Welcome to Open Tab, a weekly roundup of news, gossip, and stories that have stayed open in my tabs all week. Last week we covered the scathing review haunting Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes' 1587 Prime.
I had a very nice time reading Caity Weaver's lengthy investigation into the best free bread in America, and I think you will too. I spent the first thousand or so words waiting for a mention of Bertucci's (warm, perfect, free) rolls, only for them to be dismissed without much ceremony. But perhaps, much like SNL casts, our favorite free bread is simply the bread we came to love in our teen years.
I noticed a fair bit of grumbling about the Erewhon opening inside LACMA on April 19—what do you people have against the coming together of two of LA's greatest cultural institutions? Also of note: Philz coffee is sticking to its anti-Pride flag stance, which we talked about last week. According to a leaked memo reported on by the San Francisco Chronicle, instead of Pride flags, Philz will allegedly have “a new ‘unifying’ piece of artwork that would apparently be placed in every store.” My vote is a photorealistic mural of Divine.
Also this week: Crumbl may have started to crumble, rotisserie chickens have never been more hotly debated, and your bagels may be getting a private equity makeover.
All the president's McDonald's
Our president has a unique relationship with the great golden arches. During the election cycle, he served fries in battleground states, he's welcomed guests to the White House with a buffet of big macs, and he even, allegedly, ate cheeseburgers as part of his nightly wind-down ritual. How does this penchant for fast food square with the juggernaut that is the MAHA movement? It's quite literally impossible to say.
But given Trump's love affair with McDonald's, it's not altogether surprising to hear that he recently DoorDashed some to the Oval Office. It's less surprising to hear that the whole thing was a stunt designed to promote his “no tax on tips” policy—which, in fact, servers are not universally excited about. When Trump inexplicably asked the Dasher, Sharon Simmons, if she thought “men should play in women's sports,” she responded “I really don't have an opinion on that.” A trenchant vignette of the current culture war at play in our country, no?
The rise and fall of food's Utah-ification
Have you noticed that Utah's food culture has been slowly but surely gaining power? Back in 2023, I reported on how Utah-founded Crumbl was the country's fastest-growing dessert shop. Another company that started in Utah, Swig, has helped to popularize Dirty Soda, a concept that's exploded, in part, thanks to its appearances on Hulu's The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.
But this week has been a rocky one in the steady ascent of the Utah-ification of the country's foods. Yes, McDonald's has jumped on the Dirty Soda bandwagon, introducing drinks like a Dirty Dr. Pepper (a Dr. Pepper mixed with coconut cream and lime), but Crumbl, the original Utah export, seems to be facing some troubles. After slowed growth in 2024, the company also reported making less money per franchise in 2025, according to franchise documents. Could this be the beginning of the end? Will Crumbl find some way to pivot to AI in order to save the company? I, for one, can't wait to find out.
How much is too much for a roast chicken?
It's rare that every food writer and editor in my immediate universe can agree on one thing, but this week the greater food media minds were unified over a single rotisserie chicken. The chicken in question is at Gigi's in Greenpoint, and it costs—hold on to your wallets—77 American dollars. I should say that the price also includes roast potatoes and a trio of sauces, but does that make it less appalling? I'll answer for you: It does not.
An Instagram post by New York City councilman Chi Ossé's was the spark that set the discourse aflame. “$40 half chicken at a wine bar? Really?” he posted, referring to the half portion, also available at the restaurant. Outrage ensued.
“Is it bad that we ended up having a half chicken at $40? Probably, yes, but this is how the inflation and the affordability crisis is coming through,” Gigi's owner Hugo Hivernat told Bon Appétit. “It's not our fault we have to do these prices.”
Corporate bagels are coming for you
I've always felt that part of the charm of grabbing a bagel is that it's lo-fi. I don't need my bagel shop to have a look, you know? It seems a lot of people disagree; spots like Courage Bagels in LA and the bay area's Boichik Bagels lean distinctly high-end.
Now, bagel shops around the country are getting serious coin from investment funds. Back in 2023, Bon Appétit declared that the best bagels now exist outside of New York, and investment looks like the next logical step for this new generation of bagels—with more funding, they can expand to reach new customers. Perhaps things will work out, and we'll enter a new golden age of bagel-dom, but, as always, I remain wary of the effect private investment can have on any kind of food venture.