Welcome to Deep Dish, a weekly roundup of food and entertainment news. Last time we discussed microplastics (or lack thereof) in our brains.
The hosting ensemble of The Great British Baking Show tends to attract as much intrigue and speculation as the substance of the show itself. Their offbeat humor (at times to the tune of overt cultural insensitivity) and not-infrequent cast fluctuations have drawn plenty of headlines in their own right, this very publication included. So it’s no surprise that host Prue Leith’s departure from the famed tent has fans chattering. Read more below on which food icon will fill her shoes.
Also this week, Chipotle started a PAC, restaurants in Minnesota are closing in protest of ICE raids, and more.
Prue Leith Leaves the Tent
Prue Leith, one of the judges on The Great British Baking Show, announced on Wednesday that she is leaving the tent after presiding over more than 400 challenges in nine seasons. She joined the show in 2017, replacing Dame Mary Berry. Leith announced her retirement on Instagram writing: “Bake Off has been a fabulous part of my life for the last nine years, I have genuinely loved it and I’m sure I’ll miss working with my fellow judges Paul, Alison and Noel and the teams at Love Productions and Channel 4,” she wrote in a post on Instagram on January 21. “But now feels like the right time to step back (I’m 86 for goodness sake!).”
Rumors began circulating about her replacement nearly immediately; it appears the domestic goddess herself, Nigella Lawson, will be filling Prue’s shoes, though it’s unlikely she will deliver the same cheeky double entendres with as much wry humor as Prue. —Andrea Strong, contributing writer and editor
Chipotle Gets Political
Chipotle Mexican Grill—you know, the place trying to sell you a protein cups of grilled chicken and nothing else—appears to be diving into the political realm. In early January the company filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to establish a corporate PAC. Chipotle’s PAC will collect funds from executives, employees, and shareholders in order to donate it to political campaigns, elected politicians, and other causes that might benefit the business down the line.
It’s a hard pivot for Chipotle, which has previously more or less stayed away from the political arena—as opposed to other restaurant-centric organizations like, say, the National Restaurant association which spends its money lobbying for, among other things, not raising the minimum wage. Who will Chipotle’s PAC donate to in the impending midterms? Will their donations move the needle in any significant way? More importantly, when will they stop charging for guac? —Sam Stone, staff writer
“No Work. No School. No Shopping” and No Restaurants in Minnesota
Businesses across Minnesota, including many restaurants, will close today as part of a general strike to protest the recent brutality of ICE agents across the state. Organizers of the strike have dubbed it the “Day of Truth and Freedom.”
“There’s a time to stand up for things, and this is it,” Alison Kirwin, who owns Al’s Breakfast, in Minneapolis, told the New York Times. “If it takes away from a day of our income, that is worthwhile.” Some businesses will remain open, but strikers are hoping the scale of the economic impact of the one day strike will be large enough to send a message to the Trump administration. —S.S.
Listening Rooms Are All the Rage
As social media increasingly facilitates—or, from the more cynical vantage point, entirely substitutes—human interaction, younger generations have begun to seek out “third spaces,” or communal meeting points outside the defaults of work and home. The ascendance of listening bars, where visitors share in a vinyl while sipping on cocktails, makes all the more sense within that framework. Inspired by Japanese kissa, they provide an even more tangible, uniquely sensory experience than the pub around the corner, a common purpose grounded in sound and time in place, even if briefly. In a piece in Bon Appétit exploring the listening bars popping up across the country, Nneka M. Okona writes: “In a world buzzing with too much technology and an overwhelming amount of access to algorithm-led playlists, there is something sacred and ceremonial about going analog. Of pausing to listen a little bit more and not giving into the scroll to let yourself go on a sonic adventure, sharing room with others as your temporary and beautifully fleeting sonic companions.” —Li Goldstein, associate newsletter editor