Reality TV star and entrepreneur Bethenny Frankel has returned to the food and beverage space with a new pop-up cafe in the Hamptons. But despite long lines wrapping around the corner, the new business venture seems to be getting mostly a lukewarm welcome.
The East Quogue cafe, which opened up on August 13, stands out for its pink interiors and branded merch with the phrase “supermodel” on it. It also has a Bethenny-themed menu and lots of flowers.
In addition to the drink menu (which includes popular flavors like cookie butter or pistachio coconut), the cafe’s main appeal is its food offerings. It features items from Frankel’s own viral recipes, which often take traditional dishes and transform them into lower-calorie alternatives.
Think sandwiches named “The Bethenny” or “The Nepo Baby,” and cottage cheese bagels with high protein spreads like cacio e pepe, caviar, and Frankel’s popular chicken salad.
“It’s just okay”
As visitors flocked to the pop-up over the weekend, mixed reviews started circulating online about the quality and taste of the store’s products.
Many shared their positive reviews of the pop-up, like content creator Greta Louise. “I’m really impressed by the bagel. I’m obsessed, this is the type of thing I would eat for lunch everyday,” she said on TikTok.
Others weren’t particularly impressed with the food.
“It’s just okay. I’m going to be brutally honest, I don’t like it. I’m not even gonna finish it,” one user shared on TikTok while trying the bagels.
Another added, “I don’t know what I was expecting but I’m completely underwhelmed.”
Still, Frankel seems to be welcoming feedback from users. On the same review where the user said they felt underwhelmed, Frankel replied, “thank you for the honest review! We are making adjustments to the menu every day.”
Frankel has also since stated that healthier recipes often do not taste quite as well as traditional ones, yet she defends her current recipe.
“I mean, I can tell you it is not the best chicken I’ve ever tasted,” Frankel told Page Six. “It is the best better-for-you, healthy, low-calorie chicken salad I’ve ever tasted.”
New debates about an age-old marketing question
The Supermodel Cafe arrives at the same time as conversations around the return of extreme thinness—amid the popularity of weight-loss drugs like GLP-1s—is reopening the debate around the effects that marketing has on mental health.
Lower-calorie takes on popular snacks have long been part of Frankel’s brand, as the founder of the popular late-2000s brand Skinnygirl.
Made popular in part through Frankel’s appearance as a cast member of The Real Housewives of New York, Skinnygirl products, such as the low-calorie premade margarita mix, reached popularity in the 2010s, with Frankel eventually selling the brand for a reported $100 million in 2011.
Frankel’s language around diet culture-adjacent products has long been criticized for the role the products’ marketing might play on individuals with disordered eating, particularly using the word “skinny” as part of the brand’s name.
Additionally, experts like the National Alliance for Eating Disorders have listed diet culture as a factor that may contribute to the development of eating disorders.
While Frankel’s new venture does not use the word “skinny” in the name, it does allude to a similar diet culture, acting as a sort of evolution of the brand for today’s age.
“It’s a better term. Supermodel’s a better term than Skinny Girl,” Frankel told People. “Supermodel has a tongue-in-cheek wit to it, a fun to it, a flirt to it. You’re in on the joke.”
We’ve reached out to Frankel’s team for comment.
