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A *third* edition of Expedite this week? Sure, why not?
Sometimes there are too many interesting stories to write about. Sometimes there are great stories that speak for themselves. I love other people’s work, and I’m excited to share more stories that matter with all of you.
I do not participate in Crunchwrap idolization but I understand it.
A pair of high-profile pieces out of New York City last week celebrate Taco Bell’s now-iconic Crunchwrap — a flour tortilla stuffed with beef and cheese and toppings and, most importantly, a crunchy tostada shell — turning 20.
It’s had a great run so far, inspiring chefs — per the New York Times — but also inspiring a kind of DGAF attitude: “You know what, fuck it — give the people what they want,” one chef told Grubstreet, referring to his own ah-ha moment after customers repeatedly requested a Crunchwrap dupe from his burrito restaurant.
The Crunchwrap, the chain’’s fastest-selling menu item ever, was one Taco Bell product developer’s effort to invent something that people could eat with one hand while driving. In its first six weeks, Taco Bell sold over 50 million. But both articles linked above focus on the menu item’s legacy, not its staying power — though judging by the column inches dedicated to this fast food menu item (both pubs ran the stories in print), it’s here to stay.
In-n-Out sued a YouTube prankster for violating its trademark. — SFGate
Bryan Arnett, who has about 60,000 YouTube and Instagram followers, dressed as an In-n-Out employee and filmed unsuspecting people outside of closed restaurants on Easter Sunday. In-n-Out is absolutely not having it and filed a suit against him. (To be fair, Arnett’s pranks were pretty raunchy. I’m surprised it took so long!)
Spoiler alert! A video announcing an LA restaurant’s third Michelin star was posted to the Guide’s YouTube channel early. — Eater
Oops! Somni, which Eater calls, “ambitious Spanish tasting menu restaurant,” is LA’s first three-Michelin-star restaurant; the 125-year-old Michelin Guide first reviewed restaurants in LA in 2008 before taking a pause and returning over a decade later1.
The New York Times’ new restaurant critics hosted a Reddit AMA, but didn’t give us much. — Reddit
It’s been two weeks since the gray lady announced a pair of female critics will share the role of chief restaurant critic, expanding the role that its male reviewer, Pete Wells, left last year. In a recent Reddit AMA (that’s Ask Me Anything), both Ligaya Mishan and Tejal Rao are gracious in their responses to questions like, “Do your advertisers tell you where to go?” and “Will you still wear disguises?” but seemingly avoided questions about their plans to potentially review “more affordable dining opportunities” and those catering to people with certain dietary restrictions.
TikTok chefs have upstaged their clients. — Grubstreet
The Hamptons is absolutely not my universe and I am sure a lot goes on there that I wouldn’t believe. But apparently the allure of being a private chef-for-hire for NYC’s ruling class “out east” is so strong that chef-creators are faking their private chef status in order to score actual, paying clients. I’m sorry, what?
How AI infiltrated perfume — The Verge ($)
This isn’t a story about restaurants or cooking, but it is a story about how AI is affecting another age-old craft: the art of creating fragrance. “Traditionally, creating a fragrance isn’t fast,” writes the Verge.
You know what’s coming next! An AI company called Osmo wants to disrupt the perfume party and claims to be building “artificial olfactory intelligence” that can turn around a fragrance compound from a prompt in just 48 hours. Again, this is about smell, not taste. But we’re getting close here: “As AI enters perfumery, are we expanding access to beauty — or automating the soul out of it?”
The casual, full-service restaurants of our youth are having a reckoning of sorts. — Bloomberg ($)
After a spectacular fall blamed on questionable business decisions that include an endless shrimp promotion, Red Lobster’s new CEO says things are looking up for the chain. Customer feedback — online reviews — have improved, and positive comments now “far outweigh” negative ones. Cool metrics you’ve got there! Seafood lovers can also expect major renovations to over 500 existing Red Lobster restaurants; each will cost upwards of half a million dollars.
You’ve heard about the Waffle House Disaster Index. But what about the Pentagon Pizza Report? — Washingtonian
Hours before American bombs landed on Iranian nuclear sites a week ago, activity at pizza shops near the Pentagon surged, per Google. A social media account called Pentagon Pizza Report tracks this activity, presuming that an uptick in pizza shop popularity might signal that employees are working overtime on something big. But is it actually legit? A Georgetown University researcher stopped short of calling the real-time metric “reliable,” but did say it’s one of many indicators that could show something’s going down.
ICYMI: Google’s AI pulled incorrect info about a restaurant from an obscure blog post, and packaged it as fact. — Expedite
An old post said the restaurant serves brunch — but it never has. Google’s AI isn’t totally at fault; it found bad information on the web. But this is just one example of the real-life implications of Google’s swing to AI-infused search results and the speed bumps we’ll hit along the way.
A previous version of this newsletter misstated Michelin’s LA presence. Expedite regrets the error.