Going Out with a Poem

By Frank Sabatini Jr.

Television personality, cookbook author, and YouTube celebrity Sam “The Cooking Guy” Zien recently announced on social media that he is pulling the plug on involvement with his restaurants, which began with the launch of Not Not Tacos in Little Italy in 2018. His other subsequent ventures included Samburgers, and Basta. They operated in collaboration with Grain & Grit Collective.

Known for his “regular guy” approach to cooking, Zien stated that “the restaurants are not going away—just me.” He also stated vaguely that “It’s time to move on” with no further information other than this poem he wrote and posted on Jan. 27 about his sudden exit from the businesses –

Roses are red
And we all love croissants
But as of today
I’m out of the restaurants

Not Not and Samburgers
And si Basta too
It’s time to say goodbye
But I def won’t be blue

Me and my partners
We had a good run
But finding a way forward
Just couldn’t be done

So go and support
As I surely will
And keep an eye for what’s next
Cuz I sure can’t sit still