Happy Monday.
I’ve been withholding some important information from you guys but I’m finally ready to speak my truth. A couple of weeks ago I had dinner at Frog Club, NYC’s hottest new restaurant where photos aren’t allowed and they cover your phone camera (back and front) with branded stickers.
The highlights:
Martinis were amazing
Dessert (banana cream pie) was insanely good and I’ve been thinking about it every single day since then
Our waiter Robbie was incredible (hilarious, attentive, fun) and really made the experience worthwhile
The negatives:
The food was…bad. I’m not even going to give you a detailed review, it was just bad. I really hope they get their shit together soon.
I’m keeping my eye on:
Headspace is getting into VR
The meditation app Headspace has teamed up with Meta to launch a virtual reality experience to engage Gen Z in mindfulness practices. Headspace describes it as “a rare distraction-free zone. There’s no double screening, no pop-ups, a general great place for beginners to practice mindfulness”. I hate this word “mindfulness”, it feels jargon-y and meaningless. However, I do think this product makes sense - an immersive meditation experience seems like an ideal use case for VR.
The Boeing chronicles continue
It seems like every day there’s a new Boeing airplane incident and it’s scaring people (myself included). I think that the monopolistic nature of the airplane industry is a major problem and likely to blame for what’s happening. There really are only two major players in airplane manufacturing (Boeing and Airbus) and I think that these manufacturing shortcomings are a result of what happens when a company has too much power. When there’s no competition, there’s no incentive to make the best quality product.
Gen Z is bringing the tramp stamp back
I predict that Gen Alpha will bring back not getting tattoos at all.
Last week’s The Daily episode on being 33 is causing quite a stir
My fyp is full of younger millennials talking about this podcast episode and how their generation has been dealt such a shitty hand. The cohort of people born in 1990 and 1991 makes up the peak of America’s population, and economic misfortune seems to follow them everywhere they go: they were encouraged to go to college and take out loans, graduated into a recession, now are starting to settle down but can’t afford to own a house or start a family.
At least they got to live through the indie sleaze era.
Dolly Parton is launching a cookbook with her sister. Fun.
Middle managers are being laid off
FML.
I downloaded the Blank Street Coffee app and it’s genius.
The VC-backed coffee chain Blank Street has an app and this thing looks incredible. I haven’t actually used it to order yet but it’s smart for a number of reasons:
They have a really great value loyalty program (which currently has a waitlist) so of course it makes sense to have an app.
Blank Street mainly targets commuters which means their stores tend to be tiny. Ordering in advance just makes sense for this target demo.
The product imagery is so enticing. I’m an absolute freak for a mid-day sweet treat and their app makes my mouth water. Innovative flavors + amazing images = $$$.
Celine is launching a beauty brand
I don’t think anyone wants this. The luxury beauty market is already so saturated & I really don’t know if Celine will be able to innovate in this space.
Djerf Avenue is also launching beauty
Djerf Avenue is launching some haircare products under the name Djerf Avenue Beauty and I think this is a genius move from them. Founder Matilda Djerf is a Swedish influencer who is famous for having the most perfect, bouncy curls. It was only a matter of time.
ok BYE have a great monday 💌