WEBVTT - Bon Appétit Magazine Editor on Restaurant Industry

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Bloomberg

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<v Speaker 1>Quick Takes Tim Stinovic from Bloomberg Radio. At the food industry, restaurants,

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<v Speaker 1>it's an industry that we know disproportionately has been impacted

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<v Speaker 1>by the COVID nineteen pandemic and economic shutdown. We've talked

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<v Speaker 1>with a lot of chefs here at Bloomberg Business Week

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<v Speaker 1>from Danielle Blue Eric repair Uh, you name it, daniel Hoome.

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<v Speaker 1>So let's get into it with Don Davis. She is

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<v Speaker 1>editor of the multimedia food journalism outlet. We're talking about

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<v Speaker 1>bon Appetite, and she joins us on the phone in

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<v Speaker 1>New York City. Don, nice to have you here. How

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<v Speaker 1>are you, Carol High Nice to be here, Thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>having me you bet uh and great to have you here. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>Before we get to the big picture about what's going

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<v Speaker 1>on in the food industry, I've got to ask you

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<v Speaker 1>about coming into a company. Um that was like everyone

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<v Speaker 1>dealing with the pandemic, dealing with the shutdown, and then

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<v Speaker 1>your company had another layer of stress internally over racism

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<v Speaker 1>on several levels that led to your predecessor resigning, black

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<v Speaker 1>editorial staff members resigning. So tell me about kind of

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<v Speaker 1>what your world has been like since you you took

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<v Speaker 1>over the job. You were named in late summer, so

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<v Speaker 1>tell me a little bit about what it's been like.

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<v Speaker 1>Named in late summer. I came to Bone Appetite actually

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<v Speaker 1>started in November, so I've been here a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>more than three months, and honestly, there was nowhere to

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<v Speaker 1>go but up because they had hit a low as

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<v Speaker 1>they kind of reckon with their kind of racial cultural past.

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<v Speaker 1>And we have a team that's committed to, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>providing recipes and providing a service to the people who

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<v Speaker 1>need us during the pandemic where we're all cooking more.

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<v Speaker 1>I feel that the people who have stayed are really committed,

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<v Speaker 1>and I hopefully be creating an environment where people feel

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<v Speaker 1>free to, you know, talk openly about what's going on

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<v Speaker 1>and just putting out a really good product. My first

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<v Speaker 1>as who came out in March, I've got it in

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<v Speaker 1>my hand. And about that, I feel like it reflects

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<v Speaker 1>a diversity of perspective, diversity of tastes. There's something for

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<v Speaker 1>everyone in terms of accessibility, in terms of if they

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<v Speaker 1>aunts cook, beginning cook, and different tastes. So we are

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<v Speaker 1>cohering as a team. Well, that is so interesting. I

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<v Speaker 1>heard you say diversity several times in terms of how

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<v Speaker 1>you are covering things in the magazine, like in terms

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<v Speaker 1>of getting around racism within the corporate culture, whether it's

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<v Speaker 1>yours anywhere, whether it's in society. We really need to

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<v Speaker 1>approach everything with diversity. I think diversity from different perspectives.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, even age diversity. We were better when we

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<v Speaker 1>have different people from different generations and different perspectives giving feedback,

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<v Speaker 1>and so I think the product is different. Also did

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<v Speaker 1>a story about essential workers it's called the hands that

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<v Speaker 1>feed us. And even having a trained chef but who

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<v Speaker 1>chooses to work at a cafeteria and at a church.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, she's never been in a magazine like Bonappetite,

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<v Speaker 1>So that is a diversity of perspective. And obviously we

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<v Speaker 1>have ethnic and cultural diversity in our pages. We have

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<v Speaker 1>a Philippinos chef from Seattle um who runs a wonderful

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<v Speaker 1>restaurant called The Sting. So we're trying to shake it

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<v Speaker 1>up but always keep it fresh and always about the

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<v Speaker 1>food at the same time. That's been the challenge. People

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<v Speaker 1>want diversity, but they also want recipes that they can

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<v Speaker 1>use to to see their family to comfort their family,

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<v Speaker 1>um and what we're zooming and everything else that are

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<v Speaker 1>kind of relatively accessible. Yeah, it's interesting. So I'm assuming

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<v Speaker 1>your approach is going to continue this way of just

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<v Speaker 1>thinking about you know, when you think about the food space,

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<v Speaker 1>the restaurant space, all of it, it is a diverse world, right.

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<v Speaker 1>It's people who come from other countries and open up

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<v Speaker 1>a restaurant. They bring their culture with them, their food

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<v Speaker 1>with them. I mean, that's that's what it's all about.

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<v Speaker 1>That's what makes it so exciting. You know. I had

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<v Speaker 1>the good fortune before I was a book editor for

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<v Speaker 1>many years and thought briefly about with friends, maybe we

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<v Speaker 1>should open up a restaurant. One day, it was just

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<v Speaker 1>a fantasy, and someone said, you know, before you do that,

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<v Speaker 1>you have to talk to this guy named Anthony Bourdain.

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<v Speaker 1>And I had the good fortune of of befriending him.

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<v Speaker 1>And one of the things he loved was just how

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<v Speaker 1>diverse and interesting the kitchens were. And I got to

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<v Speaker 1>work with him every Friday for a couple of months.

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<v Speaker 1>And it's true, people from all walks of life, all

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<v Speaker 1>different kinds of you know, backgrounds, some lots of culinary experience,

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<v Speaker 1>some none at all. Different continents. It was, it was beautiful.

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<v Speaker 1>I loved it. Well, is there something about food in particular?

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<v Speaker 1>I always think about that. I'm from a large family.

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<v Speaker 1>We dinner was a big deal for us. We sat

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<v Speaker 1>around the table when we had company, we just pulled

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<v Speaker 1>up another chair and it was just this wonderful experience.

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<v Speaker 1>But I do think about how food can help us

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<v Speaker 1>maybe cross some of those divides that are so systemic

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<v Speaker 1>in our society. Absolutely, I think it's how we get

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<v Speaker 1>to know each other. You know, it's how we extend friendship,

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<v Speaker 1>and you know, it's how we flirt with each other,

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<v Speaker 1>It's how we comfort each other. I mean, I think

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<v Speaker 1>one of the hardest things about the whole pandemic is

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<v Speaker 1>not you know, when something goes wrong, not being able

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<v Speaker 1>to walk over, uh you know a dish that you're

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<v Speaker 1>so proud of and that you know will kind of

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<v Speaker 1>provide some comfort. So absolutely so it brings us together. Yeah, no,

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<v Speaker 1>no doubt about it. So tell me about the restaurant industry.

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<v Speaker 1>They have definitely come together, supported frontline workers, done so much.

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<v Speaker 1>It's been an industry though, as I said at the top,

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<v Speaker 1>disproportionately impacted because of the pandemic. And the shutdown. What's

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<v Speaker 1>the way back? What are you hearing from folks in

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<v Speaker 1>the food and restaurant space, Well, they've all had to

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<v Speaker 1>be incredibly innovative. I'm sure you've reported one in more

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<v Speaker 1>jobs lost in the pandemic belong in the In the

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<v Speaker 1>food and beverage space, They've you know, created pantries where

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<v Speaker 1>they sell olive oil or salt. They've extended their take

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<v Speaker 1>out and made it much more robust. And I don't

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<v Speaker 1>know that we're ever going to go, you know, we're

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<v Speaker 1>gonna turn away from that. The outdoor dining, particularly in

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<v Speaker 1>New York where I live, has just been really kind

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<v Speaker 1>of electric, everything from TPS intense to uh structures with

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<v Speaker 1>lots of heat. But it's been hard for them, um

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<v Speaker 1>and I think that they're going to have to just

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<v Speaker 1>remain creative. We're all hoping that the Restaurant Relief Bill

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<v Speaker 1>will provide the relief that they need, and without that,

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<v Speaker 1>it's going to be pretty bleak. I mean, it's been

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<v Speaker 1>a little I mean, I think many people would argue that,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean kind of shocking how much the restaurant industry

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<v Speaker 1>was left behind. It's incredible. I mean, I know, it

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<v Speaker 1>makes new York, New York restaurants, theater, museums, and the

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<v Speaker 1>idea that they weren't, you know, given more relief is incredible.

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<v Speaker 1>But hopefully this will give them some structure like the

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<v Speaker 1>airline industry, so going forward in terms of emergencies, they

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<v Speaker 1>have access to emergency funds. Hey, listen, I do one

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<v Speaker 1>and just one last question. Will there be a more

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<v Speaker 1>cautious approach? Do you think two kind of restaurants reopening

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<v Speaker 1>or new places coming online because of what happened in

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<v Speaker 1>the past year? What are you hearing? Just quickly? I

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<v Speaker 1>think a lot of them are investing in their outdoor

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<v Speaker 1>services so that they you know, we know what restaurants

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<v Speaker 1>New York City applied for and got outdoor permits, so

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<v Speaker 1>and I know vest through a great new restaurant that

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<v Speaker 1>opened in the middle of the pandemic, they invested heavily

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<v Speaker 1>tens of thousands of dollars in a heater system so

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<v Speaker 1>that they could provide seating outdoors and that you could

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<v Speaker 1>be comfortable. I think making sure that they have you know,

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<v Speaker 1>their own delivery service so that they can not have

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<v Speaker 1>to pay the middleman so much for the delivery um

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<v Speaker 1>charges will be helpful for them. Uh and I think

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<v Speaker 1>really peering down a takeout menu and a meal kit

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<v Speaker 1>service that some of them have done so that you know,

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<v Speaker 1>their customers can get their favorites uh and kind of

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<v Speaker 1>going to that hybrid model where they're hopefully going to

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<v Speaker 1>come back full roar with the whole uh in dining experience,

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<v Speaker 1>but also have a robust takeout it. Yeah, they have

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<v Speaker 1>just pivoted. It's just been amazing. Don Davis, thank you

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<v Speaker 1>so much, editor a Bone Appetite magazine joining us