The restaurant industry's health insurance problem

January is a tricky month for restaurants. As guests tighten their budgets and cut back on indulgent food and alcohol, they need more incentives to dine out. We love to see how enterprising operators find new ways to bring people in, whether they're getting readers off the couch with book clubs or inviting the Dry January crew to the bar for innovative mocktails. But first: Find out which celebrity Vegas restaurant was shut down by the health department.

And to our Los Angeles friends: we are thinking of you all. Stay safe out there.

On the menu:

💠 Are ladies' night promotions discriminatory?
💠 How a book club could help bring in new diners
💠 Chef awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
💠Top chef fired after a spat with an influencer

We’re keeping an eye on: How congestion pricing will impact New York City restaurants. The policy went into effect on January 5th.

On our radar: Did ladies’ night doom a California restaurant? The restaurant owner says a gender discrimination lawsuit over the promotion cost tens of thousands of dollars and led to the restaurant's closure.

What we’re following: The U.S. Surgeon General’s call for cancer risk warning on alcoholic beverages.  

Who we’re following: La Bonne Vache, a D.C.-based French restaurant that serves up behind-the-scenes shots and quirky takes on social media trends.

Plus: When a vegan restaurant chain added meat to the menu, animal-rights activists protested. The chain eventually shut down. 

Book clubs are on the menu 

“When a consumer goes out, a lot of times they’re looking for a connection, an event, something where they know they’re going to have an opportunity to meet somebody or try something new," says Cassie Dorf, owner of Chicago’s The Globe Pub. Movie nights and boardgames events are popular, and more recently, restaurants have been experimenting with book clubs. These events can be elaborate or casual and tailored to fit the restaurant and customers. In San Juan Capistrano, Calif., Suzy Fairchild-Fisher, an owner at Five Vines, decorates her wine bar to fit the theme of the meeting’s book and sells tickets for $60. But  Dorf keeps things simple by picking a book and posting the event on social media. However restaurants tackle their book clubs, these meetups are a great way to get customers in during the week who might otherwise stay home with a good book. (Plate)

Closing thoughts from a celebrated NYC restauranteur

As New York City’s Contento closed late last year, co-owner Yannick Benjamin gave New York Times’ readers an unflinching look at the state of the restaurant industry’s health insurance problem. The restaurant industry has always been tough, he says, but after the pandemic, he hoped the health and wellness of workers would finally be a priority. But today, most independent restaurants are not able to afford health insurance for their workers. Benjamin, who is disabled, actually worked a full-time job elsewhere in order to afford private health insurance. The lack of health insurance at most offers workers a depressing trade-off, he says:

"Either you can afford a root canal or you can have a creatively fulfilling career," says Benjamin, who argues that such an important industry could lobby for changes to health care. "The best restaurant workers give their all to each night of service. They bend over backward to make sure guests have birthdays, anniversaries and evenings that are truly special," he says. "Our hope for ourselves is less grandiose. We just want the dignity of ordinary days." (New York Times)

4.7%

Year-over-year price increase for pasta dishes at full-service restaurants

(Toast's Restaurant Trends Report)

💠 Chef José Andrés receives Presidential Medal of Freedom

💠 San Francisco chef’s fight with influencer leads to his ousting 

💠 Golden Globe winner 'Baby Reindeer' on bartending

"One way to think about a restaurant is that it is a manufacturing facility and a sales and marketing floor that are jammed right up against one another, oftentimes in an urban environment with an incredibly fast production cycle." - Eli Feldman, partner and co-founder of Shy Bird

(🎧The Feed by HNGRY)

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