Happy Sunday, Ravenous readers. It’s Jaya Saxena, one of the founders here, writing to you from beautiful Queens, New York: go Knicks go Mets. Or actually, if you’re reading this on Sunday, I am in Seattle for a dear friend’s birthday party. But if you’re reading this when you’re back at your computer on Monday then I’m in Queens. OK, glad we got that sorted.
We’re entering week two of Ravenous’ fundraising (have you subscribed or donated yet?) and couldn’t be more thrilled with the responses we’ve gotten. Personally, I’ve dreamed about being part of a worker-owned media company for years. When I lost my job in August, my reaction was instant relief. Yes, it was scary to suddenly be without a salary, but now there was nothing stopping us. We had to do this.
We’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what Ravenous is and what it isn’t. And one thing we’ve wrestled with a lot is finding our role when it comes to restaurant recommendations. Look around and it is not hard to find newspapers, magazines, and social media accounts telling you where you should eat. It is the content that keeps the page views coming, although that is changing now that search engines are prioritizing AI summaries instead of linking to sources. And it’s useful; I often want to know where the good ramen is in a city I’m new to! But given the glut, we wondered whether we should compete in that ring and decided that our efforts would be better served focusing on other forms of reporting and writing about the food and restaurant industries through a cultural lens — work that we feel larger media companies have deprioritized.
With that being said, it is our journalistic duty to report on what we see, so allow me to deliver this news: The hottest restaurant in New York City is the Queens Center Mall Cheesecake Factory.
You’d be forgiven for thinking it would be a place with a Michelin star, or a $100+ seafood tower, or some sort of small-plates-modern-fusion-wine-bar. But on a recent Saturday night, a group of friends and I headed to the Cheesecake Factory off the Woodhaven Boulevard subway stop, and I have never seen a place so hopping. There was an hour wait if you didn’t have a reservation (given that there were six of us I, thank God, got us a reservation, which I learned can only be made through the Cheesecake Factory app), and every single girl I saw was in a sparkly going-out top, either for hitting the club later or for the specific occasion of going to the Cheesecake Factory. The espresso martinis were flowing, the vibe was raucous, crowds were clamoring at the door, and for those looking for modern fusion, surely the avocado egg rolls count? It took us a full 45 minutes to get our check because the servers were so slammed. So remember, when anyone tells you about what is surely the hardest, most coveted reservation in your city, take it with a grain of salt. Or a plate of brown bread.
Stories From The Week
We published a profile of founder-owner Ashok Selvam, who as a Seasoned Reporter is always reticent to talk about himself, but we made him anyway because he has a lot of good things to say about growing up in Chicago and the benefits of calling your sources.
Of the interview, Amy McCarthy said that even though she’s known Ashok a long time, “I was admittedly a little intimidated at distilling this person, and his extensive body of work, into a thousand words or so. Fortunately, because Ashok is extremely easy to talk to, that intimidation immediately dissipated and I felt like I was getting to know him all over again. That has been such a fun part of building this business – learning about all my partners as multi-faceted people, not just pings in a Slack channel.” Hard agree.
We also published some of our food media horror stories, ridiculous and uncomfortable, we’ve all gone through in our careers that brought us to where we are today. A lot of these are blind items, so have fun guessing who they’re about!
🐦⬛ Bird droppings
- Our friends over at Best Food Blog gave us a shoutout this week. It warms our hearts to be a part of this new food media ecosystem.
- The Objective spoke to Ravenous' Ashok Selvam and Amy McCarthy, along with Gourmet co-founder and Ravenous friend Nozlee Samadzadeh, about the rise of worker-owned food publications.
- Soon most of my food writing will live at Ravenous, but I published a piece with Allrecipes this week about recipe theft, copyright, and why some people are so allergic to citing their sources.
- Speaking of food horror stories, Courtney E. Smith went to a restaurant in Dallas and was served a bone in her pasta. That’s unfortunate, since she was there to write it up for the alt-weekly.
Hey Ravenous, what’s something good you ate recently?
A friend of mine organized a Sunday roast brunch at Hawksmoor, which is very funny because I am going to be going to London for six days this very week. The roast was perfectly simple and hearty, but I really couldn’t stop scooping up the sauce from their sticky toffee pudding. I am someone who will take burnt sugar flavors over chocolate any day, and I really could drink a pint of that. — JS
Chicago isn’t known for its barbecue, but folks are taking notice of the city’s smoked meat scene. Pitmaster Charles Wong’s pop-up operation, Umamicue, blends Texas barbecue with Chinese and Vietnamese flavors, and I was lucky to snag a few of Umamicue’s char siu-inspired smoked spare ribs as part of Wong’s collaboration with Crust Fund Pizza’s John Carruthers, that produced California Pizza Kitchen- and McRib-inspired pizzas. As we noshed in the garage, Wong delivered an unexpected complementary course: ribs laced with that red and pink color familiar at Chinese-American restaurants. American smoke can often overwhelm international fare. It’s an experiment to balance flavors using physics and chemistry, and my conclusion is that I would like this lab work repeated and readily accessible for my review. — AS
I have to admit that one of the best things I’ve eaten lately was a single side of Jolly Spaghetti in my car in the parking lot of a suburban Jollibee. I was hormonal and in a bad mood, hangry, and Jollibee was the perfect refuge after spending nearly an hour in rainy-day traffic. I, apparently, needed that combination of pasta, sweet sauce, and sliced hot dogs in a medicinal way. — AM
I regret it’s taken me so long to visit Pilar’s Tamales in Ann Arbor, Michigan. You can’t order takeout online, and naturally, my millennial brain could not compute calling *in* to a restaurant. But when I finally did call in earlier this week, the phone was answered by the delightful owner Sylvia Nolasco-Rivers, who shares what’s available and the specials of the day. My favorites were their special olive pupusa and black bean tamale, both dipped in red mole sauce, which totally hit the spot on this rainy day. Next time, I plan on ordering in person, so I have a few minutes to explore the in-store boutique filled with wall art, pottery, and jewelry. — FD
My friend, former co-worker, and the brilliant food writer Kayla Stewart was driving through Texas to grab photos for a cookbook she’s been working on for a while. I met her at Smokey John’s for a catch up (we both cried over barbecue, it was cathartic) and ordered a brisket-stuffed baked potato. I’ve been obsessed with these since I ordered one stuffed with pulled pork at Triple J’s in Houston last year that blew my socks off. Now, if I see one on the menu, I’m getting it. — CES
