IC News

Andrew Steinthal ’02 offered a compendious summary of his college experience:

“I was way more focused on the radio station than I was on my classes,” he said. “WICB was just such an exciting opportunity.”

He also recalled one of those realizations that an undergraduate degree is all about:

“The one time I truly focused on a paper while at Ithaca, I wrote about the music business,” Steinthal said. “I poured myself into the project. It was my best work.”

The professor gave him a C.

“I was bummed. But through that process, I learned that I actually enjoyed writing about things I was interested in,” he said.

Steinthal’s work at WICB took him during his junior year to New York City for College Media Journal’s radio music marathon. While there he met Chris Stang, a student from Colorado State who also worked at his university’s radio station. They became fast friends and knew that someday they wanted to do something entrepreneurial together. Initially after graduation, Steinthal advanced his public relations career with Warner Bros. Records, while Stang worked his way up to vice president of marketing at Atlantic Records.

Eventually the two came to the realization that reliable “restaurant intel” need not be limited to people with expense accounts. They also recognized that respected food reviewers often favored industry jargon that many people don’t understand.

“Everybody eats, but not everyone cares about the chefs or the cooking aspects of their dinners,” Steinthal pointed out. “People want to know where to take their parents who are visiting from out of town or find a decent place for a first date. They want honest and real recommendations that help them match the right place with the right experience. Chris and I saw that hole in the market.”

In 2009 they launched what would eventually be called The Infatuation. Steinthal is the chief revenue officer, handling partnerships with brands like American Express, Nike, and Stella Artois. Stang is the chief executive officer.

As an online platform for restaurant discovery, The Infatuation offers content about restaurants and bars in over 40 markets, with full-time operations in New York, Los Angeles, London, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Miami, and Seattle. The company also hosts over 50 events annually, including a food festival, EEEEEATSCON.