Almost all of the bigger restaurants, and some smaller, have overhead HVAC outlets. The air is diffused and directed downward. I don’t think there’s a lot of horizontal airflow at face level, at least not in the more modern small restaurants and "upscale: places. In some tiny spots, the ones I’ll miss greatly, things are different.
What matters is the pattern of how the air is recirculated around the room, that is, how the air flows from the supply vents to the return vents.
Well, yes.
Though provoking piece. Interesting argument for letting it die.
I suspect we’ll see some pretty interesting reinvention of all the models for serving food as Covid progresses.
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That makes me think of Gabrielle Hamilton’s piece in the NY TImes.
In 1999, when I opened Prune, I still woke each morning to roosters crowing from the rooftop of the tenement building down the block, which is now a steel-and-glass tower. A less-than-500-square-foot studio apartment rents for $3,810 a month.
The girl who called about brunch the first day we were closed probably lives there. She is used to having an Uber driver pick her up exactly where she stands at any hour of the day, a gel mani-pedi every two weeks and award-winning Thai food delivered to her door by a guy who braved the sleet, having attached oven mitts to his bicycle handlebars to keep his hands warm. But I know she would be outraged if charged $28 for a Bloody Mary.
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Gabrielle Hamilton’s piece in the NYT was very good and, I think, laid out the challenges very well. Has anyone linked that article here?
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I’m not sure about this topic but from a few others so far.
LA Times piece on undocumented individuals who have kept our restaurants going:
Direct link to the LA-based non-profit working to feed and support these families:
Cross-posted here:
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How do you think this will impact hotels and air conditioning in the rooms? My wife is concerned about whether or not the ventilation and AC is shared between rooms. If somebody infected is in the room next to us could they be spreading the virus through the AC or ventilation?
That would depend on the design, but hotels haven’t come up so far as a significant source of infections. I think generally hotels don’t recirculate air from one room to another as guests would be disturbed by odors or smoke from other rooms.
On intentionally opening a new restaurant (in Silver Lake) during a pandemic;
(Gotta say the restaurant website is a challenge to find via a search: “good nice restaurant los angeles silver lake” returned all kinds of results, but not the restaurant’s site.)
Jackson Kalb of Jame Enoteca:
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I am grateful that our country is smart enough to not produce and consume chewable Clorox tablets.
I read the article. I empathize a lot with Kalb. I understand his frustrations.
But there are several holes in his arguments against third-party delivery services and Google.
These holes are either due to (A) ignorance or (B) disingenuous arguments via misrepresentation of the truth or only partial truth.
I don’t have the energy to go too deep, but here are two examples that are pretty clear.
1) His characterization of Uber Eats’ data analytics
Their backend “analytics” are a joke and a complete waste of time.
Even basic reporting from these apps is laughable. Look at what Uber Eats sends me every day (seen on an iPhone XS Max):
This is the daily email that is sent to inform you of the amount that should be deposited to your bank account. This helps with accounting reconciliation–especially for a small restaurant.
This is not their data analytics tool… They have a web-based platform for that, which he either (A) does not know about or (B) conveniently forgot to mention.
https://restaurants.ubereats.com/us/en/what-we-offer/data-analytics/
2) His astonishment about the way Google links to delivery platforms
Google won’t even let us, as the restaurant owner, direct the pickup option to our own online ordering platform (which we pay for monthly through our Point of Sales system). Here are our options:
A. Choose one of Google’s “partners” (like Postmates)
B. Do not use an online ordering button
Seriously? I get it, Google is not a charity and I’m assuming they make money off of this. But even if I wanted to pay to put a link to our own ordering on our own Google business page, I can’t do it . To be clear, I don’t want to pay. But I will if it means driving people to our own website rather than paying Postmates 15% for pick-up. And yes, even if a guest picks up food from our restaurant themselves, delivery apps still take 15% or more!
Google is able to offer links to Uber Eats, DoorDash, or whoever, based on an automated system integration. (Do they have an agreement with those platforms to get a kickback for orders stemming from their link? Oh hell yeah. [no evidence, just assumption])
But, Kalb is asking for Google to create a custom framework and/or custom link for his specific online ordering platform? And he thinks he probably shouldn’t have to pay for it?
This suggests a lack of basic understanding about how monetized tech platforms work.
I have never been to Jame Enoteca, but based on FTC reports, it looks and sounds delicious.
However, we must find solutions to these issues through good faith arguments based on premises that are true.
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(Cross-posted on the “Assorted Articles” thread.)
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I’d rather not victim blame Kalb for a couple faulty points. I don’t think anyone got into cooking because they wanted to learn about “monetized tech platforms.”
His online ordering system is run on ToastTab. I think all he wants is for that to be more apparent on google.
Chefs have spoken out about the predatory nature of delivery services for years. I think it’s a great thing more people are hearing them.
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we were working with DoorDash. They charge 25% to 30% for every delivery. That is OK if you have a fast-food restaurant where the average check is $10. We changed to Tock, where people can put in the order and pick up at a certain time. That helped a lot. …
I paid business interruption insurance for the last 38 years. They make an excuse and say the virus is not really included in your insurance. Well, the virus really didn’t shut us down. The government shut us down. They should pay up. And the government should bail out the insurance companies the same way they do with the airline industry. That way the money will go immediately to the people who need it, to smaller restaurants. They can go to their insurance guys and claim business interruption and lost money during this time.
He doesn’t need Google to write any custom code. He’d be happy if Google’s “Order for Pickup” button would just point to his web site.
Google routing search results from restaurants to its paid partners isn’t quite as bad as Amazon fulfilling orders with counterfeit products, but it should be illegal.