The Daily Valet. - 12/1/21, Wednesday

✔️ The Trouble With Ghost Kitchens

December 01, 2021

Wednesday, December 1st Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

I really want some vintage movie merch.

Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today’s edition is presented by

Today’s Big Story

The Trouble With Ghost Kitchens

A great idea in theory, but the reality is a messy business

Nearly a year ago to the date, Eater published a story announcing ghost kitchens—those delivery-only restaurants which have proliferated during the pandemic—the “wave of the future.”

Call them what you will—virtual brands, cloud or ghost kitchens—these concepts which cater solely to food delivery services, like Uber Eats and DoorDash, are thriving. Euromonitor, a market research firm, estimates that they could be a $1 trillion business by 2030.

Which explains why they’re attracting high profile backers, such as Uber founder Travis Kalanick. But they can also be incredibly hard to run and come with a whole host of problems.

The Wall Street Journal looked into Reef Global, a ghost kitchen company that has been dealing with a variety of issues. Everything from cooks with third-degree burns to local regulatory violations.

This mayhem gets a little less unsurprising when you realize that Reef actually didn’t start out in the food business. According to the Journal's reporting, Reef originally sought to transform portions of parking lots into trailer-filled parks that contain different service areas. After receiving $1.2 billion in funding from SoftBank, it bought out two parking lot management companies, becoming “the largest parking-lot network in North America.”

According to Axios, the companies have some serious obstacles to overcome before they become the cash cows Silicon Valley venture capitalists are betting they will be. After all, the food business is typically defined by low profit margins and modest growth. Despite all the problems, more and more businesses want in. Burger King, Popeye’s and Wendy’s have all recently signed deals with Reef. Which means if you get your food delivered from some of these locations, you won’t even know it came from a poorly-run trailer.

↦ FYI: The strangest ghost kitchen? Pasqually’s Pizza & Wings, which is actually run by Chuck E. Cheese.

A Government Shutdown Looms

Lawmakers are scrambling to pass a continuing resolution ... again

On Friday, the government will run out of money again for its operations. A reminder of how we got here: Congress is supposed to fund the U.S. government each year by Oct. 1, which is when a new fiscal year starts. It didn't do that this fall.

But as the Washington Post points out, Congress rarely makes this deadline these days. And it likely won't meet Friday's deadline either—which means it will probably have to pass another short-term spending bill (known as a “continuing resolution”).

Passing a CR is helpful in the near term because it averts a government shutdown, which can have serious consequences for services like immigration courts and food inspections, and institutions including national parks and the Smithsonian museums. The Biden administration has previously set up a contingency plan, for instance, that will ensure the CDC can continue to track coronavirus cases even if the government shuts down.

According to CNBC, Democrats have a list of priorities in the coming weeks as they try to avoid a shutdown, pass their $1.75 trillion Build Back Better bill, boost the debt limit and approve a new defense budget bill.

↦ Dig Deeper: Vox explains how Democratic and Republican disagreements over the funding bills are about substance and timing.

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Robots Figured Out How to Reproduce?

Well, not exactly ...

First the robots came alive, and now they can reproduce. This isn't the plot of a sci-fi horror film. It's the result of new research showing that microscopic life-forms can self-replicate in a way not seen in other animals or plants.

According to Gizmodo, the robots in question aren't little wired constructions of silicon and metal—instead, they're biological machines called xenobots. They are made from genetically unmodified stem cell bundles of the African clawed frog.

“There's nothing theoretical that would stop us from making these out of human cells,” said Sam Kriegman, an author of the study. And it's certainly got people talking. CNN declared, “World's first living robots can now reproduce.”

But Ars Technica warns us not to believe the hype. Reproduction is not entirely right—the copies need help from humans to start moving on their own, are smaller than the originals, and the copying process grinds to a halt after just a couple of cycles. That might be better for the time being, anyway right?

A24 Drops a Vintage Merch Collection

Could the studio get any cooler?

Not to sound like a fanboy, but I pretty much love everything A24 does. They not only release some of best indie films, but the company also offers interesting tangible products—from auctioned-off props and costumes and horror-ridden cookbooks to smell-o-vision style candles.

On Tuesday, the studio announced the launch of its newest capsule line of vintage merch. According to Nylon, the collection is inspired by some lesser-known, cult classic films of the past. Partnering with New York-based home goods brand Intramural Shop, the throwback collection is set to feature an array of curated and collectible items, from printed tees and embroidered caps to coffee mugs.

It might be expensive, but there's a bunch of cool stuff here, assumedly collected from the basements of studios and archives of film festivals from across the globe. Ever wanted a snapback hat from the film Memento or a Blockbuster duffel? You got it.

The first set drops today, but it's just one of three vintage capsule collections, which are planned to roll out in the coming months.

↦ Happy Hunting: Shop the collection or just get some inspiration for your own vintage scores.

In Other News

↦ Dr. Oz Announces Bid for U.S. Senate Seat in Pennsylvania

↦ This Is Now the World’s Most Expensive City to Live in, Study Says

↦ Canada Taps Into Strategic Reserves to Deal With Massive Shortage ... of Maple Syrup

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

Vuitton’s Virgil tribute in Miami

The Snowflake Grand Seiko

“Crushable” drinks

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For Pets (& Pet Lovers)

The Gifts Your Pets (and Pet Lovers) Really Want

For that fuzzy little thing that follows you around constantly. Or for your friend who loves their pet maybe a little more than they should. But who can blame them? Animals are awesome—they kept us sane during the depths of the pandemic and they deserve gifts too. Sure, they're happy playing with cardboard and are happy to sleep atop a pile of laundry, but they could probably use a little something nice too.

↦ Get It: Gifts for pets

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