Podcasts about virtual dining concepts

Linked Eats president and Virtual Dining Concepts cofounder Robbie Earl joins QSR editors Danny Klein and Ben Coley for a deep dive into a category and topic that continues to evolve. All the rage when dining rooms shut down, how have virtual brands innovated to remain a viable revenue option? How are operators viewing the potential? What kind of technology has entered the fray to open more avenues of business and help restaurants handle the rush of digital orders? We get into all of that and a whole lot more.

The episode's guest is Robby Earl, president of Virtual Dining Concepts (the company behind Beastburger). Robby is also president of Linked Eats, a new technology company that makes software for virtual restaurant brand operators. I caught up with Robbie last week to talk about his new company and its technology and to get an update on what is going on in the virtual restaurant space, an industry that has seen some challenges in recent years. We also talk about the reshuffling of the VDC brand portfolio and get an update on the lawsuit between VDC and BeastBurger. Enjoy the conversation! Remember to subscribe to our new show, The Food Tech News Show. Our latest guest is Molly Wood, longtime podcaster and host of Everbody in The Pool.

What is the future of virtual restaurants? This week's episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Robbie Earl, the co-founder of Virtual Dining Concepts. The company is now the largest operator of digital-only brands, which operate inside other restaurants, ghost kitchens and other facilities. They typically do not have a traditional storefront. Virtual brands were all the rage during the pandemic but for various reasons they have slowed coming out of it. Some of them have been quite successful and others not so much. We talk about how virtual brands can ensure the restaurants they work with produce quality food. We discuss whether they should open more brick-and-mortar locations. We ask about Virtual Dining Concepts' relationship with MrBeast Burger, currently embroiled in litigation. And we talk about what makes a good virtual brand partnership and whether anything has changed more recently. This is a fascinating discussion about a fascinating topic so please check it out.

It looks like Panera Bread is not, in fact, exempt from California's fast-food wage hike. Get to know unified commerce, the latest tech buzzword. And Virtual Dining Concepts continues to collect concepts.

Ever wondered how the restaurant industry is evolving amidst the shockwaves of the pandemic and soaring labor costs? Brace yourselves for an enlightening conversation with industry mavericks - Zach Rash, co founder and CEO of Coco Robotics, Seth Cohen, president of Sweetfin, Jim Goodman of Bevy and Glenn Gerlich of Loop AI, and of course the irrepressibly impressive Alex Canter and our host, Saul Cooperstein of Virtual Dining Concepts.We're also putting the spotlight on the intriguing tie-up of real estate and future delivery platforms in the restaurant industry in this episode. We delve into the potential of robotics in tackling high delivery costs and making it more profitable for restaurants. We also discuss the impact of technology such as drones and robots on the controversial topic of delivery platforms and their commissions. Our conversation takes a forward-looking turn as we delve into our expansion plans for 2024, the rise of virtual brands, and the importance of aligning with industry trends. We wrap up by exploring how vendors and suppliers can approach businesses in this fast-paced industry. So, join us for a thought-provoking discussion on strategies, industry trends, and the future of the restaurant industry. Be prepared for a hearty serving of knowledge!Support the show

This week on VG Pulse, we have a surprise dragon once more! We start off with side notes of Kassy’s health and Millennium’s joyous journey into the land of finding cars in 2023! After the side notes we dive into the regular news where we discuss Gamestop losing its CFO, Nintendo’s new console reportedly being due out late next year, MrBeast suing Virtual Dining Concepts over his food brand being damaged with mass reports of undercooked and inedible food, and Rockstar hiring on a modding team that it had previously banned! After the news we go over the discord discussions, and close out with talk of food and anime! All … Continue reading "VG Pulse 394: Deer Hunter"

Hold on to your controllers, folks, this episode is a wild ride through the gaming universe you won't want to miss. From Nintendo's resurrection of Wii U servers for Splatoon and Mario Kart to the controversy surrounding the Last Hope, Dead Zone Survivor, we're navigating the ins and outs of the exciting developments in the gaming industry.We're also examining the impact of influencers in the gaming community, sparked by an incident involving Twitch content creator Sonato. We're playing referee in the gaming rivalry between Nintendo and Sony, and even take a look at our own gaming preferences influenced by sibling rivalry and individuality. From Street Fighter and Tekken to Mortal Kombat, we're dissecting why we choose the characters we do.But it's not all about the games, as we explore Microsoft's eco-friendly initiative offering replacement parts and repair info for controllers, and discuss the legal spat between Mr. Beats and Virtual Dining Concepts over food deliveries. We'll also delve into Twitch's new rule updates and the development of an emulator for the Zebo console by developer Tuxality. Plus, we're tackling the tech world's potential switch of iPhone to USB-C and saying a fond farewell to our friend Dr. Spessman. Get ready, because it's game time!Support the show

In the 30th episode of the Food On Demand Podcast, hosts Tom and Bernadette interview Bikky co-founder and CEO Abhinav Kapur about the future of customer relationship management and loyalty in restaurants. They also cover MrBeast filing suit against Virtual Dining Concepts and Domino's signing with its first third-party delivery provider—Uber Eats.

The week after YouTuber MrBeast, aka Jimmy Donaldson, filed a lawsuit against MrBeast Burger parent company, Virtual Dining Concepts, for harm to his brand, Virtual Dining Concepts is now filing a countersuit. While the original lawsuit against VDC claims that the poor quality of MrBeast Burger has done “material, irreplaceable harm” to his brand, Virtual Dining Concepts' countersuit claims that Donaldson has failed to honor his contractual obligations with the company and is interfering with the business dealings between VDC and MrBeast Burger.While MrBeast Burger is one of the most recognizable and lucrative virtual restaurant brands currently on the market, the brand has received mixed reviews. According to Donaldson's original lawsuit against Virtual Dining Concepts, the food is often delivered in unmarked and unbranded packaging and has been described by some reviewers as “disgusting,” “inedible,” and “the worst burger I ever had.”

ABC News Technology Reporter Mike Dobuski talks about a "ghost kitchen" company called Virtual Dining Concepts suing one of the biggest entertainers on the internet "Mr. Beast" Jimmy Donaldson for $100 million over the MrBeast Burger.

ABC News Technology Reporter Mike Dobuski talks about a "ghost kitchen" company called Virtual Dining Concepts suing one of the biggest entertainers on the internet "Mr. Beast" Jimmy Donaldson for $100 million over the MrBeast Burger.

Sbarro is on the comeback trail. MrBeast filed a lawsuit against Virtual Dining Concepts. And we'll discuss the LTO's trending on menus this week.

After announcing in June that he was “moving on from MrBeast Burger” in a series of now-deleted tweets, YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson is suing his virtual restaurant parent company, Virtual Dining Concepts for “material, irreparable harm” to his brand and reputation.According to the lawsuit filed Monday with the United States District Court of the Southern District of New York, when Donaldson signed on with Orlando, Fla.-based ghost kitchen company, Virtual Dining Concepts in 2020 to launch his virtual burger brand, the company began focusing on rapid expansion and pitching the same business model to other celebrities instead of quality control.Although MrBeast Burger is one of the largest and most recognizable virtual restaurant brands to come out of the pandemic, the lawsuit takes issue with the low-quality food — often delivered in unmarked and unbranded packaging — described by reviewers as “disgusting,” “inedible,” and “the worst burger I ever had.”

It's the first day of August and believe it or not, it's back to school time for some! Today we talk about Toyota's climbing Q2 results, some major heat related car problems in the south, as well as a Mr. Beast lawsuit that starts with a story. Toyota Motor Corp. nearly doubled its operating profit to $7.75 billion in the latest quarter, fueled by semiconductor shipments and strong sales in major markets. However, the company is concerned about the weaker performance in North America, which is affecting its ability to invest in electric vehicle production.Toyota Motor Corp. nearly doubled its operating profit in the last quarter due to increased supply from semiconductor shipments and strong sales in key markets, especially in Japan. The operating profit rose to $7.75 billion, up from $4.00 billion a year earlier.North America margins sat at 3% while Europe was at 6.3% and Japan at 14% leading to an overall margin of 10.6%, up from 6.8% last yearThe company maintains its forecast for record production, global sales, and operating profit, despite uncertainty in the U.S. market. Toyota's outlook calls for production of Toyota and Lexus brand vehicles to climb to a record 10.1 million vehicles in the current fiscal year, with global retail sales expected to reach a record 11.38 million unitsThe historic heatwaves in Texas are leading to unexpected vehicle breakdowns, according to mechanics and technicians from Bosch. In addition to common issues like dead car batteries and flat tires due to the extreme heat, newer problems are also emerging. Rubber compounds as well as the actual plastics in windshield wipers are breaking down, leading to scratches on the glass. Doc Watson, the Bosch training manager, said, "You're driving around in 112° temperature, you've got heat reflecting off the glass, and that causes the rubber components of a wiper blade to break down.”The high temperatures are negatively affecting car brakes as well. The heat causes the moisture trapped in the brake fluid within the master cylinder to expand, leading to a loss of brake feel, or "brake fade."The YouTube star, Mr. Beast (aka Jimmy Donaldson) is growing up and has lawyered up. He and his company, Beast Investments, is filing a lawsuit against his business partner, Virtual Dining Concepts, over the quality of his branded food line, MrBeast Burger. Citing 'inedible' food and damaged reputation, Donaldson seeks to terminate the business relationship, pointing to issues of late deliveries, unbranded packaging, and even missing ordered items."The suit alleges that Virtual Dining Concepts prioritized expansion over quality control, leading to food quality that was consistently poor and damaging to MrBeast's brand. Negative reviews cited in the lawsuit include descriptors such as "revolting" and "likely the worst burger [they] have ever had. Hosts: Paul J Daly and Kyle MountsierGet the Daily Push Back email at https://www.asotu.com/ JOIN the conversation on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/asotu/ Read our most recent email at: https://www.asotu.com/media/push-back-email ASOTU Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/automotivestateoftheunion

In this solo episode I discuss two different topics.  The first half is a look at the success and impact of MrBeast Burger in 2023. I know, why bother caring about an influencer selling mass produced burgers? The reality is that 55% of adults say that food e-commerce is an essential and with the digital food economy growing having awareness of what works and why is integral.  The second half of this podcast is focused on an article by the Washington Post this month that highlights the responsibility and impact Michelin has on Chefs when taking away a star. I discuss how our culture as both workers and diners puts an insane amount of pressure on chefs, the precariousness of those who need to keep their starred status and why it is important to highlight this in the industry.  Link to the Washington Post article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/03/02/michelin-stars-chefs-mental-health/ Link to Virtual Dining Concepts website: https://joinvdc.com/ Join the newsletter community at linecookthoughts.com

Is this the future for pizza restaurants? Teaming up with influencers to create virtual restaurants. We discuss.   For more podcasts episode or marketing help visit https://www.smartpizzamarketing.com   Learn from us:  https://www.smartpizzamarketing.com/mastermind Work with us: https://www.smartpizzamarketing.com/zip   Get our pdf of 65 content ideas for your restaurant https://www.smartpizzamarketing.com/contentideas   Gear Used for this: Cannon g7x: https://amzn.to/2TaMJql Cannon Rebel t6ii:  https://amzn.to/31r2yhg At2020 microphone: https://amzn.to/3jhh1lM Ring Light: https://amzn.to/34eMPUr Scarlett mixer: https://amzn.to/3m1fNNx   Contact Us:  P.O. Box 82  Swampscott MA 01907   Subscribe to the SPM Podcast: Itunes: http://www.smartpizzamarketing.com/Itunes   Subscribe the Local Business Podcast: Itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../the-local.../id1492927865 Follow along on social:  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smartpizzamarketing Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smartpizzamarketing Bruce Irving: https://www.instagram.com/theBruceIrving Twitter: https://twitter.com/Irvingmedia Website: http://www.smartpizzamarketing.com

Virtual Dining Concepts CEO Stephanie Sollers (@cregansollers) uses inspiration drawn from athletics to create unique opportunities for brands to collaborate with the innovative restaurant technology company. Listen now to learn about marketing and branding in the creator economy, the importance of storytelling, and working with Mr. Beast, Faze Clan, and more. Sponsored by: Toast POS System — https://bit.ly/3vpeVsc DAVO Sales Tax — https://bit.ly/3rf2BcB Atmosphere TV — https://bit.ly/3Mbc2TZ

Virtual Dining Concepts CEO Stephanie Sollers (@cregansollers) uses inspiration drawn from athletics to create unique opportunities for brands to collaborate with the innovative restaurant technology company. Listen now to learn about marketing and branding in the creator economy, the importance of storytelling, and working with Mr. Beast, Faze Clan, and more. Sponsored by: Toast POS System — DAVO Sales Tax —  Atmosphere TV —

JustKitchen (TSXV: JK, OTC: JKHCF, FRA: 68Z) President, CEO, and Director Jason Chen talks about their partnership with the world's leading developer of online delivery-only food brands Virtual Dining Concepts, new brands from this agreement, and food brands that Just Kitchen will bring to Asia.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” were on the road and with a special edition live from FSTEC in Dallas. Andy Freivogel is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Science On Call. He has over twenty-five years experience in both technology and retail. He also spent years creating specialized data networks and systems for end-user support in the residential digital services arena. Freivogel stops by to talk to the guys about the show, Innovation Alley and Science On Call, a tech support platform for restaurants. Freivogel says that the theme of the show is optimism and enthusiasm, people are happy to be back. CEO of Copia, Kimberly Smith stops by and chats with the guys. Copia's technology allows businesses to safely donate their excess food to nonprofits and access tax deductions. Copia is helping the industry track food waste. Smith shares that Copia has just closed a Pre-Series A with Branded Strategic. Smith says from an operation standpoint they are continuing to grow. She adds that operators that are not focusing on solutions to donate their waste are missing out on tax benefits. Stephanie Sollers, CEO at Virtual Dining Concepts, stops by and talks about the new brick-and-mortar launch of MrBeast Burger. Virtual Dining Concepts creates large virtual brands with celebrities, media companies and influencers, helping them expand their businesses into the food category. Sollers says the ethos of the company is to bring these concepts into restaurants and kitchens that have extra capacity. Chris Keating, EVP at Winsight comes by to talk about this year's FSTEC. The show had over 700 operators. They talk about the panel CEO's in the hot seat, and Keating says that chief executive officers are technology professionals now.To hear more from all of the guests that stopped by to chat with Schatzberg and Frischling at FSTEC, check out this episode Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” were on the road and with a special edition live from FSTEC in Dallas. Andy Freivogel is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Science On Call. He has over twenty-five years experience in both technology and retail. He also spent years creating specialized data networks and systems for end-user support in the residential digital services arena. Freivogel stops by to talk to the guys about the show, Innovation Alley and Science On Call, a tech support platform for restaurants. Freivogel says that the theme of the show is optimism and enthusiasm, people are happy to be back. CEO of Copia, Kimberly Smith stops by and chats with the guys. Copia's technology allows businesses to safely donate their excess food to nonprofits and access tax deductions. Copia is helping the industry track food waste. Smith shares that Copia has just closed a Pre-Series A with Branded Strategic. Smith says from an operation standpoint they are continuing to grow. She adds that operators that are not focusing on solutions to donate their waste are missing out on tax benefits. Stephanie Sollers, CEO at Virtual Dining Concepts, stops by and talks about the new brick-and-mortar launch of MrBeast Burger. Virtual Dining Concepts creates large virtual brands with celebrities, media companies and influencers, helping them expand their businesses into the food category. Sollers says the ethos of the company is to bring these concepts into restaurants and kitchens that have extra capacity. Chris Keating, EVP at Winsight comes by to talk about this year's FSTEC. The show had over 700 operators. They talk about the panel CEO's in the hot seat, and Keating says that chief executive officers are technology professionals now.To hear more from all of the guests that stopped by to chat with Schatzberg and Frischling at FSTEC, check out this episode Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” chat with Robert Irvine, world-class chef, fitness authority, philanthropist and restaurateur. Irvine has appeared or hosted in several shows on television, including Food Network's Worst Cooks in America, Next Iron Chef, Restaurant Express, Chopped: Impossible, Guy's Grocery Games: Impossible, A Hero's Welcome, Food Network Star, ABC's Body of Proof, ABC Family's Melissa and Joey plus more. Irvine is known for his support for our nation's military and believes that his success would not be possible without the men and women that so bravely defend our freedoms. Frischling asks Irvine to share how he got started in food and he says, “so basically eleven years old I started to cook in home economics class at school because there were thirty girls and me and I thought what a great way to get a girlfriend.” He adds, “I made my first Quiche Lorraine, I took it home and realized that pastry, egg, a little bacon, onion, some garlic and cheese made a meal that somebody would be really happy.” Irvine at fifteen years old said he joined the military. When Irvine was nine years old he said he had become a sailor, now he cooks. He says, “food to me is the ultimate passion job, a lifestyle, whatever you want to call it because it affects so many other people.”Irvine for many years was involved with the Gary Sinise foundation. Schatzberg asks Irvine about the Robert Irvine Foundation which Irvine founded in 2014 to support the veterans and veteran causes that need the most help. Irvine says,” I wanted my focus to be so strategic on food fitness, mental fitness and physical fitness. So pretty much everything to do with physical and mental health. He says about the foundation “that there's just a whole bunch of things that we do but mainly to give freedom back to those that have lost it.”Irvine talks about not being a fan of virtual kitchens but after a meeting with Robert Earl of Virtual Dining Concepts, he has converted. Virtual Dining Concepts and Irvine teamed up to create Robert Irvine's American Heroes, a virtual sandwich brand that will have a direct impact on supporting our nation's military heroes. The guys ask Irvine about Irvine Spirits in partnership with Boardroom Spirits, creators of handcrafted vodka, rum, whiskey, and more. He talks about hand picking the botanicals himself for Irvine Spirits. To hear more about Irvine's many successful businesses, his dedication and passion for supporting the military and his FitCrunch Campaign, check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” chat with Robert Irvine, world-class chef, fitness authority, philanthropist and restaurateur. Irvine has appeared or hosted in several shows on television, including Food Network's Worst Cooks in America, Next Iron Chef, Restaurant Express, Chopped: Impossible, Guy's Grocery Games: Impossible, A Hero's Welcome, Food Network Star, ABC's Body of Proof, ABC Family's Melissa and Joey plus more. Irvine is known for his support for our nation's military and believes that his success would not be possible without the men and women that so bravely defend our freedoms. Frischling asks Irvine to share how he got started in food and he says, “so basically eleven years old I started to cook in home economics class at school because there were thirty girls and me and I thought what a great way to get a girlfriend.” He adds, “I made my first Quiche Lorraine, I took it home and realized that pastry, egg, a little bacon, onion, some garlic and cheese made a meal that somebody would be really happy.” Irvine at fifteen years old said he joined the military. When Irvine was nine years old he said he had become a sailor, now he cooks. He says, “food to me is the ultimate passion job, a lifestyle, whatever you want to call it because it affects so many other people.”Irvine for many years was involved with the Gary Sinise foundation. Schatzberg asks Irvine about the Robert Irvine Foundation which Irvine founded in 2014 to support the veterans and veteran causes that need the most help. Irvine says,” I wanted my focus to be so strategic on food fitness, mental fitness and physical fitness. So pretty much everything to do with physical and mental health. He says about the foundation “that there's just a whole bunch of things that we do but mainly to give freedom back to those that have lost it.”Irvine talks about not being a fan of virtual kitchens but after a meeting with Robert Earl of Virtual Dining Concepts, he has converted. Virtual Dining Concepts and Irvine teamed up to create Robert Irvine's American Heroes, a virtual sandwich brand that will have a direct impact on supporting our nation's military heroes. The guys ask Irvine about Irvine Spirits in partnership with Boardroom Spirits, creators of handcrafted vodka, rum, whiskey, and more. He talks about hand picking the botanicals himself for Irvine Spirits. To hear more about Irvine's many successful businesses, his dedication and passion for supporting the military and his FitCrunch Campaign, check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

This month on Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” are taking a break from their usual interview episodes and bringing you a Best Of season of all your favorite segments. They bring back “Best Of” old favorites such as “Best of On The Road” and “Top of the Tech Stack.”In this episode they feature a Best Of Which Came First with special guest and Co Founder & CEO at Chowly, Inc., Sterling Douglass. Frischling says, “the idea for this segment came about over a common joke that the only other industry slower to embrace technology behind hospitality is coal mining. This got them thinking, is hospitality that far behind or actually ahead of the game? Each guest on Season 6 got to take their very best guess on whether hospitality was ahead of the game, or not, in a string of fun questions.Here are a few of the Best of Questions: Which came first, the first online pizza hut delivery order or the first online amazon order?Which came first, the digital menu board or the first digital billboard?Which came first, the restaurant drive-thru or the bank drive-thru?Which came first, the automated baggage claim at airports or the supermarket conveyor belt checkout lane?Which came first, the ability to make a restaurant reservation online or the ability to make an airline reservation online?Which came first, the car wash or the dishwasher?The first question went to Evan DeSantola, CEO of Agot. Which came first, the restaurant drive-thru or the bank drive-thru? The answer is the bank drive-thru. Schatzberg says the first drive-thru in America was Hillcrest State Bank out of Dallas, Texas in 1930. It was Harry and Esther Snyder, of the In-N-Out Burger chain that built the first drive-through restaurant in 1948. Fun fact, so In-N-Out because the restaurant name promised exactly what it delivered: In-N-Out.The guys close out the Which Came First episode with Robert Earl, Co-founder of Virtual Dining Concepts and Chairman of Earl Enterprises. Earl's question was which came first, the clothing iron or the waffle iron? The answer is the waffle iron. The waffle iron was created in 1869, by Cornelius Swartwout of Troy, N.Y. The Clothing Iron was not invented for another 13 years when Henry W. Seely patented his electric flatiron on June 6, 1882. To hear the questions they asked Lindsey Hoell, Founder & CEO of Dispatch Goods, Alonso Castañeda, VP of Brand Development & Strategy at Savory Restaurant Fund, Scott Siegel Co-Founder & CEO of Curbit, Tim McLaughlin, CEO of GoTab, Jon Sherman, Co-Founder and CEO of Sticky's Finger Joint, John DiLoreto, President of Flipdish US, Danny Klein, Editorial Director at Food News Media, Scott Gladstone, SVP Strategy & Innovation at Dine Brands and Kimberly Smith, CEO of Copia , check out this best of episode on Hospitality Hangout.

This month on Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” are taking a break from their usual interview episodes and bringing you a Best Of season of all your favorite segments. They bring back “Best Of” old favorites such as “Best of On The Road” and “Top of the Tech Stack.”In this episode they feature a Best Of Which Came First with special guest and Co Founder & CEO at Chowly, Inc., Sterling Douglass. Frischling says, “the idea for this segment came about over a common joke that the only other industry slower to embrace technology behind hospitality is coal mining. This got them thinking, is hospitality that far behind or actually ahead of the game? Each guest on Season 6 got to take their very best guess on whether hospitality was ahead of the game, or not, in a string of fun questions.Here are a few of the Best of Questions: Which came first, the first online pizza hut delivery order or the first online amazon order?Which came first, the digital menu board or the first digital billboard?Which came first, the restaurant drive-thru or the bank drive-thru?Which came first, the automated baggage claim at airports or the supermarket conveyor belt checkout lane?Which came first, the ability to make a restaurant reservation online or the ability to make an airline reservation online?Which came first, the car wash or the dishwasher?The first question went to Evan DeSantola, CEO of Agot. Which came first, the restaurant drive-thru or the bank drive-thru? The answer is the bank drive-thru. Schatzberg says the first drive-thru in America was Hillcrest State Bank out of Dallas, Texas in 1930. It was Harry and Esther Snyder, of the In-N-Out Burger chain that built the first drive-through restaurant in 1948. Fun fact, so In-N-Out because the restaurant name promised exactly what it delivered: In-N-Out.The guys close out the Which Came First episode with Robert Earl, Co-founder of Virtual Dining Concepts and Chairman of Earl Enterprises. Earl's question was which came first, the clothing iron or the waffle iron? The answer is the waffle iron. The waffle iron was created in 1869, by Cornelius Swartwout of Troy, N.Y. The Clothing Iron was not invented for another 13 years when Henry W. Seely patented his electric flatiron on June 6, 1882. To hear the questions they asked Lindsey Hoell, Founder & CEO of Dispatch Goods, Alonso Castañeda, VP of Brand Development & Strategy at Savory Restaurant Fund, Scott Siegel Co-Founder & CEO of Curbit, Tim McLaughlin, CEO of GoTab, Jon Sherman, Co-Founder and CEO of Sticky's Finger Joint, John DiLoreto, President of Flipdish US, Danny Klein, Editorial Director at Food News Media, Scott Gladstone, SVP Strategy & Innovation at Dine Brands and Kimberly Smith, CEO of Copia , check out this best of episode on Hospitality Hangout.

Mr Beast Burger is a fast food restaurant chain founded by YouTuber MrBeast in North Carolina in 2020. It is a delivery-only brand. Meaning that the kitchens that prepare the food are ghost kitchens. And that there are no in-person stores and dining options. There are currently over 1,000 kitchens under the MrBeast Burger name across North America and Europe. And there are plans to dramatically expand operations in the near future. The restaurant chain gets its name from YouTuber MrBeast. Their fame and loyal followers have ensured that the chain has grown in popularity. Read here to learn more: https://www.vettedbiz.com/mrbeast-burger/ Want to speak with a franchise specialist? Click here: https://share.hsforms.com/1ZtNM19w4R8WIXyNa_97N7w4e0xw Link to Virtual Dining Concepts: https://www.virtualdiningconcepts.com/ 00:00 Introduction 00:35 About MrBeast Burger 01:17 MrBeast: The Founder 02:01 Opening up a MrBeast Burger 02:56 Ghost Kitchens 03:05 Virtual Dining Concepts 03:20 MrBeast Burger Menu & Prices 05:44 Virtual Dining Concepts Website User Experience 07:27 MrBeast Burger Reviews 09:10 For Prospective MrBeast Burger Investors… 09:45 Competing in the Food Space 10:25 Conclusion 11:05 Subscribe! #MrBeastBurger #FranchiseFindings If you are looking for more information, you can connect with us through our networks: https://www.vettedbiz.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/vettedbiz/ https://www.facebook.com/vettedbiz

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chat with Robert Earl, Co-Founder of Virtual Dining Concepts and Chairman of Earl Enterprises, to discuss virtual brands, how influencers bring value to operators, and the company's latest concept.Earl talks about growing up in the United Kingdom and how being the son of a very famous singer exposed him early on to show business, talent and brands. Earl jokes that he was reluctant to go into show business or to work at all, but he soon realized that he needed to find something that would benefit his future. He shares that once he discovered hospitality, he decided to study the field at University.   When asked about his career path following school, Earl talks about working at two of London's most famous hotels. He shares that he worked in every department, gaining lessons and insights which he says gave him the foundational experiences that he still calls upon to this day. By the age of 22, Earl shares that he was developing a Medieval concept that would become the most successful restaurant in London. Earl's impressive resume includes founding Planet Hollywood, expanding brands, such as Buca di Beppo, and launching new concepts like Chicken Guy!. He says, “I realized that hospitality was for me, and I've had the beauty of working all around the world with every type of level of restaurant food operation, and that makes me who I am now.”They discuss the massive growth in the virtual brands space. Earl predicts that within the next few years, every restaurant will have a virtual brand, and he believes that consumers will not only know about these brands, but they will actively seek them out. He talks about founding Virtual Dining Concepts and how the company is able to help operators increase their revenue streams by utilizing what they already have existing in their restaurants. He says, “When we talk to a restaurant and we identify their equipment, their labor, which corners of the kitchen are quieter than others, what skus do they have, what produce do they have that has a limited shelf life, and with all of that knowledge, as restaurateurs, we come back to those restaurants and say, ‘Boy do we have a brand for you.' “Earl shares what's next for the company and he teases a bit about an upcoming collaboration with TikTok, and talks about why working with influencers and celebrities can bring tremendous value to a restaurant's virtual brands. He shares breaking news about a new concept launching, Steve Harvey's Family Food, which will feature a menu of both healthy and indulgent recipes, as well as a signature drink developed with the restaurant's namesake. Earl shares the exciting news about a mega, multi-concept opening the heart of New York City. The four story concept will included Planet Hollywood, Chicken Guy!, and an entire floor of constantly changing brands, completely dedicated to curbside pick-up, to-go and third party delivery partners. To hear Earl share more about virtual brands, the company's new aggregated app and his take on where the hottest restaurants are opening, tune into this episode of Hospitality Hangout on Spotify.This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chat with Robert Earl, Co-Founder of Virtual Dining Concepts and Chairman of Earl Enterprises, to discuss virtual brands, how influencers bring value to operators, and the company's latest concept.Earl talks about growing up in the United Kingdom and how being the son of a very famous singer exposed him early on to show business, talent and brands. Earl jokes that he was reluctant to go into show business or to work at all, but he soon realized that he needed to find something that would benefit his future. He shares that once he discovered hospitality, he decided to study the field at University.   When asked about his career path following school, Earl talks about working at two of London's most famous hotels. He shares that he worked in every department, gaining lessons and insights which he says gave him the foundational experiences that he still calls upon to this day. By the age of 22, Earl shares that he was developing a Medieval concept that would become the most successful restaurant in London. Earl's impressive resume includes founding Planet Hollywood, expanding brands, such as Buca di Beppo, and launching new concepts like Chicken Guy!. He says, “I realized that hospitality was for me, and I've had the beauty of working all around the world with every type of level of restaurant food operation, and that makes me who I am now.”They discuss the massive growth in the virtual brands space. Earl predicts that within the next few years, every restaurant will have a virtual brand, and he believes that consumers will not only know about these brands, but they will actively seek them out. He talks about founding Virtual Dining Concepts and how the company is able to help operators increase their revenue streams by utilizing what they already have existing in their restaurants. He says, “When we talk to a restaurant and we identify their equipment, their labor, which corners of the kitchen are quieter than others, what skus do they have, what produce do they have that has a limited shelf life, and with all of that knowledge, as restaurateurs, we come back to those restaurants and say, ‘Boy do we have a brand for you.' “Earl shares what's next for the company and he teases a bit about an upcoming collaboration with TikTok, and talks about why working with influencers and celebrities can bring tremendous value to a restaurant's virtual brands. He shares breaking news about a new concept launching, Steve Harvey's Family Food, which will feature a menu of both healthy and indulgent recipes, as well as a signature drink developed with the restaurant's namesake. Earl shares the exciting news about a mega, multi-concept opening the heart of New York City. The four story concept will included Planet Hollywood, Chicken Guy!, and an entire floor of constantly changing brands, completely dedicated to curbside pick-up, to-go and third party delivery partners. To hear Earl share more about virtual brands, the company's new aggregated app and his take on where the hottest restaurants are opening, tune into this episode of Hospitality Hangout on Spotify.This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

This week on the Extra Serving podcast, a production of Nation’s Restaurant News, NRN editors Holly Petre, Sam Oches, and Joanna Fantozzi spoke about the return of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. As the three editors hit the record button, the RRF was passed in the House of Representatives, securing $42 billion in funding for restaurants who did not receive funding the first time around. However, while on the podcast, news broke that the Senate would not be taking up a vote until after April recess. Hear what the editors had to say about this shocking news. Plus, the editors discussed Virtual Dining Concepts new CEO, Stephanie Sollers. Sollers comes to VDC from DoorDash and, as the editors discuss, will be able to help the brand mature past its current stage. But what does it mean that this company is getting its first-ever CEO? Is this finally the start of a new segment? The editors discuss. Also, Petre, Fantozzi, and Oches discuss Chipotle entering the metaverse. While the fast-casual brand is following in Wendy’s footsteps just a week later, it’s entering the metaverse with a game. Learn more about the gamification of the metaverse and how this could impact the way brands enter the metaverse in the pod. Lastly, Fantozzi speaks with J.R. Galardi, CEO of Wienerschnitzel as he takes over the reins at the family-run company. They talk about what it’s like to be part of a family run company and the brand’s plans for growth.

2021 was the year acceleration stuck. It was also the year in which the “passion economy” gave birth to the “ownership economy”, which blurs the line between creators and fans into communal ownership. All driven by the Web3 boom. And it reveals a glimpse into a possible future where all platforms are built, operated, funded, and owned by their users, who are rewarded with tokens that are proportional to the value that they're able to create. Chris and Andrew explain this paradigm shift, summarizing in just 20 minutes the 15 industry articles, 31 podcasts, and 7 industry watch lists the RockWater team published in 2021.Subscribe to our newsletter. We explore the intersection of media, technology, and commerce: sign-up linkLearn more about our market research and executive advisory: RockWater websiteEmail us: rounduppod@wearerockwater.com--EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Chris Erwin:So Andrew, it is the end of January and we are recording our first Roundup podcast of the year. I think we've left our listeners hanging a bit. Andrew Cohen:Pros and cons of not being a full-time media company, try our best to turn out excellent content, but not always the most timely we do our best Chris Erwin:We're full-time advisory and just added doing some direct balance sheet investing this year into digital goods as well, trying to have all of... Stay updated on all things content, a little bit of a challenge, but we do our best. So we just published a piece that summarized all of our amazing thinking and all of our articles and podcasts in 2021, it was our year in review and we talked about two key themes. So I'll talk about the first one. And then you could talk about the second. How does that sound? Andrew Cohen:Sounds good. Chris Erwin:All right. So looking back on 2021, one thing that didn't surprise us was sticky acceleration. So we defined this as that there was certain things, dynamics of the economy that were pulled forward during COVID in 2020. These things include e-commerce penetration, content consumption, and content spending. And what we saw in '21 was that this acceleration, it wasn't a reversion back, it was sticky. It stayed with us in 2021, actually continued along it's trajectory. So let me review a few key stats on that front. On the e-commerce front, reminder that in 2020 during COVID e-commerce sales grew 32%, 2021 they grew by another 16%. Incredible. On the audio front in 2020, 52% of consumers said they began listening to more podcasts. Last year, monthly audio listenership was up 7%. Chris Erwin:In OTT video by the end of 2020, 73% of consumers were streaming more OTT video content than they were before the pandemic. Last year in '21, the average number of streaming services per consumer increased 28% year over year. For the creator economy 2020, we saw Cameo grow its bookings by 350% and its GMV by 4.5 times while Only Fans grew its user base by 75% month over month during COVID. But last year in '21, the number of digital creators increased 48% year over year growing the total value of the creator economy market to $104 billion, which we covered in a pretty foundational piece at the end of last year. Chris Erwin:So look, a lot of things I think people had been anticipating were going to happen in the digital content e-commerce economy for a while, got pulled forward during COVID 2020, that stayed the trend last year. But as a result of these macro shifts, capital flowed accordingly, right? So we saw $5 billion of investor capital flow to the creator economy, total telecom, media, tech, aka TMT investments hit $233 billion, 27% year over year increase from 2020 and total content global spending increased 14% to $220 billion. Really some staggering numbers here, Andrew. So that was sticky acceleration, but something else happened here too. Tell us about that. Andrew Cohen:That might have surprised some people that kind of sticky acceleration, but I think we were always bullish that COVID was more of an accelerant than an aberration and I think that proved true in 2021. But I think one thing I could admit that I definitely did not see coming the beginning of 2021 was the birth of the ownership economy. So just take a step back first, we had the attention economy, let's call it 2010 to 2020, where social media incumbents empowered traders to reach and engage audiences at scale and monetize that reach through ad revenue and grant partnerships. Then last year we wrote about this at top of 2021, we were seeing the birth of the passion economy, where immersion creator economy platforms and services were empowering creators to monetize their fandom directly with things like subscriptions, merch, tipping, you name it. Andrew Cohen:And now what we saw in 2021 with the mass adoption and integration of crypto, it allowed creators to drive value beyond merely kind of transacting with their fan communities. And through the implementation of digital scarcity, web3 has enabled creators to monetize and engage their audiences in totally revolutionary new ways. So through limited edition drops and auction models, creators are now able to create and monetize new classes of the super fans, which can be capitalized upon far beyond the price of a single branded hoodie. And in these ecosystems, fans transcend the role of being mere consumers and actually become shareholders and collaborators they're incentives are now completely aligned with those of their favorite creators and their platforms. And the result is what we're calling the ownership economy, which blurs the line between creators and fans into communal ownership. And it reveals a glimpse into a possible future where all platforms are built, operated, funded, and owned by their users who are then rewarded with tokens that are proportional to the value that they're able to create. Andrew Cohen:And so the seeds of this ownership economy, we saw begin to sprout in 2021, and we definitely expect them to blossom beyond in 2022. Just a couple stats that really stand out from 2021. First of all, NFT sales in 2021 hit total sales volume of $23 billion, which was up from only $340 million in 2020. So again from $340 million in 2020 to $23 billion in 2021 is pretty incredible. And so as a result, we saw things like the NFT marketplace OpenSea, they recently raised a $300 million Series C for a $13 billion valuation. We saw similar valuations from Dapper Labs and other in the space. This is definitely something that we think is going to continue to emerge and grow in 2022. But as a reminder, we don't believe that this is at odds with the passion economy, see this as kind of a new subset of the passion economy. Definitely think that there's room for the web2 and web3 versions of this to continue to evolve together and not necessarily a zero sum game. Chris Erwin:Andrew, I'm just looking at those numbers when you say the sales volume for NFTs from $340 million in '20 to $23 billion in '21 that reminds me when I first started investing in Ethereum and Bitcoin back in 2017. And I just remember the trading volume, I felt like it probably like 10X during that year. And everyone was talking about it, all friends were like, "Are you investing in crypto? Where are you at?" And this year I could say, now the amount of texts that I got from friends and industry peers are saying, what's your status? What's your portfolio in NFT? Looking at these numbers, it explains all that context. Andrew Cohen:Very jealous of you, I wish my friends were telling me to invest in crypto in 2017, would be in a lot better place right now. Chris Erwin:Well, Andrew on the burgeoning ownership economy, right? So I think what we've established is this is going to be a recurring trend in 2022. And we have some predictions that I'll come out and talk about this. But before we get into those for the year ahead, let's take one last look back at how these trends shaped our priority coverage verticals in 2021. So as a reminder, if you go to our website, wearerockwater.com. You'll see all the different verticals where we specialize. So this includes audio, food, livestreaming, media and commerce, OTT video, and sports, and probably and it's something that we should add will be web3. I have to talk to our website developer about that. Chris Erwin:So we are now going to walk through across those main categories. What are the main highlights from last year? And keep in mind. There's a lot here. Our team wrote articles, industry watch lists and podcasts on all these topics. So they're all on our website wearerockwater.com go and check it out. So I think the first key theme, Andrew, is the creator economy and all things at the intersection of media and commerce. What's a highlight that stood out to you? Andrew Cohen:To me, when I think back on the creator economy in 2021, I think of the creator war which is yet another wars add to the list. Then we saw these emerging creator economy platforms like Patreon, Substack, how they began to establish market share and raised big money to build out tools and services, to empower and expand creator monetization. And in response, all the incumbents, the Metas, the TikToks of the world, YouTube, they began to replicate those tools in house. So like Facebook launching basically its own version of Cameo and its own Only Fans, as well as billion dollar creator funds that it launched to keep these creators in their ecosystems. I think that was really a defining characteristic of 2021. And now we're kind of beginning to see some of the seams of these creator funds begin to fray at the top of 2022. So very curious how these platforms are going to continue to evolve their models to keep creators happy in 2022. Chris Erwin:Yeah. Everyone's talking about that recent Hank Green piece on the TikTok creator fund, but love to save that for a separate podcast. So yeah. Look, I think in a similar vein in livestream shopping, right? So this is a trend we started covering a couple years ago when we saw a hundred billion plus market size out of China. And we're asking ourselves, why haven't these capital flows and investor conversations been happening here in the U.S.? Well, that changed. So all the major incumbents, they enter the race within livestream shopping, we think of YouTube and Meta and TikTok, Twitter, Pinterest. And we even saw some big livestream shopping festivals during the Q4 holiday season from YouTube and Facebook. Chris Erwin:But in addition to the incumbents, we also saw the emergent livestream, commerce, native platforms, raising big money to compete with and establish market share against those incumbents. So Whatnot became the first unicorn to emerge in a livestream commerce space at a $1.5 billion valuation. We also saw NTWRK raise a massive Series C and then other investments to Popshop and a bunch of other upstarts that raise rounds as well. So I think we're going to increasingly see capital flows to these upstarts in the new year, but we'll get to more of the details there in our upcoming predictions. Andrew Cohen:Absolutely. So moving to audio, what happened in audio in 2020? To me, the biggest defining trend of audio in 2021 was the birth of social audio. If you would've said the word social audio to me, 16 months ago, 18 months ago, I would've had no idea what you're talking about. And just within the first six months of 2021 Clubhouse raised at a $4 billion valuation. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Slack, Spotify, Reddit, Discord, they all invested and launched major social audio initiatives. Twitter acquired Breaker, Spotify acquired Locker Room to support these endeavors and it still has yet to be seen where this trend is going to go. Andrew Cohen:Definitely Clubhouse is not what it was at this time last year, but we are seeing a lot of activity on Twitter Spaces. And it seems like the space is very much influx, but led by Facebook, Spotify, a lot of the big platforms are really taking this seriously and continuing to invest in it. So I don't think that we can say that the story of social audio is over quite yet, but it began in 2021 and excited to see where it goes in '22. Chris Erwin:Totally agree. In addition into social audio, there's also some major acquisitions across a traditional podcasting space. So we saw SiriusXM, Pandora acquire Triton digital for $230 million and we saw Libsyn acquire AdvertiseCast for $30 million. So the capital's still flowing in the traditional part of the audio space. On top of that, we saw some major talent and IP deals from the top audio platforms that are vying for early stage market share, all with the goal of winning what we describe as the 'audio wars'. So we saw Call Her Daddy the podcast migrated over from the Barstool network, go over to Spotify for a $60 million licensing fee. And then Smartless was licensed by Amazon for an $80 million fee. So yeah, the money is still moving towards these tentpole talent and tentpole IP in audio, which is also what we're seeing in traditional video and OTT video as well. And we'll get to that in a moment. Andrew Cohen:So then moving on to sports, definitely 2021 was an exciting year for sports. Two things to me that really stuck out in terms of how to capture what happened in the world of sports business in 2021, I would say one, the explosion of sports betting in the U.S., cannot talk about sports in 2021 without talk about betting. Sports betting revenues doubled in 2021, putting it now at $52 billion and it's only skyrocketing up from there. And as part of a downstream result of this, but also as a result of several other factors like streaming wars cord-cutting, the increasing value of live content, which we've written about before, but the live rights values for sports teams are also continuing to explode. So this past year, the NFL re-upped its live media rights packages bringing in $110 billion over an 11 year deal, which is an 80% increase from its last deal cycle. Andrew Cohen:The NFL also re-upped its live rights package, doubling it in total value. And so as a result, we're seeing a ton of private equity capital moving into this space as well, especially in European markets. We're seeing American investors begin to invest in the media entities and live media rights packages for European sports leagues. So most recently we're seeing a bunch of U.S. PE funds bidding on French soccer leagues, media rights packages, which are being valued at about $14 billion right now. So a big reason why the overall sports economy is continuing to skyrocket at the pace that it is, I would say it's because of gambling, but also because of the huge valuation growth that we're seeing in their live media right packages, which is really the biggest revenue driver for all the major leagues. Chris Erwin:The numbers coming out of the sports media space, Andrew, which you've really educated me on, have just been so eye-popping over the last year and a half. I just can't believe it and it continues. Something that we covered extensively last year was the rise of creator competitions. So this is often merging traditional and digital native talent together for a tentpole competitive event that is then wrapped in a lot of different content that helps to market it and amplify the fandom. And it really led to some pretty incredible figures. So we saw Logan Paul fight Floyd Mayweather that drove over $50 million in pay-per-view revenue. Chris Erwin:We saw House of Highlights drive a hundred million views across their platforms for the first of its two showdown event series. So shout out to Doug Bernstein and Drew Muller, some of our friends over there. And just in December of last year, Triller announced its plans to go public at a $5 billion valuation, which I think is quadruple what it was last valued at. And as a reminder, Triller is one of the platforms that has actually really gotten behind these creator competition series and a lot of them actually go down on their network. Andrew Cohen:Bullish on creator competitions, bearish on Triller, save that for another episode. Chris Erwin:We'll have to see how that IPO goes. It's been planned, but it has not yet happened. And I think that'll be a good bellwether of the market here. Andrew Cohen:So then moving on to OTT video and the streaming wars, so really continue to escalate in 2021. And especially with really a subset of the streaming wars, which we're calling the IP wars, where, because of these huge arms races for user acquisition between all of the highly capitalized streamers, we are seeing tons of investment capital, M&A activity around studios and production companies. And that really kicked up this year. So a couple examples, MGM studios was acquired by Amazon for $8.45 billion, which is 27.5X EBITDA. Roald Dahl, story company, so all of the IP by author Roald Dahl was acquired by Netflix for $686 million with a planned billion dollar production spend behind it to put into original content, video games, everything. Andrew Cohen:And Candle Media, new venture by Mayer, Staggs and Blackstone made a couple big acquisitions, including Moonbug for three billion and Hello Sunshine for $900 million. So as the streaming wars are picking up, we've said the production companies to studios, they are the bullet makers, they're the arms dealers and they're more valuable than ever before. And that really became true in 2021. Chris Erwin:Shout out to Roald Dahl's estates. He is my favorite author. Favorite book is Boy, his autobiography. It was just cool to see that happen. Hopefully Netflix is a good servant of the IP that he's created. Andrew Cohen:I'm ready for a Matilda sequel bring back Danny DeVito. Chris Erwin:Dude, Danny DeVito all day. And also from New Jersey. Rise of kids screen time. So I think another thing that we saw in OTT video is 2020, there's a big inflection point here where I think kids in 2020 for the first time started watching and consuming more content on digital than they were in linear, that is a big deal. And so as a result of this, we started doing a little bit more work in the kids space. We were hired by a kids audio company and also a kids retailer and toy manufacturer. So we really believe in the space in that there's a lot more headroom here. So a few quick stats, kids screen time increased 50% since March 2020, 70% of kids spent at least four hours per day on screens. That's 10% year over year increase. 85% of kids under 11 spend an average of 85 minutes per day, watching videos on YouTube. Chris Erwin:And as a result platforms like Amazon, Spotify and Roku, they're all launching kids focused platforms. Instagram tried to launch a kids' social network, but ran into some snafus there that might emerge again this year. We also saw YouTube, Netflix, ViacomCBS, Warner, Apple, Disney, all increasing their spends on kids' content. So it led to some things like what you talked about, Andrew, the $3 billion acquisition of Moonbug. And then we also saw Like Nastya a massive kids' YouTube personality that is also on a bunch of other platforms signing a major deal with Will Smith's Westbrook studios to produce a portfolio of animated content together. So yes, again, this is the kids and family screen time and retailer space and area that we get really excited about. Andrew Cohen:Absolutely. And so last but not least in food, media and commerce. We've always said that much like the kids and family vertical, food, media, really over-indexes on commerce conversions. And we saw that kick off in 2021 where we've previously seen a ton of activity in the CPG space with things like Complex and their Hot Ones hot sauce. During COVID we saw that continue, Barstool launched their frozen pizza line all across Walmart's nationwide. We also saw it expand into the experiential realm, both digital and IRL. So Ghost Kitchens really came on the scene this year, headed up by MrBeast Burger, which sold a million burgers in its first three months and has expanded rapidly since then. Also seeing companies like VDC, Virtual Dining Concepts, and our friends at Popchew build really exciting companies around turnkey style Ghost Kitchen platforms made for traders, brands, publishers to activate their audience in this kind of virtual restaurant and business model. Andrew Cohen:And now that things are moving back into brick and mortar, I wouldn't say post COVID, but now that we're not all locked down in our home, we're also seeing the success that some of these virtual restaurant models have had move back into the real world. Again, Barstool has launched a chain of some bars, sports bars, pizza restaurants. And I think with the success that we saw of tying out food markets globally before COVID, I think we're going to see that come back in 2022 in a big way and have these omnichannel food experiences between Ghost Kitchens, in-person restaurants, as well as more CPG activation. So it's an industry that's continuing to kick up steam in 2021 and [inaudible 00:19:54] that really excites us. Chris Erwin:Andrew, so I think we're definitely past our time limit. So just a reminder to our listeners guys, we wrote about all these topics in 2021. So if you go to our website, wearerockwater.com go to the content section and you'll get industry articles, industry watch list, podcast about everything that we just talked through. There's a lot there. And then upcoming Andrew, I think we just started to drop our predictions. I think our first one that's out is How Future IP Investments Will Super-Serve Under-Served Audiences Like the 40% of Non-Whites. So I think our next microcast is going to have to cover that topic as well as some other predictions that we have. I'm just looking at our recording. I think we might be a bit past our 15 minutes, Andrew, but maybe that's the new normal for 2022. We're going to be a little bit long-winded this time. Andrew Cohen:New normal. All right. See you next time. Chris Erwin:All right. Later. 

Épisode 701 :Youpi, c'est la nouvelle année et elle commence fort avec des actus social média aussi fun que surprenantes !Tiktok qui se lance dans la restauration, Insta dans le NFT et Linkedin dans Tiktok..TikTok s'apprête à se lancer dans la livraison de repasDit comme ça, ça fait sourire, mais ce n'est pas tout à fait déconnant. Qui n'a jamais eu envie de croquer dans son téléphone en voyant une vidéo de mont d'or ou encore un burger hyper sexy sur TikTOk ?Et non, on ne rêve pas, c'est bien de là qu'est partie l'idée. La plateforme regorge de tendances culinaires alors pourquoi pas, mieux que de liker, pouvoir commander ces plats en vrai ?En association avec Virtual Dining Concepts, la plateforme va lancer TikTok va lancer TikTOk Kitchen.Le but étant de livrer ses recettes et plats les plus viraux dans 300 restaurants virtuels américains, et ce à partir de mars 2022 avec objectif à 1000 fin 2022.Les menus seront pensés en fonction des tendances alimentaires de l'application, qui seront donc amenés à changer tous les trimestres.  Concrètement, VDC (virtual dining concept) utilisera la cuisine et les employés existants d'un restaurant, mais fournira la formation, l'emballage des aliments et les recettes provenant de TikTok.Au menu pour commencer :LES PÂTES À LA FETA, AU FOUR, LES RIBS DE MAÏS, LES CHIPS DE PÂTES ET LE SMASH BURGERUn moyen pour l'application de concurrencer directement Uber Eats ou delivery.TikTok affirme même que pour certains plats, l'argent sera directement reversé aux créateurs de contenu.sourceSnapchat lance Story Studio : une application de montage vidéo compatible avec TikTok et Instagram ReelsRappelons le Snapchat n'est pas un réseau social. Ou plutôt Snap n'est mas QUE un Réseau social. C'est aussi un concepteur d'applications photos et vidéos. C'est d'ailleurs comme çc qu'ils se présentent.Dernier exemple en date, Snapchat a lancé Story Studio, une application pour créer et éditer du contenu professionnel sur les smartphones.Il s'agit d'une application qui fonctionne indépendamment de Snapchat.En gros c'est une vraie app de montage vidéo sur mobile avec pas mal de fonctionnalités additionnelles et exclusives.Des outils de rognage, de division et de synchronisation précis à l'image ;Des outils pour ajouter des transitions, des calques, des légendes et des sons ;Et aussi : La bibliothèque complète de Snap Lens ;Evidemment on est sur du montage vidéo au format vertical. 9:16èmeStory Studio permet de publier directement sur SnapChat bien entendu… mais… mais pas que.Les vidéos ne contiennent aucun filigrane et son téléchargeables. Ce qui signifie que l'on peut les publier sans réserve sur TikTok et sur Instagram Reels.Pour l'instant, seuls les utilisateurs des États-Unis, du Canada et de la Grande-Bretagne peuvent tester Story Studio de Snapchat.source demo—Quelles sont les applications social media les plus téléchargées en 2021 ?Le comparateur d'applications Apptopia vient de dévoiler la liste des applications les plus téléchargées de l'année 2021.Il utilise les chiffres d'iOS et de Google Play au niveau mondial.Comme l'an dernier, TikTok reste l'application la plus populaire de l'année 2021 avec 656 millions de téléchargements. Elle devance les apps du groupe Meta : Instagram (545 millions), Facebook (416 millions) et WhatsApp (395 millions). C'est officiel, Instagram explore définitivement les NFTAprès TikTok, l'autre sujet dont on a parlé toute l'année en 2021, ce sont les Non Fongible Token, ces objets numériques basés sur la crypto monnaie Ethereum.Et si on en parle encore beaucoup c'est parce qu'ils sont fortement liés aux réseaux sociaux. D'ailleurs, en Décembre, Adam Mosseri le Boss d'Instagram d'voilait dans un tweet qu'il s'intéressait fortement aux NFT pour sa plateforme.Dans cette vidéo Interview il précise donc que rien est concret pour le moment mais qu'Instagram explore activement les NFT, et comment nous pouvons les rendre plus accessibles à un public plus largeLes NFT auraient également vocation à aider les créateurs. On l'observe depuis le début, ce sont bien eux qui ont tiré leur épingle du jeu en créant et vendant des oeuvres numériques uniques. Et Instagram pourrait être une nouvelle zone d'exposition pour eux.D'ailleurs au passage en Décembre 2 folies se sont produites en NFT > La première page d'accueil Wikipedia éditée en 2001 a été vendue 750k $Et le premier SMS « Merry Christmas » de 1992 a été vendu 108 k $.sourceDes nouveautés sur TikTok avec un partenariat attendu avec GiphyL'effet d'écran vert de TikTok vous permet désormais d'ajouter des GIFTikTok vient d'annoncer la possibilité d'utiliser des GIF dans son effet d'écran vert. Cela signifie que vous pouvez virtuellement balancer un GIF animé, au lieu d'une simple image fixe, derrière vous pendant le tournage d'une vidéo.L'effet d'écran vert de l'application est incroyablement populaire. Les créateurs l'ont utilisé pour planter le décor de diverses vidéos en téléchargeant des images de différents lieux, personnes et paramètres. Ce qui est marrant c'est que Giphy appartient au groupe Meta. Le concurrent direct de TikTok.Autres mises à jour intéressant : des vidéos TikTok en HD "certains pays" peut désormais télécharger des vidéos en 1080p. Pour ce faire, enregistrez ou téléchargez votre vidéo sur TikTok, et sur la page de publication, appuyez sur Plus d'options . Appuyez sur le bouton basculer Télécharger HD pour publier un contenu de meilleure qualité.Linkedin débarque sur TikTokUne actualité rigolote que j'ai vu passer chez J'ai un pote dans la comLinkedin le réseau professionnel s'est lancé sur TikTok avec sa campagne «  #lesCollègues »Son but est d'aider les jeunes entrant sur le marché du travail ou encore étudiants. Pour cette campagne, LinkedIn s'associe aux principaux créateurs de « CarrièreTok » pour aider celles et ceux qui se posent des questions pour trouver leur voie, en les soutenant et en les encourageant.Un moyen pour ces jeunes de rencontrer des « coéquipiers » de confiance.Parmi ces mentors, on retrouve des profils expérimentés qui connaissent déjà bien le monde du travail : MamaJob,Ines Aled,Clément Vannier Et des profils plus novices qui correspondent bien à ceux de la GenZ : Roman Doduik,Manon Pasquier,AntonRacca,Julie Potier, à la tête du Brand Marketing chez LinkedIn France pense que « cette campagne aidera les jeunes qui tentent de trouver leurs marques dans un monde hybride. Avec #LesCollègues de LinkedIn, les créateurs TikTok partageront du contenu qui fera écho avec les attentes des jeunes, pour leur apporter les encouragements dont ils ont besoin pour trouver leur voie. »source

It was just a matter of time before TikTok got into the restaurant business. In this episode, we discuss the announcement of the video-sharing platform entering a partnership with Virtual Dining Concepts to launch delivery-only TikTok Kitchen locations across the US. We also talk about the world's most advanced space telescope that is set to launch in one week. Listen to #Pulse95Radio in the UAE by tuning in on your radio (95.00 FM) or online on our website: www.pulse95radio.com ************************ Follow us on Social. www.facebook.com/pulse95radio www.twitter.com/pulse95radio www.instagram.com/pulse95radio

1. Facebook Ads Manager Updating Campaign Objectives with Outcome-Driven Ad Experiences - Ads Manager objectives are being updated to help you choose the objective most closely aligned to your business goal. When you create a new campaign, you'll choose from six, new objectives. Campaigns you create before the release of our new objectives will remain active and there is no need to make any changes to your existing campaigns. You'll also be able to edit and duplicate your existing campaigns through the end of 2021.Objectives are now grouped together based on their expected business outcome. Objective names will change but you can still perform the same functions and access the features you're familiar with. Most objectives will now require that you choose a conversion location. The conversion location is the place where your desired business outcome will occur. For example, if you create a campaign with the Leads objective, you can choose Website, Instant Forms, Messenger, Phone, or App as your conversion location. Depending on the conversion location you select, you'll then choose a conversion event. The conversion event you choose will tell us the action you want your audience to take once they've landed on your conversion location. Brand Awareness & Awareness will become Reach. Traffic will remain Traffic. Engagement remains Engagement. App Installs will become App Promotion. Video Views will become Engagement. Lead Generation will become Leads. Messages will become Engagement or Leads. Conversions will become Engagement, Leads, or Sales. Catalog Sales will become Sales. Store Traffic will become Sales. 2. Meta Shutting Down Facebook Jobs - Jobs on Facebook is shutting down outside of the United States and Canada. from Feb 22nd, 2022. Facebook's 'Jobs' was a feature that allowed businesses to post job vacancies on their page, which were visible to anyone who visits the page, and also appeared on the news feeds of FB users who have 'liked' the page, easing the job finding process for the people. Here's everything that you need to know about the new update. Existing Facebook Groups with a “Jobs” group type will be changed to the “General” group type and the “Jobs” group type will no longer be available. The ability to distribute free jobs via a partner integration with the Jobs on Facebook API will no longer be available. Jobs on Facebook will no longer be available on the Facebook Lite app or Facebook mobile website (m.facebook.com/jobs) for both employers and seekers. The Jobs on the Facebook browser will no longer be available. JOBS on Facebook is shutting down outside of the United States and Canada. Employers in the United States and Canada can continue to use Jobs on Facebook tools to create job postings from their Page for free on the Facebook app and Facebook desktop website (www.facebook.com). They can also choose to boost their posts as ads. Employers in the United States and Canada will continue to be able to manage their job applications and view details about all their job posts (boosted & non-boosted) through the Inbox and Manage Jobs sections of their Page. Job seekers in the United States and Canada can continue to apply to positions using Job on Facebook product features like clicking Apply now on the job post, which will bring them to the detail view and then to an application form. 3. Export a List of Paid YouTube Members & Members-only Form with IFTT - YouTube now allows you to export a list of paid members in .csv format. They have also introduced an integration with IFTT that helps you connect with members via a custom form.4. Delivery-Only TikTok Kitchen Restaurants Experiment - In partnership with Virtual Dining Concepts, TikTok is opening 300 delivery-only restaurant kitchens next year across the United States that will serve the same meals you scroll through on your For You Page.5. TikTok Adds Live-Stream Intros - TikTok has added a new ‘LIVE intro' option which enables you to add a short text description to welcome new viewers as they come across your broadcast. The new LIVE Intro option, when switched on, will display a short explainer to viewers when they come into your stream.That could be a simple way to welcome viewers, and explain what your broadcast is all about, and what you would like them to do, as participants in your stream. Live-streaming has gradually become a bigger element of TikTok as it looks to broaden its horizons beyond short video clips.6. Clubhouse Launches Saved Replays - Clubhouse has launched the ‘Saved Replays' option which will enable users to save the audio from recorded Clubhouse chats to listen to at a later stage. I'm guessing not many people will care. Clubhouse has dropped off the face of the social media earth after its massive, sudden rise earlier in the year, and while audio social is still being used by many, it now seems fairly clear that it's not the game-changing format that some had envisioned at one stage.7. Google Search Algorithm Update - December 2021 Products Reviews - Google has confirmed that the December 2021 product reviews update is now finished rolling out. This update has officially completed rolling out a few days before Christmas. This update is “designed to better reward” product reviews that “share in-depth research, rather than thin content that simply summarizes a bunch of products.” Reviews that are written in a way that has “insightful analysis and original research” will be rewarded, especially “content written by experts or enthusiasts who know the topic well,” Google said.8. What's Good For SEO - Self-Hosted WordPress or Wix? - Google's John Mueller Says Wix is Fine For SEO. “Wix is fine for SEO. A few years back it was pretty bad in terms of SEO, but they've made fantastic progress, and are now a fine platform for businesses. The reputation from back then lingers on, but don't be swayed by it. What they've done in recent years is really good stuff, including making it trivial to have a really fast site (as you see in the Lighthouse scores — admittedly, speed is only a tiny part of SEO). If Wix works for them, and they don't need more, there's no reason to switch.”

Will Smith's ex wife is joining the cast of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Lizzo is sharing her skin care routine on social media and fans are speculating that she could be the next celebrity to launch a beauty line. Tik Tok is in partnership with Virtual Dining Concepts and will be opening 300 delivery-only restaurant kitchens next year across the United States that will serve the same meals you scroll through on your For You Page.

Researchers at MIT discover that machine learning is experiencing convergent evolution similar to the human brain without anyone programming it to do so. TikTok is launching the delivery-only TikTok Kitchen in partnership with Virtual Dining Concepts with about 300 restaurants across the US at launch. Telegram is working on a way to hide sensitive content in a chat by hiding message text behind a fuzzy pixelated placeholder, with a small eye icon next to it. And what are the dangers of autonomous weapons systems and how do you define that danger?Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Rich Stroffolino, Roger Chang, Joe.Link to the Show Notes. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/dtns.

Researchers at MIT discover that machine learning is experiencing convergent evolution similar to the human the brain without anyone programming it to do so. TikTok is launching the delivery-only TikTok Kitchen in partnership with Virtual Dining Concepts with about 300 restaurants across the US at launch. Telegram is working on a way to hide sensitive content in a chat by hiding message text behind a fuzzy pixelated placeholder, with a small eye icon next to it. And what are the dangers of autonomous weapons systems and how do you define that danger? Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Rich Stroffolino, Roger Chang, Joe, Amos. MP3 Download Using a Screen Reader? Click here Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org Follow us on Twitter Instgram YouTube and Twitch Please SUBSCRIBE HERE. Subscribe through Apple Podcasts. A special thanks to all our supporters–without you, none of this would be possible. If you are willing to support the show or to give as little as 10 cents a day on Patreon, Thank you! Become a Patron! Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme! Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo! Thanks to our mods Jack_Shid and KAPT_Kipper on the subreddit Send to email to feedback@dailytechnewsshow.com Show Notes To read the show notes in a separate page click here!

Researchers at MIT discover that machine learning is experiencing convergent evolution similar to the human the brain without anyone programming it to do so. TikTok is launching the delivery-only TikTok Kitchen in partnership with Virtual Dining Concepts with about 300 restaurants across the US at launch. Telegram is working on a way to hide sensitiveContinue reading "Dish Brain – DTNS 4175"

It has been a little while since we last had the opportunity to talk so I would like to start off by saying Thank you…. Thank you for continuing to support this show and tuning in today. For those of you joining us for the first time, go ahead and click subscribe or follow in your podcasting software so you don't miss a single episode of the Tech Chef. Today's theme is about “out with the old, in with the new.” Today's show will be a very abbreviated show and we won't have a guest on like we normally do. The show is all about what I have been up to and what is coming up! First and foremost, I am announcing here, for the first time, that I have spent my last days at 4R Restaurant Group and have moved on to a new company. I will always cherish my time at 4Rivers and all of the amazing team members that I had the opportunity to work with and the accomplishments we have fulfilled. I would also like to thank John Rivers for his leadership during the time I was working at his company. He is truly a lighthouse in our community. In regards to where I have landed, well, that is the big news I promised you today. I am officially announcing that I have joined Virtual Dining Concepts as the SVP of Technology.  This is great step for me in my career as I help build, what I believe, is one of the most cutting edge concepts currently in the restaurant market space. So what is VDC and what are they all about, you ask? VDC offers restaurant owners an easy solution to generate more revenue out of your existing kitchens with minimal impact to current operations. Attract new customers with delivery-only menus using food delivery services. The magic of Robert Earl, who also owns Earl Enterprises, is that he has joined up with well-known celebrities and brands that will bring instant virtual kitchen success to your business. Brands such as NASCAR, Mr. Beast Burger, Bar Stool Bites, Guy Fieri's Flavortown are just a small portion of the brands that are offered and there are so many more in the pipeline. If you are interested and would like more information on becoming a partner, please visit https://www.virtualdiningconcepts.com/ (https://www.virtualdiningconcepts.com). So on the heals of that news, hopefully you are all getting ready for the MURTEC Executive Summit which will be from Wednesday through Friday, October 13-15th.  Once again, out with the old, in with the new…… FINALLY we are meeting in person after…..how long? I will be speaking on Friday in a session called: Research Super Session Panel: HT's 2021 Customer Engagement Technology Study featuring: – Daniel Connolly, Professor, Drake University – Marybeth Pearce, Executive Director, Comcast Business – Mike Maxwell, Chief Technology Officer, Hathway – Your's truly Hotel & restaurant guests have ranked the tech-driven experiences that influence their willingness to spend — including mobility, off-prem solutions, and preferences around ordering and payments. Our panel will reveal the results of its annual Customer Engagement Technology Study, and ask us, as a panel of industry voices to weigh in on how these solutions can drive revenue in 2022 and beyond. If you have not signed up yet but would still like to attend, please make sure you visit https://www.murtecsummit.com/ (https://www.murtecsummit.com/) I truly hope you can join us this week in Orlando.  With guest speakers such as Donald Burns, otherwise known as the Restaurant Coach as well as keynote speakers Ben Hall, CIO for Krispy Kreme and Paul Macaluso, President and CEO of Another Broken Egg, this particular year of the MURTEC Executive Summit will be special. How To Contact MeComment hotline: 954-302-0851 Website: https://skipkimpel.com/ (https://SkipKimpel.com) (show notes will be posted here) Instagram: https://instagram.com/skipkimpel (https://instagram.com/skipkimpel)...

We were in the presence of royalty on this episode as we were joined by one of the Earl's of Sandwich himself, Robert Earl! Robert has set the bar for restaurateurs, as the man behind Planet Hollywood, MrBeast Burger and other Virtual Dining Concepts, and growing Hard Rock Cafe. On this episode, Robert and host Zack Oates discuss: Robert's advice to restaurants now and in the next few yearsVirtual brands - why Robert recommends them and why they're not going anywhereThe most important aspect of the guest experienceA check list of things successful restaurants are doing right nowMoreThanks Robert!

Eric Greenspan aka Chef Greeny is a self-described creator and curator of delicious – and he knows a thing or two about burgers as a partner behind MrBeast Burger and acclaimed chef of Los Angeles restaurants The Foundry and Patina. He is leading the charge in “ghost kitchens” through his Virtual Dining Concepts and embarking on another project to create a premium American cheese called “New School American Cheese.” Christopher Auth of Allen Brothers, a Chefs' Warehouse company and the premier purveyor of the finest prime meats, details their ground beef process and what goes into a perfect burger grind and blend.Follow @chefgreeny @absteaks @wherechefsshopThis episode is sponsored by Allen Brothers @absteakshttps://www.allenbrothers.com/In partnership with The Chefs' Warehouse, a specialty food distributor that has been purveying high-quality artisan ingredients to chefs for over 30 years @wherechefsshophttps://www.chefswarehouse.com/Produced by HayNow Media @haynowmediahttp://haynowmedia.com/

How does Virtual Dining Concepts successfully market at the location level? This conversation with Kelly Grogan will give you insights on how they are doing it so that you can do it too.

How does Virtual Dining Concepts successfully market at the location level? This conversation with Kelly Grogan will give you insights on how they are doing it so that you can do it too.

In this episode, we chat with Chef Eric Greenspan, a celebrated chef whose resume boasts tenure at some of the most prominent fine dining establishments in Los Angeles. Chef Greenspan shares the foresight into virtual brands that prompted him to invest in the concept as early as 2018. Zach and Chef Greenspan chat about the proliferation of ghost kitchens and what it takes to operate a successful virtual brand - from marketing to margin control. Tune in to this episode to learn the ins and outs of delivery in the virtual space and how Chef Eric and his team at Virtual Dining Concepts have launched some of the most iconic national virtual brands to date.

Learn, Listen, & Watch Here: https://whatarewedoingpod.com/links In today's episode the start off with some quick hits from last week. $CAT (Carol Baskin's CAT Coin crypto currency) is sitting at $16 - we should have invested. Grey's Anatomy made two big announcements this week as well as the Ellen DeGeneres Show announcing she'll be leaving her show after next season - AFTER she watched last week's episode. Wing Nut, Burger Den, Tender Shack, Tyga Bites & more! The crew deep dives into the world of DoorDash and these Ghost Kitchens (Private Kitchens) you see all over the app. Tyga Bites - Arooga's -- Burger Den, Denny's. It's weird and we don't under it. Of course, we ended up talking about food again for half of the entire episode. Some examples of virtual restaurants include Pasqually's Pizza & Wings which operates out of Chuck E. Cheese, Wing Squad which operates out of Buca di Beppo, Neighborhood Wings which operates out of Applebee's, It's Just Wings which operates out of Chili's, and The Wing Experience and The Burger Experience which operate out of Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill. In 2020, rapper Tyga partnered with Robert Earl and Virtual Dining Concepts to launch a series of virtual restaurants called Tyga Bites which is delivery only through Grubhub and operates out of existing restaurants' kitchens. Amid dropping vaccine demand in Ohio, Governor Mike DeWine announced five, weekly drawings of $1 million open to residents who've received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. A similar lottery for teenagers will provide the lucky names with a full, four-year scholarship to a public university in Ohio - room and board included. "The number of Ohioans who get the vaccine will determine what our future looks like, particularly this coming winter," DeWine said in a statewide address Wednesday. "Everyone has a stake in more Ohioans getting vaccinated." True Story: "Am I the asshole who refused to go to her own party?" "Like most women I had spent years fantasizing about my wedding day. So when my fiancé asked me to marry him last year, I was over the moon. I spent hundreds of hours planning and arranging our perfect day. Little did I know - My fiancé and his best man arranged a prank. So when it came down to any one objecting the wedding the best man was to stand up and say I Object. Now, anyone who knows anything about weddings - I'd say Justin & I do - knows that regardless if it was a joke or not, the wedding cannot go forward. So even though it was a prank we did not get married yesterday as planned. I was devastated. All of the money for vendors - out the window, no deposits returned. Then, My soon to be sister in law had arranged an after party at her place for us. Instead of me going, I walked down the isle, threw the door in complete embarrassment and utter shame, as I took off and told no one where I was going.". --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/what-are-we-doing-pod/message

Today we have a very special guest, chef Eric Greenspan. Eric has over 20 years of experience in the culinary world, having worked with chefs such as Alain Ducasse and Rocco DiSpirito, and apprenticing at the three-Michelin-star El Bulli in Spain. He was executive chef at several successful restaurants in LA, including Patina, The Foundry, and Maré, and is a noted cookbook author and regular judge on Guy’s Grocery Games. Eric is on the show today to talk about ghost kitchens and virtual kitchens, as he’s an expert in this emerging field. In 2017, he started his own delivery-only virtual kitchen operation, Alt/Grub/Faction. He also leads the culinary team for Virtual Dining Concepts, which partners with celebrity food brands like Mariah’s Cookies, Tyga Bites, and MrBeast Burger. We sought Eric’s insight about this new ecosystem of delivery-only dining in light of CloudKitchens opening its first ghost kitchen in San Diego, the Barrio Food Hub. Eric entered this new area of the culinary world when he realized that with all of the restaurants he was running, he was spending most of his time in the car driving from one to another. His solution was to gather all his concepts together and make them available for delivery in a ghost kitchen (which rents space for prepping and cooking only) that he operated out of CloudKitchens’ LA location. He says this environment is appealing for young chefs, since renting a space in a ghost kitchen costs much less than opening a traditional restaurant, and all the money saved on rent can be used on advertising and marketing. Although his operation was successful, he could deliver food only within a four-mile radius of the ghost kitchen. That’s why Eric teamed up with Robert Earl, founder of Planet Hollywood (who was renting space right next to him)—they realized that their brands did not have a future in ghost kitchens, and they developed their own virtual kitchen company: Virtual Dining Concepts. In Hot Plates, Claudette Zepeda's new restaurant, Vaga, just opened, and Troy got the First Look. Chef William Eick is serving Japanese-style fried chicken out of his new restaurant, Naegi, in Oceanside. Matteo Cattaneo, founder of Buona Forchetta, also has a new fried chicken concept in South Park, Chicchirichì at Matteo. After being closed for two years, Storehouse Spirits finally reopened last week in East Village with their own line of gin, vodka, bourbon, and rum, as well as a restaurant on site. In Two People for Takeout / Two People for $50, Eric’s perfect night in involves MrBeast Burgers and Mariah’s Cookies, while watching Guy’s Grocery Games. Troy can’t wait to check out Weapon Ramen in Liberty Station, Phillip Esteban’s new eatery. David says once he gets back to San Diego, he’s looking forward to enjoying an Arrogant Bastard and a veggie cheeseburger at Stone Brewing at the airport. Noah's pick is Barrio Star for their carnitas chile relleno, and Marie is looking for recommendations for places to get oysters—let us know your favorite spots! Thank you for listening! As always, we want to hear from our listeners. Need a recommendation for takeout? Is there a guest you want us to book on the show? Let us know! You can call us at 619-744-0535 and leave a voicemail, or if you’re too shy, you can email us at happyhalfhour@sdmag.com. See you next week!