30
◀Zagatsharesachiefexecutive
withTheInfatuation(Stang)but
thebrandsremainseparate.
Thewittyredbooks,launched
in1979byhusband-and-wife
lawyersTimandNinaZagat,were
favouredbyfashionabledinersin
the1980sand1990s .Theguides
were innovative fortheirtime,
wrestingcontrolofwhodecides
what’shotandwhat’snotfrom
criticsandgivingitb ackto
consumers, buildingreview susing
mail-i nsurveysfromcustomers
acrosstheUS.Curatingthereviews
atnight,theZagatscreatedthe
originaluser-generatedcontent.
Buttheguideswere slowto
adaptandstruggledtokeeptheir
relevanceint heinternetagewhen
dinersturnedtoGoogle,Open
TableandUrbanspoon,allofwhich
generaterecommendationsbased
oncuisineandlocation.AfterZagat
waspurchasedbyGoogle,itsbrand
–definedbymeticulouscuration–
appearedtoflounderinatech
companycommittedtodataand
undilutedconsumercontent.
“Withthesebigcompanies,
lotsofpeoplefeelthatthelights
areonb utnooneisdriving,”says
PeterHarden,co-founderofthe
Harden’s seriesofU Krestaurant
guides.“NoonegoestoGoogleand
TripAdvisorandsays,‘Theseguys
have crackedit,theysayit’sthe
best,soitmustbethebest.’”So,howdidasmall,bromance-
fuelle dblogreviewinglate-night
mealsgainmillennials’trust,
disrupttherarefiedworldof
restaurantcriticism,raise$33.5m
sinceitsfoundingandbuy
America’smostfamousreview
brandofa lltime?
Fromitsconception,The
Infatuationrealise dthatindining,
contextisking.Howcustomers
experiencearestauranthas
everythingtodowithwhothey
arewithandwhattheyneedfrom
that experience,thingsaggregated
reviewscannotcapture.
Arestaurantmightreceive a
one-starreviewfromsomeonewho
foundittoohipandnoisytoh ave
lunchwiththeirfidgetytwo-year-
old,butthatsameplacemightbeperfectforaseconddatewhen
thingsaregoing well.Thefounders’
friendswereaskingforplacestogo
onacasualfirstdate,withaspecific
kindofambience,oraplacetotake
theirpartner’sparents,Stangsays,
“notwho’s thebestchefintown”.
Theywantedspecific,situational
recommendations. Thekindthat
usedtobep rovidedbyZ agat.
“Thetraditionalfoodmedia
wasforthe1percentofpeoplewho
reallycaredaboutchefsandwho
wante dtor eada2,000-wordNew
YorkTimesreview,”saysSteinthal.
TheInfatuation’s risewasreliant
onconcurrentdevelopmentsin
socialmedia.Itneveradvertised,
butusedTwittertocommunicate
withreadersandshareposts.
StangandSteinthalbecameexpert
purveyorsofwhatisc olloquially
knownasfo odpo rnonInstagram;
irresistibleimagesoft hings youcouldbeeating,withpithycaptions
alongthelinesof“youdeservethis”.
WhenInstagramhashtagswere
stillbarelyathing,TheInfatuation
launched#EEEEEATSwithfive
Es–“somethingridiculous”, Stang
says–toh elpInfatuationreaders
identifythemselves.
“Whenyou’rebuildingaband,
ther eare twothings youhaveto
doconsistently,” saysSteinthal.
“Writehitsongs, sopeoplewant
tohea rmorefromyou,andbuild
aconnectionwithyouraudience,
soyourfan sreallyfeelconnected
tothecommunity.”
Theimportanceofthelatter
wasreinforcedbythead ventof
musicstreaming,whichStang
andSteinthalexperiencedfirst-
hand. “Musicfoughtstreamingfor
15years,”saysSteinthal.“Itwanted
tokeepdoingwhathadbeen
working. ”Theduorealisedthatthe
only thingthatcaninsulateabrand
isaloyalfollowing,saysStang.
Ands oTheInfatuationfocused
oncorporatesponsorships,events
inNewYorkandwa ysitcould
bringitsuserstogether.It’sfirst
EEEEEATSCON–“like amusic
festivalwhererestaurantsare
theheadliners”, accordingtothe
publicity–soldoutinanhour.
“Everyonejustwantstobelongto
something,” saysStang.
In2015,theybuiltanappand
launchedaservicecalledTextRex,
aphonenumberuserscantextwith
specificparameters(“Whereshould
Itakeagroupof20formy30th
birthday?”);areal-li veInfatuation
employeetextsbackwitha
recommendationthatfitsthebill.
Yet,inamedia-focusedindustry
accustomedtop ageviewsand
adreve nue,itw asdifficultforthe
youngbrandtopitchthevalueof
theircommunityandproduct:
ittookthemmorethanayearto
raisetheirfirst$1m.
Effortstomonetisecontinue.
In2018,thecompanyputon65
events,includingEEEEEATSCON
inbothNewYorkandLosAngeles,
sellingmore than17,000tickets
at$30each.InNewYorkthis
month,TheInfatuationmoved
TextRexbehindapaywall,
offeringsuperfansa$49annualmembershipfortheserviceas
wellasotherperks.
Butasthewebsite expanded
across12 citie s, itface dcriticism
fromfood-industryinsiders.The
Infatuation’s teamdon’tmingle
withchefs,saysStang,andalways
workfromtheperspective ofa
diner .“Al otof peoplethinkwe
shouldn’t have theseatatthetable
wehave,” hesa ys.“Peoplefeltwe
weren’trespec tingtheircraft.We’re
notfoodwriters.We’re justtwo
guyswhoknowrestaurantsreally
wellandwanttocommunicate
thattoyou.”O
verbreakfastwith
NinaandTimZagatat
Nougatine,inabuilding
ownedbyt heirformer
acquaintanceDonaldTrump(Tim
apologisesforthisbutinsiststhe
Frenchtoastisthebestever),they
arecarefulnottospeakinspecifics
abou ttheiryearsunderGoogle
ortheirdeparture.Itisclearthat
thetechbehemoth,obsessedwith
data-drivensolutions,wasnotthe
bestfitf ortheheavilycurate dand
scrupulously editedguides.
Zagatreviewswereknownfor
theirquipsfromdiner ssuchas,
“Ifthi splacedoesn’tgetyoulaid
nothingwill.”Onlyrestaurants
worthvisitingwere listed,butthe
guidealsorannotableout-tak eson
flopswith“delusionsofadequacy”.
“Wethoughtitw asimportantto
befuntoread,”saysNina.
TheZagatsarenol onger
involvedwiththeircompanybut
theymentorthenew,youngteam.
“It’slikeZagat30yearsago,” says
Nina.Above all,the yhopethe
brandwillsta yfunandreliable.
Meanwhile,StangseesZagat
asthelogicalnextstepforhis
company.WhereasTheInfatuation
hasasingularvoice,knowswhat
itlik esanddoesn’tcarewhat
anyoneelsethinks,Zagatwillbethe
opposite,generatedonceagainby
readersusingaratingssystemand
curatedbyp ithy editor s. Stan g’s
immediatefocusistheNewYork
Citydiningguidefor2020,which
willbepublishednextmonth.
(Theoriginalguideshavebeen
outofprintsince2016.)From top: Ninaand
TimZagat,foundersof
the eponymous guides,
in NewYork, 2008;
some of the original Zagat
guides; The Infatuation’s
co-founders, Andrew
Steinthal(left) and Chris
Stang, in NewYork, 2015EMILYSCHINDLER/ZAGAT; GETTYIMAGESFT.COM/MAGAZINE OCTOBER19/202019