. It’s hard to make money in the food industry, but food carts have long been profitable for small business owners looking to get their foot in the door. Unfortunately, costs are rising on nearly all fronts. In NYC, the situation is even more dire, as not only are food and equipment costs rising, but so are permitting fees and licenses. At the end of the day, we look to carts for cheaper food options when we’re in a time crunch, so hit up your local cart today (but avoid the carbs.)
Inflation continues to just hang out. At this point, inflation is like that one roommate you don’t quite remember agreeing to. Maybe they just showed up at a party and stayed? No manner of hinting seems to work, either. While they have managed to take up less and less space on the couch, they still occupy around 3.1% of the bathroom year over year through January. Hopefully, with a little more time and patience, and all the other roommates agreeing to keep interest rates high, they’ll finally fade away or move to Argentina, Turkey, or somewhere else more amenable to their charms.
Pour one out for Bob. And finally some sad news: Bob Moore passed away at the age of 94. Bob founded Bob’s Red Mill, one of the pioneers of the natural food movement. He sourced only the best grains for his products, making Bob’s Red Mill the go-to brand for everything from oats to farro to sorghum. Instead of building his business only to make himself rich, he eventually organized Bob’s Red Mill under an Employer Stock Ownership Plan in 2010. He’ll be kindly remembered for his contributions to the food world. Thanks, Bob and rest in peace.
