episode 36: Keith Lee and corn sweat
many thoughts about influencer Keith Lee’s visit to DC, corn sweat’s contribution to humidity, and more!!
guess we have to talk about Keith Lee 🤷♀️
Keith Lee came to DC and stirred up a storm, and as a 7+ year DC resident and the writer of this famous newsletter (jk), I guess I must chime in! for those who don’t know, Lee is a Vegas boxer-turned-food influencer who is known for his videos that review struggling mom-and-pop restaurants. he generally orders food to-go, reviews it in his car, and then leaves a donation or a glowing review to help revive the business. Lee has amassed a huge following due to his generous and kind nature, leaving a string of businesses with a larger customer base, dubbed the “Keith Lee effect,” in his wake.
as his fandom has grown, Lee has ventured outside of his home and traveled to different cities, reaching out to his followers to amass recommendations for spots to try. while his visits have gone well in many cities, unfortunately, DC has been added to the list of places (NYC, Atlanta) where it hasn’t. on his DC trip, he posted a few generally good reviews of Dukem and Smize ice cream, a few other reviews of Maryland restaurants, and a negative review of award-winning Trinidadian spot Cane. lastly, he posted a video where he revealed he went to even more restaurants but refrained from posting his reviews because they would be negative and “not constructive.” he claimed the city’s restaurants were too alcohol-focused, one (Oohs and Aahs) had food safety issues, and overall the rest were poor quality.
the discouse mill is on fire. ON FIRE. his decision to not post his negative reviews and his insinuation that DC’s food scene is mediocre has left many of us thinking, “nuh uh!!!” I have many swirling thoughts, but here are some threads (and TikTok citations) explaining why Lee’s visit went so poorly.
His research is bad. Prior to his visits, Lee solicits recommendations from social media, from which he builds an itinerary for his trips. while this strategy may have worked when he only had a handful of DMs to sift through, he’s now getting so many messages that he can’t possibly create a quality list by himself, as evidenced in the seemingly random spots he went to and was considering. he needs to hire someone to at most, do active research (read articles, talk to locals, talk to food influencers, etc) and at least hire someone to go through his DMs. when he leaves a city and the residents feel he has done a poor job of capturing the cities’ essense, he needs to re-evaluate. (more on this from Joulzey, Alexus and According to April on TikTok)
He needs to adjust his palate. Lee seems to enjoy the same types of food in most of his videos (at least that i’ve seen) - particularly southern food and American food. he seemed to be looking for the same in DC, but if he had done more research, he would have realized DC isn’t known for carryout-style American food. which leads to the next point… (more on this from meccavelli)
DC’s food strengths aren’t to his taste. DC’s strength is our diversity in a variety of cuisines. you can get Ethiopian, Salvadoran, Indian, Georgian, Laotian, Vietnamese - and that’s just in DC proper - theres so much more in the suburbs! the DMV is one of the most diverse parts of the country, so if you want to have an experience reflective of this area, you have to adjust your palate to that environment. (more on this from jhalfaday)
His schtick is hard to replicate. going to a city and highlighting struggling businesses is hard when the risk is that..maybe those restaurants are struggling for a reason. we can debate if the DC spots he went to were actually bad or if he didn’t do his research, but not every city will cater to this vibe, and eventually he’s going to offend too many people to maintain an affectionate fanbase. (more on this from Abigail and Jamila)
Overall….he needs to pivot. he started doing these reviews for fun and really hit a niche that cemented his following, but honestly his schtick isn’t working anymore. there’s too many eyes on him, and if he isn’t adapting to critique, he’s going to keep leaving cities with a mess in his wake. he needs to do better research, go to places that are good but just need marketing help, not quality control. allegedly he’s been gunning for a TV show for a long time, and I think a that different format is the right next move. (more on this from Jouelzy and TNM)
corn sweat 🌽
phew! enough about DC, lets move to another part of the country, the Midwest! while of course, much of the country has suffered from heat waves this summer, did you know that corn could make it worse? it’s called corn sweat! states like Iowa, Nebraska, and Illinois are known for corn production, and during peak growing season (which is now) we see the corn sweat phenomena raising temperatures in the area. this occurs because crops pull moisture from the ground and push it into the atmosphere, called evapotranspiration, which increases dew points, contributing to humidity. in areas where there is a lot of corn, the humidity contribution is more concentrated and noticeable. this process ends when the harvest begins, usually in September. the corn is sweating just like the rest of us!
cotton candy flavor 🍭
after many mentions of cotton candy in the last few weeks (the Minnesota State Fair! this hilarious cotton candy robot I saw in San Francisco!) I was thinking about the flavor of cotton candy. is it just sugar? but then what is cotton candy ice cream? google to the rescue! I found that originally, cotton candy was just spun white sugar, but after pink and blue color was added, flavor was added too. the cotton candy flavor is comprised of a variety of artificial components, including ethyl maltol (caramelized sugar) strawberry furanone (fruity) and ethyl vanillin (vanilla). sometimes the pink-colored cotton candy tastes more like vanilla, and the blue color tastes more like a fruit cocktail. take me to another state fair to get some, stat!
the bond between oreos and your cigs 🚬
no, I didn’t think there was anything in common between oreos and cigarettes, but it now makes sense to me! last year, a study by the University of Kansas found there was a disproportionately high amount of “hyper-palatable” products made by food producers that were owned by tobacco companies. these tobacco companies took the same principles that went into making tobacco products addictive and applied those tactics to food production, by inflating levels of fat, sodium, and sugar to make an “artificially rewarding eating experience.” this would make products more addictive to eat, and would increase profits. while tobacco companies like Phillip Morris and RJ Reynolds have largely divested from the US food system as of the early 2000s, their impact is lasting on consumer behavior in decades since. read more here.
dont eat the deli meat!🥪
Boar’s Head Deli Meat has been linked to a listeria outbreak in a smattering of states across the country. the death toll has risen to 9 people and 57 more have been hospitalized, after testing at a production plant in the DMV area led to the original recall. the outbreak has affected 7 million pounds of ham, bologna, bacon and frankfurters produced between May 10 and July 29. more information on listera and the recall details can be found here.
scallop fraud! 🐟
are the scallops you just ordered at a restaurant…fake!?! (dun dun dunnnnn) years ago, Inside Edition reported that some scallops served at restaurants were not scallops at all, but instead made of surimi, or imitation crab meat. scallops are definitely expensive which is probably the motivation for supplementing dishes with other types of fish, like pollock. the original reporting sensationalized this practice as a huge problem, is it really? and how can you tell? depending on the type of scallop, the texture can be either tough and rubbery when deep fried, or you should be able to visually tell the difference between the long fibers of the scallop versus the pasty texture of surimi. also, scallops are usually served without breading, so you should be able to determine legitimacy based on texture and visuals. read more here.
f*cked up food
end of summer vibes? lol
restaurant review
I ate sooo much great food in the last few weeks while traveling to Minneapolis and San Francisco. in fact, there is so much good food to share that im severely behind on my posts (sorry!). for now i’ll share one highlight from each destination: Rintaro, a fantastic Japanese restaurant in SF, and a post highlighting all the fun fried food I had at the Minnesota State Fair. enjoy, below!
d.c. happenings
openings
Van Leeuwen location in Logan Circle opened
Jerk Pit now opened in AdMo in former Baja Tap/Mellow Mushroom space
Petworth’s Chicatana opening in DC Corazon space
Ko Japanese Dining open on 20th
Compliments Only opening in Capitol Hill
Taco Bell coming to H St
HER Diner opening in Duplex Diner space
Maman opening in PAUL Space downtown
new Italian spot opening in old Dean and Deluca space in Georgetown
Talkin’ Tacos opening in Dupont
closings
Rebel Taco closed in Mt. Vernon?
&Pizza in Tenleytown closed and Columbia Heights
Petworth Wendy’s closed for rennovations
Bread Bite Bakery coming to 14th
(another one bites the dust!) Almeda leaving Upshur St
Busboys and Poets on 14th closed for rennovations
Mi Cuba very much closed in Columbia Heights
Post Pub closed once again downtown
other
windows smashed at Paragon Thai in Cleveland Park :/
Slipstream Logan Circle moving to Studio building up street
Potter’s House unveiling a pay-what-you-can model
home cooking
lol, I basically didn’t! I was traveling for a huge chunk of the last few weeks, but I did do an incredibly satisfying grocery shop when I got back. a lot of my meals have centered around using up some cashews I found in the back of my fridge, with this vegan caesar dressing, and figs for fig season! I did a fig/prosciutto/goat cheese salad and a variation of this tomato/blue cheese/fig salad a few times, some elite combos! I also made the toma-tini again for a weenies (veggie hot dogs) and ‘tinis night with some friends.
that’s it folks! I’ll resume a regular 2-week posting schedule soon(ish).
Rintaro is so good. It is the one place we are compelled to return to when we are in San Francisco. Glad you enjoyed it.