TWTR
Bobby Flay + the Yogurt
DON’T MESS IT UP THIS TIME, @BFLAY. To be fair, the seen-everywhere chef has slowed his roll significantly on social media, but a recent Tweet mentioning FAGE yogurt brought up some old feelings of fear. Remember the last time that happened? He essentially spammed followers with a yogurt commercial in the form of about six Tweets, killing any authenticity in a blatant show of his pay-for-play support.
I’m not knocking corporate sponsorships; you gotta do what you gotta do, man. But I stand by my earlier point that when this ridiculously awful sponsored content makes it onto a platform that prides itself for its insider access, it not only dilutes the advertising message, it turns followers against you.
So far, we’re in the clear re: spammy FAGE messages. Here’s hoping it stays that way.
DELIVERY
Wine. And. Booze. Home. Delivery.
Good idea or best idea? Sure, I poke fun at the bevvy of home food-delivery services offered in the Bay Area, but Six Doors just upped the ante with its offer to deliver booze and/or wine directly to my door. To be fair, they offer delivery of other things too, and seem to be a curation shop of sorts, helping locals find the best gifts from San Francisco businesses which they can also have delivered straight to their doors.
But really: liquor and wine. Same-day delivery. Not having to even get dressed to buy booze. I’ll take it.
DRAMZ
Fake Restaurants on Seamless
BREAKING: people take advantage of online anonymity. In New York, Tribeca Citizen uncovered a scandalous web of fake restaurants on Seamless. First, someone noticed the address of one restaurant listed as an apartment building. By cross-referencing the phone numbers, they discovered a network of fake restaurants offering deliveries serviced by one restaurant kitchen (with a “B” heath grade, FWIW). Besides being deceiving, I’m guessing this is also illegal (health codes and misrepresentation and all that.) For its part, Seamless immediately got to work on the issue and is no doubt launching a whole new way of sussing out the fakers. But, goes to show that review sites (coughYelpcough) are not the only magnet for this sort of trickery. Here’s hoping they figure out a way to fix the issue — at least for convenience’s sake.
THE FUTURE
The Future will be Televised
Is this the future of restaurants? A restaurant in Dubai (that bills itself as an “interactive restaurant”) is limiting face time with human staff as much as possible. It’s introduced gigantic touchscreen tabletops encouraging diners to browse digital menus, place orders, and even watch through the camera as the kitchen prepares their meal. Or, guests can use the digital tabletop to check news, Facebook, or any other variety of sites. (I wonder if they block porn.) Or, if that’s too much for you, you can choose a “digital tablecloth” pattern to enjoy with dinner. Huh.
FUN
Kill Some Time with the Food Porn Index
Awesome site alert: the Food Porn Index, an interactive look at the food we’re sharing on social media. (Spoiler alert: too much junk food.) The site pits fruits and vegetables like #avocado and #artichoke against #burger (seriously, click on the cheeseburger graphic) and #bacon. Actually, click on any of the elements for a fun, often interactive, and time-sucking animation. The message is clear: stop eating and tweeting pictures of junk; start eating and tweeting your fruits and veggies. Fun stuff with a solid message.
Digestifs
- What’s better than the dog-shaming meme? The poultry-shaming meme — Thirdroar
- This is what happens when you wear Google Glass to a dive bar — SF Haighteration
- A new networking platform for the local food movement — Food+Tech Connect
