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The big news on the international spirits scene today is that the country of Sweden has sold state-owned Absolut Vodka to French conglomérat de boisson Pernod Ricard for $8.9 billion after a competitive auction. From Reuters:

Pernod beat the favourite, Jim Beam bourbon maker Fortune Brands (FO.N: Quote, Profile, Research), to win control of Sweden's Vin & Sprit VSG.UL, owner of the fast-growing Absolut brand, and gain a bigger presence in the U.S.

"The combination of a full price and the amount of debt to be raised definitely seems to have unnerved certain investors," said Stephen Surpless, senior analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald.

According to a report earlier this month, the three most popular drinks in the United States are martinis (with vodka or gin), mojitos and Red Bull with vodka. The New York Times just ran a big feature on feminine-oriented vodkas in Russia, which might work for Absolut, with its mastery of marketing and its wide variety of infused flavors.

For its part, Pernod Ricard expressed confidence in its new brand's market strength. From its press release:

In the United States, Absolut is the top premium spirits brand, selling more than 5 million 9 litre cases. It has a unique brand image built around values of creativity, innovation and cultural leadership.

In the rest of the world, with close to 6 million cases sold in 2007, Absolut is one of the most global brands in the industry with a significant presence in all the continents and a strong perception as a leader in the premium vodka category.

Pernod buys Absolut vodka [Reuters]
Traditional Martini Ranks Most Popular [Wine and Spirits Daily]
Russian Vodka with a Feminine Kick [NY Times]
Photo: Absolutini [Absolutdrinks.com]

Blogston Proper is your weekly roundup of Hub-related food writing from all over the Internet. We read the blogs so you don't have to. But you should anyway, just to be nice.

•How can a meal that includes marshmallow-topped pudding be a disappointment? [A Boston Food Diary]
•Yo, Ma! Can you lower the sound at YoMa? [Eat and Destroy]
•This is a little late in the making, but aww! [Dishing]

[Photo: Flickr: JDinBawlmer]

You know it happens, but it's still disturbing to be reminded of it: News came across the wires Friday that a cook and Seahawks fan in the Seattle suburb of Port Orchard, Wash. allegedly spit in a burger ordered by a customer wearing Steelers gear. From the Kitsap Sun:

Deputies said the 37-year-old man in Steelers garb took his daughters to a Mile Hill Drive fast food restaurant Saturday evening, and "began trading friendly barbs about his team and their victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL," reports said.

One employee told the man that he'd "better not say that to the guy that's making your food," but the man thought it was a joke, reports said.

That is, until he opened his "clamshell-style" hamburger container and discovered what he called a "loogie" on his hamburger.

The manager, hilariously, told Kitsap County sheriff's deputies his 24-year-old employee might just have hawked something into the food. What the deputies were hoping to find in the way of evidence of the crime when they searched his home, we couldn't tell you, but they found some marijuana when they got there, and brought the guy in.

The man also confessed to spitting in the 37-year-old's hamburger container to "gross him out ... because he was a Steelers fan," deputies said.

With a new sports season just starting and a lot of old rivalries coming back into the spotlight, we're here to remind diners to keep it civil and maybe wear neutral colors if you're in enemy territory, at least while picking up short-order food. It's not right that a few disgruntled sports fans/kitchen employees play like that, but you'd be naive if you thought they didn't.

Cook Accused of Spitting on Fan's Burger [AP]
Seahawks Fan — and Fast Food Cook — Arrested for Spitting on Steeler Fan's Burger [Kitsap Sun]
Opening Day 2008 [MLB]

By today's end, temperatures should be creeping up to the mid-40s and before the week ends, we'll be seeing whole days in the 60s! Yes, spring is almost here and while we couldn't be more excited to ditch our winter coat, we're feeling a strange burst of preemptive nostalgia for winter's foods, especially venison. Venison, for the uninitiated, is deer meet (don't think about Bambi's mother!). It's extremely lean, which makes it a nice choice for the diet-conscious, yet when it's prepared well, it's quite flavorful. The Hub has plenty of gorgeous dishes to offer the venison enthusiast. Here are three of the best.

•Amelia's Trattoria serves up a plate bursting with the flavors of cold-weather New England: pan-seared venison tenderloin with parsnip puree, blueberry demiglace, and fresh bay leaves. Parsnips! We'll miss those as well.
•If you can manage to get into the very popular O Ya, treat yourself to an order of very briefly seared venison tataki, which comes with a porcini crema and a drizzle of ponzu oil.
•Venison gets raw at Via Matta, where it's served as carpaccio alongside freshly cracked black pepper and smoked ricotta, two ingredients that make everything better.

Amelia's Trattoria [Official Site]
O Ya [MenuPages]
Via Matta [Official Site]

[Photo: Novelty Guns]

• Lopsided economy drives record nationwide food stamp use [NYTimes]
• Food prices up 9% since last year; pork bellies mostly flat [Forbes]
• Asia's stomach rumbles as rice prices have doubled in the past year [AsiaSentinel]
• Record high profits for egg co. led by record high egg prices [CNBC]
• Absolut, once produced by the Swedish gov't, bought by Pernod for $9b [Guardian]
• Californian megadairy proposal for NW Illinois gets mixed reception [Tribune]
• DC woos Fancy Food Show away from NYC starting in 2011 [WaPo]

We generally try to avoid large chains. Very broadly speaking, the food isn't usually that awesome and the experience results in us giving our money to some sort of mega-corporation that has a ton of policies we find objectionable. The exceptions to the rule? New England based pizzeria Bertucci's, which makes truly solid margherita pizzas, and nationwide burrito chain Chipotle. Chipotle's burritos have often satiated our craving when we find ourself in a Mexican-food wasteland (read: much of New York City) and if you have any self-control (we don't), they can easily comprise two meals. We also love the company's focus on sustainable foods (the company uses rBGH-free sour cream, an ever-increasing amount of organic produce, and meat from green companies like Niman Ranch).

Recently, we learned of a reason to like Chipotle even more when the Washington Post reported that the chain has started using pork from Shenandoah Valley based Polyface Farms in its Charlottesville, VA location. Polyface is, of course, run by Joel Salatin, the man immortalized in Michael Pollan's book The Omnivore's Dilemma. Although Chipotle has faced numerous challenges, including the need to install a new kitchen in Charlottesville, over the seventeen months its taken to bring Polyface products to the restaurant, it hasn't given up. Here's hoping that Chipotle takes this focus on local farms nationwide!

Bertucci's Brick Oven Pizzeria [Official Site]
Chipotle [Official Site]
In Trial Run, Chipotle Heads to the Farm [Washington Post]
Polyface Farms [Official Site]
The Omnivore's Dilemma [Michael Pollan]

[Photo: Carnitas burrito, Flickr: skeptict]

We love watching people try roasted bone marrow for the first time. Inevitably, their faces quickly change from disgust at the sight of the marrow (which looks like...well, innards) to bliss at their first taste. Marrow is intensely rich and a little unctuous (in a good way) and just might be the ultimate comfort food. Best of all, it's a royal pain in the butt to make at home, so you never feel guilty about ordering it at restaurants. Try the following dishes, but take warning: once you try marrow, you'll crave it constantly.

•KO Prime serves their roasted bone marrow with our very favorite accompaniment: oxtail marmalade. Yes, that means that you're eating bread topped with beef topped with beef. Embrace it.
•At The Metropolitan Club, the roasted bone marrow dish is listed as one of the "eighth sins." It comes with whole-grain mustard and sweet hot pickles. Intriguingly unorthodox!
•Persephone, on the other hand, keeps things very traditional with marrow accompanied by a parsley/caper salad, Dijon mustard, grilled bread, and Maine sea salt. This last ingredient intensifies the marrow's flavor to such a degree that you just may find yourself making inappropriate noises of pleasure in the middle of the restaurant.

KO Prime [Official Site]
The Metropolitan Club [Official Site]
Persephone [Official Site]

[Photo: Amazon]

As you probably read in the FYI roundup, the U.S. is sending some health inspectors to Honduras to try to get a handle on a crop of tainted cantaloupes that have given a handful of Americans and Canadians salmonella. The melons, sent over by grower and packer Agropecuaria Montelibano, have of course been recalled, but not before they were distributed pretty widely, with 50 illnesses reported in 16 states.

But Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said the fruit was just fine, according to CNN.

"It's not in our fruit," he said about last week's report by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that some Honduran cantaloupes may be contaminated with salmonella. "It's not true what they are saying. Logically, we believe it is an error."

"Permit me to make a demonstration," he said, then cut open the fruit, sliced off a chunk, put it in his mouth and chewed vigorously.

"I eat this fruit without any fear," he said with his mouth full. "It's a delicious fruit. Nothing happens to me!"

The FDA recommends that consumers take the following steps to reduce the risk of contracting Salmonella or other foodborne illnesses from cantaloupes:

* Purchase cantaloupes that are not bruised or damaged. If buying fresh-cut cantaloupe, be sure it is refrigerated or surrounded by ice.

* After purchase, refrigerate cantaloupes promptly.

* Wash hands with hot, soapy water before and after handling fresh cantaloupes.

* Scrub whole cantaloupes by using a clean produce brush and cool tap water immediately before eating. Don't use soap or detergents.

* Use clean cutting surfaces and utensils when cutting cantaloupes. Wash cutting boards, countertops, dishes, and utensils with hot water and soap between the preparation of raw meat, poultry, or seafood and the preparation of cantaloupe.

* If there happens to be a bruised or damaged area on a cantaloupe, cut away those parts before eating it.

* Leftover cut cantaloupe should be discarded if left at room temperature for more than two hours.

* Use a cooler with ice or use ice gel packs when transporting or storing cantaloupes outdoors.

FDA Warns of Salmonella Risk with Cantaloupes from Agropecuaria Montelibano [FDA Press Release]
US Health Inspectors Sent to Honduras [AP]
Honduran president defends melons by eating one [CNN]
FSIS to Host Public Meeting to Discuss Challenges and Solutions for Reducing the Incidence of E. coli O157:H7 in Raw Beef [USDA Press Release]
Photo: Askobac [Flickr]

Your weekly Boston restaurant review roundup, in convenient haiku form!

JP's coffee shops:
the Dig loves Sweet Christopher's
and Ula Cafe.

Nadeau stops by Banq,
finds it too loud to taste food,
which is quite a shame.

MC Slim JB's
at Burlington's New Jang Su:
great Korean fare!

First: shabu-shabu!
It's awesome for everyone
and Hub has great spots.

Cafe Italia
is excellent, finds Pfeiffer,
but menu puzzles.

Morris finds Z Square
way too college dining hall,
except not as good.

Inman's Benatti
gets A- from Schaffer.
That counts as a rave.

• Italian mozzarella contaminated with dioxin [BBC]
• Honduran cantaloupes with salmonella [AP]
• New Zealand tahini with salmonella [NZHerald]
• New Zealand honey with toxic tutu nectar (!) [Times]
• North Dakota venison with lead particles [StarTribune]

Hilarious: We have been giggling over these cereal boxes on Serious Eats all day. They got it from xkcd. Thought it was only appropriate to share:

Honey Bunches of Goats? Amazing. Truly.

Meat Cereals [Required Eating]
xkcd [Official Site]

As we've mourned before, Massachusetts abolished liquor-based happy hours in 1984. This means that, much to the dismay of the profligate yet penurious people of the state, bars and restaurants cannot offer free or reduced-price drinks. They can, however, offer free or reduced-price foods, which leads to very happy situations like that at Brasserie Jo, which offers free tarte flambees (like Alsatian pizzas!) from 5pm-7pm every day.

Excitingly, South End hotspot Pho Republique is getting in on the action as well with a special menu of "dim sum" available only at the bar from 5:30pm-7:30pm. Hey, you can name it after a meal generally served around brunch time all you want, but if it's only available at the bar and in the early evening, that's a happy hour you're dealing with. Misnaming aside, the menu looks delightful (curry potato samosa! candied garlic spare ribs!). The deal starts on April 1 and runs through May, so make your plans!

Brasserie Jo [MenuPages]
Brasserie Jo [Official Site]
Pho Republique [MenuPages]
Pho Republique [Official Site]

[Photo: Neon Boston]

Sad news to report. Herb Peterson, creator of McDonald's uber-popular Egg McMuffin, died on Tuesday of natural causes. He was 89 years old. A longtime advertising reprentative for McDonalds, he actively pushed the restaurant chain into expanding into the breakfast market. He eventually became a McDonald's franchisee. BY the time he passed away, Peterson was co-owner and operator of six McDonald's franchises in Santa Barbara and Goleta. From the International Herald Tribune:

Peterson came up with idea for the signature McDonald's breakfast item in 1972. He "was very partial to eggs Benedict," Fraker said, and worked on creating something similar. The egg sandwich consisted of an egg that had been formed in a Teflon circle with the yolk broken, topped with a slice of cheese and grilled Canadian bacon. It was served open-faced on a toasted and buttered English muffin. The Egg McMuffin made its debut at a restaurant in Santa Barbara that Peterson co-owned with his son, David Peterson.

Egg McMuffin inventor Herb Peterson dies in California at 89 [International Herald Tribune]

[Image via McDonald's]

•What food is depicted in this picture? [MP: Chicago]
•Why does the Phillies mascot look like a less awesome version of Wally, the Green Monster? [MP: Philadelphia]
•Why is San Francisco so pretty and filled with delicious burritos? [MP: San Francisco]
•Why is this tuna not in our belly right this second? [MP: South Florida]

• New USDA plan: to tell us less about meat recalls! [AP]
• Apparently, college students have poor food safety habits [Reuters]
• Much of the Asian Brown Cloud caused by cooking-related pollution [NYTimes]
• Chilean salmon factories rife with viruses, poor oversight [IHT]
• Training fish, in Pavlovian fashion, to swim towards a dinner bell? [Tribune]
• Inventor of Egg McMuffin makes it to the reassuring age of 89 [AP]

A fantastic read today in Slate got us thinking about this Chez Pim post from a few days ago. Both are about Spanish avant-garde cuisine, but while Slate wonders out loud whether technology-based trends such as foaming will make lasting marks on the food landscape even after their stellar popularity, Pim declares, in no uncertain or complimentary terms, the lasting impression a certain such restaurant left on her.

From Slate's Lisa Abend:

At its best, the Spanish version of "molecular gastronomy" stokes the emotions, shocks the senses, and, in the words (if not exactly the intentions) of that hedonistic gourmand Claude Lévi-Strauss, is "good to think." It's also often delicious.

But, from the beginning, some critics have scorned a mode of cooking that relies, in their opinion, too heavily on technology (as if an oven weren't a machine) and often chooses form over substance.

But Pim's complaint seems to cut to the heart of the matter: At "quite possibly the worst meal of my life" at Miguel Sanchez Romera's L'Esguard, north of Barcelona, she describes a meal that seems almost totally divorced from anything that seems like real food. With most dishes packaged in a gelatinous "Micrifilm," and served with what sounds like more attention to appearance than to taste, Pim pointedly complains about the chef's "grand idea:"

But you know what? Sometimes all we care about is if your grand idea tasted any good. Because if it isn't, then it's just a big pile of crap.

As for Slate's question of whether the 20-odd-year trend in hyper-experimental Spanish cooking will leave a long-lasting mark, well, we'll probably have to stay tuned. Likely, some techniques will become part of the long-term landscape, while others go away to die. What will become of Micrifilm? We'll let Pim cover that one.

Fish Foam and Spherified Mango Juice: Will Spanish Avant-Garde Cuisine Stand The Test Of Time? [Slate]
L'Esguard: Quite possibly the worst meal of my life [Chez Pim]
Photo: Salmon wrapped in Micrifilm at L'Esguard [Chez Pim]

The inability to resist a pun will be Diner's Agenda's downfall.

Wednesday, March 26
•Just when you thought the dining experience at UpStairs on the Square couldn't get any more lovelier or more baroque, they introduce a whole new element: opera. Tonight at 6:30, students from the Longy School of Music will perform arias and duets to accompany a three-course meal. Reservations for the meal, which costs $50, are going like hotcakes, so call (617) 864-1933 to reserve ASAP! [UpStairs on the Square]
•Boston Uncorked is celebrating its third birthday (coming soon: temper tantrums and an awful refusal to take naps) with a party at Vox Populi at 7pm. $39 gets you hors d'oeuvre, wine, and general good times and tickets may be purchased online. [Boston Uncorked]

Thursday, March 27
•Lucca goes luxe(r than usual) with a five-course dinner highlighting the wines of Castello di Ama, north of Siena. The oyster chowder with truffles is, in and of itself, a reason to pony up $125. Call (617) 742-5522 to reserve. [Lucca]

Sunday, March 30
•The lovely ladies of LUPEC Boston are throwing a ladies night at Toro to raise money for Dana-Farber. Admission is free, but the price of the delicious cocktails will go towards the cause. The fun starts at 9pm and no reservations are necessary. [LUPEC Boston]

Tuesday, April 1
•Hampshire House is having a party for (wait for it) bird conservation. Apparently, the proceeds from the cash bar will benefit the Audubon Society, which is lovely. The fun starts at 6pm and admission is free. [Hampshire House]

We imagine our parents laughing while reading New York Times wine critic Eric Asimov's article over whether or not to let his 16- and 17-year-old sons drink wine with dinner. He consults experts, some of whom tell him to give them sips, others who advise enforcing a strict no-alcohol policy until 21. (One even wishes the drinking age were 25!)

This was one issue that our parents never thought twice about, which is why, perhaps, Asimov's hand-wringing seems a little silly. Alcohol was never forbidden; if we wanted a sip of something, we could have it. For as long as we can remember, we had our own wine glass at dinnertime — it was just a lot less full than the other glasses. We were never offered beer or cocktails until we were 18 and had returned from college.

The other MenuPages editors had similar stories. MP: Boston's Leila was allowed a glass of wine with dinner throughout her teenaged years. Adam of MP: San Francisco was still in elementary school when he started taking sips from his parents' cups, although he didn't begin drinking wine or beer with dinner until he was 18. Neal of MP: Philadelphia was 14 when he was allowed a glass of wine on holidays and special occasions, and Adam of MP: Chicago wasn't all that interested in wine when he was first offered it at 14 or 15, but by 17 he was drinking wine with dinner and by 20 was sharing scotch with his parents.

So it's not exactly a representative sample, but it's telling that none of us has had any real drinking problems. Sure, we all drank more than we should have in college (didn't everyone?), but there are no stomach-pumping incidents or DUIs to report. Just a few bad hangovers. Which makes us think that Asimov should just chill out and let his kids have a glass of wine.

Can Sips at Home Prevent Binges? [New York Times]

Photo: gakrid [Flickr]

Hey, remember in February when we were so excited about the plethora of Boston-area chefs on the longlist of potential nominees for Beard Awards? Yeah, about that...on Monday, the shortlist of nominees (also known as "the actual nominees") was announced and somehow, the Hub suffered quite a blow. While Boston-area chefs and restaurants received thirteen nods on the longlist, the shortlist contains a mere three.

While we offer our very sincere congratulations to Patrick Connolly of Radius, Michael Leviton of Lumiere, and Marc Orfaly of Pigalle, we're a little sad that talented food folk like Oleana's pastry chef Maura Kilpatrick and restaurateur par excellence Christopher Meyers got the shaft. Oh well. If there's one creed we Bostonians hold sacred, it's this one: next year will be our year.

2008 Nominees [James Beard Foundation]
Radius [Official Site]
Lumiere [Official Site]
Pigalle [Official Site]
Oleana [Official Site]

• USAID cutting non-emergency food aid as prices soar [AllAfrica]
• Burmese refugees in Thailand going on an unexpected diet! [IHT]
• Illegal garbage dumps poison Italy's buffalo mozzarella industry [NYTimes]
• Ill. ties hunting and fishing licenses to child support payments [Tribune]
• Underground sugar economy taking hold in Calif. schools [Telegraph]
• Honduran president defiantly eats salmonella melon [CNN]

While celebrity chefs and other food personalities don't seem to be hurting for gigs and endorsement deals, actual restaurants are feeling the economic pinch right about now. Does that mean that food porn is more popular than actual food?

Over the weekend the trade magazine Restaurants and Institutions linked on its site an article from the Baltimore Sun that made the case that a faltering economy is leading to scrimping among restaurant customers:

Amid gloomy economic trends - falling real estate values, layoffs and stock market volatility - many consumers are changing their spending habits. And eating out is among the first expenses they look to trim in times of economic uncertainty, economists say. Consumers can adjust "in terms of frequency, spending levels and venues," said Bob Goldin, executive vice president of Technomic Inc., a food industry consulting and research firm.

But even as the trade rags paint a bleak economic picture for restaurants, restaurant-related media shows no sign of slowing down. Last month, the Baltimore Sun reported on the continuing popularity of the Food Network:

Now, almost 15 years later, the Food Network is going strong. In 2007, it had 90 million subscribers, which, according to Derek Baine, cable analyst with SNL Kagan, puts it on a par with such cable stalwarts as ESPN, Nickelodeon and MTV.

But for all the public's appetite for food media, where is its appetite for food? Perhaps the glossy pictures, lingo-filled dialogue and industry gossip work as a stand-in for the real experience for those unable to spring for frequent restaurant meals in these lean times.

Frankly, we hope not. Eating out is a good way to make a regular old evening special and can be done on the relative cheap. Part of the fun in eating out comes with discovering that perfect menu for your budget. We happen to know a great website that can help with that. Just saying.

CONSUMERS CUT WHERE THEY CAN; AREA RESTAURANTS, SMALL BUSINESSES SUFFER [Baltimore Sun, via Restaurants and Institutions]
Stagflation [Waiterrant]
From 'dump, stir' to reality, Food Network still cookingFrom 'dump, stir' to reality, Food Network still cooking [Baltimore Sun]
The Fat Pack Wonders if the Party's Over [NY Times]
Abstract: Chef on the Edge [New Yorker]
Photo: Courtesy of Sisudave [Flickr]

In this week's edition of The Tuesday Report, chains multiply like rabbits and West Roxbury suddenly has a busy dining scene.

Openings
Dedham: Today's Globe features a lengthy piece about Legacy Place, the mall coming to Dedham. It is CRAZY FANCY and will make the real Dedham Mall look even sadder than it already is. Aside from a Whole Foods (complete with cafe), the mall will include restaurants such as Ruth's Chris Steak House, Legal Sea Foods Finale , and b.good, as well as a new restaurant from the folks at the Aquitaine group. In contrast, the Dedham Mall that was referenced in The Departed will continue to hold it down with the nearby Pizzeria Uno. [Boston Globe]
Harvard Square: The Upper Crust is coming! The Upper Crust is coming! Harvard Square will soon have no less than ten pizzerias. Are we the only one who misses the pizzeria that used to be in the spot in the Garage now occupied by Crazy Dough's? They had delicious pies at very reasonable prices. [Chowhound]
Quincy: Guys, when Chipotle says they're going to enter a market, they mean it. They're getting set to open a Quincy location, which, if we're not mistaken (we wish the Chipotle website would stop crashing our Firefox!) will be the third new Boston-area location in as many months. [Chowhound]
West Roxbury: Something called Fresh Catch To Go is opening on Centre Street, near Holy Name. We're going to go out on a limb and guess that it will provide takeaway seafood. [Boston Food & Whine]

Closings
Brookline: Oh no! Taqueria Mexico, our second-favorite Brookline burrito spot, will be closing, to be replaced with a restaurant serving some sort of Italian-inspired sushi. We need a nap. And a carnitas burrito. [Brookline TAB Blog]
Newton: Yerardi's, the much-beloved Newton Italian restaurant, closed its doors on Saturday so that owner Fran Yerardi can focus on his burgeoning real estate career. [Newton TAB]
West Roxbury: Vintage, the high-end spot briefly helmed by Jeffrey Fournier, has closed, suffering the same cruel fate as the preceding restaurant in the location: Fontaine's Chicken, best known for their awesome neon sign. [Parkway Blog]

Changes of Plans
Charlestown: Looks like that third location of Petit Robert Bistro won't be happening after all. [Chowhound]

[Photo: Flickr: kylescollin]

The Comoros, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean halfway between Mozambique and Madagascar, recently squashed a coup attempt on one of its three islands in a rather hilarious manner. Reuters reports that no one was injured in the invasion, and the rebel leader "was believed to have dressed up as a woman and to be trying to escape by boat to the nearby French-run island of Mayotte." They always try to escape to Mayotte! We make light of this because Comoros has had bloodless coups and coup attempts on average of once a year since it declared independence from France in the 1970s. National motto in this beautiful but isolated country of 700,000: "there's nothing to do, so let's have a coup!" (Their actual motto is "Unity - Solidarity - Development," but very few of those things have happened.)

This is a perfect opportunity to bring up the country's delightful and virtually unknown cuisine. Its basis is the standard Swahili assortment of coconut-based curries served with grilled meats and fish, fortified with Indian snack food and graced with a dollop of the French sandwich aesthetic. When we visited a few years ago, our very favorite food item was a particular sliced hard-boiled egg and cucumber sandwich, served in shops around the capital on fresh-baked baguettes (France's most laudable colonial legacy) with mayonnaise and spectacularly ripe tomato. We might have been biased toward the sandwich since we had been stuck in Africa for several months without decent bread, but we will say with some surety that it is was an artful combination of simple, fresh ingredients, and thoroughly satisfying to eat with two hands.

Our second favorite dish was tuna sambusas, which are basically like samosas but less flaky:

On mainland Africa, they're usually filled with beef or lentils, but here, it's a lot easier to source tuna than cow or pulses. At four to the dollar or so, one could really go to town on these.

Our third favorite dish was a beverage: tap water. After a few days, we were running low on funds to pay for the incredibly expensive French bottles that were the only available water supply in the marketplaces. Why no local bottled water like in every other country, we wondered? How do the people afford it? Surely they weren't drinking tap water, the septic scourge of the global South! But after several locals told us it was okay, we tried a glass and a light bulb went off: the country is a volcanic island chain, and we were sipping pure volcanic spring water! Don't tell anyone, or the next thing you it'll be crawling with Fiji executives.

Oh yes, they also have crazy-looking lobsters for you to eat:

If you go, avoid: the incredibly sour injera-like sponge cakes they try to serve you with fish curries. Ask for rice instead. Also, manioc; it's just not a very good tuber. Finally, plan your trip around avoiding election day &mdash they close all the roads in the country, and you'll have to hitch a ride with the Army. But it turns out the soldiers are quite friendly!

Comoros Claims Control Of Rebel Island [Reuters]
Comoros [Wikipedia]

[Photos: Lunchtime spread &mdash aidjihad/flickr; tuna sambusas &mdash kaysha/flickr (even though kaysha calls them samosas, they're really sambusas); lobster &mdash hughdoulton/flickr]

Boston Restaurant Weeks are behind us now and shan't return until the summer. Several restaurants are extending their deals, but for the rest, all we can do is look back and reflect. Predictably, Chowhound has been providing ample commentary on the various Restaurant Week menus. Below, a few highlights.

The Good: 'Hounder gini thought that dante was "one of the most enjoyable RW experiences I've had in the past few years", an opinion echoed by a majority of the thread's posters. Atos singled out Pigalle as "fantastic, great service." Olives won near-universal raves and, although Masa was chided for offering a reduced menu at Sunday lunch, 'hound Aphex thought it was "one of the best meals I've had in Boston."

The Bad: Rialto was called out for undercooked risotto and skimpy portions. Very sad, as we love Rialto like crazy.

The Decidedly Mixed: Sibling Rivalry was either excellent or just alright, depending on who you ask. Rocca may have sent out some lukewarm dishes, but lots of Chowhounders thought it was fun nonetheless.

What about you? Where did you go for Restaurant Weeks?

[Photo: Fish stew at Rocca, Flickr: kamico]

• How many times must we say breakfast cures obesity? [NYTimes]
• Portly Wales bans junk food from its hospitals [BBCNews]
• There's some kind of crazy poison honey going around NZ! [NZHerald]
• Note to Jared Diamond: corn's been in S. America 4eva [ScienceDaily]
• Canada's McD's to celebrate Earth Hour by dimming lights [NewsWire]

Blogston Proper is your weekly roundup of Hub-related food writing from all over the Internet. We read the blogs so you don't have to. But you should anyway, just to be nice.

•KO Prime is way sexy. [The Dish]
•Please stop leaving Cheerios under the table at Toro. [Undercover Blonde]
•The Taste of the South End was crazy delicious. [Bostonist]

Since reading this week's New Yorker profile of Momofuku chef David Chang, we've been fascinated with the idea of eating ostrich eggs. Early in the piece, Chang describes trying to cook one, with unappetizing results:

I wanted to pretend I was Fred Flintstone. So I got a big rondeau, put like two inches of oil, and I was gonna deep-fry the motherfucker, but there was so much water content in the white that it just sort of dispersed. It looked like cottage cheese.

We poked around online to see if there are any success stories of ostrich egg eating. After all, people have been trying to make ostriches a commercially viable livestock product for years, so there must be somebody out there promoting the eggs. We found some basic guidelines from the Indian Point Ostrich Ranch in Tehachapi (Kern County), Calif. Also a Chowhound thread on the topic. But our quick search couldn't turn up any in-depth recipes using the massive protein balls.

Meanwhile, the profile on Chang is great. Aside from the ostrich egg thing, he's inspiring both as a chef and a manager of people. The transcript of his speech to his staff is simultaneously riveting and shaming as you realize you don't even come close to understanding the word "dedication" as he does.

Abstract: Chef on the Edge [New Yorker]
Ostrich Eggs Are Edible [Indian Point Ostrich Ranch]
Ostrich Eggs?!? [Chowhound]
Momofuku Noodle Bar [MenuPages]
Momofuku Noodle Bar [Official Site]
Photo credit: Bartly2005 [Flickr]

[Above: First Lady Laura Bush with 2008 state Easter eggs]

The White House has a lot of great food traditions, from the presidential pardon of a Thanksgiving turkey to the traditional cheeseburger pizza enjoyed by George W. Bush. There's also, of course, a great to-do over holiday meals, not the least of which is Easter brunch. Thanks to Time magazine, we're pasting this year's menu below. Don't you wish you'd been invited?

Also, check the link below the menu to the 2008 state Easter eggs.

THE WHITE HOUSE

OFFICE OF THE FIRST LADY

MENU FOR

EASTER BRUNCH

Honey Baked Ham with Maple Mustard Sauce

Eggs Benedict

Bacon

Biscuits

Spinach Salad

Waffles

Sautéed Asparagus

Cheese Grits

Fresh Fruit Platter

Double Coconut Layer Cake

Lemon Curd Trifle with Fresh Berries

2008 State Easter Eggs [White House]
White House Menu for Easter Brunch [Time]
Photo courtesy of the White House

As longtime readers know, we have an abiding fondness for the oasis of affordability in a sea of ridiculousness that is the Copley Place Chili's Grill & Bar. Tragically, however, we learned today from a tipster that the restaurant has closed. (Insert moment of silence here.)

Now that we've all recovered from the sadness of a restaurant we never went to closing its doors, let's look ahead. A call to the Simon Property Group, which operates Copley Place, revealed that, while the new tenant of the former Chili's space will almost definitely be another restaurant, nothing is known about what sort of restaurant it might be. We will, personally, die of shock if its anything other than a steakhouse or maybe, maybe a high-end, high-concept Italian restaurant.

What do you think? Are we doomed to yet another steakhouse or will the Chili's get an all-new dining concept? What would you actually like to see? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Chili's Grill & Bar [MenuPages]
Chili's Grill & Bar [Official Site]

[Photo: Christina O. Lee]

• Popeye's founder dies at 64 of scary saliva gland cancer [LATimes]
• KFC, bowing to healthy eating craze, introduces grilled chicken [USAToday]
• A primer on umami, if you've been living under a culinary rock [Tribune]
• After talking a good game, WFP now really needs emergency $500m [AFP]
• Nestle complaining that biofuels wiping out our food supply, etc. [SwissInfo]

Big news on the labor front from a big chain that's been all up in the headlines: After losing a big huge class-action suit in California, Starbucks has to pay more than $100 million to about 120,000 current and former baristas in that state whose tips it diverted to shift supervisors.

In California, owners, managers or other “agents” of business owners can't share in tips. In the first phase of the class-action suit, [San Diego Superior Court Judge Patricia] Cowett ruled that shift supervisors were essentially agents under state labor law, and therefore the company's policy allowing them to share in tips violated that law.

The company argued that shift supervisors were not managers or supervisors, that they performed many of the same tasks as baristas, and should share in the tips.

As the coffee giant clamors to extract itself from its scalding pot of labor trouble, we were just a little delighted to discover that a heating element in that pot is the Industrial Workers of the World. That's right, at least some Starbucks workers are organized with the party of Eugene Debs and Utah Phillips. Wow. Could it be there's power in a union after all? This one's for you, Wobblies! From now on we're taking our coffee red.

Starbucks ruling: Pay $105 million in tips case [San Diego Union Tribune]
Starbucks Union [Main Site]
Starbucks [Main Site]
Industrial Workers of the World [Wikipedia]

Behold, five restaurants that can still seat a party of four on Easter Sunday. You're welcome.

•Beehive: pretty much any time after 5:30pm
•Hampshire House: 12pm, 2pm, 4pm. Although these may be early seatings, the restaurant stresses that this is Easter dinner, not Easter brunch.
•Meritage: 1pm
•Sandrine's Bistro: almost any time between 12pm-6pm.
•Terramia Ristorante: almost any time after 2pm.

Beehive [Official Site]
Hampshire House [Official Site]
Meritage [Official Site]
Sandrine's Bistro [Official Site]
Terramia Ristorante [Official Site]

[Photo: Bunny Rabbits]

It's Friday. We won't keep you. Just wanted to put in a word for one of our favorite courses. And who better to sing it for us than the Mighty Boosh? Nobody, that's who. So here you go: The Soup Song

Your weekly Boston restaurant review roundup, in convenient haiku form!

Dig visits Austin,
tries BBQ brisket, beer,
and lots of street food.

Nadeau's at Grezzo,
finds fabulous, if strange, food
that chefs just might steal.

MC Slim JB
tries Newton's Farm Grill, loves it.
Gyros are damn good.

Cafeteria
is just alright, finds the Globe.
Location trumps food.

Cheap Eats at Gitlo,
some say the Hub's best dim sum.
Hell yeah, it sure is!

Sauce: Persephone
is a good sign for Fort Point,
but sort of pricey.

Beehive gets a C
from Herald. Hype has calmed down,
but food makes "stumbles."

Canto 6 canneles
are like tiny creme brulees.
Fifty cents? Awesome.

• Starbucks whacked for $100m in Calif. baristi tip lawsuit [LATimes]
• If you YouTube your taco-related misdemeanors, you go to jail! [AP]
• Seemingly moral Volvo fined $20m in Iraqi oil-for-food schemes [Forbes]
• Newly discovered giant Antarctic marine species probably taste bad [NYTimes]
• Food makers' plan to weather recession: probiotics, i.e. health food [Reuters]

It didn't occur to us until seeing the below video that we've actually eaten this creature:

But we have and it was pretty good. On the plate it looked a bit like this (the white ones on the left):

It's called geoduck (pronounced gooey duck), but was listed on the menu as "giant clam," which we pictured looking more like this:

But of course that's something altogether different. Want to know how they turn that phallic mollusk into a pretty piece of sushi or sashimi? Serious Eats pulled this video from the Discovery Channel. We love Mike Rowe:

In Videos: Preparing Geoduck on Dirty Jobs [Required Eating]

Photos:
Geoduck in tank: Bee [Flickr]
Geoduck sushi: Mike Yung [Flickr]
Giant Clam: Barrierreefaustralia.com

•$15 for a croque madame? Oh hell no. [MP: Chicago]
•A year wait for a reservation? That's crazy! [MP: Philadelphia]
•Raw liver=gross. [MP: San Francisco]
•You know, you'd think that if you went to the trouble of trying to open a restaurant in a prostitute motel, the city might throw you a bone (no pun intended) and grant your licenses in a timely fashion. [MP: South Florida]

Just as you can't keep away from the farmer's market to try out all the produce newly coming into season, it's hard to keep away from the flea market, where that totally cool, vintage cutlery service refuses to let you go home without it. Let this happen a few times and you'll have a fork explosion, and that could hurt. But what to do with the stuff you're not using anymore? Unlike last week's farmer's market goodies it doesn't naturally disappear.

The folks at Boing Boing today showcased artist Osian Batyka-Williams, who is putting all those old forks, knives and spoons to good use elsewhere in the kitchen or dining room by making chairs out of them. Hope the tines are faced the right way!

Chair Made From Old Cutlery [Boing Boing]
Osian Batyka-Williams [Official Site]

Good Friday is tomorrow and for those observing, it's a time to abstain from meat. You could go vegetarian, but instead, we recommend fish, glorious fish. Good Friday is a time to keep it simple, food wise, so instead of defaulting to our usual endorsements of lobster stuffed with pancetta and truffles*, we've hunted down three relatively unadorned, yet excellent, picks from the sea.

•Visit Great Bay for the pan-seared Kona snapper with white rice risotto, roasted shallots, and baby carrots. It's delicious, but still earthy.
•All the food at Mare is organic, so you can feel good about treating the earth well. Try the sauteed halibut, which comes with preserved lemon, kalamata olives, and chantarelle mushrooms for a taste of the Mediterranean on a cold day.
•One of Boston's simplest and best fish preparations can be found at Yankee Lobster: a piece of salmon, broiled to perfection, and served unadorned, except for a wedge of lemon. Excellent.

*: Note: this is not, to the best of our knowledge, a real dish.

Great Bay [Official Site]
Mare [Official Site]
Yankee Lobster [Official Site]

[Photo: Tesco]

• Given the new economic reality, can we start reclaiming farmland? [NYTimes]
• Sbux to grind beans in-store again. Will its coffee finally be drinkable? [USAToday]
• Would you go to Mars if you had to eat silkworm pupae cookies? [NewScientists]
• Homeland's new scare tactic: bioterror in our food supply! (Plausible...) [CQPolitics]
• North Korea cuts food supply during famine; but the people rejoice anyway! [AFP]

Word's been circling the internets today that famed art collector Charles Saatchi, husband of famed British chef Nigella Lawson, lost about 50 pounds in 10 months eating nothing but eggs. Seems like an extreme (and extremely uncomfortable) version of the Atkins diet.

We wrote the feat off as impossible, not just because it's unclear that the diet would be effective, but who in their right mind could stand to live on an all-egg diet for nearly a year? Well, it turns out that just because there's one ingredient in your food, that doesn't mean there's no diversity. A conveniently timed (and beautiful) slideshow ran on Gourmet's website today showcasing a dozen types of eggs. Please check it out. It's great. Click the photo to get there.

A Dozen Eggs [Gourmet]
Out of His Shell [The Grinder]

Diner's Agenda is ready for spring.

Friday, March 21
•Remember back in December when the Milky Way Lounge & Lanes was almost shut down because they don't have a sprinkler? They can't go on like this forever, so here's where you come in: at 9pm, they'll be having a fundraising concert to help offset the $70,000 it's costing to install those sprinklers. Pressure Cooker, Iyeoka, and The Press Project will all perform. Tickets cost $15 in advance and $18 at the door and can be purchased online. [Milky Way]

Monday, March 24
•Make it a Sex and the City sort of night by taking in a Sara Campbell fashion show at UpStairs on the Square. For a mere $15, you can take in the trunk show between 6pm and 8pm and enjoy plenty of wine and nibbles. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal! Call (617) 864-1933 to reserve. [UpStairs on the Square]
•Are there three sweeter words in the English language than "Wisconsin cheese dinner?" We think not. KO Prime makes our week with a $90 six course cheese-based feast at 6:30pm. Each course will be cooked by a different local chef, including Colin Lynch of No. 9 Park. Call (617) 772-0202 to save your spot. [KO Prime]
•Picco Pizza & Ice Cream will be holding a five-course Italian wine dinner at 6:30, featuring delicacies such as braised short ribs and honey ice cream. Reservations, which cost $50, may be made by calling (617) 927-0066. [Picco]

Tuesday, March 25
•Newton's Union Street Restaurant will be holding a five course Sam Adams beer dinner at 7pm. Sounds pretty standard, right? Here's the twist. The dessert is fried Snickers bars. Fried Snickers bars!!!! Truly, that cannot be topped. Tickets are $50. Call (617) 964-6684 to reserve. [Union Street]

The article on fat foodies in today's New York Times definitely caught the eye of those of us here at Menupages and, we're betting, a good segment of our readership. We're all a bit food-obsessed and all probably not as good at moderation as we'd like to be.

Menupages has a pretty svelte staff &mdash we all work hard to avoid joining what the Times calls the "Fat Pack" &mdash but surely we can all (staff and readers alike) use the reminder to maintain a high vegetable intake and a sharp eye on the fatty meats and bulky breads.

Of course, none of us here at MP has written a whole book on hamburgers like Grubstreet's Josh Ozersky. In a post Monday, he defied the a "lite" future :

...as we told [New York Times reporter Kim Severson, the day we start eating salad she’s welcome to our place at the table. Grub Street may cost us the vitality of our once-springy carcass, but by God the work will go on!

When you've made a profession out of high-fat foods, we imagine it is difficult to switch to salads and lentils. Though many journalists, chefs and bloggers interviewed for the piece have made lifestyle changes, dropping weight and cholesterol counts on doctors' orders, a certain machismo remains, as seen in Ozersky's defiant post.

MP South Florida editor Carolina Bolado pointed out that most of the interviewees were men, and that the attitude of machismo &mdash at least as represented by the Times &mdash seemed a decidedly male one. "I blame television and its constant pairing of fat guys with gorgeous women," Bolado wrote in an instant message.

Whatever the reason for the disregard of health concerns, it would be a wise choice for foodies of all stripes to remember that the cost of incurring diet-related health problems skyrockets once the problems are in place and chronic. This is the most literal version of an ounce of prevention being worth a pound (or 100) of cure.

The Fat Pack Wonders if the Party's Over [NY Times]
New York Times to "Wonder" How Bloggers Stay Alive [Grubstreet]
Photo credit: mono1980 [Flickr]

Purim, which starts tomorrow night, is definitely the funnest of all Jewish holidays (yes, even more than Passover!). Consider the evidence: observers get to dress up, be loud and boisterous in a place of worship, and God commands observers to get blind drunk. Awesome! (Every year, we consider having a Purim party solely so we can send out invitations that say "God commands me and I command you...to drink with me on Purim!") Yes, Purim is filled with excellent doings, but no part of the holiday inspires such joy in our hearts as the eating of hamantaschen.

Hamantaschen, for the uninitiated, are tri-cornered pastries filled with fruit or chocolate. The name refers to Purim villain Haman, who hatched a plot to kill all the Jews in the land. He also was fond of hats with three corners. Haman's plot was defeated and now he is mocked further by having his delicious hats eaten. Take that!

Hamantaschen have proved to be unexpectedly challenging to find in Boston, but we tracked down a few sources. Clear Flour offers hamantaschen filled with chocolate ganache, apricot, and poppyseed (by far, our favorite variety). Whole Foods carries the treats filled with every conceivable fruit, along with the excellent poppyseed filling. Go stock up!

Clear Flour Bakery [Official Site]
Whole Foods Market [Official Site]

[Photo: Flickr: marilyn819]

• USDA admits yet again that our food safety system is in trouble [Reuters]
• Package food bloggers being used as patsies by food companies [AP]
• Amish groceries stores selling expired "salvage" groceries! [ABCNews]
• Mushrooms, mysterious and delicious, are also really healthy [Tribune]
• This just in: many food bloggers and critics are very fat! [NYTimes]

This piece on the death of local reporters' bars nationwide got our attention, as in a past life we reported city news and were no stranger to the tap-room. But while it's true that the shoe-leather, metro reporter and his or her bar might be looking at, if not extinction, a severe reduction in population, some of what's going on is a simple re-shuffling that Marketwatch seems to have missed. First, the clip:

Now, here's what's missing: We can only speak to our own market of San Francisco, but we're betting that something like the following is happening nationwide: The Washington Square Bar and Grill was, while famously a favorite of types like Herb Caen, a bit out of the price range of your average young reporter making less than $50,000 a year in the second-most expensive real estate market in the country. But that doesn't mean your reporter abstains.

Our after-work hangout, while at the Examiner, was never the Washbag. It was the House of Shields, which was closer to the office, cheaper, and attracted a younger crowd. Though At 100 years old, rumor has it the Shields was also a reporters' bar long before Caen immortalized the Washbag. While it's sad to see those old places disappear, we feel hard-pressed to tear up over a bar where we couldn't afford more than two drinks. We're betting the steady decline in the workforce at print publications had a lot less to do with the Washbag's closure than the romantics would like to believe.

It's entirely possible that the new breed of reporter--who generally writes same-day web copy in a high-pressure newsroom as well as stories for the morning edition, and who is often lean, underpaid and hungry--needs a different kind of bar: One with lower prices, no food (we eat at our desks), popular with the legislative aides and maybe a loose smoking policy (wishful thinking: the Shields was strict).

The Washbag and many bars like it simply didn't evolve as fast as the media. This is sad but, just as the practice of reporting will not disappear simply because news-consumption habits are changing, bars that serve reporters will not disappear simply because the job is changing. They'll just have to change along with their customers.

Whither The Journalist Bar? [Eater]
The Watering Hole: Innocent Victim in Print Publishing's Death March? [SFist]
Journalism Watering Holes Disappearing [MarketWatch]
The House of Shields [Official Site]

There's so much exciting openings news (and no reported closings!) this week that we're barely even sure where to start, but like The Sound of Music taught us, let's start at the very beginning.

Brighton: Two very exciting developments in Brighton. Rumor has it that When Pigs Fly, the Maine-based bakery with an outpost in Davis Square is thinking of opening a second Boston-area location in Brighton Center. Look for Brightonites (Brightonians?) to get quickly obsessed with their banana, maple, pecan, and brown sugar loaf. Meanwhile, in Oak Square, the owners of Jasmine Bistro are getting ready to open up Ray's Grill, a family-oriented spot. If the food is as good as Jasmine's and the prices are reasonable, we'll be there. [Brighton Centered]
Davis Square:Ten Tables is apparently quite interested in opening a second location in Davis Square. Presumably, it will be called Twenty Tables (HAHAHA. Sorry.) This would be the most exciting Somerville development since Highland Kitchen's opening, but probably not great news for T.W. Food. [Chowhound]
Plymouth:Here's something we didn't know. Newbury Street pizza spot Croma has another location in Manchester, England and is opening a third in Plymouth. An international mini-chain! Whoda thunk it?! [Craigslist]
Roslindale:The Square Corner Cafe, located next to Robyn's (nee The Game Day Pub) is getting ready to open. [Universal Hub]
South End:How nice for the stroller brigade! Whole Foods may open on Harrison Ave. Between this and Las Ventas, Harrison is starting to shape up as the destination for those in search of gourmet groceries. [Boston Real Estate Blog]

[Photo: Flickr: deepaffairs]

This list published in the UK's Guardian is ambitious, to say the least. In 10 cities worldwide, it attempts to pinpoint the best spot for the most famous cuisine, such as pizza in Naples and sushi in Tokyo. Wow. Seems unlikely they could do it, but they use local experts and seem to have a good handle on the scene in each city.

Our bet is that while most of the places listed are likely not the unanimous choice for the very best in their league, they're probably as good as you can hope for if you're just passing through a city on vacation. However, now that they've made the list, will they stay as good or as fun to visit as they were? Will hordes of British tourists pack L'Antica Pizzeria Da Michele in Naples any more than they had before?

Maybe, but that doesn't mean you can't explore the city on your own and use that recommendation as a back-up. That's the good thing about guides like this. They're just suggestions. And it's sure fun to read in the meantime.

Globe Troughing [Guardian UK]
Royale [MenuPages]

Photo Credit: Benzamg [Flickr]

We're truly embarrassed to admit that until last week when The Kitchn ran a piece about it, we had no idea that Edible Boston existed. The magazine, which is part of the Edible Communities network, celebrates the foodways of the greater Boston region (Cape Cod and Rhode Island have their own magazines).

Edible Boston's Winter 2008 issue is currently available for free (!!!) at specialty stores and restaurants around the city, and it's an excellent read. We're especially fond of the recipe for mayonnaise-free deviled eggs, a piece about women over 50 who started food businesses, and an article about local food history. We strongly recommend picking up a copy. You can do so at UpStairs on the Square, so why not treat yourself to a nice meal while you're there, you local foodie, you.

Don't Miss This! Edible Communities and Edible Boston, Winter 2008 [The Kitchn]
Edible Boston [Official Site]
UpStairs on the Square [Official Site]

• Red Cross food traded for sex at Kenyan refugee camps [AllAfrica]
• America's lazy and fat zoo animals take cues from citizenry [AP]
• Travelocity: 75% consider food when making travel plans [BusinessWire]
• Reuters food conference: food expensive, people poor [Reuters]
• DoD reduced to reporting on chicken farms in rural Iraq [DefenseLink]

An environmental preservation group needs oyster shells. A local restaurant discards hundreds of oyster shells. There's an obvious solution that should be agreed upon pretty easily, right?

Not exactly. The Loxahatchee River District, the group that needs the shells to encourage oyster growth, has had a difficult time getting Jupiter-area restaurants to participate. Only The Crab House has agreed to help since the start of the project in October.

"We just haven't had any luck getting other restaurants to participate," said Jocelyn O'Neill, an organizer of the project. Besides The Crab House, she approached another handful of restaurants, but none was willing to participate.

The practice of oyster-shell recycling has grown in the past few years in a handful of areas; the discarded oyster shells are bundled together and attached to spots underwater. They become homes for larval-stage oysters, which float around looking for shells in which to settle. The oyster reefs in turn provide homes for other animals, like small fish, shrimp and crabs. An added benefit, one that's gotten some attention in New York City, is that oysters are nature's filtration system; an adult oyster can filter anywhere from five to 50 gallons of water per day.

There are small programs in place in the Boston area, the Chesapeake Bay and Southwest Florida, but it's really taken off in the Carolinas, where clearly they are serious about their oysters. Not only did North Carolina set up a number of oyster shell recycling sites (many of which appear to be either seafood restaurants or markets), but legislators also made it illegal to toss oyster shells into solid waste landfills (statute 130A-309.10). Residents and businesses also get a tax break of $1 per bushel of shells.

We're thinking this could be a great marketing tool for restaurants; imagine a sign in the front or a line on the menu that says "We recycle our oyster shells." It's cool to go green nowadays, and if a restaurant can do it at no cost, well, that's pretty great.

Loxahatchee River District [Official Site]
Scientists want you to save those oyster shells [Boston Globe]
In City Waters, Beds (and a Job) for Oysters [New York Times]
The Crab House [MenuPages]
The Crab House [Official Site]

Photo of a shell recycling area in Charleston, SC: huggingthecoast.com [Flickr]

Blogston Proper is your weekly roundup of Hub-related food writing from all over the Internet. We read the blogs so you don't have to. But you should anyway, just to be nice.

•Out-of-season produce just isn't worth it. [Craigie Street Bistrot Blog]
•Alibi is no Highland Kitchen. [Go To It]
•Etiquette is essential on both sides of the server/diner relationship. [Tell Him Fred]

[Photo: Flickr: taliaishere]

This post on EpiCurious made us chuckle today. But why are there sunflower seeds in your soda bread? What made us salivate was the (ridiculously simple) recipe, forwarded by a friend, for the very same Irish classic. Forget corned beef and cabbage. We're eating soda bread today! Here's the recipe:

Here's a very simple and delicious and quick (and historical) irish soda bread recipe from The Society For The Preservation of Irish Soda Bread... make some tonight! in this recipe, you simulate the ancient/traditional irish bastible pot by using a dutch oven or 2 cake pans together... maybe 2 bread pans would work too...

irish soda bread
------------------------
4 cups all-purpose flour (though you can use any kind... i used spelt/oat)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
14 oz (which is 2 and 3/4 cup) buttermilk

method:
preheat oven to 425 degrees.
lightly grease and flour a cake pan/dutch oven bottom.

in a large bowl combine all dry ingredients.

add the buttermilk to form a sticky dough. place on floured surface and lightly, lightly knead (too much allows the gas to escape...) to make smooth/even. (add more flour/milk as needed.)

shape into a round, flat shape in the cake pan or dutch oven and cut a big X in the top of the dough.

cover the pan with the other pan face down (or put dutch oven top on) and bake for 25-30 minutes. remove top and bake until done... perhaps another 10-15 minutes depending how crisp and brown you want it.

the bottom of the bread will have a hollow sound when tapped when done.

cover the bread in a tea towel and lightly sprinkle water on the cloth to keep the bread moist...

best served warm with butter and jam! also good dipped in things like cabbage soup. does not last long since there aren't any preservatives... and because it's super delicious!

Irish Soda Bread for St. Patrick's Day [Epi Log]
Society for the preservation of Irish Soda Bread
Photo credit: Zurika [Flickr]

It's almost Easter Sunday and we all know what that means: time to eat and eat and eat. Also, Cadbury Creme Eggs will be on sale on Monday! In case you're not lucky/cool enough to be invited to our mom's massive Easter soiree in Roslindale and you don't especially feel like cooking for yourself, here are three very fine options for your Sunday meal.

•Meritage will be offering their standard brunch menu from 10:30am-2:30pm, featuring crave-worthy dishes such as smoked sea scallops with grilled red onions. Every guest will get a free glass of champagne for a festive toast. Brunch costs $65 for adults and $26 for the little ones. Call (617) 439-3995 to reserve.
•At Sel De La Terre, Easter takes on a distinctly Provencal flavor with an a la carte brunch menu featuring treats like an omelette of asparagus, chimay and basil; sweet pepper, onion and potato hash. Brunch runs from 10am-3pm and reservations may be made by calling (617) 720-1300.
•We've always felt that the ideal time for Easter dinner is 3pm, but oddly, most restaurants offer only Easter brunch. Leave it to UpStairs on the Square to rectify the situation. They'll be offering supper in the aptly named Soiree Room until 6pm featuring dishes like soup au pistou with dinosaur kale and chorizo. The meal costs $65 for adults and $32.50 for children. Call (617) 864-1933 to save your place.

Meritage [Official Site]
Sel De La Terre [Official Site]
UpStairs on the Square [Official Site]

[Photo: Flickr: The Gordons]

• Far more energy goes into food production than food transport [CNN]
• Non-horrible Canada does food aid by the ton, not by the dollar [Leader-Post]
• Manila to fast food chains: serve half-portions of rice, please [Reuters]
• 3rd year in a row of bumper grape crop boosts Oregon wine industry [Tribune]
• Sbux, briefly a music tastemaker, now mainstream profit whore again [NYTimes]
• ZOMG, corn flake shaped like Illinois for sale on eBay (now $182.50) [AP]

No matter where you live, you've probably heard of this legendary Brooklyn pizza joint known as Di Fara's. If you haven't, welcome to the big leagues, pizza lovers!

Brooklyn is, by many accounts, the nation's pizza capital (sorry Chicago. It kind of is). And Di Fara's is, by many of those same accounts, the best pizzeria in Brooklyn. So logic dictates that Di Fara's is the best pizzeria in the nation. At least by many accounts.

And many of those accountable for this opinion weighed in on an Epi-Log poll and voted Di Fara's the best on the East Coast. The result? We get a virtual photo-walk-through of the process of making a Di Fara's pizza. Not surprisingly, it all has to do with one dedicated pizza master. According to Epi, Domenico Di Fara's recipe for quite possibly the best pizza on earth boils down to this:

"I use only the freshest ingredients, the bufala mozzarella from the town I grew up in, the oregano and basil from Israel, tomatoes from Salerno, flour from Italy," he says with a smile. "That's the secret recipe."

Secrets of Di Fara Pizza [Epi Log]
Photo credit: Michael Y. Park [Epi Log]

Here in Boston, we do St. Patrick's Day right. We have parades, more Guinness than should be found in any one city, and even Evacuation Day, a holiday with a somewhat dubious official justification that we're pretty sure just exists to give hungover Bostonians a day off. In other cities, St. Patty's festivities might just happen on Monday night. Here in Boston, however, we've found three days of festivities that would leave other cities green with envy (ha HA!).

Saturday, March 15: Generally speaking, we're not much interested in darkening the tourist-filled doorway of Cheers, but all our reservations fall away when they're hosting something as awesome as karaoke accompanied by green beer and corned beef and cabbage. The singalong fun will be happening from 9pm to closing time.

Sunday, March 16: It's not too often that St. Patrick's Day and Easter fall so close together as they do this year and Om is taking full advantage of the coincidence with their 10pm Easter/St. Patrick's Day Egg Hunt. Admission is free and a portion of drink proceeds will go to the New England Home for Little Wanderers.

Monday, March 17: Monday is, of course, the big day itself. The Beehive is going big with a Bee Irish party from 5pm-2am featuring Irish music and food and oh, so much Guinness. So very much Guinness.

Cheers [Official Site]
Om [Official Site]
Beehive [Official Site]

[Photo: Flickr: MattJhsn]

Talk about a real hit at a party. The New York Times' John Tierney posted a blog entry celebrating Pi Day, the geekiest holiday in the history of civilization, which happens to be today. First celebrated by the Exploratorium in San Francisco exactly 20 years ago, March 14 (3.14) is a day to sit back and marvel at the mathematical miracle that is pi.

Here are a couple of Tierney's food-related suggestions on how to ring in the day. Hold on to your pocket-protector:

There's a method of calculating pi that involves throwing hot dogs onto a piece of paper. You'll have to check out Wiki-How for that one.

You could eat a slice of pie at pi second: 1:59 p.m. (3.14 1:59)

Our own humble suggestion includes a nod to the time of year. We've been eating oranges like they're going out of style because, well, they are. At least, they're going out of season. But these globular fruits also encompass nature's love of a certain mathematical equation. So, using the round fruits and a round pie pan, please enjoy the following orange pie recipes.

Fresh Orange Pie [Recipe Zaar]
Mandarin Orange Pie [Essortment]
Orange Meringue Pie [Allrecipes]
Key Orange Pie [Diana's Kitchen]

Photo credit: Profkaren [Flickr]

Your weekly Boston restaurant review roundup, in convenient haiku form!

Dig goes to Vee Vee.
Local dishes mostly work
and dessert is great.

Down at Oceanaire,
Nadeau finds bargains, splurges,
both quite delicious.

MC Slim JB
makes his way to Pho Viet,
finds lovely banh mi.

Natick Collection
restaurants aren't bad, finds Globe.
It's better mall food!

Globe tries Chipotle.
It's actually pretty good
and not real fast food.

It's Vee Vee's week, huh?
Globe thinks it's good for a date
and affordable!

Irish pub roundup
just in time for St. Patrick's!
Herald finds best bets.

New, chic Toscano
gets some love from Mat Schaffer
but no letter grade.

Cheap eats at Southie's
Cafe Polonia leave
the Herald happy.

• India farmer suicides peaking despite food prices and country's prosperity [Reuters]
• Pepsi aiming its new no-cal carbonated fruity "Tava" at the "reborn digital" [NYTimes]
• Frightened parents switching in droves from chemical-y plastic to glass bottles [AP]
• Five food additives that ought to scare the crap out of you! Or not really [Newsweek]
• Chinese really hammering home their contention that Olympic food will be safe [ChinaDaily]
• FAO identifies three dozen "crisis" countries facing food shortage crunches [WaPo]
• Never fear: Clooney and pals donate cash to keep Darfur food heli-delivery aloft [AFP]

[Above: wild local salmon at Farallon in San Francisco]

Another depressing bit of seafood news: Following on the heels of our general freakout over the likely shut-down of the West Coast salmon season, the San Francisco Chronicle ran a follow-up article today insinuating that the entire California and Oregon salmon fishing industry is on the verge of collapse. From the Chronicle:

Barbara Emley, 64, who has run a commercial fishing boat with her husband out of Fisherman's Wharf since 1985, said salmon makes up about 70 percent of her annual income.

"We'll probably try crabbing longer, but if everyone shifts from salmon to crab, there will be more competition," she said. "I think we can survive the year, but I'm afraid it will go on."

If the crisis continues, she said, it could spell the end of a unique, nomadic culture of people who love the sea.

But the Chronicle also quoted a chef who simply wouldn't use farm-raised.

"We'll stay away from salmon for a while," said Ryan Simas, the head chef atFarallon restaurant on Union Square. "I will definitely not use farmed salmon."

Paul Johnson, the president of Monterey Fish Market, a high-end seafood wholesaler at Pier 33 in San Francisco, with a retail market in Berkeley, said things won't be the same without local salmon.

"Oh man, I'm telling you the king (chinook) salmon is the icon in the Bay Area; this is going to be devastating to the economy," he said. "It's put everyone on edge. A lot of small-boat fishermen are going to go out of business."

Threat of closing jolts fishing industry [SF Chronicle]
So Long and Thanks for all the Fishing [The Grinder]
The King Of Sushi [CBS]
Farm-Raised Fish Given Tainted Food [Washington Post]
Farallon [MenuPages]
Farallon [Official Site]

Photo credit: Passionate Eater

•These doughnut pancakes sound almost as amazing as the doughnut muffin at Geoffrey's in Roslindale. [MP: Chicago]
•What if you stuffed a hot dog from Spike's Junkyard Dogs between two slices of pizza from Little Stevie's? Would that be awesome or are we just hungry? [MP: Philadelphia]
•It sure would be nice to work near cheap noodles. Can our office move near the Super 88 so we can lunch at Sapporo Ramen? [MP: San Francisco]
•We're partial to the creme brulee at Zon's, but we have to admit that we are sincerely coveting the champagne sea bass creme brulee mentioned in this post. [MP: South Florida]

Hilarious. You know, there can be a lot of fun in translation. Just ask the folks at Engrish. But rarely do you get a gem of this caliber. Ass-hot chicken? You know it! A plate of ass steak? Nothin' butt! (sorry-that was cheeky) Too bad there's no Ass hot dog up there. Ah, the golden age of film...

Anyway, here's why this exists: It's a menu for a burger stand in Quebec, where they speak Franglais. "Ass" stands for "assiette," which basically means "assortment plate," according to Neatorama. But dude, by this time they have to know how funny it is. You got to hand it to them for the sheer commitment. "Ass 2 pain?" We bet.

And what's with the soft-porn lamp hanging down there on the right? That thing deserves a menu board all its own.

Ass Burger! [Neatorama]
Title Credit: Adam P

For the past three weeks or so, occasionally-controversial New York Times food critic Frank Bruni has been counting down the ten best U.S. restaurants outside of New York and the way he's done it has been fascinating. When he announced the feature, Bruni named the ten best restaurants but declined to give their ranking. Ever since, he's been spooling out the rankings, a few at a time.

We've been personally excited about Bruni's list since it was announced and we noticed that O Ya was on the list. Now, things are getting even more exciting for Bostonians as Bruni has announced his tenth-fourth favorite restaurants with nary a mention of the Leather District haute sushi spot. This means that O Ya is definitively in the top three. Could it be number one? We'll be waiting anxiously to find out.

Coast to Coast, Restaurants That Count [New York Times]
O Ya [MenuPages]

[Photo: Flickr: jkaw]

• Biofuels "2.0," i.e. cellulosic ethanol, to ease food crop demand [FoodNav]
• Can you grow fruit trees in your urban backyard? Sure, why not [NYTimes]
• Beef recall co. CEO somewhat unrepentant under Congressional scrutiny [Tribune]
• FDA discloses dozens of spinach sanitary violations it ignored [WaPo]
• CT school punishes, unpunishes star 8th grader for buying candy [AP]
• USDA kind of dicking Guam over on food stamps for admin. reasons [PNC]

Following our earlier post on the possible future reduction in meats, cheeses and flour on restaurant menus, a colleague pointed out that the food facing real trouble these days lives in the ocean.

In addition to the over-fished tuna featured on 60 Minutes earlier this year, the San Francisco Chronicle and a host of other West-Coast newspapers reported today that, due to abysmal salmon returns, this year's salmon fishing season may be canceled altogether. That means nobody fishes legally for salmon off the coast of California, Oregon and Washington.

The canceled season comes on the heels of an oil spill that shortened the Bay Area crab season, and follows a string of bad salmon years. It also joins news of high mercury levels in New York City-area tuna.

The upshot? Welcome the eve of destruction, seafood-wise. You may not have a hard time getting used to more vegetables and less meat on your restaurant menus, especially as livestock doesn't seem to be going anywhere, but will you be able to face a future with no wild-caught seafood? We will have a hard time of it. Better start paying attention to those sustainable seafood charts.

Feds warn entire salmon season could be halted [SF Chronicle]
Habitats: Overfishing Our Oceans [Nat'l Geographic]
The King Of Sushi [60 Mins]
High Mercury Levels Are Found in Tuna Sushi [NY Times]
Seafood Watch Pocket Guide [Monterey Acquarium]

Photo credit: Wilderness Classroom

Diner's Agenda hates Daylight Savings Time, just a little bit.

Wednesday, March 12
•Legal Sea Foods, one of the most quintessentially Bostonian companies, brings our fair city a taste of Napa with their 6:30pm dinner featuring the wines of Caymus Vineyards. $125 gets you five courses with appropriate wine pairings. Call (617) 530-9397 to reserve. [Legal Sea Foods]

Thursday, March 13
•For a dining adventure, why not head out to Hingham for Tosca's J. Lohr Vineyards wine dinner at 6:30pm. Tickets are $80, which buys you five courses with pairings (we're especially intrigued by the duck ragu with whole wheat gnochhette). Call (781) 740-0080 to save your spot. [Tosca]

Sunday, March 16
•It's Lobster Sunday at Lineage! For a mere $45, you can feast on a three-course dinner featuring everyone's favorite crustacean. Really, why wouldn't you stop by? [Lineage]
•We recently learned the horrifying fact that the lack of clean drinking water is the second-biggest killer of children under five. Here's how you can help: head to any one of the dozens of Hub restaurants participating in the Tap Project between 3/16 and 3/22. You'll be charged for your usually-complimentary tap water and the proceeds from the water will go to UNICEF, which will use it to provide safe drinking water for children across the world. [The Tap Project]

Above: On the way out? A meaty meal at the Slanted Door

It's no secret that restaurants are tightening their belts economically. Rising food and fuel costs have led to smaller portions, less rich food and generally weaker value across the board for customers.

But we're wondering if that same economic frugality could lead to a literal belt-tightening among increasingly girthy consumers. From the Florida Times Union:

Beef, flour and cheese are among the commodities with rapidly inflating prices that are integral to running a restaurant. Flour prices alone shot up 67 percent between January 2007 and this January, according to Ephraim Leibtag, an economist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service. Cheese prices climbed 29 percent during that period, while beef costs increased a more modest 3.1 percent.

But rising prices have prompted a furious new round of behind-the-scenes shuffling. San Francisco's The Slanted Door is known for its rack of lamb. On many days, chef and owner Charles Phan offers a more-profitable lamb sirloin stir-fry instead, shaving his food costs by a third. It is a temporary fix that draws some complaints. "Everyone wants that rack," he says.

Localvorism already calls for more vegetables transported shorter distances, and the economic necessity might help integrate that into all our diets. As chefs play with spices and vegetable cooking techniques, we may not miss that big slab of meat as much, which will be good, because we may not be able to get it.

Restaurants on a diet in tight economy [Florida Times Union]
Cutback Cuisine [Wall Street Journal]
The Slanted Door [MenuPages]
The Slanted Door [Official Site]

The new Chipotle is finally opening today in Harvard Square, bringing the neighborhood's taqueria total to four, not even counting those closer to Harvard Law like Boca Granda Tacqueria. The fine folks at Chipotle (and despite our ribbing, they are fine folks, using lots of sustainably raised meat and the like in their tasty-enough burritos) are undaunted by the competition and are claiming today as a day of celebration! I think we all know what that means...

Free burritos! At the new Chipotle! From 11am-8pm! Any kind you want! Get there early and prepare to wait, but by all means, go! And then return to Felipe's Taqueria tomorrow.

Chipotle [MenuPages]
Chipotle [Official Site]
Boca Granda Tacqueria [MenuPages]
Felipe's Taqueria [Official Site]

• Kroger, nation's largest grocery chain, stymied by food inflation [Tribune]
• Viral videos the new gold standard for animal rights activists [NYTimes]
• Did you know: high alcohol beers illegal through much of the South? [LATimes]
• The newest thing in wines is pairing to your taste bud profile [WaPo]
• Vietnam, bereft of McD's & Sbux, charts its own fast food course [WSJ]

Bad news in the follow-up to our Pink Grapefruit Mentos post yesterday: Candy Blog maven Cybele commented yesterday, and Mentos parent company Perfetti Van Melle confirmed in an e-mail today, that the pink pellets of grapefruit goodness are over and done for.

According to Jacqueline (no last name given) of PVM, "Pink Grapefruit was a limited time flavor and is no longer available." Oh. Okay, then. It would appear that the time is right for moving on, however now that seems impossible. Now that it's confirmed we'll never get to taste this candy that received a "10" from Candy Blogs, and that our friend went on and on about Sunday, it is the one and only goal we have left in life.

So what are your/our chances of ever tasting this mystery candy? Well, slim, obviously. Cybele indicated the grapefruit may still be in production for the Indonesian citrus-mix Mentos. Meanwhile, a Google search turned up a store in San Francisco, Miette, that is tracking the issue.

"Yes we have carried them in the past and I'm trying to find them again," says Miette Confisserie manager Kelly. "Currently, I'm searching for them. I'm trying to find a vendor." Kelly said the candies moved well, but that if they must be imported in future, the price may jump. It might still happen, though. These Miette people are enthusiastic about their candy. "We're in love with them. We're obsessed with the grapefruit flavor. We make a macaroon [and a layer cake] with grapefruit flavor and we carry Haro gummies. They make a white and a pink grapefruit slices... We also carry Jelly Bellies' pink grapefruit jelly beans."

Well, if anybody can track down this mystery sweet, surely Kelly will. Meanwhile, it looks like this will be a chocolate-and-jelly-bean kind of Easter. Boring.

Miette [MenuPages]
Miette [Official Site]
Perfetti Van Melle [Official Site]
Candy Blog [Official Site]
Photo: Jeffrey Zalesny [Flickr]

After the slow doldrums (slowldrums? Good lord, Daylight Savings Time makes us tired) of last week, we've got plenty to report this week, so without any further adieu, we'll jump right in.

Openings
•Well this is exciting! The Globe reports that Guy Martin, one of France's top chefs (which really means one of the best chefs in the world) will be opening his first-ever United States restaurant this spring in Boston! The restaurant, which will be called Sensing, will be part of the Regent Boston Hotel at Battery Wharf and will feature contemporary French cuisine with a focus on locally-produced foods. You can start counting down the minutes right about...now.
•The Boston Real Estate Blog brought us two interesting nuggets: the intersection of Mass Ave and Washington will be getting a Senegalese restaurant called Teranga. Senegalese food is delicious and underrepresented in the Hub, so this is quite exciting news. Further down Washington, Aroa, a "fine chocolates brasserie" is slated to open by month's end.
•The Newton TAB brings news that Bobalicious, a Vietnamese bubble tea shop, has opened in Nonantum. This is certainly something new for the neighborhood and we hope it succeeds, because who doesn't love banh mi?
•Word on the street is that the owners of Daedalus are opening a second restaurant. A call to Daedalus confirmed that the new spot will be a brick oven pizzeria and should open within a month, but no further details were given.

Closings
•Boston Restaurant Talk brings us the news that well-regarded North End spot La Brace has closed.
•The Hubster reports that East Boston's Caffe Italia is closing and may be turned into a Colombian restaurant. This last detail has caused quite a bit of controversy on the blog's comments. A call to Caffe Italia proved unable to provide a confirmation or denial.

Changes
•Coolidge Corner sushi spot Takeshima has quietly turned into Blue Ocean, a Korean and Japanese spot. Observant readers may remember that the Takeshima space was, at one time, set to be the home of Perpetual Oyster, the rumored Gwen Butler seafood restaurant.

[Photo: Flickr: monicamohindra]

This? Is awesome. Thank god somebody over at Required Eating keeps up with Improv Everywhere, because we don't, or at least we haven't been (Welcome to day one), and there's a chance we would have missed this fantastic video. The so-called spontaneous musical takes place in a Los Angeles shopping mall, which is in on the joke and rigged with hidden cameras. The music, according to IE, is piped in through the mall's sound system. Watch and marvel, then click over to IE to get the inside scoop on how they did it.

Food Court Musical [Improv Everywhere]
'Spontaneous' Musical Performed in Mall Food Court [Required Eating]

Between March and October, Boston seems to go mad for "Taste Of..." events. They range from the big (Taste of The Nation: Boston) to small (Taste of Allston Village), but one of the most consistently excellent is the annual Taste of the South End, happening tonight from 6pm-9pm at the Boston Center for the Arts. The event benefits the AIDS Action Committee and features no less than 45 of the 'hood's best restaurants, bars, and coffee shops, including hot spots like Hamersley's Bistro and Myers + Chang.

Tickets are not inexpensive: general admission is $95 and if you want to attend the VIP reception at 6pm, the evening will run you a cool $250. That is still, however, quite likely less than you'd pay for all the food you'll be eating at the restaurants themselves and besides that, it's for charity. So what are you waiting for? Buy your tickets now!

Taste of the South End 2008 [Official Site]
Boston Center for the Arts [Official Site]
Hamersley's Bistro [Official Site]
Myers + Chang [Official Site]

• McDonald's sales up 12% over last February (paging Dr. Leap Day?) [Tribune]
• Nestle, smelling profits, to open Swiss chocolate research center [Bloomberg]
• Bandits now plundering half of WFP food deliveries in Darfur [AFP]
• Gorton's fish fillets recalled as pills found in ths sticks! [USAToday]
• We don't really know diddly-squat about the nanotech we're eating [The Age]
• 4oz wine and beer samples in supermarkets? Wa. state says, "sure"! [AP]

Blogston Proper is your weekly roundup of Hub-related food writing from all over the Internet. We read the blogs so you don't have to. But you should anyway, just to be nice.

•Angela's Cafe is the best restaurant ever in history. [Eat and Destroy]
•Did you know that burritos have a half life? [Burrito Blog]
•Portrait of a disco brunch, complete with French toast sticks. [Not-So-Daily Diva]

[Photo: Flickr: perdenberger]

Get ready, folks. With Easter around the corner, the internets are abuzz with opinions on egg-shaped confections. Whether they're plastic prize eggs filled with jelly beans or foil-wrapped Cadbury cream eggs, this is the season for ingesting far too much oval candy.

But before we get into the nitty gritty discussion of which Cadbury is the best (cream, duh), it's been suggested that a new, rare and highly valued candy join the pastel ranks left by that weird clucking rabbit. A friend yesterday described pink grapefruit Mentos as "the perfect blend of sweet and tart," and we concluded that with their pink color, minimal mess and apparently sophisticated flavor, they might be the perfect plastic-egg-stuffer for grown-ups.

But where to get these elusive treats? Our friend said they were purchased by chance from some corner store in Brooklyn, never to be seen there again. According to the Mentos website, "flavors of the world" include grape, mint and strawberry. But they're holding out on us.

An August, 2007 post on the Candy Blog documented the grapefruit flavor as part of a citrus assortment sold in the Phillipines, but there is little information currently online about where to find these candies in the here and now. If you have information, it would be welcome here. In the meantime, keep your eye out for these pink wonders and stock up if you find them. They don't stick around very long.

Mentos Plus Citrus Mix [Candy Blog]
Flavors Of The World [Mentos Official Site]
Photo credit: The Candy Blog

We're equal opportunity gluttons around these parts. We love all the different kinds of meat that come from that magical creature, our friend the pig. We must admit, however, to a preference for those meats that come from the pig's belly. Pork belly is wonderfully fatty and flavorful and it brings us both bacon and its Italian cousin, pancetta. Pancetta usually features more spices than does bacon and is not generally smoked, but rest assured: it is just as delicious as bacon. Below, four of the Hub's best pancetta-glorifying dishes.

•Basta Pasta is lauded for its great deals on pasta dishes, but the pizza isn't too shabby either! Try the pie topped with pancetta, roasted red peppers, caramelized onions, and mozzarella. It's a lot of flavors all at once, but it works.
•dante gets decadent with its lobster PLT and, oh yeah, that does stand for pancetta, lettuce (or, in this case, arugula), and tomato. It's slathered with a roasted chille aioli, if you like that sort of thing.
•Joe V's pancetta pizza comes loaded with sliced tomato and basil in addition to the pork. It sounds simple, but given the excellent ingredients, the flavors shine.
•Salvatore's goes all out with their Pasta Abruzzazie, which seems almost like a modified pasta amatriciana. Pancetta is sauteed with hot peppers, cherry tomato, and fresh garlic before being tossed with pecorino romano and mafaldine pasta. Warning: it's incredibly addictive.

Basta Pasta [Official Site]
dante [Official Site]
Joe V's [Official Site]
Salvatore's [Official Site]

[Photo: Wikipedia]

Blogston Proper is your thrice-weekly roundup of Hub-related food writing from all over the Internet. We read the blogs so you don't have to. But you should anyway, just to be nice.

•On-campus cafes! [HubArts]
•Veganism! [Divine Comedy of Errors]
•Massive spreads of food! [The Dish]

[Photo: Flickr: GregPC]

•"The Enemy Of Our Enemy Is Our Friend: Paper Menu Wars" [MP: Chicago]
•"MP Commenter Leaves LaBan Metacommentary" [MP: Philadelphia]
•"Don't Eat That Asian Boy" [MP: San Francisco]
•"How To Up The Cholesterol Level Of A BLT" [MP: South Florida]

Diner's Agenda can't believe The Wire is almost over.

Friday, March 7
•In a move reminiscent of nothing so much as Freaky Friday (which is, by the by, underrated as both a work of young adult literature and a Lindsay Lohan movie), chefs Ana Sortun of Oleana and Marc Orfaly of Pigalle will be trading places tonight: each will cook a five course meal in the other's restaurant. It should be a delicious adventure! Dinner costs $75 at Oleana and $95 at Pigalle and you may call either restaurant to reserve. [Boston Chefs]

Saturday, March 8
•Fireside chats are back at The Fireplace! Saturday's class deals with bourbon, one of our very favorite spirits. There will be tasting and chatting and general fun, starting at 3pm. Call (617) 975-1900 to save your place. [The Fireplace]

Sunday, March 9
•KO Prime keeps it old school with its Retro Sundays, an a la carte menu featuring, among other treats, all you can eat prime rib for $24.95. Not sold yet? There's also cherries jubilee! Call (617) 772-0202 to reserve. [KO Prime]

B- for Church.
Food and drinks are mostly great,
with a few misses.

Angela's Cafe
is so intensely awesome.
Go! Try everything!

Woburn Square rises.
Square is filled with restaurants
and they're even nice!

Wow, Casablanca
is turning thirty!! It's been
three awesome decades.

Finale top chef
Coady loves brownies at home,
makes yummy cookies.

Some people shy away from eating rabbit because the thought of bunnies being killed for food is too much for their delicate constitutions to handle. We are not some people. Rabbit is delicious and even if we were going to base our decisions on what meat to eat on which animals are the least cute, we find piglets to be way more adorable and god knows we've never turned down bacon. The beauty of rabbit is that the possibilities for its preparation are near endless. Below, five of the Hub's best rabbit dishes.

•Anise kicks up the heat with its rabbit in black bean sauce. It's served cold, but packs quite a punch of heat, spice-wise.
•At Cafeteria Tropical, diners can choose between rabbit guisado (stew) and parrilla (grilled). There are no wrong answers here.
•Mamma Maria, which is an infinitely better restaurant than its cheesy name implies, offers delectable papardelle topped with roasted rabbit and fresh rosemary. It's an absolutely perfect dish for a cold winter's night.
•At The Publick House, rabbit hops into the appetizers section with a simple dish of grilled fresh rabbit sausage, served with sauteed pea tendrils, dried cherry and a reduction of De Ranke Kriek, a Belgian cherry lambic. As usual, beer only makes it better.
•Sage serves its justly famous spinach and ricotta polpette with a braised rabbit ragu. Ricotta and rabbit are not combined nearly often enough, but when they are, the results are spectacularly hearty.

Anise [Official Site]
Cafeteria Tropical [MenuPages]
Mamma Maria [Official Site]
The Publick House [MenuPages]
Sage [Official Site]

At Highland Kitchen,
the food and drinks are quite good
and it's all homey.

At Quincy's Fat Cat,
the food sure isn't healthy,
but it is tasty.

At new Toscano,
chic atmosphere rules, but food?
Well, it's just alright.

The folks at Zagat, have teamed up with Buonitalia Spa, an organization whose mission we totally cannot comprehend, to compile a list of the 1,000 best Italian restaurants in the United States. You know, just for fun. The restaurants garnered points based at least partially on their resemblance to "the authentic Italian food experience": "the art of using simple and original cooking to bring out and highlight the excellence of Italian ingredients."

The full list of restaurants honored isn't available online (although you can order a free copy), but The Epi-Log has posted the highest-scoring restaurant from each city. The Hub's winner? Waltham's La Campania, which received scores of 27 for food, 25 for decor, and 25 for service, each out of a possible 30. Congratulations to the restaurant!

Zagat [Official Site]
Buonitalia Spa [Official Site]
America's Best Italian Restaurants [The Epi-Log]
La Campania [Official Site]

Good for Da Vinci.
An international tale
ends with some great food.

Suvarnabhumi
Kiri makes Cambodian
so Bostonian.

As long-time readers know, we have a weakness for anything fried, which is why when we heard that deep-fried Pepsi had come into existence, we could scarcely contain our excitement. "But wait!" you say. "How can they deep-fry a liquid? Watch and learn, dear reader. Watch. And. Learn.

Deep Fried Pepsi [Supersized Meals]
Indy Mojo: Deep Fried Pepsi [YouTube: zacklegend]

Blogston Proper is your thrice-weekly roundup of Hub-related food writing from all over the Internet. We read the blogs so you don't have to. But you should anyway, just to be nice.

•There are at least ten good reasons to check out Beehive. [Boston Food & Whine]
•Persephone is almost great. [CultureJunkie]
•Pretentious Toro customer alert! [Undercover Blonde]

[Photo: Flickr: kpmst7]

How CSAs work:
they take your money from you
and give you produce!

Sake can be great!
Bad warm sake is awful,
you can do better.

LongShot Mixed Six-Pack
is full of contest winners
from Samuel Adams.

Diner's Agenda loves Cadbury Creme Eggs.

Wednesday, March 5
•UpStairs on the Square goes vegan with a four-course animal-product-free dinner at 6:30pm. There will even be vegan wine pairings, although, for the life of us, we can't figure out how wine isn't vegan already. Nevertheless! Tickets cost $55 and may be reserved by calling (617) 864-1933. [UpStairs on the Square]
•Sage celebrates women at 6:30 with a festa della nonna featuring six courses, each cooked by a top female chef, including Ana Sortun and Barbara Lynch. At $120, tickets are not cheap, but probably well worth it. Call (617) 248-8814 to reserve. [Sage]

Thursday, March 6
•Looking for a taste of almost all of the city's top restaurants? Head to Chefs Cooking For Hope, a fundraiser for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at 125 High Street at 6:30pm. More than 40 restaurants will be serving up their signature dishes. Tickets, which cost $100, may be purchased online. [Friends of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute]

As we mentioned last week, Radius came in first at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival's Burger Bash. Now, some rival burgers' proprietors are calling foul. According to New York Magazine blog the Daily Intelligencer, voting irregularities occurred, causing dozens of attendees to vote twice. Florida! Get it together! Anyways, a spokesperson for New York's Burger Joint has gone so far as to demand a recount, but we're partial to Shake Shack's general manager's sentiment that anyone could have capitalized on the extra votes. Don't hate, Burger Joint! Learn to love the Boston burger!

Radius [MenuPages]
Radius [Official Site]
Boston Burger Bests Shake Shack [Daily Intelligencer]

Via the good folks at the Cambridge Chronicle, we bring you footage of this past weekend's bacon-eating contest at Atwood's Tavern. It is truly, truly excellent.

Achin' For Bacon: Cambridge Bar Hosts Annual Bacon-Eating Contest [Cambridge Chronicle]
Bacon-Eating Contest in Cambridge, Mass [YouTube: cambchron]
Atwood's Tavern [MenuPages]
Atwood's Tavern [Official Site]

There's not much to report in terms of restaurant openings and closings news this week, so we figured we'd do what we always do in times like these: help you, dear reader, find gainful employment. We scoured Craigslist and found the following five jobs. You're welcome.

•You know where the waitstaff probably sees pretty good tip money? L'Espalier. They're hiring and they even have benefits! Sounds like a pretty solid deal.
•Or you could just get a job waiting tables at The Squire.
•We had never really thought about the fact that sports bars have "busy seasons", but, duh, if you're a bar near Fenway Park (we're guessing it's Game On!), obviously, you need to take special hiring measures once the Sox are back in town.
•Hilarious position name alerts! Sunset Grill & Tap posted looking for a Beer Bar Bar Supervisor and some lucky folks will get to be Juice Blending Associates in Downtown Crossing.

[Photo: Flickr: ebkf1218]

We were just looking over the list of nominees for the Phoenix's 2008 Best of Boston reader poll and we noticed a few puzzling exclusions. To wit:

•Radius may be the winner of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival Burger Bash, but it doesn't get a nod from the Phoenix.
•For shame, Phoenix! A Best Mexican Restaurant nomination for Chipotle, but none for Tacos Lupita or Angela's Cafe?
•The fact that this category is titled Best Middle East Restaurant and not Best Middle Eastern Restaurant makes us suspect it's a lock for The Middle East, but we're sad not to see Shawarma King on the list. People, he is the king of shawarma!
•Given the love they both receive elsewhere in the survey, it's a little odd that neither La Voile nor Myers + Chang was nominated for Best New Restaurant.
•Really? O Ya isn't nominated for Best Sushi?

What do you think? Were you surprised at any of the nominations? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

As we write this, it's a balmy 57 (57!!!) degrees out and so what if it's cloudy? Spring finally seems within reach, thank goodness, and we couldn't be more excited. The folks at b.good are just as pumped as we are and, to celebrate, they're offering free french fries to all comers at each and every one of their four locations all day long. To get your hand-cut goodies, just go into your local b.good and tell them that you're family. Hint: the Harvard Square location even has sweet potato fries. Happy almost-spring and happy free fry day!

b.good [MenuPages]
b.good [Official Site]

Lately, we just can't get enough of the delicate flavor of skate. When cooked well, it's moist and delicious and pairs gorgeously with both citrus-y and rich, butter-based sauces. Skate never tastes heavy, but it's always satisfying. It is, in short, a near-perfect fish. Skate is a fixture on fine dining menus. Below, five of Boston's best skate dishes.

•At Beacon Hill Bistro, skate is sauteed and served with spinach, acorn squash, hazelnut brown butter, and a red wine glaze. There is very little in this world that could not be improved by hazelnut brown butter but the dish is strong enough that it would be great even without it.
•Eastern Standard serves their crispy skate with fennel puree and blood orange for a really exciting combination of flavors and a gorgeous presentation.
•Mare gets seriously luxe with its dish of truffle-crusted skate, served with a wild arugula and citrus salad with watermelon vinaigrette. Oh, it went there.
•At Rendezvous, the skate is skillet-roasted and accompanied by celery root, sage, Meyer lemon, and the popular hazelnut brown butter. It's ubiquitous because it's just that good.
•Pork is a fantastic accompaniment to skate, so it's no surprise that the skate at Via Matta comes with a side of braised greens and pancetta. It's also topped with salmoriglio sauce, which is similar to chimichurri. Delightful!

Beacon Hill Bistro [Official Site]
Eastern Standard [Official Site]
Mare [Official Site]
Rendezvous [Official Site]
Via Matta [Official Site]

[Photo: Stephen Cooks]

Blogston Proper is your thrice-weekly roundup of Hub-related food writing from all over the Internet. We read the blogs so you don't have to. But you should anyway, just to be nice.

•Whoa! Who knew that the drinks at Banq were so cheap? [On Common Ground]
•Well, crap. Now we need a Wii. [Serious Eats]
•So wait, is it the new Biltmore as in newish location or new Biltmore as in all new staff that's packing them in? [Newton TAB Blog]

[Photo: Flickr: jessicaem]

We love karaoke. We cannot state that unequivocally enough. We are always ready to drop everything and sing (generally either Fancy by Reba McEntire, I'm The Only One by Melissa Etheridge, or Up on Cripple Creek by The Band). Fortunately, there are at least three area spots that have no regard for silly excuses like "dude, it's Monday" and offer karaoke tonight. So get out there! Drink some beers, sing some songs, and if you find a bar that has Drop the Pilot by Joan Armatrading in its catalog, let us know.

•If you don't mind a bit of a schlep from the city, the British Beer Company in Walpole has karaoke from 9pm-12am. Hone your skills tonight so you'll be ready to rock at their live band karaoke on Wednesday. While you're there, do try their chicken and leek pasty pie...delicious!
•Courtside 's giant book of karaoke possibilities is justly legendary. Order up a big platter of steak tips and a beer and start your singing.
•In an extraordinarily random development, we recently learned that the Pizzeria Uno in Harvard Square offers karaoke on Monday nights starting at "around 9 or 9:30." We can not imagine a world in which this is not awesomely weird and we recommend checking it out.

The British Beer Company [Official Site]
Courtside [Official Site]
Pizzeria Uno [Official Site]

[Photo: I Can Has Cheezburger]

Diner's Agenda finally feels better!

Tuesday, March 4
•No matter how many times we read the phrase "Smuttynose Beer Dinner" (and oh, we read it a lot, because man is that company fond of beer dinners), we can't help but giggle. At 7:30pm, Smuttynose will be partnering with Church for a five-course dinner with appropriate beer pairings. The dessert option (dark chocolate pot de creme with an imperial stout) sounds particularly appealing. Tickets, which cost $55, may be reserved by calling (617) 236-7600. [Church]
•It's time for the second annual North End Progressive Dinner. No, it won't be a bunch of North Enders reminiscing about how great Robert Reich's candidacy was, but instead consists of a four-course dinner taking place at four different restaurants. Here's how it works: diners will move between Prezza , Lucca, Tresca, and Taranta Cucina Meridonale and eat one course at each restaurant. It promises to be a unique dining experience! The fun starts at 6:30pm and tickets, which cost $50, may be purchased at Prezza or by calling (617) 227-1577. [Prezza]

Fort Point's reputation as a dining destination is rising, seemingly at the speed of light. Not only has the neighborhood housed standbys like flour bakery + cafe and the Channel Cafe for some time, but with the recent opening of Persephone and the Lynch Star's launch looming in the future, Fort Point is set to finally complete its decades-long process of becoming a super-hip 'hood. Why not start exploring the neighborhood now, before absolutely everyone realizes how great it is? We've created a guide (complete with map) to the area's top places to eat.

•Those who live and/or work in Fort Point are rightfully a little obsessed with the laid-back atmosphere and great simple food at Channel Cafe. The steak and mozzarella sandwich with caramelized onions is particularly delicious.
•Eastern Pier devotees rave that that the restaurant offers food as good as any spot in Chinatown but with significantly less crowds. Since Eastern Pier is right on the ocean, you probably shouldn't miss the ginger lobster.
•No matter where in Boston you work, flour bakery + cafe is worth the trek for lunch. Don't miss the luxurious BLT made on their excellent bread with applewood-smoked bacon, roma tomatoes, and Boston lettuce or any of their unbelievable pastries.
•Persephone may have just opened a few weeks ago, but the buzz is already killer and it's quickly establishing itself as the place to go for post-work drinks and dinner. Tuck into a few appetizers (may we recommend the crispy Maine shrimp) and a Desperate Housewife cocktail (sake, vodka, blueberry syrup, cranberry, ginger, and lemon).
•The Water Cafe by Wolfgang Puck, nestled in the ICA, has been quietly offering solid paninis and salads to the lunch crowds for some time now. The ham and manchego panini is particularly nice.

Channel Cafe [Official Site]
Eastern Pier [MenuPages]
flour bakery + cafe [Official Site]
Persephone [Official Site]
Water Cafe by Wolfgang Puck [Official Site]

We're seriously obsessed with these Cookin' with Coolio videos from My Damn Channel. In this installment, Coolio prepares some steamed spinach tasty enough to win over a self-proclaimed spinach-hating kindergartener (although we'd argue that kids will eat anything that's in a fun shape). Unlike previous installments of Cookin' With Coolio, this one is totally safe for work.

Cookin' With Coolio: Spinach Even Your Kids Will Eat [My Damn Channel]