It was just a matter of time before TikTok got into the restaurant business.
On Friday, the video-sharing platform announced a partnership with Virtual Dining Concepts to launch delivery-only TikTok Kitchen locations across the US, starting in March. Food and recipe videos have become a key part of the site’s programming, with clips racking up millions of views. The company recently reported that more than one billion people worldwide use the platform monthly.
Virtual Dining Concepts has successfully backed celebrity and non-celebrity restaurants, most notably MrBeast Burger, which has been a breakout hit since it was launched in autumn 2020 by YouTube star Jimmy Donaldson. MrBeast sold one million burgers in three months, and there are now 1,500 locations in the US, Canada and the UK.
Co-founder Robert Earl says about 300 TikTok restaurants are planned across the country for the launch, with more than 1,000 expected by the end of next year. He foresees success on par with MrBeast.
“Look, you have a platform with a billion viewers monthly who are constantly engaged, as the numbers show,” says Earl. “It’s the first time there’s a brand like this out there – an audience of hundreds of millions of people.”
Among the restaurants that TikTok Kitchen will operate out of are national chains Earl owns, including Buca di Beppo and Bertucci’s.
The TikTok Kitchen menu will be based on the app’s most viral food trends, including baked feta pasta, which was ranked the most-searched dish of 2021 by Google. Also planned for the opening menu are pasta chips – cooked pasta shapes that are cheese coated and air-fried – as well as a smash burger and corn ribs made from peeling off sections of corn and coating them with spices and Parmesan.
Earl says prices will be “comparable to other Virtual Dining Concept brands”. A MrBeast burger starts at $6.99.
Look, you have a platform with a billion viewers monthly who are constantly engaged, as the numbers show. It’s the first time there’s a brand like this out there – an audience of hundreds of millions of people
Robert Earl,
co-founder of Virtual Dining Concepts
The menu will change quarterly to start. If a dish starts going viral, says Earl, there will probably be opportunities to add it to menus. Whether such dishes as the baked feta pasta remain constant offerings remains to be seen.
In a release, TikTok said it would devote its profits from the restaurants to the creators of the menu dishes and to support promising culinary talents on the platform. “I’m doing it as a business, TikTok are doing it for development of that category. It’s an investment in their business,” says Earl.
It isn’t clear how TikTok will determine the authorship of certain viral dishes – which sometimes belong to more than one person – or what revenue it expects to generate and distribute. The names of the dish creators will not be on the TikTok Kitchen menus, and the company did not respond to requests for comment.
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Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
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Explainer: Tanween Design Programme
Non-profit arts studio Tashkeel launched this annual initiative with the intention of supporting budding designers in the UAE. This year, three talents were chosen from hundreds of applicants to be a part of the sixth creative development programme. These are architect Abdulla Al Mulla, interior designer Lana El Samman and graphic designer Yara Habib.
The trio have been guided by experts from the industry over the course of nine months, as they developed their own products that merge their unique styles with traditional elements of Emirati design. This includes laboratory sessions, experimental and collaborative practice, investigation of new business models and evaluation.
It is led by British contemporary design project specialist Helen Voce and mentor Kevin Badni, and offers participants access to experts from across the world, including the likes of UK designer Gareth Neal and multidisciplinary designer and entrepreneur, Sheikh Salem Al Qassimi.
The final pieces are being revealed in a worldwide limited-edition release on the first day of Downtown Designs at Dubai Design Week 2019. Tashkeel will be at stand E31 at the exhibition.
Lisa Ball-Lechgar, deputy director of Tashkeel, said: “The diversity and calibre of the applicants this year … is reflective of the dynamic change that the UAE art and design industry is witnessing, with young creators resolute in making their bold design ideas a reality.”
'THE WORST THING YOU CAN EAT'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
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- A negative test 2 days before flying
- Complete passenger locator form
- Book a post-arrival PCR test
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