Click here for digital access to NY Vol. 1
March 30, 2020
A message from Team Glou Glou:
Glou Glou, a word-of-mouth guide to wine we launched in Fall 2017, is typically a print publication. We were on the verge of sending our New York issue to the presses in Germany when the COVID-19 crisis broke out. For the time being, we’ve decided to alter our course.
Going digital
In light of the outbreak that has cost scores of friends and colleagues their jobs, we are releasing our fifth issue digitally, with proceeds going to the Service Workers Coalition here in Brooklyn — a mutual aid fund founded by a group of fellow industry vets from the Tarlow Group.
The price is a suggested donation of $10 (less than a glass pour at a restaurant) per article or $50 (the price of a nice bottle) for the whole volume of eight articles we’ll be releasing over the next four weeks. Feel free to give less, feel free to give more. We realize everyone's situation is different. As soon as you donate any amount we will email a password to you.
Outside of putting food on people's tables (the Service Workers Coalition will lay that all out below), we intend to present this issue as a snapshot of the New York we know and love, a vibrant moment in time preserved before our world turned inside out. These stories have become especially poignant in the span of a few weeks as we’ve watched everyone interviewed enter survival mode.
This is a human business, where wine and food serve as excuses to connect with one another. We're reminded of that now more than ever. Let's help each other across to the other side.
Yours forever in glou,
Jenn, Claudia, Aaron and Kyle
December 2021 Update: All proceeds starting in 2022 will be donated to the International Federation for Human Rights.
Make a donation.
The price of glou is up to you.
A note from the Service Workers Coalition.
Dear readers and fellow wine drinkers,
A couple of weeks ago we first heard the term social distancing, on the news, on Instagram accounts, from a couple friends and it sent shivers down our spine. We live in New York City, a place in which we are faced with each other’s humanity, sometimes violently, on an hourly basis. We all work in restaurants and cafes, where our job is to wait on and care for these people. Social distancing was going to mean a lot of things for us; slower nights, managers cutting staff early, diminished tips, and limited access to our community, which is to say, our only safety net. As we walked our city, still being called into work, watching people increasingly become uneasy with each other, this passage from James Baldwin came to mind:
“For nothing is fixed, forever and forever and forever, it is not fixed; the earth is always shifting, the light is always changing, the sea does not cease to grind down rock. Generations do not cease to be born, and we are responsible to them because we are the only witnesses they have. The sea rises, the light fails, lovers cling to each other, and children cling to us. The moment we cease to hold each other, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out.”
On March 12th the three of us decided to meet for lunch at Egg in Williamsburg to share our concerns about what might happen to members of our community and industry during the impending COVID-19 crisis. We didn’t know we’d be losing our jobs on the following Monday, or that shelter in place would hover like a cloud over our city, but we did know that this crisis would have devastating ramifications for our restaurant friends and family. So the three of us set up a fund! We decided to call it the Service Workers Coalition. We set up a venmo, bank account, instagram, and email address. Our friend Mark Ledgerwood made us a graphic, we posted it to our instagrams, and we went to work hoping that we’d have a couple thousand dollars to draw from so we could bike groceries to our friends if they got broke or sick. We thought we’d have weeks to work and to fall ill and get better.
In the two weeks since our lunch we’ve pulled in 50,000 dollars, we’ve directly reached over 150 people with weekly grocery stipends of fifty dollars, and delivered to those who do not have bank accounts or can not leave their homes. In partnership with nonprofits that have been doing this work far before we came along we’ve reached eleven undocumented households and gotten invaluable advice and support. What’s moved us most is the fact that the bulk of donations made to the fund are between 5 and 20 dollars. They are coming from workers within our own community.
This is mutual aid. It is not dependent on pity or condescension; rather it depends only on its utility to the people it serves. It’s doing what it’s supposed to be doing. If you’ve ever worked at a restaurant those numbers probably won’t surprise you, but it does speak volumes of our industry. We stand with and for each other no matter the circumstances.
So thank you for your support. While we’re pursuing the ability to receive tax deductible donations, you can always venmo us @BKServiceCoalition. Better yet, go ahead and directly Venmo your favorite bartender or server, and while you are at it, ask them how you can best support their back of house staff.
For now a big virtual cheers will have to do, but we can’t wait for it to be in person.
In love and solidarity,
Anna Dunn, Kelly Sullivan and Seamus Branch
MASTHEAD
Jennifer Green launched Glou Glou Magazine when she still lived in Los Angeles, Fall 2017. A month later she skipped town and zigzagged her way to New York, where she chose to finally plant roots. The response to the zine gave her the wild idea to start an import company and within a year Super Glou was born to quench thirsts in restaurants, bars and wine shops in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Upstate NY, and with the help of distributor friends, across the greater US // @super_glou // @glougloumagazine
Claudia Leung is originally from Hong Kong. She moved to New York in 2015 after graduating from RISD. Art director by day and wine fairy by night, she can be found working the floor at Thirst Merchants or knocking back glasses of the good stuff at any number of Fort Greene establishments // @claudia____l
Aaron Lefkove co-founded the Littleneck Group of restaurants in Brooklyn, NY in 2011 and stood at the helm for the past nine years. Prior to that he had many successes in former careers as a dishwasher, pizza delivery driver, musician, writer, and record store clerk. For this issue he had breakfast with Justin Chearno, where they discussed the changing face of the New York wine world over the past two decades. His byline has appeared in Vice, Eater, and The Awl among others // @aaron_lefkove
Kyle Johnson is an editorial/commercial photographer based in Brooklyn, NY. He strives to create images that are intriguing and classically executed. His photography aesthetic pairs textured natural settings with a distinct photographic perspective across his portrait and travel work. Kyle uses photography as a way to peek into the many worlds of food & wine he loves so dearly. Recent editorial clients include T Magazine, Bon Appétit, and WSJ. Magazine // @kjphotos1022 // www.kjphotos.com
Ariel Barnes is a writer based in the Lower East Side, where she also manages Scarr’s Pizza. Her essays have appeared in other food publications such as Compound Butter, Peddler Journal, and Milky Mag // @ariel.a.barnes // www.arielbarnes.com
Carolyn Bull is an illustrator and children's book designer working and living in NYC. When she's not drawing, she can be found bird watching from her roof with a glass of lambrusco // carolynbull.com
Natasha Pickowicz is a San Diego native. Pickowicz was a former academic and music journalist before cooking at restaurants like Montreal’s Lawrence, Marlow & Sons, and Diner. In 2016, she was the opening pastry chef for both Altro Paradiso and Flora Bar, where she ran the pastry programs until the spaces closed in March. For the third year running, Pickowicz was named as a semi-finalist of the James Beard Award "Outstanding Pastry Chef" and heads up the annual Bake Sale for Planned Parenthood, which brings together friends in the restaurant industry to raise money for the Greater New York chapter of Planned Parenthood // @natashapickowicz
Laura Mauriello is a designer & illustrator based in Brooklyn, NY. She has a background in hospitality and loves the intersect between art & food. In addition to freelance work, she most recently worked as a designer at Union Square Hospitality Group and Miss Ada. She also loves the beach, dachshunds, and tiny things // @laura.mauriello // https://lauramauriello.carbonmade.com
Victor Garzon is a French photographer whose life and work in the restaurants of Paris and NY has led to a quest to capture people’s connection with food and beverage, from the roots to the plate to the glass. He’s currently improving his home cooking skills in Paris // @victorgarzon
Heidi’s Bridge is a Brooklyn-based photography and prop styling studio run by Emily Hirsch and Erick Steinberg // @heidisbridge
Avi Spivak is a celebrated NYC-based cartoonist and illustrator who has come to be known for his sharp visual lexicon and vibrant urban landscapes. His comics have been published by Norton Records. Avi is also a co-proprietor of Rebel Rouser, Bushwick’s premier punk rock record shop. He designed the cover for the print issue of Glou Glou New York Vol. 1 // @avispivak // www.avispivak.com