The Return of The Vegas Buffet and 14 Openings to Know

This post originally appeared on May 15, 2020 in Amanda Kludt’s newsletter “From the Editor,” a roundup of the most vital news and stories in the food world each week. Read the archives and subscribe now.

Here’s what you missed on Eater last week:

— Openings: Cafe Leonelli, a name-brand import from New York, and Le Jardinier, opening at Houston’s venerable Museum of Fine Art; Em, a pretty and long-delayed Vietnamese restaurant, in New York; Itria, an Italian restaurant serving bubbly focaccia-like pan pizza, in San Francisco; S&W Market, Asheville’s first food hall; Herbie Butcher’s Fried Chicken, a vegan fried chicken spot from a popular vegetarian butcher, in Minneapolis; DBA at Palace Market, a music venue born out of the pandemic, in New Orleans; and Oma’s Hideaway, an over-the-top and super playful restaurant, in Portland.

— Outdoor dining structures have become a must-have marketing expense for restaurant-owners in New York.

— Celeb chef Gordon Ramsay is making a big post-pandemic move into fast food.

— From the Vegas buffet beat, here’s a look at Bacchanal’s grand reopening after a multi-million dollar upgrade, and the MGM Grand announced it will reopen its buffet next week.

— A TV chef ripped off the design of famous appetizing store and restaurant Russ & Daughters for his new “love letter to the Jewish Delicatessen” the Borscht Belt.

— 30 big name Indian restaurants around North America and the UK are joining forces to raise money for COVID relief in India.

— How a New York restaurant loses money on a $14 vegetarian sandwich (spoiler: it’s labor and delivery costs!).

— Where Philly’s community leaders dine out in Chinatown.

— Watch: Nyesha Arrington recreates Totino’s pizza rolls.

— And we’re hiring! A full time deputy editor in Chicago and a reporter in New York.

And from the May 21 edition:

— In terms of reopening, New York and D.C. fully reopen next week, with Philly and Washington State following in June. Vaccinated bar goers in Chicago can keep drinking until 4 a.m. And Oregon will fully reopen once they vaccinate 70 percent of adults, so good luck Oregon!

— To-go booze is now permanent in Texas and Florida.

— Fine dining destination Single Thread will open a new vegetarian restaurant in the former home of SHED in Healdsburg later this year.

— Popular Brooklyn and LA outdoor food market Smorgasburg is expanding to New Jersey.

— The pandemic may have delayed the true impacts of Brexit on London restaurateurs, but they still loom.

— The case for a guaranteed food worker income.

— The co-owner of Tacolicious in SF on how delivery apps have changed the meaning of a restaurant.

Mike Ledford

— Openings: Spanish Diner, a fun-looking new location of José Andrés’ New York spot, in Bethesda, MD; Little Palm, a pastel cocktail bar from the Death & Co. crew, in Charleston; Como Como, a dark steakhouse, in Miami; Chattahoochee Food Works, a long-anticipated Atlanta food hall from TV chef Andrew Zimmnern; Caruso’s Grocery, an homage to old-school red sauce joints, and El Secreto de Rosita, a Peruvian bar, in D.C.; and the grand reopening of 100-year-old Tosca Cafe in San Francisco.

— How an LA chef took everything he learned running Jon & Vinny’s catering company to his own business selling chicken wings out of a church.

— All those gross food TikToks you’ve seen are actually connected to one person.

— To watch: Prime Time’s Ben and Brent dry-age some pork to prove it deserves a place on a steakhouse menu.

— What goes into running a resort “oasis” in the hottest place on Earth, Death Valley.

— A lot of restaurant chefs launched old-school frozen dinners during the pandemic.