30
◀Zagatsharesachiefexecutive
withTheInfatuation(Stang)but
thebrandsremainseparate.
Thewittyredbooks,launched
in1979byhusband-and-wife
lawyersTimandNinaZagat,were
favouredbyfashionabledinersin
the1980sand1990s.Theguides
were innovative fortheirtime,
wrestingcontrolofwhodecides
what’shotandwhat’snotfrom
criticsandgivingitbackto
consumers, buildingreviewsusing
mail-insurveysfromcustomers
acrosstheUS.Curatingthereviews
atnight,theZagatscreatedthe
originaluser-generatedcontent.
Buttheguideswere slowto
adaptandstruggledtokeeptheir
relevanceintheinternetagewhen
dinersturnedtoGoogle,Open
TableandUrbanspoon,allofwhich
generaterecommendationsbased
oncuisineandlocation.AfterZagat
waspurchasedbyGoogle,itsbrand
–definedbymeticulouscuration–
appearedtoflounderinatech
companycommittedtodataand
undilutedconsumercontent.
“Withthesebigcompanies,
lotsofpeoplefeelthatthelights
areonbutnooneisdriving,”says
PeterHarden,co-founderofthe
Harden’s seriesofUKrestaurant
guides.“NoonegoestoGoogleand
TripAdvisorandsays,‘Theseguys
have crackedit,theysayit’sthe
best,soitmustbethebest.’”So,howdidasmall,bromance-
fuelledblogreviewinglate-night
mealsgainmillennials’trust,
disrupttherarefiedworldof
restaurantcriticism,raise$33.5m
sinceitsfoundingandbuy
America’smostfamousreview
brandofalltime?
Fromitsconception,The
Infatuationrealisedthatindining,
contextisking.Howcustomers
experiencearestauranthas
everythingtodowithwhothey
arewithandwhattheyneedfrom
thatexperience,thingsaggregated
reviewscannotcapture.
Arestaurantmightreceive a
one-starreviewfromsomeonewho
foundittoohipandnoisytohave
lunchwiththeirfidgetytwo-year-
old,butthatsameplacemightbeperfectforaseconddatewhen
thingsaregoingwell.Thefounders’
friendswereaskingforplacestogo
onacasualfirstdate,withaspecific
kindofambience,oraplacetotake
theirpartner’sparents,Stangsays,
“notwho’s thebestchefintown”.
Theywantedspecific,situational
recommendations. Thekindthat
usedtobeprovidedbyZagat.
“Thetraditionalfoodmedia
wasforthe1percentofpeoplewho
reallycaredaboutchefsandwho
wantedtoreada2,000-wordNew
YorkTimesreview,”saysSteinthal.
TheInfatuation’s risewasreliant
onconcurrentdevelopmentsin
socialmedia.Itneveradvertised,
butusedTwittertocommunicate
withreadersandshareposts.
StangandSteinthalbecameexpert
purveyorsofwhatiscolloquially
knownasfoodpornonInstagram;
irresistibleimagesofthingsyoucouldbeeating,withpithycaptions
alongthelinesof“youdeservethis”.
WhenInstagramhashtagswere
stillbarelyathing,TheInfatuation
launched#EEEEEATSwithfive
Es–“somethingridiculous”, Stang
says–tohelpInfatuationreaders
identifythemselves.
“Whenyou’rebuildingaband,
thereare twothingsyouhaveto
doconsistently,” saysSteinthal.
“Writehitsongs, sopeoplewant
tohearmorefromyou,andbuild
aconnectionwithyouraudience,
soyourfansreallyfeelconnected
tothecommunity.”
Theimportanceofthelatter
wasreinforcedbytheadventof
musicstreaming,whichStang
andSteinthalexperiencedfirst-
hand.“Musicfoughtstreamingfor
15years,”saysSteinthal.“Itwanted
tokeepdoingwhathadbeen
working.”Theduorealisedthatthe
only thingthatcaninsulateabrand
isaloyalfollowing,saysStang.
AndsoTheInfatuationfocused
oncorporatesponsorships,events
inNewYorkandwaysitcould
bringitsuserstogether.It’sfirst
EEEEEATSCON–“like amusic
festivalwhererestaurantsare
theheadliners”, accordingtothe
publicity–soldoutinanhour.
“Everyonejustwantstobelongto
something,” saysStang.
In2015,theybuiltanappand
launchedaservicecalledTextRex,
aphonenumberuserscantextwith
specificparameters(“Whereshould
Itakeagroupof20formy30th
birthday?”);areal-liveInfatuation
employeetextsbackwitha
recommendationthatfitsthebill.
Yet,inamedia-focusedindustry
accustomedtopageviewsand
adrevenue,itwasdifficultforthe
youngbrandtopitchthevalueof
theircommunityandproduct:
ittookthemmorethanayearto
raisetheirfirst$1m.
Effortstomonetisecontinue.
In2018,thecompanyputon65
events,includingEEEEEATSCON
inbothNewYorkandLosAngeles,
sellingmore than17,000tickets
at$30each.InNewYorkthis
month,TheInfatuationmoved
TextRexbehindapaywall,
offeringsuperfansa$49annualmembershipfortheserviceas
wellasotherperks.
Butasthewebsiteexpanded
across12cities, itfacedcriticism
fromfood-industryinsiders.The
Infatuation’s teamdon’tmingle
withchefs,saysStang,andalways
workfromtheperspective ofa
diner.“Alotofpeoplethinkwe
shouldn’t have theseatatthetable
wehave,” hesays.“Peoplefeltwe
weren’trespectingtheircraft.We’re
notfoodwriters.We’re justtwo
guyswhoknowrestaurantsreally
wellandwanttocommunicate
thattoyou.”O
verbreakfastwith
NinaandTimZagatat
Nougatine,inabuilding
ownedbytheirformer
acquaintanceDonaldTrump(Tim
apologisesforthisbutinsiststhe
Frenchtoastisthebestever),they
arecarefulnottospeakinspecifics
abouttheiryearsunderGoogle
ortheirdeparture.Itisclearthat
thetechbehemoth,obsessedwith
data-drivensolutions,wasnotthe
bestfitfortheheavilycuratedand
scrupulously editedguides.
Zagatreviewswereknownfor
theirquipsfromdinerssuchas,
“Ifthisplacedoesn’tgetyoulaid
nothingwill.”Onlyrestaurants
worthvisitingwere listed,butthe
guidealsorannotableout-takeson
flopswith“delusionsofadequacy”.
“Wethoughtitwasimportantto
befuntoread,”saysNina.
TheZagatsarenolonger
involvedwiththeircompanybut
theymentorthenew,youngteam.
“It’slikeZagat30yearsago,” says
Nina.Above all,theyhopethe
brandwillstayfunandreliable.
Meanwhile,StangseesZagat
asthelogicalnextstepforhis
company.WhereasTheInfatuation
hasasingularvoice,knowswhat
itlikesanddoesn’tcarewhat
anyoneelsethinks,Zagatwillbethe
opposite,generatedonceagainby
readersusingaratingssystemand
curatedbypithyeditors. Stang’s
immediatefocusistheNewYork
Citydiningguidefor2020,which
willbepublishednextmonth.
(Theoriginalguideshavebeen
outofprintsince2016.)From top:Ninaand
TimZagat,foundersof
the eponymousguides,
in NewYork, 2008;
some of the original Zagat
guides; The Infatuation’s
co-founders,Andrew
Steinthal(left) and Chris
Stang, in NewYork, 2015EMILYSCHINDLER/ZAGAT; GETTYIMAGES