Black Lives Matter - A Letter From The Infatuation’s CEO

Infatuation & Zagat Reader,

I wanted to reach out with a statement, so that there is no uncertainty about our values as an organization:

We at The Infatuation and Zagat stand with the Black community – against racism, systemic injustice, police brutality, and white supremacy. As a company and as individuals, we commit to using our platforms to highlight more Black-owned restaurants and to elevate more Black voices. Today, we will be making a $15,000 donation to the NAACP, and will be matching donations from our employees as well. We will also be hiring a Diversity & Inclusion executive to immediately join our leadership team.

But as we began crafting our statement and deciding how we were going to put our resources to work in the name of affecting change, it became apparent that I must also acknowledge that we are not doing enough. More importantly - that we have not done enough. As we have built this company over the last eleven years, we have made mistakes. Mistakes that I take responsibility for. We have not worked hard enough to see the world from points of view that differ from our own. We have not done enough to ensure that our coverage is equitable and representative of other cultures. We do not have enough diversity on our team at any level, particularly in leadership positions and on our editorial team. We have not done enough to educate ourselves about the challenges and struggles that other people face on a daily basis, simply because of the color of their skin.

These are not things that we are just realizing today. We have been striving to improve our company as we’ve grown. We didn’t set out to only cover a certain type of restaurant, or mis-represent certain cuisines or cultures in our writing as we crafted our editorial strategy. But that’s what ended up happening, largely as a result of a lack of team diversity and an abundance of privilege. Regardless of how we got here, or how hard we say we are working to improve, what matters now are results.

And so beyond just making a statement, today we are making a commitment that we will get better, and to show results to that end. We will hold ourselves accountable to the values that we profess to have. That’s the only way for us to credibly talk about affecting change.

Lastly, I’d like to encourage you to reach out to us. This company is built on community, and we rely on our community for feedback. This topic should be no different. Please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas for how you’d like to see us change at community@theinfatuation.com.

Thank you,

Chris Stang