Introducing: The Tomorrow Today Show
New Podcast, Mise 2, and Thoughts in Progress
I just launched a podcast: The Tomorrow Today Show!
It’s a long form conversation show where each episode dives deep into the future of a specific food topic. The first episode on The Future of Restaurants is out now on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
This episode features guest co-host Mike Wolf (The Spoon), Kristen Hawley (Expedite), Elizabeth Tilton (Oyster Sunday / OS Benefits), and David Rodolitz (Flyfish Club / VCR Group).
Here are some conversation highlights…
"I've always said that everyone should work in a restaurant because I think it directly is correlated with your empathy towards humanity.” - Mike Wolf
"As someone who appreciates the art of a good restaurant, I just want there to be room for more stuff, not necessarily just the stuff that plays good on a screen." - Kristen Hawley
"When I started cooking, it was molecular gastronomy. The El Bullis of the world. And now we're going to pot pies. I think that when the world is so chaotic, and everything is so transient and digital, people are craving—literally—things that feel homely or warm." - Elizabeth Tilton
"I think you're seeing talent leave major cities because it's price prohibitive. I think I think you're going to see a lot of mom and pop stores that are the fabric of a lot of our cities go away because the numbers are not sustainable.” - David Rodolitz
“We’re all born analog and we're going to die digital, but for some kids today…having a robot in a Chinese restaurant is normal.” - Mike Lee
Season 1 of the show will explore everything from the future of restaurants, to farming, to CPG, to nutrition, hedonism, and more. I’ll be joined by a different co-host and guests for each show.
We’re a part of the newly launched Spoon Podcast Network with one episode coming out each week until the end of the season. Huge thanks to Mike, Tiffany, and Carlos for having me on the network and getting everything launched.
I love the long format because it gives people a chance to explore complicated, nuanced topics about the future of food without having to cram everything into quick soundbite segments.
I hope you enjoy the pod and would love to hear what you think: mike@thefuturemarket.com.
Mise 2: The Future of Restaurants
I’ve been hard at work writing and designing Mise 2: The Future of Restaurants.
Having grown up in a restaurant family, starting a supperclub in the early 2000s, and generally loving everything about restaurants, this is a topic that’s near and dear to me.
It feels like the industry is in flux now, as there are so many uncertainities about how rising costs, labor issues, expensive rents, diner preferences, and automation will shape the next decade and beyond.
I’ll be launching a free preview chapter from the book in mid-May called "The Perfect Sandwich." For those interested in a preview of the preview, I discussed some of themes from “The Perfect Sandwich” on a Future Food Institute Food AI Co-Lab session here.
Mise 1: Digital Edition
The first issue of Mise is now available as a PDF.
For those who requested a version that doesn't require shelf space or the strength to hold up a 102 sheets of paper, your moment has arrived: Buy Mise 1 Digital Edition.
Thoughts In Progress
I have a few things occupying my thoughts lately, some of which may turn into future Substacks:
Tariffs: Like most of the world, I have no idea what to make of the recent round of tariff chaos. We may need to start adapting to not having some key ingredients in our lives—everything from coffee to tequila to bananas—as much as we used to. Food is already a pretty low margin business and I don’t see how this ends well for grocers, distributors, importers, restaurants, and eaters if sweeping global tariffs are upheld. But hey, I can’t wait for all the new coffee and banana factories we’re going to get in the United States, amirite?
The Overton Window for Food: I’ve been wrestling with an observation that in domains like technology, the range of ideas that are socially acceptable by the mainstream public (aka: The Overton Window) tend to move forward only. Like how the invention of email drastically reduced how much we use snail mail and how smartphones pretty much made home landlines a thing of the past. But in food, we’ve been in the midst of a movement that is kind of anti-tech in our food, like the rejection of GMOs and ultra processed foods in some circles. Which makes me wonder what are the things that influence how an Overton Window moves in food? GMOs and processed foods were and still are widely consumed by people, but what happened that spurred rejection of these things that were once heralded as game-changing innovations?
RFK Jr.: I’m waiting a bit to see how his agenda pans out, if ever, and am honestly perplexed by this guy and how he ended up in the Trump administration. While I am not a fan of his anti-science conspiracy theories and dismissal of vaccines, his rhetoric about pushing the food and ag industries toward a purer, more “natural” state echoes typical progressive food policy issues. We’re used to seeing people on the left crusade against food additives, degenerative agriculture, and processed foods, not a guy embedded in a far right administration. And I honestly don’t know if he’s going to last long in this administration, as some of the policies he’s for are going to make life harder and less profitable for big food and ag companies. Trump is ultra pro-business with less regulation and free market economies, yet RFK Jr’s MAHA is going to potentially add regulation and encourage big food to more heavily embrace things like regenerative agriculture. There’s just so much cognitive dissonance here.
Klarna & DoorDash: Financial technology company Klarna now enables you to finance food and grocery deliveries ordered on DoorDash. Can someone tell me which part of late stage capitalism to file this idea under? How did we get to a world where you can order a burrito delivered to your doorstep and pay for it in four easy installments? What does it say about the richest country in the world when some of its citizens need to go on a payment plan to buy a meal or groceries?
That's all for now. Thanks for reading. Thoughts, comments, and critiques are always welcome. Email me at mike@thefuturemarket.com.
