Crains New York - July 29, 2013 - (Page 13)

FOOD BUSINESS REPORT INSIDE Sweet feat Sandy and the return of the chocolate factory PAGE 14 Beer here Bubble may be brewing as kegmeisters tap into demand PAGE 17 Profiting from letter grades Eateries seeking A’s are lining up to get expert help BY CARA S. TRAGER When the founders thought about where to launch their business, which now has 15 employees, New York City seemed like an obvious home base.“New York attracts a greater pool of talent in tech, media and food all in one place,” said Ms. Hesser.The company, which has annual revenue of more than $1 million, according to Ms. Hesser, is about to launch an e-commerce site called Provisions. As a media capital and the home of world-famous restaurants and a thriving locavore movement, New York has become food-tech central, Since opening in June 2012, La Marina, a waterfront restaurant in northern Manhattan, has notified employees to cover the fruit at the bar and not to store the ice-removal utensil in the freezer. Behind these instructions— and a bunch more—is a consultant who has guided the 292-seat eatery in its efforts to comply with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s regulations. As a result, on its first inspection last September, the 300-employee venue scored an A. “We’re pretty buttoned up,” said La MariRESTAURANTS CLOSED, YEAR na Controller ENDED MAY 30 Marybeth New York City may Higgins, inspect and adding that shutter eateries the consultmore than once in the same year ant continues to point out “what could be a problem and needs to be addressed.” While the city’s letter-grading system can give restaurateurs a bad case of indigestion, it has been good news for consultants. The grading system is helping to drive up revenue for some of these experts and has spurred the launch of more restaurant advisory firms. With eateries facing tougher and changing health regulations, attorneys and former health inspectors, in particular, have become the specialists du jour for pinpointing potential health and safety violations, heading off fines and generating A-worthy operations. In New York’s competitive restaurant climate, many eateries deem that kind of hand-holding essential. It has reduced their chances of getting shut down by the Health Department or receiving an undesirable letter grade, which can instantly drive patrons to A-brandishing rivals. See TASTE on Page 14 See MAKING on Page 15 1,388 buck ennis FRUITFUL PARTNERSHIP: Merrill Stubbs (left) and Amanda Hesser founded Food52, a website that features recipes from users. Industry’s taste for tech NYC becomes home to growing crop of food-centric Web and e-commerce startups BY ANNE FIELD Amanda Hesser, a former food editor at The New York Times Magazine and an avid chef,spent a lot of time searching disparate websites for recipes, the right serving dishes and answers to questions about ingredients. Sensing an opportunity for a business that could bring all of that content together, she and her friend Merrill Stubbs, who held a similar position at The Herb Quarterly, launched a website “aimed at creating a community of cooks,” Ms. Hesser said. Manhattan-based Food52, now four years old, includes a wide range of content, most of it created by readers. Regular features appear on such topics as “Dinner vs. Child” (offering kid-friendly carrot dishes), as well as recipes from users, contests and a forum for questions (“Can I reheat fish the next day?”). ANGEL FOOD Private-equity funding, U.S. food-tech companies $322M 2011 Source: CB Insights $348.5M 2012 July 29, 2013 | Crain’s New York Business | 13

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - July 29, 2013

IN THE BOROUGHS
IN THE MARKETS
THE INSIDER
BUSINESS PEOPLE
OPINION
ALAIR TOWNSEND
GREG DAVID
REPORT: FOOD BUSINESS
FOR THE RECORD
REAL ESTATE DEALS
CLASSIFIEDS
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
SOURCE BREAKFAST
OUT AND ABOUT
SNAPS

Crains New York - July 29, 2013