Talk:Regent Bakery and Cafe

Portal and The cake is a lie

Currently the "Reception" section says:

Regent initially gained popularity amongst Microsoft employees. The restaurant is reportedly "such a favorite" of software developers that a Regent dessert is depicted in the video game Portal as a "reward cake".

References

I feel like there's more detail to add about the cake, Portal, and the Internet meme The cake is a lie, but I'm suffering from a bit of writer's block. Regent is mentioned at both Portal and The cake is a lie. These three articles should be connected, but I'm not exactly sure how much detail to include in each. I think, ideally, all three would have unique and only the most relevant text to avoid redundancy.

For this restaurant article, I can't decide if the "Reception" or "History" section should be expanded, but I think the connections between these topics are strong enough that Portal and The cake is a lie should probably be mentioned in the lead, too. I created the Regent entry from a restaurant perspective. Can any editors help out by expanding from video game and pop culture perspectives?

I should also note, the Portal entry is a Featured article, which is another reason why I'm reluctant to make major changes without collaboration here. Thanks! ---Another Believer _(Talk) 18:35, 5 November 2023 (UTC)

I saw the comment on WT:VG. I'll give the no fun answer: I wouldn't particularly worry about repetition of content, but I question whether this is even relevant enough to mention at all. One short sentence, at best, and certainly not something to expand without new sourcing. Game Informer is reliable at WP:VGRS, but the contribution from Valve isn't very inspiring as to importance here:

Valve didn't go through any kind of rigorous cake tasting process or hold a cake survivor contest in order to determine which delicacy would make it into the game, it merely picked the best looking confection from a café near the company's headquarters.

Obviously serendipitous finds are fine too, but it changes the focus. And the company's claim (correctly attributed, at least) that sales increased isn't very reliable either - if a journalist asks you if sales of XYZ are up or down, you say up. Free advertising, after all, for all that I don't doubt the basic veracity - but if the black forest cake was already a big seller, it doesn't appear that the Portal appearance notably changed the sales rate. It's never mentioned in Portal, of course, so knowing it was from here was hardcore-fans-only, and only really relevant for hardcore fans living in the Seattle area. It's only worth going into for the article on the restaurant if they've actually leaned into the association, like if there's marketing and T-shirt associated with the Portal connection - say something like Cheers Beacon Hill, where the entire bar was renamed and refitted to look like the TV show version, the clientele changed, and they sold TV show merchandise. SnowFire (talk) 01:20, 7 November 2023 (UTC)

Portal not a Microsoft game

Probably should be copyedited because it currently implies the Portal devs are related to the Microsoft devs also mentioned in the article. They are not; Portal is a Valve game, and Valve is based in Bellevue several miles away from Overlake. ☆ Bri (talk) 16:47, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

@Bri I welcome clarifying text changes. However, I've tinkered with this change by you in order to reflect the source itself, which is specifically about "Bellevue's Bel-Red Neighborhood". ---Another Believer _(Talk) 17:00, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

The problem is, Eastsiders don't really talk about a Bel-Red neighbhood AFAIK. There's a Bel-Red Road and a sort of artificial "neighbhorhood" the city of Bellevue has designated along that road with a whopping 2% of the city population; it goes all the way from Overlake Hopsital at the built-up I-405 corridor, through Spring District, which they still don't recognize as a neighbhood, to the Redmond city line; trust me, this is not a coherent neighborhood. The city map also omits Overlake, which is definitely a thing. In fact the original Regent is across the street from Bellevue's (former) Overlake Mall and that area is universally denoted Overlake in business names and such. Oh well. ☆ Bri (talk) 17:35, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

@Bri: I hope this edit helps. ---Another Believer _(Talk) 17:36, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

@Bri (edit conflict) Sorry for the edit conflict. I totally welcome your preferred language re: Bel-Red and/or Valve. ---Another Believer _(Talk) 17:37, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

(edit conflict) The whole situation is kind of weird from a city planning and revenue point of view. Both Redmond and Bellevue are trying to move development away from the Overlake area because it's on the cities' boundaries and they don't want to subsidize each others' economies. Definitely a "branding" effort going on in trying to get city-specific neighborhood names. Yet Overlake is in fact an economic engine because of Microsoft in Redmond and the (former) mall in Bellevue. (Sub-note -- just found out this was anchored by the largest Sears west of the Missisippi, and no article on the Sears nor on the mall! Now it's a hole in the ground.) ☆ Bri (talk) 17:49, 18 December 2023 (UTC)