We’ll stop after this one, promise!
By now you've surely read our piece with Vinaigrette owner Erin Wade and her struggles with food delivery service Grubhub. We've talked about it in this very newsletter, but if you somehow missed it, here's a link. The short version is that these seemingly convenient food delivery apps are actually gouging small restaurants with exorbitant fees, and Wade doesn't want any part of that.
We received numerous emails about Grubhub in the last few weeks, many that were totally on the side of the restaurants but, weirdly, a number that were, like, NOT for the restaurants. This seemed strange to us, but we were going to drop it…right up until a food truck proprietor in Illinois posted the following photo:
You're reading that right. Out of just over $1,000 in sales, Giuseppe Badalamenti of the Chicago Pizza Boss food truck managed to gain just $376.54 after commissions and fees and promotions. Yikes. In case it's unclear, that's a lot. Too much. And with chefs (like Il Piatto's Matt Yohalem in this week's SFR print coverage) straight up saying the current models are just straight up not sustainable, one wonders how much longer this can go on.
See, on April 2, website marketwatch.com reported that Grubhub was gonna do some thing to offset costs, but Badalamenti posted the photo to Facebook on April 29. Seems like nothing is really happening. In fact, if you look back over the last couple years, you'll find the internet littered with stories about Grubhub changing its policies to help restaurants. Of course, the restaurant owners themselves are saying it's simply not enough.
So we're turning to you, dear readers. Setting aside your feelings on how restaurants set prices (which The Fork has nothing to do with whatsoever, obviously), what ways might people get food or support restaurants without succumbing to bloodsucking delivery apps? We've seen some mutual aid pages on Facebook, and we received many a letter about how people just like to go pick up food from restaurants themselves, but what about people who can't just pop out to do that? What choices are there? Let's do some brainstorming together and see what we come up with. Send these (politely worded) ideas to thefork@sfreporter.com.
Thanks!
Oh, and we realize this might invalidate our promise of never talking about Grubhub again, but we're trying to do something here, jeeze!
¡Where to Donate Alert!
We've been reading about food banks besieged by hungry Americans pretty much every week lately, so kick a few bucks to the following places.
Santa Fe Farmers Market Institute
Also
-We're officially hitting Mother's Day this weekend, and from what we hear, this means deals at certain restaurants. Like the Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi's 3-course meal for $45 per person or Arroyo Vino's two-person Mother's Day meal for $65 total. There are probably lots of these, and we encourage all Santa Fe restaurants, food trucks, stands, shingles and such to throw us on their email lists to let us know about stuff they're doing. We're at thefork@sfreporter.com. Word? Our plan? To text our mom on Sunday at 11:15 at night with "Thanks for our existence, we guess."
–The Santa Fe Farmers Market is back on Tuesdays. We know this because we drove past it on Tuesday, and because they sent an email that said as much. Wear masks and be cool, just be aware. From what we can glean, officials are taking COVID-19 very seriously, we just hope you will, too.
-Good news for vegans, too, this week, as it seems the Root 66 food truck is back for business. Like everyone else, they're being careful, and you can order online by clicking right here.
-And while we're talking about places that are opening up again, Java Junction in Madrid is back on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and, we're told, has an easy side door situation that'll allow folks to get coffee without going inside. Java Junction's Nancy Duncan tells us that "We know people are looking for getaways, whether it's on bicycles, motorcycles or in cars, and the Turquoise Trail is such a beautiful drive." Right? Right. So there you have it. Anyway, anyone please feel free to send coffee to The Fork anytime.
-Lastly in local-y things, the fine folks at local kombucha brewery Stargazer reached out to let us know they'll have offerings at Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery's weekly beer pickup thing that happens on Fridays. Here's the Stargazer site, here's the Tumbleroot site.
Nobody mentioned this in our emails, so we're keeping it here until one of you shows it the respect it deserves.
More Tidbits
-Did you ever think to yourself the one thing missing from your Taco Bell experience was the cumbersome putting together of the ingredients? Turns out the Mexican food mega-chain had the same thought and, just in time for Cinco de Mayo earlier this week, released a takeaway taco bar that lets you put together your own Taco Bell tacos. We think this is weird…just, for the record.
-Eater.com, one of our favorite food-based sites, suggests that it might just be time to make to-go booze legal. We agree. And we're not even what you'd call big drinkers. It's just that people are bumming and bars and such are hurting and this whole puritanical, teetotaling no-drinks thing is wack.
-In problems that don't sound so much like problems news, people in Belgium are being encouraged to eat more french fries because there are too many potatoes over there right now. We can try to help from here, Belgium, but we also wish you nothing but luck.
-Hot off the news that Taika Waititi (the greatest person of all time) will be directing an upcoming installment of the beaten-to-death Star Wars series, the fine folks at Fruit Roll-Ups announced they'll have Baby Yoda branded treats in stores soon. Good?
-Food & Wine named its 100 fave bakeries in America, and though Dulce was robbed, we agree with the naming of Albuquerque's Golden Crown Panaderia. We've actually been there. We actually like it. It tastes good.
Finally
In the print edition of SFR, as we said earlier, Il Piatto's chef Matt Yohalem shared a thought or two.
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A Totally Scientific Breakdown of The Fork's Correspondence
Number of Letters Received
43
*Many a person with thoughts about that oven drawer, too.
Most Helpful Tip of the Week
“I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.”
*Nice try, but we’ve seen Homer Simpson’s yearbook quote, too.
Actually Helpful Tip
At the Los Alamos County Nature Center we built raised beds with moss rock walls around them so those of us who work in the gardens can sit on the rock edge and reach in to the middle plant and weed.
*Trés helpful info from Natali at the Los Alamos County Nature Center.
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Feelin' fine,
The Fork
PS: We're gonna take next week off to try and get organized in our lives. Apologies, but we'll be back the following week.
