Happy Birthday to Us!
Chefs+Tech turns one today. Cheers to a great year spent chronicling the evolution of technology applied to chefs and restaurants. Our celebration: an extra-special birthday illustration from the talented April V. Walters. Who needs birthday cake when you can have a croissant?
So far, we’ve reaffirmed my original thesis: chefs and restaurants who express their personalities are rockstars. Also, we still dislike Yelp. And, finally, you can now do just about anything at a restaurant — except eat your meal — with a smartphone.
Cheers to the next year of innovation. (And thanks for reading. You rock.)
–Kristen
OMG
The Best Food Porn Video Ever
I dare you to watch this video and not experience some level of mouth watering. Besides showcasing the low-hanging fruit of French pastry, the video contains one of the best video sound experiences ever. Seriously. I don’t even like dessert all that much, and this video made me hungry.
More remarkable: the fact that technology — in this case, internet video — can be used so successfully to market an item that doesn’t always translate online. You can’t smell it, you can’t touch it, you can’t taste it. But the piece captures the sight and sounds of the sweet treats so perfectly, it’s almost as if they are in front of you in a way that most food photography just can not do. Well done. (Can we get more of this, please?)
4SQ
Foursquare’s New Superuser Community
Foursquare superusers around the world got an email today, alerting them to a revamped “superuser community” to connect with other superusers and receive official Foursquare news. Why is this important? I don’t know — it feels nice, for one. Second, it’s important to maintain an active community of users, especially when user data is mission-critical to your product’s success. And, finally, often users have the best ideas for product improvement. It’s the superusers who know the app best and can suggest ideas, improvements, or just rad features.
As Foursquare prepares to tell you, definitively, where to eat and what to order, this sort of user feedback will become even more important. Encouraging camaraderie probably won’t hurt user numbers, either.
TRENDY
Dominique Ansel Pastry Spinner
Proving no good trend is without hilarious spin-off content, GrubStreet introduces the Dominique Ansel Pastry Spinner, designed to ensure that the Cronut-creator continues his pastry innovation. After all, “If his next creation is anything less than a masterpiece, people will inevitably feel let down. That kind of pressure can be daunting, which is why Grub Street wants to help out.”
Following in the footsteps of his latest creations, the Cronut and the cookie-shot-glass situation (that I’m still not sure about), the Spinner includes three elements of success: an American favorite (like, say, the donut), french influence, and a “secret weapon.” (I like “vanilla air.” Sounds delicious.) Birthday Cake Creme Brulee with Gold Leaf? I’d line up for that.
NEW(S)
ChefsFeed (Finally) Has an Android App
One to watch: ChefsFeed, which has taken off to the tune of including over 1,000 chef-approved restaurant recommendations, is finally releasing an Android App. The idea is simple: chefs share their favorite places to eat in a given city; app users download the app and search through the recommendations, assuming (correctly) that chefs know where to find the best food. Glad it’s growing. Excited to see where this heads.
Digestifs
- This man developed a grocery vending machine for a small UK town without a store — Grubstreet
- More awesomely bad food photos. This never gets old. — Immaculate Infatuation
- Great site I didn’t know I needed in my life. Seriously. Read it. It’s the best. — Cooking Issues
