Hello, friends — the farmers markets around the Midwest have begun folding up their tents as we dance with freezing temperatures and start serving comfort foods. It’s just an excuse to enjoy richer foods and carb binge, but it’s tradition.
Tradition can lead to boredom. When creating Ravenous, we wanted a fresh approach to food media. The truth is that the editors behind your favorite food publications could stand to discover an imagination. Their editorial calendars are too dependent on seasonal cycles, and they pray that holiday spend season will attract sponsors. It’s quid pro quo. Perhaps an alliance will lead to a collaborative event where they can give away a hastily designed T-shirt or mug to your favorite social media influencer. Don’t worry. Ravenous does not care what you are doing for National Pork Belly Day on November 10 or that December 2 is National Fritters Day.
Tragically, food media conflates coverage of these fake food holidays with how it acknowledges holidays with genuine historical and cultural significance. For example, today — Sunday, November 8 — is day three of Diwali. The Hindu festival of lights is a holiday celebrated across the world, and about this time every year, you’ll see an uptick in maps of best Indian restaurants or lists of where to find sweets — Yelp in October released its first-ever Top 100 Indian Restaurants in America. It’s not that different from Thanksgiving, iftar, or Passover coverage. It’s also not different from how they cover National Hamburger Day.
I used Diwali Deepavali as an opportunity to explore masala chai, mithai, and South Asian chefs’ growing exploration of beef. I’ve got a few ideas for future Diwalis and I won’t spoil them. My former employer certainly has no reason to run them. Let me explain!
When conducting story audits (often triggered by social media attacks that may or may not be valid), news execs (not just in the food world) can point to their Diwali coverage as proof that they’re not ignoring a community. It’s certainly easier to quickly update a map annually than to care about something 365. Just tack on a few new spots that serve dosa or have a charming English-speaking chef. Naturally, other South Asian countries where Diwali is observed were added alongside Indian restaurants. The inclusion is wonderful, but it wasn’t uncommon to see gaffes. For example, you may see a Nepali restaurant included on an Indian cuisine map; who can even tell the differences between a momo and samosa in this economy? Often it’s the older restaurants from the ethnic neighborhoods that drop off the map; no one is going to them anymore, they likely don’t serve cocktails with fancy ice.
There are exceptions. They’ll roll out the carpet for an upscale operation that bankrolls an expensive PR firm. This is like a Bat-Signal to the rich who are dying to burn money. Celebrities love that shit for their social media accounts. And we know how much the food media worships celebrities in this current environment.
South Asian restaurants aren’t unique from any other restaurant needing to seize all marketing opportunities. Diwali seems tailor-made, and I’ve seen my share of press releases touting special holiday meals. And why not? There’s even a new movie, Ramayana: Part 1 playing at American movie theaters. Dinner and a show for a holiday? As an aside, perhaps instead of building a flawed AI model to sync lips, the studio could have sold masala popcorn seasoning or chakli at the concession stands. Who am I kidding… the real ones are going to sneak full tiffins into their theaters.
While I finished writing this story, my wife had already visited my son’s classroom to hand out diyas and share a little Diwali spirit. And for the second-straight year, we’re making lamb biryani using the recipe from the Dishoom cookbook. Meanwhile, later tonight, we’ll head out to an early family holiday party. Last week, Jaya asked if Halloween recipes exist, and it got me thinking about how Americans want to observe Diwali. There’s been a boom of Indian restaurants over the last two decades or so catering to modern tastes. That includes an LA sports bar serving pizzas topped chutney; spicy fried chicken in Houston; Michelin-starred tasting menus in Chicago; an eccentric brewpub in Raleigh, North Carolina; and brisket-topped biryani in Buffalo, New York. Then there’s the requisite acknowledgement of Manhattan’s butter chicken experience. And it’s not over yet, we’ve got a British invasion on our hands. And next year, Indo-Chinese food will be the thing.
But Diwali, while a food holiday, is not a dining out holiday, making it more difficult for restaurant media to capitalize on. Before this boom, wearing a sari out in public could be an invitation for ridicule. Sure, folks celebrated in comfort at home or at temple, nibbling jalebi and performing their rituals. In recent years, securing an invite to a Diwali dinner party has become a competitive social pastime. Sweets are a major component of Diwali celebrations, and I can’t count how many ads I’ve seen in the last few weeks from mithai companies across the country. I even noticed that Ann Arbor, Michigan’s iconic Jewish deli Zingerman’s sells sweets, reminding Hindus to stock up before the festivities..
And even though you’ll occasionally see something like gulab jamun syrup as a component of a plated dessert, Indian desserts aren’t fixtures on American restaurant menus. South Asian restaurateurs are watching other restaurant owners. When they see a popular restaurant’s refusal to hire a pastry chef, they appropriate the strategy for cost savings. Until this sweet dilemma finds a solution, dining out is never going to be a big part of Diwali celebrations.
Fret not, Costco is now selling “Paneer Cheese” (next to the naan bread and chai tea) and Walmart is shilling simmer sauces from New York’s Bungalow. Krispy Kreme in New Zealand is offering special Diwali doughnuts, filled with pistachio cream or topped with mango-like sherbet. We’ve moved on from The Office and “Hindu Halloween.” We’re in the capitalism phase and we’re all licking the ghee off our fingers.
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🐦⬛ Bird Droppings
- I’ve been trying to advance the thought that Chicago can’t be considered a world-class food city without a thriving street cart and food truck community. For years, the city’s restrictive laws strangled these small businesses at the beckon of the restaurant lobby which feared competition. Coinciding with a mayoral election cycle, Chicago has suddenly proposed some reforms to loosen rules for food carts in Downtown Chicago. Stay tuned.
- Friend of Ravenous Meghan McCarron, tackled a polarizing topic in The New York Times. Sysco is a lightning rod for restaurant owners who have concerns over the food distributor's penchant for buying up the competition. Still, some chefs say the company gets a bad rap.
- One of Outback Steakhouse’s largest franchisees, a San Diego-based company, has declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The franchisee runs locations in California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, and New Mexico. The chain has struggled, and earlier this year closed 60 locations. They’ve tried different marketing strategies — in September, the chain collaborated with Eater and invited influencers to a dinner party in suburban Chicago.
- Over on COYOTE, Soleil Ho talks about why they don't think restaurant reviews need stars. "In this era of hot takes and pay-to-play influencers who make their bread by declaring a restaurant 'mid' or whatever, I just hope that the establishment critic’s most important function — that of providing the why and how of the way we eat now — doesn’t get drowned out by all the noise of whether a place got one star or two."
Raven Nickname of the Week
Reader Palita Sriatana explains her choice for this week’s nickname:
“Left Eye,” after the famous rapper, is loosely tied to Odin the god of poetry who sacrificed his left eye for cosmic wisdom and is followed by creatures.
Since last week’s election provided us with a reason that it’s sometimes OK to chase waterfalls, it’s appropriate we recognize Atlanta, Georgia’s TLC. One thing’s for sure: none of the worker-owners at Ravenous are scrubs.
Want to give our raven a silly little name? You have to become a Regular. Do you want to know the raven's real name? Only Big Spenders have access to that truth.
