Le Scoop || May 7th, 2025
Say Bonjour to Le Scoop by The Cakewalk - a weekly roundup of the most tantalizing takes, trends & treats. Formerly known as the "Appetizers" section, now in its very own send-out!
Dear Readers and Cake Eaters,
Allow me to introduce you to: Le Scoop - a weekly (give or take) roundup of the most Cakewalk-coded news that I can get my grubby hands on. The bite-sized news and updates that were once under the “Appetizers” section have earned their own send-out. Le Scoop - as in gimme the scoop! Except le, because le duh!
This move is with the hope that I can keep y’all more up to date in a timely manner and that eventually, I’ll have even more resources to provide you with even more news hot off the griddle. And on that note,
🚨 CALLING ALL FOOD & BEVERAGE INDUSTRY + CPG BRANDS 🚨
this of course, includes food & beverage adjacent brands - everything from fashion, beauty, to lifestyle and beyond as long as there is some sort of link to food
If you have relevant news to share whether it be a new collab, product launch, event, etc. that you’d like me to include in my weekly roundups, I want le scoop! Reminder that I report internationally so it doesn’t matter where you are in the world, my inbox is open to you - thecakewalk@substack.com !
Additionally, if you’re interested in simply finding a way to collaborate or work together, my inbox is also open. :)
As for the themed NL’s you know and love, you’ll still see them every two weeks or so with the addition of The Caketalk interview series and some city guides coming as soon as I can get my ish together.
Now let’s dig in! xx
Le Scoop - 5.7.25
Just a few days ago, Panera Bread released their very own “Croissant Clutch” and spoiler alert, it’s already SOLD OUT but there is a “Restock Coming Soon” message on their website so sign up if you want to be notified. My other hope in giving you Le Scoop more often is that you’ll be able to snatch up future product drops of this nature before it’s sold out or at the very least, pretend you want to. Lolz. Anyways, back in early 2023, Panera Bread first set out on this path of “Carb Couture” (as they’ve coined it) with the launch of their green BAGuette purse which you can still purchase on eBay HERE.
Besides potential BRATgging rights, I’m not sure why you would choose this bag over the countless incredible vintage bags out there of the same nature but here we listen, we don’t judge. No JK, we totally judge and def don’t listen but totally here for the pics! And if for some reason you’re hung up about the Croissant Clutch being sold out, NO WORRIES, you can still buy it for triple to sextuple the original price on eBay. Here’s the cheapest listing currently, and the kicker? It doesn’t even ship until August. l o l z
Back in April, Heinz Brazil rolled out a campaign featuring “Heinz Grillz. So you can stay on the drip and open your sachet without losing the sauce.” Now this, would have been a product drop worth copping. Unfortunately, these “Heinz Grillz” don’t seem to be real products dropping anytime soon but I’m sure there’s an artist out there somewhere itching to recreate or reinterpret these masterpieces. I also have a feeling this won’t be the last time we see products like this (fake or not).
Food is trying so hard to be fashion these days (cough, Panera Bread, Chipotle, KFC, etc etc) not that I’m complaining, but clearly some are better at it than others. And don’t get me started on how frequently fashion x food rears its head these days, ugly or not. Cakes in campaigns have become as common as Kendall Jenner being the face of a brand. But that’s a conversation for another day. Point is, this was a refreshingly clever and aesthetically pleasing campaign so, kudos to you Heinz Brazil. Also, why aren’t the other Heinz countries taking note?
On April 29th, Studs x Van Leeuwen launched the “Cherry on Top” collection ft. an ice cream sundae with honeycomb ice cream layered with salted caramel sauce, topped with gold-dusted whipped cream and wild cherries available at select Van Leeuwen locations nationwide for a limited time. And if you’re more interested in wearing your sweets rather than eating them, their collab also features (ear)esistable lil ice cream charms that you can find HERE as well as a cherry one that already appears to be sold out. Single charms go for $8 a pop or $16 for a pair which is a pretty sweet deal if you ask me.
It seems as though both Studs and Van Leeuwen have each been on a roll with collabs over the past year. Curious to see what’s next for both - Van Leeuwen seems to be taking the Erewhon smoothie collab approach as in. . . a collab with anyone is possible. As for Studs, they are clearly successfully taking up and reclaiming the space once ruled by Claire’s (says lil ole millennial me) — the space that is accessible and fun piercings. In an age where passé things are cycling back faster than the speed of light, I’d be curious to see if a Claire’s comeback is on the horizon.
images courtesy of @Aritzia IG Aritzia teamed up with photographer Maisie Cousins (one of my favs) to celebrate their 40th anniversary with a series of tasty images for their limited edition birthday bags. Bags were available in select stores since April 26th. Sure wish I could get my hands on a couple of them to frame. I’m pretty surprised by this collab to be honest, didn’t think Aritzia had it in them!
Introducing the product we never knew we needed because we probably didn’t need it but now that it’s here I want to try it:
World, meet the Cheez-It Pizza. Unveiled just 2 days ago, the Cheez-It Pizza features three "classic pizza flavors” “on a thin and crispy Original Cheez-It cracker flavored crust, made with 100% real cheese”. Flavors are Italian Four Cheese, Cheddar Jack Supreme, and Pepperoni. I need more people to review products talked about in this newsletter and then telling me about it lolz.
Janelle Monae x 1800 Tequila = the world’s first diamond made entirely of tequila? The Bingo cards are getting wilder by the second. Anyways, yeah Janelle Monae wore a tequila diamond “Made from 100% Blue Weber Agave” to this year’s Met Gala. The diamond was designed by Toronto-based jewelry artist Jonathan Raksha of Maison Raksha and honestly, that’s all you need to know because there’s too much fluff in all of the news articles for my brain to seamlessly boil it down for you.
In short, the angle of this stunt is pushing the narrative of creating and wearing an ethical diamond and “Monáe called the design “poetic” and praised its future-focused innovation, stating: “Reimagining how diamonds are made takes a future-focused vision and dedication. This is a fitting tribute to this year’s theme, ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.’” Honestly, I’m sure if Panera Bread wanted to make something for the Met Gala red carpet and mold the narrative around the theme, they could. Or really, anyone for that matter but props to 1800 Tequila for doing the damn thing. Next story.
She’s HEREEEEE - Loewe’s viral and highly anticipated tomato (girl summer) purse conceived by JW Anderson last year is finally available for purchase. . . well, sorta. On some sites it’s seemingly sold out, and on others, there’s a “notify me when available” message. Head’s up, she retails for $3950 USD and €3000 EUROS. Pocket change, lolz.
T R E N D S D U J O U R : O R A N G E C R E A M
We all scream for . . . orange cream? Let me just start off by saying, the orange cream(sicle) flavor trend is not new. It reared its ugly head around July of last year when various media outlets reported on how the flavor was trending - see Today, Yahoo. Well, one year later it would appear that the trend is still alive and kicking because we’re seeing more beverages and other things come out with this flavor.
In January of this year, Coca Cola jumped on board and launched an “orange cream” flavor. Prebiotic soda brand Olipop recently announced this flavor’s come back and are making a big splash about it - “To mark the much-anticipated return of its fan-favorite Orange Cream flavor, OLIPOP will launch its first-ever soda drive-thru experience on Monday, May 12th.” Competing prebiotic soda brand Poppi has had this flavor available since May of last year. Cap’N Crunch is bringing BACK their “Orange Creampop Crunch” flavor that was released for limited edition summer run back in 2016. Coffee Mate is also doubling down on the orange cream dreams with a creamer going by the name of “Orange Crème Pop”, targeting the dirty soda crowd by explicitly shouting out Crush orange soda. Coffee Mate originally debuted this flavor last year, intending it to be used for your coffee and calling it “Orange CREAM Pop” rather than the now upscaled “Crème” (lolz).
All I can say to this flavor trend is why?! Perhaps it’s riding the wave of the dirty soda trend. Perhaps it’s thriving because we’re living in an age that values nostalgic flavors and products. Perhaps more and more people are losing their taste. . . lolz jk. No shade if you like it, it’s just not for moi. I wanna hear your thoughts on this trend in the comments below.
C I T Y R E P O R T : P A R I S E D I T I O N
The Paris food scene commonly makes headlines whether it’s because some new chef(fe) or restaurant is worth your attention, some crookie variant went viral, or maybe some fashion house/artist is collaborating with some sort of chef or restaurant. Unfortunately — but not so surprisingly — the news as of late is of a more grave nature: that of the #MeToo variety, that is. Two weekends ago, waves rippled through the Paris community as a woman took to social media to speak her truth, and tell her story, accusing Hubert Niveleau, co-founder of hyped restaurants Vecchio and Piccolo (the latter of which I had just been invited to for a brand dinner not three weeks ago). The news broke out just before the 3rd annual Time Out Paris Food & Drink Awards took place, of which, Vecchio was one of 4 restaurants that won “Meilleur Vibes” aka best vibes just last year . The irony is not lost here. Niveleau has since issued a public statement on his IG denying his involvement . . .
Author and journalist,
addresses this exact incident along with some other equally disappointing news in a section of her most recent newsletter, titled “Getting Away With It: Men In Paris Food”. I’ll let you read what she has to say because she does a much better of putting it into writing than I can:“A few weeks ago, Elle magazine released an investigation into psychological and physical abuse claims from four women against celebrity chef Jean Imbert— the one whose resting face is equal parts smug and mopey. He’s the guy who once played hooky from a generously paid gig with an airline, claiming he was sick but was instead partying with Pharrell in Miami. He’s also the guy in food who has been endlessly uplifted in spite of major question marks to his character.
I remember watching him rise up in the Paris food scene following his 2012 Top Chef win and thinking, there's something off with this guy but he'll do well. Sure enough, he's skyrocketed to food world success, enjoying all the largesse bestowed on bankable names—brand collabs and multiple positions as head chef at Palace hotel restaurants, including the Plaza Athénée and the Hotel Martinez in Cannes, where he was meant to oversee catering for the Cannes Film Festival in a few short weeks. Perhaps most importantly, he navigated the food scene for years with the trust and blind eye of the hospitality industry writ large. You can't tell me no one knew of his behavior.
Not even two weeks later, a separate incident with a different man. A young woman published a public statement accusing Hubert Niveleau, co-founder of the hyped Parisian restaurants Piccolo and Vecchio and someone she thought of as a friend, of drugging her without her knowledge at a private party on the premises. She filed a complaint on the grounds of chemical submission. Since then, other women have come forward, while Niveleau vehemently denies any wrongdoing.
Every time a #MeToo incident surfaces, particularly in industries I’m connected to in some way, I wrongly believe it will be the one that leads to lasting change; that men will finally learn. Most recently, I thought that following the horrors Dominique Pelicot inflicted on his wife. I think, maybe this time, the people with power around them will stop protecting men they know are predatory and potentially dangerous from the start. And every time, I’m reminded that money simply matters more than safety and integrity and that white men, especially, pay very few consequences in our world.”
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To say that any of us are surprised would probably be the biggest lie. . .
(Mini) Digestif
And to leave you on a lighter (if not more confused) note, here’s an absurd image about orange cream that I asked Chat GPT to make for me.
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My next issue is already cooking but if you’d like to split the calorie intake, please share with friends! Instagram: @lecakewalk
loving this newly christened le scoop! i still need to try the creamiscle coke..
Thank you for highlighting the not-so-glamorous news out of our industry. It’s wild to me that with the tools we all have today to shine a light on bad behavior, these guys *still* carry on with their abuse. In other news, I tried Olipop in the states when I was there and maybe started with the wrong one (their version of a cola, simple!) and strongly disliked. Thoughts?!