Noma’s Chef has Big Plans in Brownsville

Claus Meyer, the star Danish chef and co-founder of world famous Noma, has a few big projects in the works that he hopes will be a bit more accessible than a Michelin star. Chief among them is a combined restaurant and culinary school opening later this year in a former 99 cent store in Brownsville, both of which will be geared chiefly towards residents of the neighborhood. This is the second school-restaurant combo from Meyer, the first being Gusto in La Paz, Bolivia. Both neighborhoods were chosen for their limited access to healthy food, with the goal of empowering residents and the local economy by providing affordable dining and education together.

Applications are currently open to Brownsville residents aged 18-24 for a year long culinary program at the new school. Meyer’s team also plans to offer free cooking classes to residents throughout the year, and serve food from the neighborhood at the 40 seat restaurant. Additional details have yet to be set in stone, although there are sure to be plenty of fans of Meyer who treat the spot as a destination restaurant, no matter what it looks like.

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Gusto in La Paz, Bolivia

One Line from Beyonce Sends Red Lobster Sales Skyrocketing

Now that Superbowl 50 is over and done, there’s still time this week for the post-game (and post-halftime show) analysis. A fair amount of this analysis is without a doubt centered on Beyoncé, who performed her brand new single Formation just after surprise-releasing it to the general public. But the biggest surprise of all might have been the unexpected result of that single – on Red Lobster’s sales.

beyonce-formation[1].jpgThe song, now watched almost three million times on YouTube, includes an (explicitly worded) line about visiting Red Lobster after sex. That line immediately (and perhaps predictably) blew up social media with references to the seafood chain. The phenomenon might have ended with a few tweets, but instead Red Lobster’s sales actually spiked 33% according to CNN. Of course, that kind of publicity may only provide a flash in the pan, but if you’re looking for flash, nobody brings it better than Beyoncé.