This weekend, still recovering from Louise Jacobi’s bachelorette party (which involved Y2K outfits, BONDST sushi, and Marquee Night Club but at The Edge), I made my way to Red Hook.
I was there to try out Tavern Next Door, Red Hook Tavern’s new bar with an extremely literal name serving the exact same famous burger as the original. With a 4:40pm arrival we quickly got seated as walk-ins when it opened at 5pm. The line at the actual Red Hook Tavern looked much more unruly.
The crowd was what you might expect, including a hip 70-something-year-old couple (it was the 5pm seating after all). The woman was rocking flowy plaid linen pants, an expensive half zip draped over her shoulders and a silver bob.
Also in the mix was a double date: two indistinguishable bros and one brunette, one blonde. Walking up to the host stand, the blonde let everyone within earshot know she’d bought a Benjamin Franklin piggy bank for $5. “America 250!” she exclaimed. “How could I not?”
That was just the start of my voyeuristic entrance into her life. The blonde had a voice that scientists should study. No matter how far away we were, I could hear her every word. I looked back and forth between her table and other tables. Mouths were moving, but I couldn't make out what they were talking about. Back to the double date: I was immediately in the middle of their lengthy conversation about Arrested Development. When we started discussing it at our table, the waitress chimed in, “I’ve been listening too! I love that show,” as she refilled our water glasses.
Tavern Next Door has tropical wallpaper and is an intimate space, with several seats at a wraparound bar and about 7 tables. They serve most of the same menu as their predecessor, plus tiki drinks with a twist. I had a spicy take on an Amaretto Sour. The White Russian has mezcal in it. Conor Johns, the bar director, categorizes it as "1970s-era disco drinks, reimagined." Despite its tropical vibes, the owner, Billy Durney, told BK Mag that the bar is based on "one of the great nights of my whole life," almost 20 years ago in Paris where he drank "an exorbitant amount of green chartreuse."
We ordered the two appetizers exclusive to Next Door: artichoke poppers stuffed with pimento cheese under a crunchy cornflake crust, and corndogs made from breakfast sausage, dunked in cornmeal batter and finished with a hit of spicy maple syrup. When BK Mag asked Durney what inspired the corndogs, he said, "I smoke a lot of weed."
The appetizers were followed by the famed burger. Had I had more juice, we could have finished the evening at Sunny’s, but it was imperative I get home to pet my dog, lie horizontally, and watch television, tummy full to the brim with the best burger in NYC.
If you missed the last dispatch, I discover the world of house renovation:
Rumor has it that Substack is suppressing free content. If you’d like to resist the algorithm pushing paid content only, then liking, sharing, and commenting on this newsletter will help! <3
Travis Kalanick (Uber) broke eight years of silence: on a podcast. He resurfaced this spring to unveil Atoms, his stealth industrial robotics company, arguing that founders can now skip the traditional press and go direct via new media. If you, like me, are responsible for corporate comms, this is a useful directory: 99 newsletters and 78 podcasts across tech, AI, startups, and VC.
Should I read my Substacks on Instagram? I’m starting to see a lot of people read their Substack articles live on Instagram which is an interesting form of cross-promotion. This one of Youngmi Mayer is especially powerful because seeing her react emotionally as she reads actually adds something you don’t experience reading it yourself.
BTS is boycotting the Grammys over new category. The group is skipping the 2027 awards after the Recording Academy introduced “Best Asian Pop Music Performance,” saying they’d rather their music be “heard and loved for what it is” than “divided by language or region.” BTS has five Grammy nominations and zero wins.
Inde Navarette already landed her first big role. Our girl from Obsession (as I said, one to watch!) was on Deux Moi leaving Chateau Marmont with boyfriend Nick Aiello following the announcement that she’ll play Rogue in Marvel’s “X-Men.” Never thought I’d say this, but her boyfriend is almost too tall?
Roku launched a 24/7 channel of nothing but AI slop. Fairground AI Creator TV runs sci-fi, drama, animation, true crime, and comedy generated entirely by AI, with about 100 in-house prompters credited before and after each short. The Atlantic already has a nickname for it: the Home Slopping Network.
Chaka Khan is so back.
South Korea wants remote workers. Its digital nomad visa now covers stays of up to three years for people working for companies based abroad, with new perks aimed at anyone willing to set up outside of Seoul. Busan’s moment, perhaps.
Beef finally priced itself out of summer. Sales volumes fell 0.3% year-over-year in the 13 weeks ending mid-July, snapping two straight years of roughly 5% growth, and 40% of buyers say they're adding it to their carts less often. The World Cup and "protein-obsessed" younger shoppers are the only things keeping demand from collapsing, but prices aren't expected to drop before year-end.
Snack companies are entering the Ozempic era chat. The world’s largest food company, Nestle, is using AI to develop products that offset GLP-1 side effects like muscle loss and “Ozempic face,” with more collagen and protein on the way. Its chief technology officer, Stefan Palzer, called the roughly 16 million Americans currently on weight-loss drugs, a number expected to keep climbing, a “huge opportunity.”
One in five Gen Z job seekers have had a parent contact their employer directly. Per a Zety survey of 1,001 Gen Z workers, 44% got parental help writing their resume, and 15% had a parent sit in on an in-person interview. Researchers called it evidence of “a critical confidence gap” around salary negotiation.
Ok bye! 🍊
Thanks for reading!
Great burger, absurdly rude blond and brunette