The Sunday Digest 052
I won't be offended if you open this tomorrow.
Welcome to The Sunday Digest — a free Sunday newsletter featuring long (and some short) reads, original columns, things I’ve saved over the last week, relaxing playlists, episodes releases, exclusive product drops, and more. Yes, you can reply to this email. I’d love to hear from you. Or, if podcasts are more your speed on Sundays, we’ve got that too.
Sunday Read: How Tiktok Took Over The Menu
by Ezra Marcus for Grub Street
We’ve never been afraid of doing a caviar bump over on Retail Therapy. That being said, it’s not something we would’ve begun doing on our own and it’s not a cost we would’ve ever fathomed justifying had we not been able to discuss it on a podcast.
The influence social has on our menus, palate, and taste levels has reached levels we simply can’t fathom. From the content of pseudo-health podcasts getting recycled at group dinners to ex-Bachelor contestants doing caesar salad ratings on TikTok, we’re all #influenced in more ways than one when it comes to putting things in our bodies.
This week’s Sunday Read looks at the relationship between influencers and the restaurant community, whether you like it or not. Here’s an excerpt.
Compared to traditional publicity, the cost of comping a meal is relatively low, though influencers with more than a million followers often want cash, too. To Goldburg, even these rates are justified: “For some restaurants, it would be stupid for them to not pay $10,000 for the day,” he says. “I know that sounds high — but you’re genuinely getting a million-plus views.” How does he quantify this? “Dozens of restaurants have shared case studies with us detailing the before-and-after impact of our videos,” he claims.
For a more formal arrangement, restaurant owners can turn to an agency like Mustard, which specializes in connecting businesses with influencers. Mustard offers its clients a variety of packages, starting with the $300 “Fomo Promo,” for which the company will send three influencers a month to post about a given restaurant, promising the resulting videos will reach nearly 40,000 users. (The most expensive package, “Champagne Campaign,” costs $1,000 per month with a reach of more than 100,000.) Smyth Tavern in Tribeca and José Andrés’s Hudson Yards food hall Mercado Little Spain are among the “trending” restaurants on Mustard’s site.
Read in full here — and don’t be afraid to open it in an incognito window if it’s behind a paywall for you.
New Episode › How No Laying Up's DJ Piehowski Spends His Sundays
About two months ago, I got a text about my dive into the world of vinyl records. It was DJ Piehowski (@djpiehowski), and the ripple effects of that text exchange are still being felt today. Because vinyls have become such a part of my Sundays lately, it only made sense to find out how DJ spends his ideal Sundays. From big breakfasts to Mac Miller to an early evening 18, this is how it's done.
Listen to today’s episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and anywhere else podcasts are found.
The Sunday Haiku: Short Week
Repeat after me:
Short week, short week, short week, short
week, short week, short week.
Things I Saved This Week
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