UPDATE: OZEMPIC RESTAURANTS
Once again, one of our predictions has come true –because we’re basically seers and there’s magic in our bloodline.
Read Chris’ piece about Ozempic here.
By now, of course, you may know about the Teeny Weeny Meal: a small burger-and-fries situation crafted for the GLP-1 crowd of Clinton Hill. But while restaurants in New York have been doing this for a moment, restaurant groups all over the country are taking this phenom more seriously. In DC, the restaurant Cuba Libre just launched a “GLP-Wonderful” menu (“GLP-Onederful”) that features 3.5 oz portions of vaca frita among other things in lieu of 6 oz portions of vaca frita (among other things). Both portions and prices on this menu are 25% less than their regular menu. McDonald’s also recently brought back the Snack Wrap. Coincidence?
“Don’t not meet your KPIs, Murph!” amritie?
On the one hand, this Ozempic “craze” isn’t that different from other times restaurants have responded to people wanting to be skinny. The SkinnyLicious® menu has existed for millennia (which also features smaller portions and cheaper prices), and let’s not forget about McSalad Shakers. But unlike diets, which are easily breakable, Ozempic/Wegovy what-have-you actually works, and it is definitely here to mosty likely stay. It makes sense that the hospitality business will respond in kind, but the larger question is how will this affect hospitality overall?
It’s one thing if GLP-1s just made you skinnier, but they don’t only curb “food noise” – they tamper down addictions of all types by reducing the amount of dopamine your brain gets when you do something joyful. This is obviously amazing for so many people struggling with obesity and addiction. But for those who aren’t so much, it can have a “flattening effect,” similar to antidepressants, where sure you have less of a desire to eat but also have less of a desire for “any enjoyable activity” like sex, doing a good job at work, or having a conversation. (The Beast (Bonello, 2023) starring Léa Seydoux comes to mind, which takes place in a world where people’s emotions are mechanically removed to be more productive, and therefore no one truly knows what it means to be in love.)
“Our KPIs failed to meet our OKRs for Q5… What?… You’re telling me Q5 isn’t real??”
As a Hedonist, I feel increasingly isolated in a world where the kids are consuming less alcohol and more human dog food – and it’s tempting to place GLP-1s in the same sphere of things that seem to be making the world just a bit more sad. But hey, it’s reassuring that people taking GLP-1s are still going to restaurants at the end of the day; otherwise, restaurants wouldn’t know to start catering to them, and with whimsey none-the-less. That is the right take. We can all use a little more lightness in our world.
This is pretty cute honestly.
