Simon Kim has been a fighter all his life. From schoolyard fights in Seoul, South Korea to bar brawls in Long Island, his scrappiness was borne of a restlessness that plagued him until he found his calling: hospitality (ironically).

After working his way up from a front desk agent at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to the manager of a lavish restaurant there, Kim made a name for himself as the guy the whales, or uber high-stakes gamblers, wanted to see. Kim joined us in studio to trace his path from 7th grade earth science to opening two Michelin starred restaurants in just over a year, highlighting the hospitality lessons he's learned along the way.

Then, we get into the biggest food stories of the week, from pop-up woes to boozy advent calendars, kids on iPads in restaurants and more. We've also got a survey out that'll help us make the Digest better and better. It takes no more than five minutes, and it really helps us out! Take it here.

Stories:

• Beer for Christmas

• Please Don't Let Your 4 y.o. Lose in Restaurants

• Rome Restaurant Scams Tourists Out of Hundreds

Featuring:

Simon Kim (@simonkimnyc)

Hosts:

Amanda Kludt (@kludt),  Editor in Chief, Eater

Daniel Geneen (@danielgeneen), Producer, Eater

Produced by:

Martha Daniel (@martha_c_daniel)

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Eater obsessively covers the world through the lens of food, telling stories via audio, television, digital video, and publications in 24 cities across the US and UK.

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