The Infatuation

The Infatuation (formerly known as Immaculate Infatuation) is an American New York-based restaurant recommendation website and messaging service, created by former music industry executives Chris Stang and Andrew Steinthal in 2009. They are most known for publishing restaurant reviews and guides, and as creators of the hashtag #EEEEEATS.[1]

They have developed an Android and iPhone app[2], and operate an SMS-based restaurant recommendation service called Text Rex[3]. In 2017 they launched their food and music festival brand EEEEEATSCON.[4]

On March 5, 2018, the company acquired the Zagat rating company from Google for an undisclosed amount.[5]

History

Immaculate Infatuation was established in 2009 by Stang and Steinthal with the aim of providing honest restaurant reviews without accepting invitations from restaurants or announcing their presence to a wait staff.[1] They later shortened the company name to The Infatuation.[6]

Funding

On June 1, 2014, The Infatuation raised $1 million from a first round of seed funding from four investors, including Griffen Avenue Ventures and Empire Angels.[7]

On September 25, The Infatuation raised $2.5 million from a second round of seed funding from Maywic Select Investments.[8]

Zagat Acquisition

On March 5, 2018, The Infatuation acquired Zagat's brand and assets from Google. They did not disclose the amount.[5] They will reportedly operate as two distinct brands, with The Infatuation retaining its editorial-first focus and Zagat will expand user surveys and develop a new tech-driven platform.[9]

#EEEEEATS

In 2012, The Infatuation started to use #EEEEEATS as a way to tag their food photos on Instagram. The 5 E's are explained as a way to make "[what we do] feel fun" and "[to not] take things too seriously."[1] The hashtag was quickly adopted by the food community and now has grown to over 10 million tags.[10] The company also operates 22 different Instagram handles including the main @infatuation account, one for each of their operating cities, and food-specific accounts like @pizza, @avocadotoast, and @burger.[11]

Underfinger

In May 2014, The Infatuation published a satirical review of a faux restaurant by the name of Underfinger, featuring "farm to finger" foods like seahorse sashimi and charcuterie gloves. The fictional restaurant was later brought to life in a pop-up event hosted by Brooklyn restaurant Do or Dine.[12] A short-form documentary was created from the pop-up and later earned the company a James Beard Foundation Journalism Award nomination in the Humor category.[1]

EEEEEATSCON

On May 20, 2017, The Infatuation organized and hosted their inaugural food and music festival EEEEEATSCON at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, CA.[4] The event was described as a "Music Festival Catered Towards Food" and included restaurant vendors with speaking engagements featuring talent manager Shep Gordon and baker Nancy Silverton, and live music performances by rapper Lizzo and electronic music duo The Knocks.[13]

EEEEEATSCON returned to the Barker Hangar on May 19, 2018 with an appearance by Lilia's Missy Robbins and musical performances by The Spencer Lee Band and Gavin Turek.[14]. The third event in the series will be held on October 6, 2018 at Forest Hills Stadium in the New York City borough of Queens.[15]

See Also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Why two music industry execs quit their jobs to start a wildly popular food site". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  2. ↑ "16 of the coolest apps and gadgets you should use the next time you travel". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  3. ↑ "This Text Service Offers Personalized Restaurant Recommendations". Observer. 2016-03-08. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  4. 1 2 "The Infatuation launches EEEEEATSCON, possibly the coolest food fest yet". Time Out Los Angeles. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  5. 1 2 Merced, Michael J. de la (2018-03-05). "Google to Sell Zagat to The Infatuation, an Upstart Review Site". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  6. ↑ "How The Infatuation Built a Passionate Community of Millions of Food Lovers". Insights. 2017-05-03. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  7. ↑ "Seed Round - The Infatuation - 2014-06-01 | Crunchbase". Crunchbase. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  8. ↑ "Seed Round - The Infatuation - 2016-09-25 | Crunchbase". Crunchbase. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  9. ↑ "Restaurant Review Platform The Infatuation Buys Zagat". Bloomberg.com. 2018-03-05. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  10. ↑ "#eeeeeats • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  11. ↑ "How Instagram helped the founders of The Infatuation quit their jobs and work full-time on food reviews". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  12. ↑ "Underfinger, the Real Fake Restaurant That's Confusing Us All". Observer. 2014-06-03. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  13. ↑ "The Infatuation's Debut EEEEEATSCON Is a 'Music Festival Catered Towards Food'". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  14. ↑ "EEEEEATSCON Returns to Barker Hangar". Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  15. ↑ Woodward, Danielle. "NYC's First "EEEEEATSCON" Food Fest Comes To Forest Hills Stadium". Patch. Patch. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
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