The Umami Reader: We Support Restaurants that Support Immigrants
[caption id="attachment_29067" align="aligncenter" width="639"]
Image by @maryemilyohara via Twitter[/caption]
- The restaurant and hospitality industries are two of the biggest with large immigrant workforces, and people within the food industry are beginning to speak out about the anti-immigrant Trump administration policies. For example, restaurant owners are showing their support for their staff by printing it right onto their receipts, reminding diners who they can thank for the food they're eating. While many customers are responding positively, leaving larger tips and socializing their receipts proudly, not everyone is so happy with the pro-immigrant messaging. In fact, some customers have used receipts to voice their anti-immigrant opinions (and reasons for withholding tips for people they assume are "illegal immigrants"). There's no denying that this will become a larger issue, as any future immigration ban and continued deportations will dramatically affect our economy. Yesterday's "Day Without Immigrants" was a national protest calling for immigrant workers to stay home in resistance, so perhaps you didn't get that coffee and bagel from your local cafe as you do every morning. But maybe it also had you wondering, "What if it went beyond a day?" How would it affect your life if we had a country without immigrants? Let's hope that protests like these continue to keep us questioning and demonstrate how important immigrants are to our country, culturally, socially, and economically. (Washington Post; New York Times)
[caption id="attachment_29059" align="aligncenter" width="640"]
Photo via Mr. Holmes Bakehouse[/caption]
- Have you been to Mr. Holmes Bakehouse? The California bakery, which has locations in San Francisco, LA, and soon-to-be in Orange County, is most well-loved for its cruffins, but it recently got a shout-out from Business Insider for its California Croissant, a buttery baked good inspired by the California roll. The California Croissant comes filled with wasabi, seaweed, pickled ginger, and smoked salmon, and then it's sprinkled with salt, sesame seeds, and nori. If you're hoping for a croissant that actually tastes like sushi, you'll be disappointed, but if you love buttery croissants and smoked salmon, I have a feeling you'll be happy. (Business Insider)
- Watch this short, but mesmerizing film on the art of making kamaboko, or Japanese fishcake. You'll have a new appreciation for that pink-rimmed half-moon fishcake floating in your udon soup. (Nowness)
- If your significant other makes you dinner and then asks you what you think, it's probably best not to say it was just "OK." This was the lesson one guy learned last week, when he gave the meh review about his girlfriend's spaghetti. Police in Merrimack, New Hampshire, responded to a domestic disturbance standoff, caused by the insulted chef, who allegedly assaulted her bf by "punching him in the face, punching him in the arm, and scratching his hand." She then threw his stuff out the window, including a speaker that damaged another window in the process. When the police arrived, she barricaded herself in the apartment with two guns and said she'd shoot them and herself if they tried to enter. Eventually she surrendered. Yikes! (NH1)
[caption id="attachment_29061" align="aligncenter" width="690"]
Photo by William Mebane for The New Yorker[/caption]
- Anthony Bourdain. He inspires intense feelings amongst superfans and superhaters, alike. But whether you like him or not, there's no denying that he's got a good gig. Bestselling books, popular tv shows on bigger and bigger networks, dining on street food with Obama in Hanoi, hanging out with Darren Aronofsky, and making a living while getting to "travel around the world, eat a lot of shit, and basically do whatever the fuck [he wants]." But it didn't just happen overnight. A recent New Yorker profile gives a humanized taste of the man – the very busy and driven man – who went from washing dishes in Provincetown to being one of the most well-known and respected food celebrities in the game. And if you can't get enough of Bourdain, you'll be happy to know that you can now watch his Food Network series, A Cook's Tour, on Netflix. (The New Yorker)
- Meet Chan Hong Meng, the world's first Michelin-starred street food chef. If you're ever in Singapore, you'll want to make a beeline for his food stall, where he serves some of the best Hong Kong-style soy sauce chicken noodles. (AJ+)
- And speaking of noodles, watch this "funn" video of restaurant workers hand-making rice noodles at the Ying Leong Look Funn Factory in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Eater)
[caption id="attachment_29071" align="aligncenter" width="640"]
Photo by Laura Morton via the New York Times[/caption]
- Cat wine, it's real. And apparently, there are two competing companies who are in the market of making faux-wine for your feline friends. Apollo Peak, “the original cat winery,” and Pet Winery are vying for your cat's penchant for their "wine," which is mostly catnip-infused water. As with many kitschy pet products, this concept seems to be more appealing to the cat owner than the cat itself. (New York Times)
The Umami Reader: Mining the internet for stuff about food worth reading and watching
Image by @maryemilyohara via Twitter[/caption]- The restaurant and hospitality industries are two of the biggest with large immigrant workforces, and people within the food industry are beginning to speak out about the anti-immigrant Trump administration policies. For example, restaurant owners are showing their support for their staff by printing it right onto their receipts, reminding diners who they can thank for the food they're eating. While many customers are responding positively, leaving larger tips and socializing their receipts proudly, not everyone is so happy with the pro-immigrant messaging. In fact, some customers have used receipts to voice their anti-immigrant opinions (and reasons for withholding tips for people they assume are "illegal immigrants"). There's no denying that this will become a larger issue, as any future immigration ban and continued deportations will dramatically affect our economy. Yesterday's "Day Without Immigrants" was a national protest calling for immigrant workers to stay home in resistance, so perhaps you didn't get that coffee and bagel from your local cafe as you do every morning. But maybe it also had you wondering, "What if it went beyond a day?" How would it affect your life if we had a country without immigrants? Let's hope that protests like these continue to keep us questioning and demonstrate how important immigrants are to our country, culturally, socially, and economically. (Washington Post; New York Times)
[caption id="attachment_29059" align="aligncenter" width="640"]
Photo via Mr. Holmes Bakehouse[/caption]- Have you been to Mr. Holmes Bakehouse? The California bakery, which has locations in San Francisco, LA, and soon-to-be in Orange County, is most well-loved for its cruffins, but it recently got a shout-out from Business Insider for its California Croissant, a buttery baked good inspired by the California roll. The California Croissant comes filled with wasabi, seaweed, pickled ginger, and smoked salmon, and then it's sprinkled with salt, sesame seeds, and nori. If you're hoping for a croissant that actually tastes like sushi, you'll be disappointed, but if you love buttery croissants and smoked salmon, I have a feeling you'll be happy. (Business Insider)
- Watch this short, but mesmerizing film on the art of making kamaboko, or Japanese fishcake. You'll have a new appreciation for that pink-rimmed half-moon fishcake floating in your udon soup. (Nowness)
- If your significant other makes you dinner and then asks you what you think, it's probably best not to say it was just "OK." This was the lesson one guy learned last week, when he gave the meh review about his girlfriend's spaghetti. Police in Merrimack, New Hampshire, responded to a domestic disturbance standoff, caused by the insulted chef, who allegedly assaulted her bf by "punching him in the face, punching him in the arm, and scratching his hand." She then threw his stuff out the window, including a speaker that damaged another window in the process. When the police arrived, she barricaded herself in the apartment with two guns and said she'd shoot them and herself if they tried to enter. Eventually she surrendered. Yikes! (NH1)
[caption id="attachment_29061" align="aligncenter" width="690"]
Photo by William Mebane for The New Yorker[/caption]- Anthony Bourdain. He inspires intense feelings amongst superfans and superhaters, alike. But whether you like him or not, there's no denying that he's got a good gig. Bestselling books, popular tv shows on bigger and bigger networks, dining on street food with Obama in Hanoi, hanging out with Darren Aronofsky, and making a living while getting to "travel around the world, eat a lot of shit, and basically do whatever the fuck [he wants]." But it didn't just happen overnight. A recent New Yorker profile gives a humanized taste of the man – the very busy and driven man – who went from washing dishes in Provincetown to being one of the most well-known and respected food celebrities in the game. And if you can't get enough of Bourdain, you'll be happy to know that you can now watch his Food Network series, A Cook's Tour, on Netflix. (The New Yorker)
- Meet Chan Hong Meng, the world's first Michelin-starred street food chef. If you're ever in Singapore, you'll want to make a beeline for his food stall, where he serves some of the best Hong Kong-style soy sauce chicken noodles. (AJ+)
- And speaking of noodles, watch this "funn" video of restaurant workers hand-making rice noodles at the Ying Leong Look Funn Factory in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Eater)
[caption id="attachment_29071" align="aligncenter" width="640"]
Photo by Laura Morton via the New York Times[/caption]- Cat wine, it's real. And apparently, there are two competing companies who are in the market of making faux-wine for your feline friends. Apollo Peak, “the original cat winery,” and Pet Winery are vying for your cat's penchant for their "wine," which is mostly catnip-infused water. As with many kitschy pet products, this concept seems to be more appealing to the cat owner than the cat itself. (New York Times)
The Umami Reader: Mining the internet for stuff about food worth reading and watching
