We all live in Flavortown now
Virtual restaurants affiliated with Guy Fieri and other celebrities deliver to our doors. Is that a good thing?
By Devra First Globe Staff,Updated February 16, 2021, 10:00 a.m.
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I live in Flavortown now. So do you. Flavortown may be an understatement. This is Flavornation.
In recent days, a restaurant called Guy Fieriâs Flavortown Kitchen has appeared on takeout apps around the country. Itâs part of the portfolio of a company called Virtual Dining Concepts, cofounded by Robert Earl and son Robbie. Earl the Elder is the former chief executive of Hard Rock Cafe and the founder and chairman of Planet Hollywood and Earl Enterprises, which oversees concepts including Bertucciâs, Buca di Beppo, and Earl of Sandwich.
Aberration or apparition? Ghost kitchens could replace your favorite haunt
These virtual restaurants offer chefs a lifeline during a pandemic, and beyond.
By Kara Baskin Globe Correspondent,Updated January 26, 2021, 12:00 p.m.
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Back in the old days of 2019, youâd visit a restaurant to chat with the bartender, see a familiar waiter, and enjoy a favorite dish. Now that restaurant might actually be a ghost kitchen â no bartender, no waiter, and maybe a completely new dish, too.
Many top restaurateurs are trying out ghost concepts to weather the pandemic, and some are considering keeping on even after it ends. Ghost kitchens lack the typical infrastructure of servers, table service, and so on. Instead, this is a virtual restaurant restricted to mere takeout and delivery and restrained primarily by budget and imagination, and frequently a departure from a chefâs typical repertoire. Itâs ideal for the low-touch COVID-19 age, when customers are leer
December 23, 2020
Jeremy Sewall is best known as the award-winning chef-owner of Row 34 and Island Creek Oyster Bar, two seafood restaurants where oysters, lobster rolls, and fried clams abound.
But at La Ventana, his newest concept, you won’t be able to slurp down oysters. There are no shellfish towers. You can’t even sit down.
That’s because the restaurant, which operates out of Island Creek Oyster Bar in Burlington, is part of a growing club of ghost kitchens, also known as cloud kitchens or virtual kitchens. These restaurants exist to customers solely online for takeout or delivery, without a brick and mortar. Across the country, ghost kitchens are picking up steam: Earlier this month, the National Restaurant Association called them “compelling,” and shared that industry consultancy Foodservice IP forecasted 42 percent growth in restaurant sales from virtual venues in 2020.
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The tree is decorated, the stockings are up, the presents are wrapped, and the hand sanitizer is in place. The only thing left to worry about: What are you eating for Christmas dinner?
This year, as restaurants continue to face extensive coronavirus-related hardships, there’s even more of a reason to spend your money on a Christmas feast from a local business. Thankfully, plenty of restaurants are still open and have both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinner covered, offering takeout options that include classic and out-of-the-box dishes and, yes, plenty of eggnog. Most pre-order deadlines are on or before Dec. 20, so now is the time to start planning your holiday feast.