Welcome to Deep Dish, a weekly roundup of food and entertainment news. Last time we discussed the allegations that Reese’s has changed its recipe.
Finstas (for the uninitiated, fake Instagrams) are an increasingly common and strategic marketing tool for celebrities, ostensibly humanizing them and adding a little texture to their glossy lives. Martha Stewart has one, Kendrick Lamar has one, and now Sam Smith has joined the pack. Their finsta veers more into food finsta territory, as the singer shares their favorite eating experiences and bites. Despite the somewhat manufactured “pop stars, they’re just like us” nature of some celebrity finstas, Smith’s feels actually candid and kind of charming—and they have good taste, as far as I can tell!
Also this week, Resy and Tock are uniting, “boy kibble” is trying to enter our vernacular à la girl dinner, and Dunkin’ is selling buckets of iced coffee.
Sam Smith has entered their food-influencer era. This week, what appears to have once been their secret Instagram food account went rather public. The account, SamServed, has posts that date back to November of last year, in which Smith waxes poetic about a Copenhagen restaurant called Kebabistan. Now, the account is quickly gaining followers—though as of the time of this writing the follower count is hovering around 11,000, a far cry from the more than 14 million on Smith’s official account.
This week, as Smith performs in San Francisco they’re hitting some local spots, beginning their videos with a cheeky “Hi piggies.” In one video, at Mission Chinese they gush “this food is amazing,” while sitting at a table laden with dishes. In another video they stop by Molinari Delicatessen, posing for a picture in front of the cheese case. Which Bay Area favorites will they hit while they’re in town? Will they venture into the East Bay? How long before they start selling “Hi Piggies” merch? Questions abound. —Sam Stone, staff writer
In a press release earlier this week, reservations platform Resy announced “the unification of Resy and Tock venues,” forecast to happen this summer. Translation: Tock is no more, Resy is king, and if you want that hard-to-get reservation, you’d better get an American Express card now.
For years, reservation culture has been out of control, even inspiring reservation trading, buying, and bidding wars. As one reservation platform eats another, the competition for tables is set to increase. Perhaps the best way to secure a table is also the oldest: become a regular. — S.S.
I’m disgusted by boy kibble—both conceptually and semantically. At risk of giving it excessive airtime, I’ll briefly summarize. Where girl dinner is a charming (if not a little bit dumb) smorgasbord of snacky things like cheese and pretzels and salami, boy kibble (🤢) consists of unseasoned ground beef and white rice, consumed for the protein of it all. It sounds gross, it looks gross, and I can’t help but picture the wretched scene of said meal being consumed out of a dog bowl. Away with boy kibble (🤢). —Li Goldstein, associate newsletter editor
On the heels of a record-smashing blizzard, Dunkin’ (née Donuts) is selling 48-ounce buckets of iced coffee in some Massachusetts locations. That’s New England spirit, baby! In case your 12 oz morning cup simply wasn’t doing it for you, the bucket can be yours for under $10, miraculously. All cards on the table, if I lived near a participating Dunkin’, I’d be beelining for the bucket, if only for the bit and the memorabilia. —L.G.
