Shake al-Shaq

Wait, really?

That's the first thing I thought when I read this earth-shake of a news brief:

The Shake Shack is spreading its sesame bun seeds and opening a string of Shake Shack branches in Dubai and Saudi Arabia.

For real.

Emirs, kings, and crown princes alike rejoice!

I understand the desire for Danny (Mc)Meyer, revered for his dedication to top notch service above all else, to spread his wings; it is a business, after all. But how far (literally) is it going to go? Far be it for me to deny people around the world a delicious burger (including the meltingly delicious 'shroom burger - see below), but does this not shake off some of the inherent charm of a place that prides itself on its local purveyors, community support, and all-American cheap eats grub? I guess it is precisely this charm that people are trying to emir-ulate--or in this case, import into their country/emirate.

But it's not just the Shake Shack itself that's got these peoples' keffiyehs in a tizzy: it's the man behind the bun: Danny Meyer. He is the face of the brains behind the Union Square Hospitality Group, which includes New York cult classics like Gramercy Tavern, Eleven Madison Park, Union Square Cafe, and The Modern. The USHG is clearly a lucrative company, and everybody wants a piece of the lucrative pie.

We've witnessed this inevitability before: Magnolia spreading more of its frosting across the whole of Manhattan; C.O. Bigelow, oldest pharmacy in America, bought out my Limited Brands (people behind Abercrombie & Fitch); and now this (why go so far: in the last year, the Shake Shack started shacking it up in the UWS and the Mets' new CitiField.)

But who are we to stop them from widening their profit margins?

Take Dubai as an example. Despite being the motherland of double digit growth rates, man-made islands, and the only 7-star hotel in the world (which I have tried - and failed - to visit: the hotel is accessed via a small bridge, and if you do not have hotel or restaurant reservations, you can only enter the lobby if you have tea/coffee reservations, which, starting at around $100/head, I wasn't into), Dubai has not been immune to the crashing and shaking up of much of the world's economies. Ideal it may sound, but this emirate cannot wholly survive off of foreign tourists luxuriating in prime real estate locales, private beaches, haute shopping, and indoor ski slopes in the middle of the desert. Accessible is in (or at least to some extent in Dubai); and "American" is certainly in. Mr. Meyer is the USA passport-holding man of food, as well as of business. I'm not saying I agree with it, but are any of us even surprised anymore?

Saudi Arabia is also America's Middle Eastern best friend that has enjoyed cozy relations with America for a long time now. We have political ties, economic ties, nuclear ties, and cuisine ties. Saudi Arabia is bursting with American fast food chains, including McDonald's, KFC, Burger King, Subway, and Starbucks (yes, it's being lumped in the fast food category). They even have their own, homegrown versions of American fast food classics (except for camel burgers!) that serve up fried chicken, donuts, and hamburgers inspired by the food sold at their American counterparts.

So things are shaping up for the Union Square Hospitality Group's prospects in this Middle Eastern Kingdom. I mean, we import a fair chunk of our petroleum from Saudi Arabia. Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal (full name Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud) is the single largest investor in Citigroup; Danny Meyer can't be that far off the grill marks.

Ma'a salama!

Be happy and Carpe Diem!