Give Nick Kokonas access to a Medium account and a nice glass of wine tonight, and he'll give you nationwide brand awareness tomorrow.

In the last year, fake meat has ballooned from a shadowed substitute on the menu tucked at the bottom of the board in italicized fine print to a regular food item worthy of equal status as the half-pound beef burger on the menu.

Missy Schaaphok is used to people doing a double-take when they hear what she does for a living. “I love telling people that I am a dietician, and then I pause,” Schaaphok said. “Then I tell them I work for Taco Bell, just to see what kind of reaction they give. It’s pretty hilarious.”

It’s 11 a.m. on a Wednesday morning and Waitr CEO Christopher Meaux is in tears.

Shake Shack-branded chicken nuggets, black sesame shakes, and cold brew matcha lattes can only mean one thing: the test kitchen that the company has been talking about for years is finally open and the team isn’t wasting any time with putting the new space to work.

José Andrés’ restaurant group ThinkFoodGroup has bought back the rights to The Bazaar, a restaurant brand that was originally developed in partnership with SBE Entertainment Group to be paired with one of its luxury hotel brands, SLS Hotels.