The Daily Valet. - 11/30/20, Monday

✔️ Where Are We Eating?

Monday, November 30th Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

Today’s the last day I’m eating pie for breakfast, I swear.

Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

↦ It’s Cyber Monday ...
↦ To help you find all the best deals, we’re sending you a two-part newsletter today with all the sales and discount codes.

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Today’s Big Story

Where’s It Safe to Eat These Days?

Can restaurants reach a comfortable and safe definition of “outdoors”?

On Thanksgiving, Los Angeles shut down all outdoor dining due to out-of-control levels of COVID-19 infections. I happened to be driving through town the night before and saw tents and outdoor patios crowded full of people looking to squeeze in one last meal. I understood their desire, but honestly, the sight made me anxious.

Health director Dr. Barbara Ferrer told Eater, dining on-premises puts people of different households within the same place without wearing face coverings. “We know places where people are eating are where transmission is easiest, and most likely.” Especially when the outdoors starts to feel more like the indoors, thanks to winter weather.

Gone are the days when all a restaurant had to do was set up some Plexiglas dividers for a seemingly safe al fresco experience. Now, says Vice, outdoor diners encounter the great, COVID-compliant outdoors: “Canopy tents and vinyl cabins bloom, makeshift wood-and-plexiglass huts dot the horizon, and quasi-enclosed, be-roofed patios, hurriedly outfitted with space heaters and crinkly astronaut blankets, emit a soft glow from their hanging LED lights.”

Of course, the idea behind outdoor seating is not just to reduce the capacity inside, but to increase airflow between guests and quell the transmission of a deadly respiratory disease. A CDC study found that those who contracted COVID-19 were twice as likely as those who tested negative to have dined at a restaurant in the two weeks before becoming ill.

So how safe is outdoor dining? Craig Hedberg, a professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, told the Associated Press that individual tents shouldn’t be shared by people who don’t live together.

Absent consistent national guidance, the U.S. hospitality industry has made big investments to adapt to both changing seasons and local rules, reports Bloomberg. For better or worse, restaurant owners have to strike the perfect balance to keep their staffers both safe and employed. It’s trial with little margin for error. One expert in environmental fluid mechanics said, “I don’t think there’s a solution where perfect comfort and perfect safety will be achieved.”

↦ Bad News: Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, says Americans who gathered for Thanksgiving should assume they're infected and get tested.

It Seems Black Friday Was a Bust

The retail bellwether is the latest COVID-19 victim

First the pandemic came for our vacations, our sports and then our restaurants. Now, after weeks of speculation and guessing, analysts say it's clear: COVID-19 also claimed Black Friday.

Traffic at stores on Black Friday fell by over 52% compared with last year, as Americans by and large eschewed heading to malls and queuing up in lines for shopping online, reports CNBC.

Instead, more people stayed home and shopped. According to the Wall Street Journal, online spending jumped 22% from a year ago. That's because at places like Amazon, Target and Best Buy, you could get many of the same deals that stores once dangled only to those who lined up overnight.

It is unclear whether an early start to the holiday shopping season, the online Black Friday surge and an expected record day on Cyber Monday will be enough to offset the money lost from in-person shopping for many retailers and brick-and-mortar shops.

↦ FYI: Today is slated to become the largest digital sales day ever, with spending reaching between $10.8 billion and $12.7 billion, according Sensormatic Solutions.

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When it comes to health, sweat the small stuff. Because you really are what you eat.

Biden Fractures Foot

The president-elect will likely have to wear a walking boot for several weeks

President-elect Joe Biden injured his right foot while playing with his dog and will probably require a walking boot for several weeks, his doctor said Sunday.

The Washington Post reports Biden slipped Saturday while playing with his dog Major, one of his two German shepherds. A cameraperson traveling with the press pool observed him walking with a limp.

Fractures are a concern generally as people age, but Biden's appears to be a relatively mild one based on his doctor's statement and the planned treatment. At 78, he will be the oldest president when he's inaugurated in January. But as the Associated Press says, he often dismissed questions about his age during the campaign.

But Biden has been pretty transparent about his health—in contrast the current president. Last December, Biden released a doctor's report that disclosed he takes a statin to keep his cholesterol at healthy levels, and his doctor described him as “healthy, vigorous” and “fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency.”

↦ Meanwhile: The President-elect and Vice President-elect on Sunday announced members of the incoming administration's communications staff. For the first time in U.S. history, it will be comprised entirely of women.

Will Hyundai Build Walking Cars?

The automaker wants to buy Boston Dynamics for its famed robot dog

And here I thought the future of automobiles was going to be flying cars. But it turns out, our cars could be walking before they're flying.

Softbank is reportedly in talks with Hyundai to sell off its robotics company, Boston Dynamics, maker of the famed (and slightly unsettling) robot dog, Spot. Supposedly, the transaction could be worth up to $1 billion.

Why is Hyundai so interested in the robot dog? Popular Mechanics has a theory, and it has something to do with Spot's legs; Hyundai may want to adapt those limbs for its own completely wild walking car concept.

The South Korean auto manufacturer envisions the cars (which look something like an insect mixed with an AT-AT from Star Wars) are the next-generation of first responder vehicles and sees a future where these four-legged cars could deliver items and even people to hard-to-drive-to areas.

In Other News

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

The stuff we’re buying now

Drake playing Obama

Virtual book events

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You Really Are What You Eat

Why you should pay attention to ingredient and supplement sourcing

More than half of all Americans take daily supplements and vitamins, according to the University of Pennsylvania school of medicine. As Jeffrey Millstein, MD, physician at Penn Internal Medicine sees it, they’re so popular because they work. “Supplements can benefit your overall well-being with little to no risk,” he says. “The most important thing to remember is to be smart when choosing one.”

After all, the FDA estimates that there are over 85,000 supplements in the marketplace today. And, of course, each one boasts that they work better than the others sitting right next to them on the store shelves. That’s why it’s important to read the nutritional label carefully. Because when it comes to your health, you really are what you eat. And if you’re not careful, you could be ingesting what one study called “unauthorized pharmaceutical ingredients.”

So how can I be sure that what I’m consuming really is the good stuff? Experts say that in an industry left to self-regulate, transparency is key. “Proprietary blends” can be a problem, because you can’t ever be sure what you’re taking. Third-party certification is the easiest way to verify that products really are safe and clean. According to the New York Times, these independent, nonprofit organizations have scientists who set high standards for medicine, food ingredients and dietary supplements.

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