Latest news with #Weinberger
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Grapevine deli owner was new Pope's schoolmate
The Brief A Grapevine deli owner went to the same school as Pope Leo XIV. Both attended St. Mary's in Riverdale, Illinois. Weinberger's Deli is now offering a "Papa Leo" sandwich in the pope's honor. GRAPEVINE, Texas - A Grapevine deli owner is honoring the new pope, who just happens to be his former schoolmate. The backstory Dan Weinberger, the owner of Weinberger's Deli in Grapevine, attended the same grade school as Pope Leo XIV, who was then known as Robert Prevost, in Riverdale, Illinois. READ MORE: Chicagoans welcome 'Da Pope' as native son becomes first American pontiff Weinberger did not personally know Prevost, who was three years younger than him, but became aware of his story during the conclave. When he heard his fellow St. Mary's alum had been elected as pope, Weinberger was shocked. What they're saying "It's crazy to think that you grew up in the same community where the pope would have gone to the same festivals that you went to, went to the same ice cream parlor, went to Newman Drugs, went to Value Village and all these places and actually lived in the neighborhood with you," said Weinberger. "I sat down on the couch and thought, 'this is amazing.'" To celebrate Prevost's election, Weinberger created a new menu item. The sandwich is called the "Papa Leo." Weinberger says he researched what kind of food the new pope likes for his creation. The sandwich, which is based on a popular creation in Uruguay, has beef, ham, lamb and a sunny side up egg. Weinbeger is charging 14 dollars for the sub because he is Pope Leo the 14th. Biography Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, is a Chicago native born in 1955. After joining the Order of Saint Augustine in 1977 and making his solemn vows in 1981, he earned degrees in mathematics, divinity, and canon law—including a doctorate from the Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. Prevost was ordained in 1982 and began his pastoral and academic service in Peru in 1985, where he served in roles such as chancellor, seminary rector, canon law professor, and judicial vicar. In 1999, Prevost was elected provincial prior of the Augustinians in Chicago, and just a few years later, he became prior general of the worldwide order, serving two terms until 2013. He then returned to Peru at Pope Francis' request to serve as apostolic administrator—and later bishop—of the Diocese of Chiclayo. In January 2023, Pope Francis appointed Prevost prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, a powerful Vatican role responsible for episcopal appointments worldwide. He was made a cardinal in September of the same year. The Source Information in this article comes from an interview with Dan Weinberger. More information on Pope Leo XIV comes from the Catholic Church.
News.com.au
01-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Restaurants join forces to stay afloat as costs soar
The growing popularity of shared kitchens in Australian cities is helping new restaurants and food entrepreneurs sidestep the crippling hidden costs that continue to force one in every 11 hospitality businesses to close each year. Rising costs are crushing hospitality dreams, with data revealing just 2 per cent profit from a $30 bill once rent, wages, compliance fees, and kitchen fit-outs — averaging between $300,000 and $800,000 — are accounted for. 'I consider this a real estate business,' said Temp Kitchen Rent owner Gus Weinberger. 'They get real estate in the kitchen.' Test Before You Invest Shared kitchens offer a flexible alternative to traditional venues, sparing users from costly leases and the need for full kitchen teams. Operators only need chefs and cooks for preparation and delivery — avoiding long-term CBD lease commitments, which typically run from three to ten years, often with annual rent increases. The trend has also sparked a 'test to invest' movement, where restaurants and food start-ups use shared kitchens to trial market demand before committing to major financial outlays. 'I was actually planning to do a grill, a takeaway grill,' Weinberger added. 'Then I was on a small business website communicating with other people, and a couple of times the question came up, 'Does anybody know of a kitchen for short-term rent?' That gave me the idea.' 'So, I knew this was a new business opportunity. I found a niche and saw there was nothing more specialised. This place was owned by a former catering client of mine who trusted me to use the space and keep it in good condition.' Ippudo Ramen, before it opened in Sydney's Centre Point Tower was his first client. 'That was my big hit. Suddenly I had three months where they were taking up the whole kitchen.' Food Trucks and Farmers Markets Join In It's not just brick-and-mortar restaurants that are reaping the benefits. Food trucks, market stalls, and pop-ups are increasingly turning to shared kitchens to manage costs. 'Using a shared kitchen has made a massive difference to our bottom line,' said Chef Tommy Prosser, Foodservice Australia's 2024 Professional Chef of the Year and owner of Crustacean Nation Seafood, a market stand serving 'bougie' street-style seafood at Carriageworks Farmers Market. 'The flexibility of hourly usage has been a game-changer. In quieter weeks or when I take time off, not having those ongoing fixed costs makes a huge impact.' 'The main fixed expense in hospitality is staffing, but rent in Sydney is also a huge, constant outgoing — and when you're working with tight margins to begin with, that's a lot of base products you need to sell just to cover overheads.' 'It also lets you test an idea or concept without needing a lot of capital upfront or being tied into a lease.' Before launching their Surry Hills venue, hatted restaurant Nomad used Temp Kitchen to produce its house-made charcuterie. Japanese cheesecake cult favourite 15cenchi also tested recipes there before opening its two Haymarket shops. Support for Marginalised Entrepreneurs In Strathfield South, FoodLab is a not-for-profit kitchen incubator supporting marginalised food entrepreneurs. It provides access to commercial kitchens, mentoring and a graduate program that helps launch catering services, market stalls, and small-scale food businesses — without the burden of major capital investment or long-term leases. FoodLab Director Jamie Loveday said the program focuses on helping participants understand the financial realities of running a food business — everything from managing costs to paying themselves a wage. One success story is Olotl Taqueria, which began at FoodLab. The program gave the mother-daughter team the confidence, skills, and kitchen space to start weekend pop-ups above Campos Coffee in Newtown. They now plan to open a permanent venue. Types of Shared Kitchens A 2020 CBRE report, Australian Market Snapshot: Online Meal Delivery and Dark Kitchens, projected significant growth in shared kitchens due to rising demand for online ordering. The pandemic accelerated this trend by five to ten years. Shared kitchen models include: Ghost Kitchens: Delivery-only facilities with no dine-in areas, used by restaurants and platforms like Uber Eats to cut overheads and maximise profits. Dedicated Commercial Kitchens: Industrial spaces suited to catering or packaged food production, often located in city-fringe suburbs of Adelaide, Brisbane and Western Sydney due to lower rents and more space. Co-working Kitchens: Fully equipped, flexible-use spaces that support food trucks, catering, cooking classes, food photography, and more. Even top chefs use them to trial dishes without disrupting daily service. Cost Comparison Hiring a shared kitchen costs between $30 and $80 an hour, with full-day sessions from $200 to $1000, and exclusive-use packages range from $2500 to $7000 per month. From a cost perspective, that's a significant difference from the $150,000 to $650,000 required to open a traditional restaurant. In the current unpredictable market, shared kitchens could be a sustainable option for the cost-heavy hospitality industry.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion - The Richard Armitage I knew
Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage — who passed away this week at the age of 79 — was no ideologue. In fact, he couldn't stand them. He was a realist, but his realism was not based on academic theories. Instead, he operated on the basis of his instinctive understanding of the national interests of his foreign interlocutors and, inevitably, his ability get along well with them even as he negotiated to protect America's interests. I first met Rich when I joined the Department of Defense in 1981 and he was the deputy assistant secretary for Asian affairs. He had been Sen. Bob Dole's staffer and was widely respected on Capitol Hill. Rich was powerfully built, so muscular that his entire surname was stitched on the upper arm of his shirtsleeve. And he was blunt; indeed, it was his very bluntness, and his colorful vocabulary, that made him so effective with even the most staid foreign diplomats. It not merely that he was effective; he was trusted. He earned the trust of leaders in both Beijing and Taipei, which was why he played a major role in the negotiation of the 1982 third Shanghai communique, which reaffirmed America's commitment to sell arms to Taiwan while deepening cultural, economic and scientific relations with China. He maintained excellent relationships throughout East Asia, but was especially close to the leaders of Japan and Singapore. Deputy assistant secretaries are the most senior of mid-level officials; their power depends on the trust that their superiors place in them. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger trusted Rich implicitly; it came as no surprise to anyone that when Bing West, the assistant secretary of Defense for international security affairs — that is, the world apart from NATO, Europe and arms control — departed the Pentagon, Weinberger appointed Rich in his place. Rich was also exceedingly close Weinberger's senior military attaché, Lt. Gen. Colin Powell. They would serve together years later when Powell became secretary of State. Shortly after he took over his new position, which included the always troublesome Middle East, Rich told me, 'I don't know shit about the Middle East; I don't know the Israelis, and I don't know the Arabs, but I won't take sides.' He was exaggerating his ignorance, but he was dead serious about not taking sides. He always called them as he saw them. And for that reason, however hostile their relations, the Israelis and the Arabs both trusted him. He was especially close to Jordan's King Hussein as well as to Maj. Gen. Amos Yaron, the Israeli attaché who years later became director general of the country's ministry of defense and again worked with Rich when he was deputy secretary of State. Rich was fiercely protective of his staff. Anyone who dressed down one of his people would then have to face Rich's wrath, a most unpleasant experience. He also hated to be blindsided, and he applied the same to his staff. When I was asked to lead the American effort to block Israeli production of the Lavi fighter, an issue that Rich normally might have dealt with given his purview, he nevertheless was extremely supportive — as long as I kept him and his staff informed, which I did religiously. Rich and I were among Gov. George W. Bush's national security and foreign policy advisors, 'the Vulcans,' so named because of the statue of the Roman god in Condoleezza Rice's hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. Like everyone else, Bush took a strong liking to Rich. For his part, Rich hoped to be named deputy secretary of Defense. Unfortunately, that was not the job Donald Rumsfeld offered him when they met. Instead, Rumsfeld offered him a service secretaryship. For a variety of personal reasons, Rich declined, somewhat to Rumsfeld's surprise, and instead accepted Powell's offer to a serve as his deputy at the State Department. The rifts between Rumsfeld and Powell, and their respective policy staffs (as comptroller I avoided what was virtually a civil war) have been well documented. Armitage was deeply affected by Powell's frustration and could not hide his anger. He once said to me of a senior Defense official, 'if I ever meet him in a dark alley, I'll crush his balls.' One did not want to meet Rich in a dark alley. Rich Armitage served his country with devotion almost his entire life, beginning with his years at the Naval Academy and his service in Vietnam, especially when he heroically rescued thousands of Vietnamese people as the war effort collapsed. Yet despite his tough appearance, and tougher language, Rich was the most decent of men. He rarely mentioned the fact that he and his wife foster parented numerous children of color. My own children took to him when he welcomed them in his Pentagon office. Forty years later, they still talk about that day. May his memory be a blessing and an inspiration for all. Dov S. Zakheim is a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and vice chairman of the board for the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He was undersecretary of Defense (comptroller) and chief financial officer for the Department of Defense from 2001 to 2004 and a deputy undersecretary of Defense from 1985 to 1987. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
18-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
The Richard Armitage I knew
Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage — who passed away this week at the age of 79 — was no ideologue. In fact, he couldn't stand them. He was a realist, but his realism was not based on academic theories. Instead, he operated on the basis of his instinctive understanding of the national interests of his foreign interlocutors and, inevitably, his ability get along well with them even as he negotiated to protect America's interests. I first met Rich when I joined the Department of Defense in 1981 and he was the deputy assistant secretary for Asian affairs. He had been Sen. Bob Dole's staffer and was widely respected on Capitol Hill. Rich was powerfully built, so muscular that his entire surname was stitched on the upper arm of his shirtsleeve. And he was blunt; indeed, it was his very bluntness, and his colorful vocabulary, that made him so effective with even the most staid foreign diplomats. It not merely that he was effective; he was trusted. He earned the trust of leaders in both Beijing and Taipei, which was why he played a major role in the negotiation of the 1982 third Shanghai communique, which reaffirmed America's commitment to sell arms to Taiwan while deepening cultural, economic and scientific relations with China. He maintained excellent relationships throughout East Asia, but was especially close to the leaders of Japan and Singapore. Deputy assistant secretaries are the most senior of mid-level officials; their power depends on the trust that their superiors place in them. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger trusted Rich implicitly; it came as no surprise to anyone that when Bing West, the assistant secretary of Defense for international security affairs — that is, the world apart from NATO, Europe and arms control — departed the Pentagon, Weinberger appointed Rich in his place. Rich was also exceedingly close Weinberger's senior military attaché, Lt. Gen. Colin Powell. They would serve together years later when Powell became secretary of State. Shortly after he took over his new position, which included the always troublesome Middle East, Rich told me, 'I don't know shit about the Middle East; I don't know the Israelis, and I don't know the Arabs, but I won't take sides.' He was exaggerating his ignorance, but he was dead serious about not taking sides. He always called them as he saw them. And for that reason, however hostile their relations, the Israelis and the Arabs both trusted him. He was especially close to Jordan's King Hussein as well as to Maj. Gen. Amos Yaron, the Israeli attaché who years later became director general of the country's ministry of defense and again worked with Rich when he was deputy secretary of State. Rich was fiercely protective of his staff. Anyone who dressed down one of his people would then have to face Rich's wrath, a most unpleasant experience. He also hated to be blindsided, and he applied the same to his staff. When I was asked to lead the American effort to block Israeli production of the Lavi fighter, an issue that Rich normally might have dealt with given his purview, he nevertheless was extremely supportive — as long as I kept him and his staff informed, which I did religiously. Rich and I were among Gov. George W. Bush's national security and foreign policy advisors, 'the Vulcans,' so named because of the statue of the Roman god in Condoleezza Rice's hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. Like everyone else, Bush took a strong liking to Rich. For his part, Rich hoped to be named deputy secretary of Defense. Unfortunately, that was not the job Donald Rumsfeld offered him when they met. Instead, Rumsfeld offered him a service secretaryship. For a variety of personal reasons, Rich declined, somewhat to Rumsfeld's surprise, and instead accepted Powell's offer to a serve as his deputy at the State Department. The rifts between Rumsfeld and Powell, and their respective policy staffs (as comptroller I avoided what was virtually a civil war) have been well documented. Armitage was deeply affected by Powell's frustration and could not hide his anger. He once said to me of a senior Defense official, 'if I ever meet him in a dark alley, I'll crush his balls.' One did not want to meet Rich in a dark alley. Rich Armitage served his country with devotion almost his entire life, beginning with his years at the Naval Academy and his service in Vietnam, especially when he heroically rescued thousands of Vietnamese people as the war effort collapsed. Yet despite his tough appearance, and tougher language, Rich was the most decent of men. He rarely mentioned the fact that he and his wife foster parented numerous children of color. My own children took to him when he welcomed them in his Pentagon office. Forty years later, they still talk about that day. May his memory be a blessing and an inspiration for all. Dov S. Zakheim is a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and vice chairman of the board for the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He was undersecretary of Defense (comptroller) and chief financial officer for the Department of Defense from 2001 to 2004 and a deputy undersecretary of Defense from 1985 to 1987.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Yahoo
Avon man accused of drawing swastika on a Tesla
AVON, Conn. (WTNH) — An Avon man was charged for second degree criminal mischief and second degree breach of peace after allegedly drawing a swastika on a Tesla, according to police. Woodbridge PD find swastikas, other messages spray painted on signs, man arrested According to the Avon Police Department, on March 26 at approximately 8:08 p.m., a Tesla Model Y was parked in a parking lot for Puerto Vallarta, a Mexican restaurant at 15 West Avon Rd. Police were able to use the security footage from the Tesla, which showed a man in a black hoodie allegedly look around and draw a swastika on the driver's side door before leaving the area. Police said the owners of the Tesla were not present when the vandalism occurred, but the Tesla is equipped with security cameras. The footage showed the man leaving in a white sedan, which police used to help them identify 40-year-old Steven Lowell Weinberger as the alleged perpetrator. When asked by police, Weinberger allegedly said he did not know whose Tesla it was, and claimed he was upset with the current political climate in the country. Weinberger was released on a $25,000 surety bond and has a court date set for April 30 at Hartford Community Court. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
