Intel 12/9: Roberta’s Gets Dragged Into ‘Pizzagate,’ Amazon Eliminates Checkout Lines & Trading Emojis for Recipes

By Karen Lo   ‧   Updated   08/14/2018   ‧   Intel /

Flickr/star5112/CC BY SA

Fast Food Executive Andrew Puzder Is Trump’s Likely Pick for Labor Secretary 

Sources close to the Trump administration said on Thursday that Andrew F. Puzder, the chief executive of the parent company of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, is expected to be selected as the next secretary of labor. Puzder has been a vocal critic of raising the minimum wage and supports repealing the Affordable Care Act, which he has blamed for the creation of a “restaurant recession” that has made it difficult for middle- and working-class Americans to dine out.

Pizzagate’s Latest Victim: Roberta’s in Bushwick

Flickr/STAR5112/CC BY SA

Flickr/Starr5112/CC BY SA

“Pizzagate” — the troubling fake news hoax in which hordes of Internet strangers were led to believe that Hillary Clinton and her campaign had been operating a child-trafficking ring out of Comet Ping Pong, a Washington, DC-based pizza shop — has claimed another victim. This time, the subject of the Internet’s misplaced contempt is Roberta’s, the beloved Bushwick pizza haven which the Clintons visited once in 2012, for a private birthday party. On the website Voat, users managed to create and convince themselves of a rumor that Roberta’s was somehow involved in the Clintons’ bogus trafficking ring, and on Wednesday, police confirmed that the restaurant had been targeted with harassing phone calls, threats, and messages in the name of vigilante justice, though Internet users have so far kept their distance from the restaurant.

This has not been the case for Comet, where one such vigilante was arrested this week for firing an assault rifle into the restaurant. The man, 28-year-old Edgar M. Welch, told police he wanted to rescue children he had been led to believe were being held captive by the restaurant. A YouTube video connecting Roberta’s to the alleged scandal has since been removed.

Amazon Debuts Grocery Store With No Checkout Lines 

As its latest venture into the world of physical retail, Amazon has opened a small grocery store in its Seattle hometown that has no checkout line. Instead, customers can pick up prepared meals, beverages, and other small grocery items, which are automatically added to individual tabs. At present, Amazon Go, as it’s called, is only open to Amazon employees, though the company will open the store to the public in 2017. A further two Seattle-based Amazon stores are under construction which will allow customers to place grocery orders online, and then pick them up in person.

Send a Food Emoji, Get a Recipe Recommendation 

It’s now possible to get a restaurant or recipe recommendation on Google just by tweeting a food emoji, like so:

If the current emoji keyboard covers all of your dietary needs, go nuts.

Uber Dips a Toe Into the Artificial Intelligence Business

A future in which self-driving cars roam the roads is even closer than you think, if Uber has anything to do with it. On Monday of this week, the company announced the launch of an in-house research arm on artificial intelligence, led by Gary Marcus and Zoubin Ghahramani of the AI startup Geometric Intelligence. The new research team will be called Uber’s AI Labs, and will explore the application of artificial intelligence in self-driving vehicles and the challenges posed by machine learning.

Bird Flu Puts on Damper on the French Foie Gras Business

A severe strain of the bird flu virus known as H5N8 is currently wreaking havoc on France’s lucrative foie gras business during what should be the busiest time of the season, according to the French agriculture ministry. In France, foie gras is traditionally eaten as a key part of the Christmas Eve meal, and sales during this time account for a third of annual profits. The virus has also halted exports of the delicacy, cutting French farmers off from hungry and well-off clients in the United States and Japan. Since it was first detected in November, several thousand ducks have been killed or have died from the virus.

Openings and Menu Updates

Salvation Burger

Salvation Burger

Salvation Burger has finally reopened after a severe fire destroyed the restaurant’s kitchen in May. The burger joint from April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman is known for its signature Salvation Burger with caramelized onions and taleggio cheese and its take on the classic cheeseburger, with housemade cheese, “special sauce,” and pickles – though don’t miss the banana cream pie, butterscotch scotch shake, or the bone marrow.

Paul Wagtouicz / Eatsa

Paul Wagtouicz / Eatsa

Eatsa, a fully automated fast food restaurant in which customers pick up their orders from a wall of glass cubbies, inspired by the vintage automat, is now open at 285 Madison Avenue, between 40th and 41st Streets. The menu includes a hummus and falafel bowl, curry bowl with stir-fried quinoa and egg, bento bowl with miso portobello and apple cabbage slaw, and a berry chia parfait. All bowls are just $6.95 and you can get your lunch in as little as 90 seconds.

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