I've struggled with sobriety since I was a teenager, and not having adult-ish non-alcoholic drinks added to the difficulty. I'm now 40, 6 years sober, launched a weekly n/a drinks column on @thetakeout 3 weeks ago, and now have emails from SEVEN MILLION BEVERAGE COMPANIES.
Note that this isn't a complaint--I'm ecstatic, but angry it took so long. In both my careers, in the food industry and now in food media, I've literally been laughed at when bringing up the topic. But how does it make sense the ONLY liquid that can go with food is wine?
I'm sorry, but if you're a chef/somm/whatever, your job is understanding flavor, and having an imagination. Out of the countless thousands of liquids fit for human consumption, only the alcoholic ones could be on restaurant menus for like 100 years. C'mon.
I still can't believe how ridiculous that sort of thinking is, and how it was so commonly accepted. How could people think of nothing else to drink with meals besides fermented grape juice? Even if you enjoy alcohol, there's other fruits besides grapes! Other drinks beside wine!
Related to this rant: if restaurants ever open again and you see me at one, please don't send over a bottle of wine or offer a glass of something nice "on the house." I'm fine admitting to (and joking about) my sobriety, but it always gets really weird for everyone else. (cont)
I am so appreciative for your thoughtfulness and generosity, and then I have to reject it and bring up my alcoholism. It's a cornucopia of cringe. If you ever want to send something to another table, send garlic bread. Everyone loves garlic bread.
And related to THAT rant: if we're ever allowed to go to other people's houses again, don't bring a bottle of wine unless you're sure they drink. I graciously accept & will use it for cooking, but some people don't want it in the house at all. Bring snacks, cheese, or chocolate
Anyway, if you want recommendation for good non-alcoholic drinks, my column drops every Thursday on @theTakeout. I also post tons of info/reviews on my IG stories, so follow me there at AllisonRobicelli. I'm not doing Fleets. I already do enough.
In high school me and a friend stumbled upon this guy performing on some god forsaken cable channel, and saw a musical number that would change our lives—and our friendship—forever. I’m going to see if somehow the internet preserved it. In the meantime, enjoy the album covers.
I hate to say they’re “lucky”
COVID happened, but going into last year Kroger had like eleventy jillion dollars in debt. They had a good 2020 and refinanced some debt in January; definitely a company worth examining if you’re interested in big food.
Kroger has $13.5 billion in debt and $2.75 billion revolving credit facility, and want the public to think that paying their front-line cashiers an extra $4 an hour in TEMPORARY hazard pay is going to break them. Do not buy into these shenanigans.
Long term prediction: in the next decade, Amazon will acquire Kroger, turning it and Walmart into the two largest grocery retailers in America. Its an inevitable clash of titans.
Nearly every day I take a walk, grab a coffee, and sit for a while in front of Baltimore’s Camden Station. This is where Abraham Lincoln was nearly assassinated on the eve of his 1861 inauguration. Thinking about that little known story a lot lately, so today, I’m sharing it. 1/
Short bit of context: prior to Lincoln’s election, the was a goddamn disaster. Ideologically divided, hateful, and violent. The President, James Buchanan, has long been considered the worst in American history. I wrote this about him a few years back:
If you spent even 15 minutes learning about the Buchanan presidency, you could have predicted nearly everything that’s happened in the past few years. As you may have heard, history has a way of repeating itself. But now, to Lincoln! 3/
I'm a food writer who's too close to this topic to write about it coherently, but as a former food business owner who has lost everything twice to circumstances beyond my control, I'm begging my media comrades: focus less on gift cards, more on mental health & inevitable loss 1/
The losses this industry is about to fact aren't just restaurants, and it's not just employees. I have nearly downed all my pills more than a few times while at the bottom. Not mincing words: we're facing a outbreak of suicides and substance abuse relapses. 2/
Those are the most uncomfortable words I have typed in a long time. Maybe ever. I know we don't want to think about it, but it needs to be done, because when you've lost your business, your job, all your money and staring down losing everything else, things get bad. 3/
Right now I’m at a friend’s funeral. He was 22 and died of kidney disease. He was skipping dialysis because he was an hourly food service worker and couldn’t afford to lose any pay. I’m sitting here in the lobby, thinking about the people getting rich off the #ChickenSandwich.
The enormity of these things really doesn’t hit you until you see a brilliant, funny, caring and very much loved 22 year old man lying in a his casket.
This country was not built to value young black men and women. It’s 2019, and we are still not doing enough. It’s not just police brutality, it’s not just gang violence or illegal guns. It’s fucking America.
As suspected, I have been given an offer to write a book highlighting the 100 best restaurants in Washington DC FOR ZERO DOLLARS. And but of course I will be tweeting out all the details, because I am sick & tired of being asked to work for free. A THREAD:
To preface: I was referred to this publisher by a dining site in DC. This book is part of the "Unique Eats" series, which requires me to eat at close to 100 restaurants. Email opens "I took a look at your website and am very impressed by your work".
Now let's look at what they expect for this title. Buckle in, guys, because this is a long list!