October 12, 2015

"The week, the world learned about Jonah Reider, a 21-year-old Columbia University senior who's operating a 'restaurant' (of sorts) named Pith, which he runs out of his dorm room."

"The idea is that it costs just $10 to $20 for five- to eight-course dinners (capped at four people) that Reider prepares in his dorm's common kitchen."
It quickly became popular among students, and because of the influx of press, Reider says non-collegiate New Yorkers have actually made Pith overbooked. But unlike, say, Flynn McGarry, Reider says he started doing this to get away from high-end restaurant culture, and he's not even sure he wants to make cooking his career. He realizes that, if he does, he'll have to put in a lot more work: "I recognize how presumptuous it is to casually cook and get so much attention," he says.
An interview with Reider at the link.

22 comments:

Ignorance is Bliss said...

The week, the NYC Department of Health learned about Jonah Reider, a 21-year-old Columbia University senior who's operating a 'restaurant' (of sorts) named Pith, which he runs out of his dorm room.

Fixed it for them.

Titus said...

Cool. He is from Newton-fab-very rich and jewish hood near Boston.

tits.

Titus said...

Barney Fag represented Newton and Brookstein-I mean Brookline.

Think rich, liberal jews-the most fab of them all.

Nichevo said...

Titus, girlfriend, I already want to bash your brains in, you don't have to work it so hard.

YoungHegelian said...

It's interesting how an audience that no doubt consists of a majority of east-coast lefties/liberals gets gooey-eyed over some budding entrepreneur in their midst who's breaking the fucking law, well, because he's one of them, you know.

Wait, aren't all those governmental regulations there to protect consumers from rapacious & shady businessmen who'd feed them sawdust to make a buck? Some n****r selling cigarettes one by one on Staten Island? Send in the cops, STAT! Some student making meals for the campus community without following health regs? Isn't he cute.....

Titus said...

look at my flat stomach.

Michael K said...

I have known a couple of excellent chefs who quit, at least running their own place. Too much work. Owning a restaurant is bad enough.

John Henry said...

Michael K,

I am always amazed at the people who think that because they can cook, they can run a restaurant. The two skills are completely independent of each other. If you are a manager and want to own a restaurant, hire a cook. If you are a cook and want to own a restaurant, hire a manager. There are damn few people who can do both successfully.

Even the celebrity chefs are more entrepreneurs than cooks. They manage and supervise cooking. They don't do much of it.

Re the dorm room: I had a professor who worked his way through college in the early 70's selling sandwhiches out of his dorm room.

Michael Dell used to assemble computers in his dorm room and sell them.

Good to see someone still has some spirit! Though I agree that IT VILL NOT BE PERMITTED!!!

Hopefully he doesn't die for his troubles like the guy in Staten Island.

John Henry

DavidD said...

JH,

Using a common area for one's personal business is a little bit more egregious than using one's personal space, I think.

David Begley said...

Wondering if he has remitted all his taxes. FICA, FUTA, sales and everything.

madAsHell said...

look at my flat stomach.

We can't see your face, so we can't be sure that it is you.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

I thought people weren't allowed to charge strangers money to eat in their homes.

MayBee said...

This is really cool.

I'm always bemused by the "rich New Yorkers" who vote for Bill DeBlasio and things like restaurant regulation and inspections, letter grades in windows, limits on ingredients like fat, sugar, salt, and lists of calories--- and then go to restaurants like this, to get away from all that. (I always think the same thing when these types of people go on and on about the wonderful street food in Asia)

BN said...

"The week, the NYC Department of Health learned about Jonah Reider, a 21-year-old Columbia University senior who's operating a 'restaurant' (of sorts) named Pith, which he runs out of his dorm room.

Fixed it for them."

Everyone's on the same page: this is how cheap everything would be if not for regs, taxes, cap costs, etc. On the other hand... someone's bound to get sick, and a lawsuit is already in preparation stage, right lawyers?

cubanbob said...

It costs over $60k a year to go to Columbia. Doesn't this kid think he ought devote the time he is spending on this vanity cooling for actual studying? Maybe he ought to take accounting courses to understand the errors of his ways. Hey kid, if your serious about cooking, graduate first in your majors then go to culinary school. You just might need a plan B if your chef dreams fail.

Achilles said...

This is a cute story.

I look forward to hearing about his excitement after he applies for a business license,gets his food handler card, applies for a restaurant license, installs a commercial kitchen that meets all the regulations every restaurant must follow, applies for his FEIN and registers with the IRS, applies to labor and industries or the equivalent to get employment insurance and be legally able to hire employees, registers and pays his first month B&O taxes, makes his first payroll and deposits the first withholding check, estimates quarterly revenues and pays first quarter income taxes, has to ban employee use of cell phones to keep them on task, fires his first employee, gets sued by that employee.

Have we opened a restaurant yet?

Nichevo said...

BTW, YoungH, this would be his first offense and so forth he has apparently not been reported at all. Maybe around the thousandth health code violation, they'll choke him out, but it's early innings yet.

tim maguire said...

MayBee, consistency and thinking through the issue are not liberal strengths. Pretty much by definition, they can't be.

tim maguire said...

The part I get stuck on the most is, "the world learned," with a link that goes to the Gothamist.

tim maguire said...

Reider says non-collegiate New Yorkers have actually made Pith overbooked.

What are they doing in the dorm's common area?

Kirk Parker said...

Nichevo,

So, you're another vote for More Laslo, Less Titus? ;-)

Nichevo said...

If we put Titus through a meat grinder and spread him over Althouse's land, could he grow another Archie the cockroach or another Gentleman Dead Two Centuries or even another Trooper York? Yeah, I think Titus is queer as a three-dollar bill...in the sense that he's a big phony.