Anybody else making their restaurant reservations through the Google Maps app? I’ve been doing it for a couple of months now and LOVE it.

It’s so efficient and supposedly it saves restaurants heaps of money. I discovered it by accident when I was checking out a restaurant recently. While making my way around the site looking at reviews and photos, I noticed, for the first time, that there’s now a RESERVE A TABLE button. It works like a charm. Google even gets back to you promptly if they have to actually call to make the reservation, e.g., because of the number of people in your party.

Their default for reservations is SevenRooms but they also use Resy and Open Table. But so far I give SevenRooms top marks for service versus their competitors.

brilliant idea.

Clearly millions of us are already using Google Maps to check out restaurants. My #1 photo on Google, with over 3 million views, is for Restaurant Kodbyens Fiskebar in Copenhagen. A more recent review and photo of Llama San has garnered over 55,000 views in under a month.

With so many diners already on the Google app checking out restaurants, eliminating the need to leave one app to log onto another, e.g. Resy, dials up the UX 100-fold. It just makes so much sense.

I have now shifted to Google reservations whenever possible. Highly recommend.

Scroll down for more on what’s new and trending in the restaurant and food biz

Top Food Trends Based On GrubHub orders

#1 is Cauliflower Pizza (crust, that is, which makes it vegan, keto, gluten free etc., etc.)

Runners Up include:

• Spicy Brussels sprouts
• Portobello empanadas
• Black bean and sweet potato taco
• Miso pork ramen

Top Meat Substitutes. vegetarian and vegan-friendly dishes accounted for 7 out of GrubHub’s top 10 orders

Runners Up:

• Black bean burger
• Tofu
• Mushroom Burger
• Jackfruit

Early morning noshes

Runners Up

• Mixed berry Acai bowl
• Chicken and waffles
• Strawberry banana french toast
• Dutch pancake

Late nite favorites

Runners Up

• Brisket quesadilla
• Truffle parmesan fries
• Garlic and parmesan breadsticks

NYC’s foie gras ban makes us want it that much more – sales up 30%

The foie gras at The Carlyle is absolutely divine. It was so good, we ordered it twice!!!!

“Sales of the buttery goose and duck liver are up 30%, according to farmers, distributors and chefs who say news of the ban has only helped to remind customers how much they love it.“

NY Post

This makes me so sad

Wisconsin lost 800 dairy farms in 2019, on top of 700 lost in 2018

Both Dean Foods and Borden have now gone bankrupt as of January 2020. And Starbucks recently announced it would be serving Oat Milk lattes from now on. The writing is on the wall for most small dairy farmers.

Bottom Line.

As with everything else in our mixed up society, food preferences are equally bewildering.

One minute we’re clamoring for organic, the next we’re downing factory-made faux milk.

At lunch we’re ordering cauliflower-crust pizza being all vegan and gluten-free, late at night, we’re digging into brisket quesadillas or some deliciously rich foie gras.

Go figure!