Welcome to Open Tab, a weekly roundup of the news, gossip, and stories that have stayed open in my tabs all week. Last week we covered the trouble at Ben & Jerry’s.
After I proposed the nickname Tabbers for readers of this newsletter last week, a couple readers wrote in describing the nickname as “ridiculous” and “sounds like the name of a cat”—both valid critiques! How do we feel about Openeers? I have no shortage of nickname ideas, and a burning desire to please.
I spent last weekend at a lake house with friends where we grilled burgers and I used a Green Egg for the first time to smoke ribs for six (!) hours. I also managed to get a sunburn after kayaking in the sun for a mere 30 minutes. Openeers, I recommend both experiences—in tandem if possible.
The restaurant community (in New York, at least) is abuzz after Andy Baraghani announced he’s opening his first restaurant called Ditto later this year. Baraghani, a former BA staffer, is partnering with Michael Silber, who, until now, has been mostly behind the scenes, though he’s had a hand in a slew of very hot new restaurants: Stars, Smithereens, Penny, you know the type.
Also of note: Noma is reopening in Copenhagen August 5, following the complicated run of its LA residency. René Redzepi will be stepping aside from day-to-day operations, which, instead, will be led by head of research and development Mette Brink Søberg and executive chef Pablo Soto.
Did you catch the trailer for the fifth and final season of The Bear that dropped this week? I wasn’t sure whether The Bear was still the hit it once was, but it racked up more than 10 million views in less than a week, so I guess I was wrong. Should I interview Ayo Edebiri about the ~3 months we worked at the same restaurant in the mid 2010s? Would you read that?
And finally, after Nancy Mace was roundly defeated in this week’s South Carolina’s gubernatorial primary, she is apparently self-soothing with baked beans. Consider looking inward instead, queen!
Also this week: The screwworms beefing with your beef, Prada goes Katz’s mode, why restaurants are considering World Cup service fees, and we’ve found you the best places to eat and drink in America’s World Cup cities.
Droughts have already thinned cow herds, and beef prices are up 13% year over year, and, unfortunately, I have more bad news: This week, the USDA announced three new cases of New World screwworms, a parasitic flesh-eating fly. Screwworms were thought to have been eradicated in the 1960s, but they’ve reappeared after DOGE-led cuts slashed the program meant to keep them at bay.
Could this realistically explode beef prices? It certainly has the potential to do just that, but containment efforts have already started, and, at the moment, just three calves are infected. “We prevented and eradicated this pest before,” Greg Abbott, governor of Texas, said during a briefing. “We can do it again.’
Last week Prada Mode, “an itinerant private club that offers its members a unique experience with a focus on contemporary culture,” (whatever TF that means) popped up at Katz’s Deli. In attendance were Cole Escola, Ella Emhoff, and Hunter Schaefer, among other famous and chic people. Notably not in attendance? Me. But it’s for the best—I had to reorganize my spice rack that night so I couldn’t go even if I was invited.
