163 1st Ave. New York, NY, 10003.
Their Success…This summer a rising trend 
of Chicken sandwiches are evident. David Chang,
Founder of Momofuku Inc., is named a leader in this trend with his opening of Fuku NYC,home to an $8 spicy-fried-chicken sandwich. Since its opening on June 10th, Fuku has been on headlines and trending throughout social media because of its chicken sandwich. There is an obvious inspiration by Chick-fil-A which Chang grew up eating in suburban Virginia, and he also claims to be a fan of In-N-Out for its unique corporate culture as much as for its burger. Chang describes Fuku as “our attempt to sort of honor the great fried-chicken places and fast-food concepts out here, to do our version of that, and hopefully, to make it better.” With never-ending lines around the corner of the restaurant , one can say Chang has successfully started a fried-chicken culture and redefined “fast-food.”
Fuku NYC is located on 10th St. and 1st Ave. This location is also the original location of the Momofuku Noodle bar. After six months of intensive renovations and development, Fuku now boasts a very chic urban atmosphere. Utilizing their space to its full potential, an open kitchen, and bar side tables are available for those who are eating-in. Although no chairs or stool are available for consumers, customers are fully accommodated as a fast-casual restaurant. After ordering, customers are given a number where then Fuku employees will bring their orders to customers whether it was to eat-in or take-away. Likewise, employees are constantly walking around the restaurant to take away trays.
Employees are also seen refilling their ketchup and ssam sauce bottles throughout the restaurant. The Ssam Sauce is Fuku’s’specialty’ sauce that adds more spice to the chicken burger. Ssam sauce is Fuku’s rendition of an already existing Korean chili sauce and is sold to customers separately. While most customers order a spicy chickenburger, Fuku does serve salads and fries. Fuku also offers a lunch special where customers can easily get a spicy chicken burger, fries and a drink for $12, potentially saving themselves $1 when buying them separately.
Take Aways…Fuku NYC does a great job with creating traffic and retaining customers. With Fuku only at 600 square feet and an open kitchen and bar, there is limited space for people to stand in line so customers are forced to wait on line outside. However, Fuku makes ordering very quick and easy. While one stationed register takes orders, another employee is seen walking down the lines to take orders through their iPads. This potentially retains customers on line by binding orders. Moreover, consumers feel well accommodated and less annoyed from waiting. Fuku only accepts credit cards which speeds up the ordering process.
Their chicken sandwich is simply a fried chicken, pickles and a buttered bun but consumers are attracted to Fuku’s Spicy Chicken Sandwich because of its large fried chicken at an affordable price of $8.
To read more about their grand opening, click here.
Even as the U.S economy has improved, unemployment among young people particularly African Americans and other minorities remain high. The overall teenage unemployment was 18.1 percent in June and 31.5 percent in African American teens. Many companies including Walmart, Walgreens, Starbucks, Taco Bell, Hilton, J.P Morgan etc. have joined a coalition in opening job opportunities, apprenticeships and internships for teens and young adults who face systemic barriers to jobs and education. Howard Schultz, chairman and CEO of Starbucks, said “By using our scale to create pathways to affordable education and meaningful employment for these young men and women, we’re strengthening both our workforce and our economy.”
disparaging comments about Mexican immigrants in his recent campaign post for the upcoming Presidential elections, José Andrés has backed out of a contract with Trump Hotels in Washington D.C. José Andrés says Trump’s stance makes it “impossible” for him to move forward with the restaurant on Trump property because more than half the team is Hispanic, and the chef himself is a Spanish immigrant. Donald Trump Jr. claims that José Andrés will still be held responsible for their 10-year leased contract and other fees for terminating their contract including possibilities of opening The Bazaar in another property within Washington D.C. However, José Andrés was surely able to find alternative measures to open a new restaurant, and instead of D.C his EL Bulli-style spherical olives and his Spanish restaurant The Bazaar has been rumored to be opening a SLS property in NYC. It is no surprise that José Andrés will be partnering with Hotel chain SLS as they have been longtime partners from the opening of his first location of The Bazaar at one of SLS’s properties in Beverly Hills. José Andrés is also serving as the hotel chain’s culinary director. While the rumor of José Andrés opening a restaurant in NYC still remains, some speculate that José Andrés is only advising in the development of the new Hotel SLS restaurant in NYC and has no intentions of opening in NYC. Nonetheless, many speculators are excited to see which new location José Andrés will enter.
trends is fried chicken sandwiches and Shake Shack is taking their approach to this market with their ChickenShack. This fried chicken sandwich is “limited edition” and can only be found in three locations in Brooklyn. While this “limited edition” burger was available for a short span, the success of the burgers have encouraged the sandwich to be offered in a larger span. On July 16th, the ChickenShack will be available for more consumers.
POM Wonderful, a California company, is facing legal battles on both the East and West Coasts. Both lawsuits involve claims of deceptive marketing, but POM Wonderful stands on the offensive side on the West and defensive on the East. This past January at the national’s capital, The Federal Trade Commissions has ruled that POM Wonderful made misleading health claims in its advertising between 2003 and 2010. “POM touted medical studies ostensibly showing that daily consumption of its products could treat, prevent, or reduce the risk of various ailments, including heart disease, prostate cancer, and erectile dysfunction,” Judge Sri Srinivan said. POM Wonderful is struggling to appeal the court case as judges and FTC are in comprehension of misinformed advertising.
Mayor Bill de Blasio has proposed a bill that would require businesses to separate food waste and regular trash. Hotels, arenas and large-scale restaurants would be required to create systems and comply to this proposal regularly. The regulation applies to restaurants in hotels with more than 150 rooms, vendors in arenas and stadiums with seating capacity of at least 15,000 people, food manufacturers with a floor area of at least 25,000 square feet and wholesalers with at least 20,000 square feet. Mayor de Blasio believes “The commercial establishments in today’s proposal are already recycling plastics and metals, and by additionally recycling organic material, they will significantly contribute to reducing our city’s waste stream.” Exempt from this regulation are other food businesses like grocery stores, caterers, normal-sized restaurants and fast-food establishments. It is deemed that the sanitation department is set to publish this rule over the summer and is subjected to start after a 6-month grace period for businesses. Businesses will be given the option to arrange for collection by a private carter, transport organic waste themselves, or compost on-site, subject to compliance with the city’s sewer system. Business will be entirely liable for all costs and challenges associated with composting- space, price, arrangement.
The beloved belgium fries shop Pomme Frites is getting ready to reopen in its new location on MacDougal St. Pomme Frites was a victim of the 2nd Avenue fire this past March. While this fry shop was a legendary fries shop in the St. Marks area, fry lovers are anticipating the shop’s return. In attempts to quickly reopen the shop, the owners Omer Shorshi and Suzanne Levinson are asking for donations to help buy fryers, fridges and appliances needed to make their famous fries and sauces. While the original location was insured, the equipment is dated from 1996 when the store first opened that claims won’t be enough to cover new appliance costs and legal claims are a slow process.
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