NOTICE OF 5 WEEKS PAUSE IN OPERATIONS (TO REBOOT):

In the months since the opening of 4food at Madison Avenue on September 7th, 2010 you have created over 20,000 unique builds, including burgers celebrating Libyan Democracy, The Bed Intruder, and Facebook. (W)holeburgers such as aharris’ mega-hit CaliBurger (beneficiary - Family Cook Productions), newmanra’s Cali4nication (beneficiary -Tsunami relief in Japan), and antyson’s “tribute to his messiness Charlie Sheen” #winning  (beneficiary - American Diabetes Association) have done more than their fair share to de-junk what we eat and the world beyond. 

In this time we have received expressions of interest from potential licensee’s across the globe, including Italy, Japan, Korea, India, Kuwait, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Denmark, Bulgaria, and all over the United States.

Our food and our technology has been featured the world over in newspapers, magazines, blogs, cable and broadcast TV; from the Food Network to Reuters, from the New York Times to the Guardian, from CNN to CNET, from Midtown Lunch to Grub Street, from Eater to Fast Company. Earlier this month, we proudly held our first ever (W)holeburger Certification Event honoring 3 “golden” user-builds with more than 500 sales.

While we are thankful for all of the celebrity and recognition we have received, our most important measure is your satisfaction, and we are aware that in this regard we have a ways to go.  The fact is that we have found it difficult to implement the various big and small improvements to our products, service, and technologies that are essential to the ultimate 4food experience, given the all-consuming nature of daily operation. So we have decided to close our store from Monday, August 1st to Wednesday September 7th 2011 to reboot.  Our goal on reopening being improved consistency of product, even greater transparency of ingredients and their sources, completing our breakfast menu and our line of beverages and desserts, producing the ultimate square root, improving the robustness and utility of our information technologies, and better educating our staff in our mission and service to you. 

We imagine that the 5 weeks we are closed will be a bit strange, as you will see a working restaurant and wonder why the doors are closed and we will see our customers passing by and wish that we could serve them.  So we will occasionally and randomly open the doors to show you how we are doing.

We look forward to seeing you then and on September 7th to continue de-junking.

GoldBurger Award

Last week’s inaugural 4food GoldBurger Award ceremony was hosted by the restaurant’s very own Khahlidra Levister (Executive Vice President) and Michael Shuman (Co-founder and Managing Partner).  A panel of food industry experts, including Bill Niman of the BN Ranch, Jamie Schweid of Burger Maker, Jeremiah White (a contributor to Midtown Lunch), and Vinnie Mangual (manager of the 4food Commissary) attended the award ceremony where the Caliburger, Cali4nication, and MGR Burger took home top prizes for having sold more than 500 each of their unique builds. Randall Newman (developer of the Cali4nication burger) and Michael Rodgers (developer of the MGR Lamb burger) along with Lynn Fredericks of Family Cook Productions (on behalf of the Caliburger) accepted their GoldBurger awards and in a build-off competition introduced their sophomore builds for the judges. All three new builds - Newman’s The Stimulus Package, Family Cook Productions’ TBC Burger, and Rodgers’ Smothered Health Turkey were added to last week’s menu and are on sale now. Newman’s Stilmulus Package was a crowd favorite but we are leaving the winner up to you! Buy your favorite of the three in-store or online today and we will announce the burger that sells the most during the month of July on Monday, August 1st. Family Cook Productions was the recipient of a donation from 4food that matched the royalties garnered by the Caliburger. Beef burger lovers also got to enjoy a limited time offer of Bill Niman’s BN Ranch beef, delivered personally by the purveyor of naturally sustainable beef. The event is semiannual.

On the Buildboard Chart:

GOLDBURGERS DISTANCE THEMSELVES FROM THE FIELD

The 1^st GoldBurger Awards Ceremony bestowed more than glory upon the winners. As with the Oscars and the Grammys, the (W)holeburgers that were honored received a sales bump as 4foodies flocked to the 3 certified GoldenBurgers, which were responsible for an unprecedented 62.3% [by value] of Buildboard Chart sales. Back at #1, riding a stunning 41% increase in week-on-week sales, is aharris’ Brioche-Beef-Avocado & Chili Mango-Avocado-Manchego-Lettuce-Tomato-Dijon Mustard Caliburger - the best-selling user-created (W)holeburger of all time. The Caliburger has already earned more than $276 for the organization Family Cook Productions. At #2, a short head behind, is last week’s chart-topper, newmanra’s Cali4nication, on a relatively disappointing 4% increase in sales. Galloping up the chart from #5 to #3 on a whopping 100% increase in weekly sales is Rodgersmg’s MGR Lamb. All of a sudden there’s daylight between MGR Lamb and pvanessche’s Lamb of God, which drops off the pace to #5.