Bethenny Frankel is treating her critics as her research team.
The Skinnygirl founder, 55, opened her Supermodel Café pop-up in East Quogue, New York, on August 13, and by the following morning she was already on SiriusXM’s Page Six Radio explaining how influencer feedback had directly reshaped her menu. Frankel named three specific content creators — Halley Kate Williams, Jazz Smith, and Greta Louise Tomé — who told her they “didn’t like” the miso tahini offering, prompting her to pull it immediately.
“What people don’t realize is they are research and development,” Frankel said on the Friday broadcast. “As long as I feel like they’re being honest and not doing it just to hate, people are the R&D team.”
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She demonstrated the speed of that feedback loop in real time during the interview. “I mean, I could take something off the menu right now,” she added, noting the miso tahini’s removal as a concrete example of her open-door policy toward criticism.
Frankel has built her latest venture on the viral low-calorie, high-protein recipes that have dominated her TikTok and Instagram feeds, from cottage cheese-based dips to her now-famous “Supermodel Sandwich” with turkey and tomato slices. The East Quogue location, which she pulled together in just three weeks according to her Instagram posts, serves lighter bagels, protein-packed spreads, signature lattes, and low-calorie cheesecakes alongside merchandise and caviar.
The former “Real Housewives of New York City” star was characteristically blunt about the taste-to-health trade-off. “I mean, I can tell you it is not the best chicken I have ever tasted,” she admitted during the Page Six Radio conversation. “It is the best better-for-you, healthy, low-calorie chicken salad I have ever tasted.”
She made clear that some items are non-negotiable regardless of feedback. “I likely won’t be changing it because I like that people don’t feel guilty at all eating it.”
Frankel has also weaponized the negativity into menu marketing. She told the SiriusXM show that she chooses to “lean into” the hate by serving deliberately provocative items like the “Rage Bait Bagel,” turning online furor into foot traffic.
“I’m just excited that everyone’s talking to each other,” she shared. “I’m excited about the people. The product is secondary to me.”
She added with a shrug: “I mean, I’m glad it’s going well. I’m just having fun. Who cares? We started a month ago. Let’s see what happens.”
The pop-up may not stay put for long. Frankel revealed she has already fielded an offer from “a big-name brand” to open a café in St. Barts, and she envisions a rotating model. “It’s going to be like a living, breathing organism, which I love because it’s fun and people get to engage and it changes,” she said. “Like Crumbl Cookies [has a] different cookie [every week], this could be a different store and location every month.”
In the viral moment that spawned the café, Frankel’s “supermodel snack” videos — featuring combinations like cottage cheese with caviar and potato chips, or her egg white omelets with Everything Bagel Seasoning — racked up millions of views across TikTok and Instagram. The concept grew from an inside joke she made during a beauty campaign, when she caught her reflection and quipped, “Wait, I think I’m a supermodel.” The phrase stuck, gained momentum during her secret preparation for the 2025 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit runway show, and exploded after she walked at age 54. Fans began recreating her low-calorie, high-protein food hacks, eventually spawning enough demand that Frankel saw a brick-and-mortar opportunity.
She said before the opening that she was deliberately vulnerable about the venture’s chances. “If it doesn’t hit, the people will tell me,” she said. “I’m always pretty open and vulnerable. They’ll come in and they’ll tell me if it’s good, if it’s not good, if it’s at the level, if it’s not at the level. The crowds will determine whether there’s a demand for this.”
Frankel also sees the “supermodel” branding as an evolution beyond her Skinnygirl origins. “It’s a better term. Supermodel’s a better term than Skinny Girl,” she said. “Supermodel has a tongue-in-cheek wit to it, a fun to it, a flirt to it. You’re in on the joke.”
Her daughter Bryn, 16, has already claimed her spot as a customer. “She’s excited,” Frankel said. “The Nepo baby asked me if she’s going to have to wait online.” Frankel laughed as she recalled her response: “I said that you will not have to wait online.”
Supermodel Café continues operating at 674 Montauk Highway in East Quogue.