We are a dairy lover. We do not follow a vegan diet, but we are sure cutting corners here and there would improve our health significantly. That said, we do work with a number of vegans, all of whom felt a little snubbed at last summer's ice cream social. Sorbet, as we understand it, can only take you so far at the sundae fixings table.

This year, things will be different, because we will buy a couple pints of soy-based, non-dairy ice cream for vegans and the lactose intolerant alike. Choices in the freezer section, however, are slim to nil.

Enter Wheeler's Black Label Vegan Ice Cream. The carry countless delicious-sounding flavors of vegan ice cream, going so far as to create new ones for special events. They say that if you can think it up, they will design it. Best part: they are opening a shop on Mass Ave! In...early April? We ourselves have visited the site, and the store still appears to be under construction.

We are sure there is nobody more ruffled by the late opening of Boston's branch of Wheeler's than the Wheeler's folks themselves, but the ice cream social is fast approaching, and we need answers. We anxiously await any hot tips you can provide on the matter.

Wheeler's Black Label Vegan Ice Cream [Official Site]

[Photo: Wheeler's Ice Cream]

[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

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

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]

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

Our brother blogs in Philadelphia and San Francisco have been all over the recent story of a German company that sells canned cheeseburgers. Canned meat is an aberration unto God and mankind to be sure, but you know what's even grosser? Frozen pickle juice.

Grub Street recently alerted us to the Pickle Sickle, which is, as the name implies, a pickle-flavored popsicle. A pickle-flavored popsicle. Because everyone is so fond of drinking pickle juice? Because people love sour frozen treats? Because the product's tagline "The bizarre-tasting 'pickle' craze from TEXAS you can't get enough of" is so wildly appealing? Truly, we are baffled.

We suspect that it's no coincidence that the word "sick" is right there in the title, so we will certainly not be trying a PickleSickle anytime soon. That being said, we are very interested in hearing from anyone who's tried one. As always, the tipline is open.

Pickle in a Tube: More Blechtacular Than Burger in a Can? [Grub Street]
Pickle Sickle [Official Site]

We can't imagine much better evidence of the epicurian revolution at hand than this: massive chain restaurant Ruby Tuesday now offers craft beer in over 900 of its locations. Admittedly, this is not necessarily wildly esoteric stuff: Magic Hat No. 9 and Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA are two of the beers mentioned. Still, it's a giant step up from the choices at most similar restaurants.

To city dwellers like us who are fortunate enough to have a wide variety of beer bar choices, this might seem like no great shakes. After all, Ruby Tuesday is still a Giant Chain Restaurant and we're not exactly going to go there when we could hit Bukowski's Tavern or The Publick House. But for beer enthusiasts living near one of the chain's more isolated locations, going to a great beer bar might not be an option. We, for one, think it's pretty sweet that Ruby Tuesday is supporting some interesting beers, even if we're not going to go check it out for ourself.

What about you? Does Ruby Tuesday's new beer list make you more inclined to make the trek to Watertown?

Ruby Tuesday Serves Craft Beer In More Than 900 of Its US Locations [Beer Advocate]
Ruby Tuesday [Official Site]
Bukowski's Tavern [MenuPages]
The Publick House [MenuPages]

[Photo: Pentagram]

Last week, the Herald reported that TableXChange will soon be making its way to Boston. TableXChange, for those unfamiliar with the business, is a site that allows consumers to buy and sell reservations for hot restaurants. In an ideal situation, it works something like this: You made a reservation at L'Espalier a month ago, only to come down with a nasty stomach flu on the day of your big dinner. You log on to TableXChange and sell your reservation to a fellow who's dying to take his wife out for a nice dinner tonight but can't get a table. Everyone's a winner! It currently operates in New York, San Francisco, and the Hamptons, and will be adding Boston, Miami, and Las Vegas shortly. TableXChange only offers reservations for selected restaurants on Friday and Saturday nights and reservations may be sold for a maximum of $40.

While we can certainly appreciate the difficulty of making a reservation for peak dining hours, we're not entirely sold on TableXChange for a number of reasons. First, although the company has tried very hard to explain that they're not scalpers, it certainly sounds like the system could be open to abuse. While it's easy to imagine TableXChange operating under optimal conditions, it's just as easy to imagine groups of scalpers calling L'Espalier for reservations far in advance, booking up the nights, and then unloading them on TableXChange, creating a situation where you have to pay for a reservation at the restaurant. Furthermore, is this service even necessary? OpenTable has made the process of making reservations at most top restaurants mind-bogglingly simple (full disclosure: OpenTable is a MenuPages partner but that's not why we like it so much) and, frankly, Boston doesn't have that many restaurants where it's nigh-on impossible to get a weekend reservation a few days in advance.

What do you think? Would you use TableXChange?

Company has Re$ervations [Boston Herald]
TableXChange [Official Site]
Launches & Releases: Table Exchange, the Non-Scalper Resy Service [Eater]
OpenTable [Official Site]

We recently received an interesting email from our favorite locally-based doughnut chain (sorry, Honey Dew). Apparently, Dunkin' Donuts has partnered with Mars, Inc. to provide Milky Way hot chocolate and M&M doughnuts. Now. We are not shy about sweets or gluttony. We've rejoiced over the idea of bacon cheeseburgers served on Krispy Kreme doughnut "buns." We're planning to make Elvis Brownies very soon (possibly as early as next week!). We're down with over-the-top indulgence.

The idea of Milky Way flavored hot chocolate and doughnuts studded with candy, however, gives us some serious pause. Apparently, the new hot chocolate "blends chocolate, caramel and vanilla nougat flavors, just like the classic candy bar." We like all three of those flavors, but the idea of tasting them all at once in liquid form sounds wholly unappealing. Similarly, a doughnut covered with icing and M&Ms sounds like overkill. The press release from Dunkin' Donuts claims that the new products will "satisfy everyone's sweet tooth." You know what is very satisfying to this writer's sweet tooth? An ordinary doughnut and hot chocolate. It's almost too sweet! Don't go overboard!

What about you? Are you troubled by this development or do you think that more sweets = more fun?

Dunkin' Donuts Goes to Mars in 2008 [Dunkin' Donuts]

In a move that surprised exactly no one, last week the Boston Public Health Commission voted to give preliminary approval to a ban on trans fats within the city's limits. Shock us, shock us, shock us with that normative behavior, Boston! As in Brookline, the Boston trans fat ban would cover all food that is served in restaurants, bakeries, and school and hospital cafeterias, as well as prepared foods sold at grocery stores and delis. The ban would not extend to food sold at grocery stores and delis that was not prepared in house, so the Hostess cupcakes you buy at your local deli would still be legal, but the french fries you purchase there may well require different preparation techniques.

Although we were, initially, a little troubled by the implications of a trans fat ban, we've come to accept it as inevitable. Most restaurants and bakeries have already begun to get rid of trans fats and, frankly, we haven't noticed any reduction in quality. We even like the new trans fat-free doughnuts at Dunkie's. There's no question that trans fats are wildly unhealthy, so, as long as we can still have our very occasional fix of processed unhealthy treats, we support a ban wholeheartedly.

What do you think about Boston's proposed ban?

Boston Moves Toward A Ban on Trans Fats [Boston Globe]

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that McDonald's is set to roll out its McCafe program at stores nationwide. What, you might ask, is McCafe? Eh, it's basically a Starbucks located in a McDonald's. The drinks at the McCafes will go for 60-80 cents cheaper than comparable beverages at Starbucks. The McCafes will offer cappuccinos, lattes, and mochas. Confusingly, they will also offer a Frappe, which will, essentially, be a knockoff Frappuccino. First of all, isn't that sort of a copyright infringement case just waiting to happen? Secondly, that will be very puzzling in Massachusetts stores, no?

The McCafe is McDonald's first major menu innovation since the company introduced breakfast over thirty years ago. In addition to the McCafe, McDonald's will also be introducing smoothies, bottled drinks, and, most excitingly, free flavor shots for sodas (we haven't set foot in a McDonald's since 2001 and we really try to limit our soft drink consumption, but that still sounds pretty awesome).

Aside from our political objections to McDonald's, there's a simple reason we won't be frequenting the McCafes. If you're at all familiar with how a Micky Dee's kitchen operates, you probably know that cooks at McDonald's don't really do any actual cooking. Everything is pre-prepared to absolutely minimize the potential for human error and standardize operations across all stores. From the looks of things in the (incredibly poorly narrated) video below, it seems that the McCafes will be operated in the same way. We could be wrong, but it seems to us that instead of the large espresso machine one sees at Starbucks, the McCafe machine looks small and like "baristas" needn't do much more than press different buttons for different drinks. The McCafe product doesn't look much better than the "cappuccino" one might get from a hospital vending machine.

What about you? Will you try the McCafe or stick to Starbucks, Dunkie's or local coffee shops?

McDonald's Takes On a Weakened Starbucks [Wall Street Journal]

We've already reviewed the year that's passed and now we're ready to think about the year that is (mostly) yet to come. There's a lot to look forward to in 2008. Below, our predictions for five trends we expect to see this year.

•A Sushi Evolution: As Robert Nadeau wrote in his excellent review of Boston's first branch of New York sushi chain Haru, "Now that we Bostonians have O Ya and the South End’s Oishii, Haru is not a New York–upscale sushi place to us." Truly upscale high-end sushi has come to Boston and, while there will certainly always be plenty of demand for basic, no-frills sushi like Shino Express Sushi, we suspect that sushi restaurants with lots of pomp and circumstance but not much elegance (Haru and Sushi Teq, we're looking at you) will need to step up their games.
•Locavore Saturation: Admittedly, Boston does not have the Greenmarket culture of New York, where local and seasonal food is absolutely de rigueur, but locavore was, after all, the word of the year. We strongly suspect that we'll soon start to see a host of Boston restaurants make locavorism an explicit part of their menus in the manner of T.W. Food.
•Even More Small Plate Restaurants: Off the top of our head, we can name many Boston restaurants serving dishes in small portions, be they tapas or Small Plates. We suspect the number of such restaurants is going to grow exponentially, as small plates are great for sharing, friendly on the budget, and easy if you're watching your weight.
•More BBQ: New York gained quite a few excellent barbecue restaurants in 2007. (We've been to Hill Country and it totally lives up to the hype. That moist brisket haunts us in our dreams.) We think it's high time for this phenomenon to trickle down to the Hub. Redbones is great, but we want more!
•Burrito Saturation: We love burritos, but guys, enough is enough! Davis and Harvard Squares and all of Brookline are chockablock with burrito joints. We suspect that there are just too many for them all to succeed and as much as we basically like Chipotle, we hope the Boston-based chains win out.

What are your dining predictions for 2008?

There is quite a bit we're looking forward to in 2008 (more on that later this afternoon), but the absolute peak of our excitement is reserved for the United States arrival of jamón ibérico de bellotta. This very special ham is made from free-range pigs who roam freely through forests filled with oak trees and, after the first few weeks of their lives, eat only acorns. This special treatment results in a ham unlike any other. We adore jamón serrano, prosciutto, and Kentucky country ham, but jamón ibérico de bellotta blows all other hams (and dare we say, all other cured meats?) right out of the water. True story: when we spent a year studying in London, our dad came to visit. We saw jamón ibérico de bellotta for sale at Harrod's and spent an unconscionable amount of money for a few grams which we were then unable to resist eating with our hands directly from the package as we walked through one of the nicest stores in the world. It's just. that. good.

Until a few years ago, jamón ibérico de bellotta was illegal in the United States (why? because our government hates eaters) but in 2005, the ban was lifted and, since the ham is aged for 36 months, the first specimens are just about to be ready for export. The good news: in a few months, it will be possible (if not exactly easy) to get jamón ibérico without flying to Spain. The bad news: it will be tremendously expensive. La Tienda, the excellent Spanish import site, is currently taking pre-orders for the first shipment of the ham, which is scheduled to arrive in July. There's a $199 deposit required and the ham will cost $96 per pound for a grand total of about $1500. This is a daunting price to be sure, but if you have the means, we very highly recommend it.

Bone-In Jamon Iberico 'BELLOTA' Ham [La Tienda]

We fully realize that it's 2008 now and that year-in-review lists are so passe. We even wrote one ourselves. Even though it's really probably too late for this sort of thing, we would be remiss if we didn't call the Saveur 100 to your attention. We happen to love Saveur Magazine: the stories are always interesting and the recipes have rarely steered us wrong. The Saveur 100, however, kind of cracks us up. The list is meant to be "a vivid snapshot of the wide—very, very wide—world of food" and to that end, it honors trends, places, gadgets, drinks, and dishes that make the world of food so exciting. It's a lofty goal and a fascinating idea, but in practice, the list reads a little bit like a Jack Handey sketch on Saturday Night Live ("Best Vampire: Dracula. Best Candy Lips: Wax Lips."). What other list contains entries on both the Swiss Army Knife and honeybees? We suspect that the Saveur 100 is wholly idiosyncratic and, for that reason alone, we highly recommend it.

The 2008 Saveur 100 [Saveur]
My Best List for 2001 by Jack Handey [SNL Transcripts]

Originally posted on April 3. We still haven't re-tried boxed wine, not even at our college reunion in May.

We here at MenuPages Boston would like to register our support for boxed wine. Or perhaps we should clarify. We would like to register that we have fond (if hazy) memories of chugging down margarita glasses full of Franzia's Sunset Blush during our impressionable college days. It was cheap, and sweet, and the tap was pretty easy to handle, unlike wine from a jug (our other main standby at the time....we do drink real wine now). Our fond memories, however, did little to allay our surprise at the news that boxed wine is apparently being taken seriously by wine connoisseurs. Apparently, many of the new boxed cask wines are actually quite tasty, while remaining good values (a "premium" $20 box of Chardonnay contains four bottles). It certainly sounds like a good deal, but one big question lingers: is it good enough to make up for the embarrassment of keeping a box of wine on your counter?

Wineries Learn To Think Inside The Box [Yahoo News]
Boxed Wine? [Chowhound]

Photo courtesy of Badger West.

Originally posted March 28. Remember when we were so excited about Dice-K? Eh, he still did his part.

There's nothing like an exciting new Sox player, is there? And, let's face it, Daisuke Matsuzaka is pretty much the most exciting new get since...well, it's been a long time, let's leave it at that. Sox fans, however, aren't the only ones excited about Dice-K's imminent arrival. The Globe ran a great story yesterday about Matsuzaka's possible impact on the Boston economy. Let's just say that restaurateurs are...excited. The Ritz-Carlton's Jer-Ne (Boston's best restaurant with a truly awful name) is now serving a Dice-K-Tini, made of sake, vodka, and passion fruit puree with a pair of ice-cube dice suspended in the middle. Over at The Palm, the entire menu is being translated into Japanese for the benefit of the Japanese media who will be flocking to the Hub as soon as spring training ends. Finally, while sushi may not be served alongside the chateaubriand at the Oak Room, the Fairmont Copley Plaza will be serving delightful raw fish in the Gold Lounge and Ashai beer in the Oak Bar. Of course, if Dice-K ever pulls a Damon, you can expect a citywide ban on sushi. In the meantime, enjoy Dice-K mania and get excited for Opening Day!

Sports Redux: The Dice-K-Tini? [Bostonist]
Welcome to Dice-K-themed Boston [The Boston Globe]
Jer-Ne [MenuPages]
The Palm [MenuPages]
Oak Room [MenuPages]

The New York Times' health blog, Well, has a spectacularly dumb post up about restaurant portions. It turns out that most chefs are rather ignorant of what the United States Department of Agriculture considers to be appropriate portion sizes. A study recently published in Obesity Magazine (sidebar: the phrase "Obesity Magazine" makes us giggle and giggle and giggle. Maybe it is because we're exhausted, but whatever! Funny!) asked 300 chefs about portion sizes. It turns out that most chefs are serving what they consider to be "regular-sized" meat and pasta dishes. These dishes, however, are much, much larger than what the USDA considers to be a serving. For example, the chefs were asked to estimate how much penne comprises a typical portion, half gave amounts that were six to eight times as much as the USDA considers to be a serving (one ounce). This would be super-interesting, except that USDA servings are not so much real servings. The USDA recommends that most Americans get at least six servings of grains per day. No one is expecting you to sit down for dinner with one ounce (a mere half cup!) of pasta on your plate. That's just dumb.

What bothers us even more than the willful ignorance about the food pyramid, however, is the implication that chefs and their portion sizes are responsible for consumers' overeating. While we definitely do not dispute that when something is delicious, it's tempting to eat every last bite, ultimately, you're in control of how much you eat. We've found that portions at the vast majority of restaurants are large enough that we can eat half the dish for dinner and the rest for lunch the next day. Not only is this more healthful, but it's economical. $20 for an entree isn't so steep if you think about it as two $10 meals. Just because your plate is piled high with pasta doesn't mean that you have to eat it all, especially not after you've had bread and oil and maybe an appetizer. Next time you're faced with a giant entree, eat half (or even a third) and then pause and assess whether you're still hungry. If so, keep eating! If not, rejoice in the fact that you're saving money and get pumped for a kickass lunch tomorrow.

Oversized Portions? Blame the Chef [Well]
My Pyramid [USDA]
Chef's Opinions of Restaurant Portion Sizes [Obesity]

Way back in July, we wrote a lighthearted post about the Nathan's Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest. A commenter, one Jeremy, responded with "I have a less than favorable opinion of the "sport" of competative eating. My post The 4th of July Battle spells it out very well, but I see no reason to make a hero out of these people. IMHO." Curious, we checked out his blog, where he had written a lengthy post about the immorality of holding competitive eating events in a world plagued with hunger. We thought it was an interesting, if flawed (it's not like the hot dogs being eaten at the Nathan's event were going to be given to the hungry if the event were not held and anyways, Nathan's does give a lot of food to local food banks), perspective. It was also the first time that we'd realized that people didn't care for competitive eating events for any reason other than, as our mother put it, "they're gross."

We were reminded of all this yesterday when we read an article in the Washington Post about a wave of cancellations of eating contests. In the past few months, both the University of Iowa's annual corn-eating contest and the World Pie Eating Championship in Wigan, England have been canceled. The reason given for both cancellations is, interestingly enough, the inverse of Jeremy's argument. The Iowa and Wigan events were canceled because of concerns about glorifying obesity. This seems just plain dumb. The vast majority of competitive eaters are quite slender. Takeru Kobayashi, the premier competitive eater, has less than 10% body fat. Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas weighs 98 pounds. Furthermore, watching a competitive eating event isn't too likely to make anyone want to go out and gorge themselves. The events feature quite a bit of regurgitation and other disgusting behaviors that aren't too likely to inspire copycat behavior.

Our thought is that eating competitions are fun and funny in small doses. The Nathan's Fourth of July contest is a national tradition and the other competitions are an interesting subculture. At the end of the day, it's pretty much wholesome fun and what's wrong with that? Nothing.

The 4th of July Yearly Battle [Home & Business Interest]
Some Say Eating Contests in Bad Taste [Washington Post]

[Photo: Nathan's Famous]

The Globe recently ran a nice roundup of some exciting changes in the dining scene at Logan Airport. It seems that Terminal B, formerly the subpar international terminal, has gotten fancy with a branch of Todd English's Bonfire and a Legal C Bar, a new concept from Roger Berkowitz of Legal Sea Foods fame. There are also new options for sushi and organic foods.

All of this sounds very nice, but as we've discussed before, food at Logan has gotten to be pretty much okay in every terminal, save for one. The food choices in Terminal E continue to be truly unfortunate. When we fly out of Logan, nine times out of ten we are going to see our grandparents in Michigan. If you're flying to Detroit, you're flying Northwest (which, by the way, is its own Jobian burden), which flies out of Terminal E. The Globe article tries to pretend that Terminal E has recently gotten better dining options. We must wonder what they're referring to. Is it the Sbarro? The Au Bon Pain? Perhaps the Houlihan's?

As always, we maintain that, should you have to fly out of Terminal E, your best bet is to stop at Santarpio's Pizza beforehand. Alternately, you can do as we do and pack yourself a sack lunch of a nice baguette from Clear Flour, some prosciutto, a little goat cheese, and a nice (pre-dressed!) salad. It may not be quite as substantial as you'd like, but hey, it beats dried out airport food any day.

Airport Food: Blah No More [Boston Globe]
Logan Airport [Official Site]

[Photo: The Airchive]

It's been over three months since we last discussed the Farm Bill. Back then, the House of Representatives had just passed a version of the bill that included great things like an increase in food stamps, support for growers of fruits and vegetables, and increased money for environmental conservation members but did little to correct the bill's major flaw, namely the billions of dollars in commodity subsidies given to farmers who grow soy, corn, cotton, wheat, and rice. These subsidies are astoundingly problematic because they encourage an overproduction of crops that can be teased into processed foods, which results in a situation familiar to anyone trying to stick to a low grocery budget: processed foods end up being much cheaper than simple fruits and vegetables.

Now, the Farm Bill is ready to go to the Senate. Although the current version of the bill is much the same as previous ones, two amendments are expected to be proposed. The first, from Senators Bryan Dorgan, Democrat of North Dakota, and Chuck Grassley, Republican of Iowa, would call for a cap of $250,000 on payments made to any individual farmer in a year. This amendment is similar to the one proposed by Representative Ron Kind, Democrat of Wisconsin, during the House's debate. The second amendment, this one from Richard Lugar, Republican of Indiana, and Frank Lautenberg, Democrat of New Jersey, would eliminate subsidies altogether and replace it with free government revenue insurance for all farmers and ranchers. What is fascinating about both of these amendments is both their bipartisan nature and the fact that all of the senators involved come from states with heavy farming industries. There was a fascinating op-ed in Sunday's New York Times by Michael Pollan in which he argued that although the Farm Bill is not currently at its ideal weight, a change is in the air. Truly, it is beginning to seem as though eaters and most politicians alike are united against Big Agriculture.

Weed It and Reap [New York Times]

[Photo: St. Louis County]

Here at MenuPages Boston, we're always interested in incidents of food-based sexism. Women and food are a continually controversial topic. Now, New York Magazine is weighing in with a fascinating round table discussion among some of that city's top female chefs.

The chefs discussed why, despite the fact that the majority of home cooks are estimated to be women, so few women run kitchens of prominent restaurants. Explanations ranged from the fact that many women simply aren't willing to make the personal sacrifices necessary to become a top chef (we'd argue that plenty of men aren't willing to do so either) to the sense that male investors aren't as willing to sink money into a female-owned operation. The chefs have some dispiriting anecdotes to share: both Jody Williams of Morandi and Anita Lo of Annisa report that their male comes addressed to "Mr." and Pearl Oyster Bar's Rebecca Charles (she of the infamous lawsuit) says that her food deliveryman consistently gives the bill to her (male) sous-chef to sign.

Interestingly, most of the chefs agree that the food of female chefs is different (and better) than that of their male counterparts. Sara Jenkins opines: "I think women cook different food, and I think women cook better food. It’s more from the heart and more from the soul. I look at this whole molecular-gastronomy thing, and I’m like, “Boys with toys.” They’re just fascinated with technology and chemistry sets. I think we make better-tasting food. I’m sorry, I know that’s politically incorrect." We've made our opinions on the differences between male and female cooking known, but we will admit that men seem to be more interested in molecular gastronomy in a general sense than do women. On the other hand, however, when the contestants on The Next Iron Chef had to use molecular gastronomy tools, LA chef Jill Davie of Josie seemed to be the most into it of any of the chefs.

The more we think about other cities, the more it seems that Boston is, in many ways, a haven for female chefs. Chefs like Barbara Lynch, Joanne Chang, Lydia Shire and Ana Sortun are some of the cities most respected (the question, of course, then becomes why none of these women are among Boston's celebrity chefs like Todd English or Ming Tsai). If we go by the deterministic mama v. show-off cook dynamic, one could argue that this might be because Boston diners are less adventurous than, say those in New York or Chicago and thus, more likely to gravitate toward homey cooking. We, however, think that while the food of chefs Lynch and Shire is certainly soulful, it's also artful and something that could not be easily duplicated by a home cook. What do you think? Is there something about Boston's dining scene that's especially welcoming to female chefs?

Top Female Chefs Dish on Why They're Such a Rare Breed [New York Magazine]

We have similar feelings about the Head of the Charles and the Boston Marathon. We're glad that our city had such high-quality sporting events, but since we hate hate hate battling our way through crowds, we usually try to stay as far away as possible from said events themselves. We recognize, however, that most people are not quite as misanthropic as we are and actually enjoy getting out there and seeing things in person. If you're going to head down to Cambridge, be warned: everywhere will be packed. That being said, you can still have quite a pleasant day of eating in Harvard Square. Below, your best bets.

•We strongly suspect that the best option is to make yourself a picnic to eat on the banks of the Charles and what better place to do so than Cardullo's? Stock up on a few amazing sandwiches and some of the stellar foreign chocolate bars and cheer the coxswains (heh heh. We said coxswains) to your heart's content.
•If you'd rather sit down somewhere for a quick bite, mosey along to Felipe's Taqueria. A super steak burrito and some horchata will provide all the sustenance you could want for a long day of watching the boats go by.
•Sunday is slated to be fairly warm (the projected high is 68), but you might still need a caffeine and/or warm beverage fix. If the mood strikes, duck into Algiers Coffee House for a pot of strong Arabic coffee and a little baklava.

Head of the Charles Regatta [Official Site]
Cardullo's [Official Site]
Felipe's Taqueria [Official Site]
Algiers Coffee House [MenuPages]

Until last week, the only Bacon Club we were familiar with was the bacon of the month club run by Zingerman's Delicatessen in Ann Arbor, Michigan (a side word about Zingerman's: it is absolutely the best deli in the world and we must insist that should you ever find yourself in Ann Arbor, you go not only to the deli, where you must try their BLT, but also to Zingerman's Roadhouse, which is straight up one of the most enjoyable restaurant experiences you will ever have ever). The bacon of the month club is, to our mind, one of the world's great marvels. A different bacon every month! Delivered right to your door! Will wonders ever cease??????

Anyways. Our simple joy at pork fat aside, the bacon club profiled last week in the Globe seems like it might be even more awesome than the Zingerman's version. It seems that every month, a group of friends gather together in Mission Hill for a potluck bacon-based feast, complete with mint juleps sweetened with bacon-flavored simple syrup and "bacon" made out of salmon. The group does not, sadly, seem to be open to strange new members, but what's to stop you from starting a Bacon Club of your own? Nothing, that's what. So go forth! Invite some friends over for a porcine good time and then please tell us all about it...complete with pictures, of course.

When Pigs Fly: Monthly Bacon Delivery [Zingerman's]
A Night In Hog Heaven With the Bacon Club [Boston Globe]

[Photo: I Heart Bacon]

During our elementary school years, there existed a grand total of seven "dinners" we would eat: spaghetti with butter and cheese, Kraft macaroni and cheese (made without butter), pizza with the cheese scraped off, chicken schnitzel, ginger and scallion lo mein, and "burritos" composed solely of tomato and cheddar in a tortilla. As an adult, we now have a very short list of foods we won't eat (mayonnaise, American, cottage and fontina cheeses and butterscotch are the only things we flat-out refuse to put in our mouth) and regularly babysit for a child that refuses to eat anything besides Annie's macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets and "guacamole" (note: said guacamole is actually just a mashed-up avocado with a pinch of salt). We're well aware that most picky eaters grow out of it (god knows we did), but what causes it in the first place?

According to the New York Times, it's genetics! This means that if you were a picky eater as a child, your own kid is likely to burst into tears at the sight of stuffed cabbage (not that we regularly did that in elementary school or anything). The good news? There does seem to be a bit of a cure. Experts agree that calm, repeated exposure to new foods every day for five days to two weeks can soothe most fussy eaters. The experts also advise not giving in to children's demands for "safe" foods (a difficult thing to do when the vast majority of kid's menus at restaurants seem to consist solely of spaghetti, pizza, chicken nuggets, and hot dogs), and giving foods neat names (a fascinating study revealed that when peas were called "power peas", children consumed 50% more of the green guys).

As for us, we'll just spend the next few years quietly dreading the day when karma and our own picky genetics will come back to haunt us.

Picky Eaters? They Get It From You. [New York Times]
The Experts Suggest [New York Times]

[Photo: Golden Basin]

The NRA (nope, not the National Rifle Association, but the National Restaurant Association) Smart Brief recently alerted us to a story in the thrillingly-named trade paper Broadcasting & Cable. It seems that Chuck E. Cheese's, the site of an overwhelming majority of the birthday parties we attended in elementary school, has volunteered to limit the marketing of their food. Two immediate thoughts:

1) The NRA headline "Chuck E. Cheese Agrees to Limit Marketing To Children" makes it sound as though either Chuck E. Cheese's has agreed not to market to adults or Chuck E. Cheese's will be marketing less to children, which would be weird and creepy because what kind of adult goes to Chuck E. Cheese's without a child in tow?
2) Are we missing something? Does Chuck E. Cheese's really market their food? We haven't been there in ages, but all we remember seeing advertised are the games and rides.

It seems that none other than Massachusetts Representative Edward Markey is behind the push to persuade fast food restaurants to lower their marketing to children. While we admire any effort to curb childhood obesity, we can't help but think that perhaps it would be better to encourage Chuck E. Cheese's and other fast food chains to make their menu items healthier. After all, no kid sees an ad and says "Mom! Can we go to Chuck E. Cheese's? I'm dying to try their pizza!" No, kids want to go to Chuck E. Cheese's to play in that giant tub of plastic balls and win some prizes. Once they're there, they'll basically eat anything put in front of them. No one is suggesting that the chain replace pizza with tofu stir-fry, but wouldn't it be great if the pizzas could have less than 155 calories per slice?

National Restaurant Association [Official Site]
Chuck E. Cheese Agrees to Self-Regulate Kids’ Marketing [Broadcasting & Cable]
Chuck E. Cheese's [Official Site]
Congressman Edward Markey [Official Site]

We've discussed the utter weirdness of fortune cookies before. Back then, we were mostly just incredulous that we regularly received messages like "The weather is wonderful" and "You will be invited to a karaoke party." Now, however, it seems that a more pressing problem has arisen in the world of messages found in baked goods. Apparently, Wonton Foods, the world's largest manufacturer of fortune cookies, decided that they wanted their cookies to be "a little bit more value-added. ... We wanted to get some different perspective, to write something that is more contemporary.”

How did this "different perspective" manifest itself? Oh, you know, just in fortunes like "Today is a disastrous day. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em", "It's over your head now. Time to seek professional help", and our personal favorite "Your luck is just not there. Attend to practical matters today."

Some diners have complained, but we think these new-style fortune cookies are pretty hilarious (most especially when you picture them juxtaposed with the series of lucky numbers and Chinese word on the back of the fortunes). If we opened a cookie to find a slip of paper that suggested "Perhaps you've been focusing too much on yourself", we'd probably giggle. After all, it can't be much worse than the message we once received: "Your stupidity will be your downfall." So true. So true.

Amuse Bouche: What's Up With Fortune Cookies? [MP: Boston]
Don't Open This Cookie (Distastrous Day Inside) [New York Times]
Depressing Fortune Cookies Appearing Country-Wide [Slashfood]

It is a well-known fact that we are deeply obsessed with burritos. Secretly, a steak burrito stuffed with cheese, salsa, guacamole, and rice is always what we want for lunch. We think that Boston is criminally underrated as a burrito city. Sure, it's no San Francisco, but it's a damn sight better than New York (other ways in which we are better than New York: baseball. We've been in a stellar mood all day). We love that Boston has so many great options for burritos and tacos, but we have to wonder: why do most of the city's taquerias appear in clusters? We've written about the Brookline burrito battle before, but that's not the only obscene cluster of burritos in town. Harvard Square, Davis Square, the greater Fenway area and, of course, East Boston contain over 21 taquerias (we're including Boloco in these estimates, despite its untraditional nature).

We did some calculations, and it seems that Brookline has the highest concentration of burrito options with seven taquerias, including two locations of Anna's Taqueria (the ne plus ultra of Boston burritos as far as we're concerned). Fenway is not far behind with five burrito options, while Harvard Square will tie with Fenway as soon as Chipotle opens its doors. Davis Square (the LiveJournal community for which has "It's not just for burritos any more" as its motto) will soon offer burritophiles three options and then there's East Boston. We have three menus for the neighborhood that list tacos and burritos, but truly, that's a drop in the bucket, since many of the area's excellent taquerias don't have menus.

How did these dense areas of guac-y goodness come about? While it seems to us that if we were in charge of location scouting for Chipotle or Boloco or Qdoba, we would try to avoid opening shops in locations that already offer excellent burritos, we can't help but notice that, with the exception of Brookline (which is close enough to Allston to count) and East Boston (which has a huge Central and South American population), all the aforementioned neighborhoods are located very near to local colleges. College students are poor. Burritos are cheap. Therefore, taquerias do well in college neighborhoods.

What about you? In which neighborhood(s) would you like to see burrito development?

[Photo: About.com]

Our two favorite food writers, Michael Ruhlman and Anthony Bourdain, have teamed up for a food event so punchily delightful that we must bring it to your attention. Ruhlman and Bourdain have announced their plans to hold the Golden Clog Awards at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival in February. The awards will "honor" chefs in such categories as "The Rocco" (worst career move by a talented chef) and "The Fergus" (best achievement in offal). Hilariously, the SB festival is run by the Food Network, which makes Bourdain and Ruhlman's lampooning of food personalities even funnier.

We have a few of our own categories that we'd love to see featured. To wit:
•The Paula for outstanding achievement in butter, y'all
•The Sandra for least visually appealing food porn
•The Eric for a chef who manages to retain dignity after appearing on a reality show
•The Jean-Georges for best chef-written blog

Do you have any suggestions for other Golden Clog categories? Leave them in the comments!

[Photo: Michael Ruhlman]

The Wall Street Journal recently published a very amusing article about the recent proliferation of cafes in the Milan stores of top clothing designers. Apparently, there are now cafes in the flagships of Robert Cavalli, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani, Bulgari and Trossardi. Since Boston (justly or not) is not yet known as a destination for food or style, we don't get to say this too often, but heck yeah! We've already been there and done that. The Armani Cafe may be departed, but it opened a good decade ago.

Hometown pride aside, there's a lot to like in the WSJ article. Did you know that Milan's Armani cafe is a branch of famed sushi restaurant Nobu? Fancy, right? Apparently, however, "prices follow no known logic; a bottle of water was €5, while a salmon roll was €6." Unfortunate!

Other excellent revelations include the fact that Just Cavalli Cafe is immaculately designed but uses paper napkins, Dolce & Gabbana Gold features giant portions, and, with the exception of Bulgari Restaurant, all of the cafes are much less proportionately expensive than the clothing stores housing them. It's great reading and it makes us want to go to Milan right this second. Sigh.

Milan Fashion Icons as Restaurateurs [Wall Street Journal]
Nobu [MenuPages]
Nobu [Official Site]

[Photo: Julia Holden]

Ever since we read food writer Paul Levy's recent piece in Slate, we haven't been able to get it out of our mind. Levy's piece, which is titled "Food, Inglorious Food: My Decision to Opt Out of the Macho Food Writing Movement", alleges that in the thirty years since he burst onto the scene, food writing has increasingly begun to consist of "a bellow of bravado. It's a guy thing, sure, but (with a few honorably hungry exceptions) these scribblers mostly ignore what's on the plate. They view themselves as boy hunters and despise sissy gatherers, thrive on the undertow of violence they detect in the professional kitchen, and like to linger on the unappetizing aspects of food preparation. The gross-out factor trumps tasting good as well as good taste." Levy goes on to contrast his "serious" description of a durian ("Some find the smell excremental, some find it reminiscent of sick") with that of John McPhee's in a recent issue of The New Yorker ("a fruit that smells strongly fecal and tastes like tiramisu"). Throughout, he refers to the new food writing as "macho" and "virile" and to the practitioners of such writing as "Bad Boy chefs."

Even if we politely ignore the fact that "excremental" and "fecal" mean exactly the same thing and are on exactly the same level of technical/euphemistic language, it is difficult not to see Levy's piece as a bit ridiculous and, rather unfortunately, as a case of sour grapes. To start with, why is the pottymouthed new wave of food writing necessarily "macho?" As anyone who has met us in real life can attest, it's not just dudes who have sailor mouthes and while, admittedly, there aren't many women practicing that style of food writing, we'd argue that this has more to do with a depressingly low number of major female food writers, which is another topic altogether, than with the new food writing being an intrinsically male phenomenon.

Our major issue with Levy's piece, however, is the assertion that the type of food writing practiced by folks like Bill Buford and Anthony Bourdain (two of our four favorite food writers, by the by) is lesser than Levy's own measured, heavily intellectual style of writing. For better or worse, Levy comes off as a complainer upset that no one gets his Goethe references. We're as fond of a Dickensian pun as the next girl, but reading a pallid description like Levy's "the meat had dark skin attached to it, was quite fatty and looked like pork … chewy, and had a very strong, though not disagreeable flavor" (about eating dog!) doesn't make us feel hungry or excited or even, truth be told, terribly interested.

We'd argue along with Grub Street that what Levy calls "macho" food writing is simply food writing that appeals to a wider audience. America (and, as we understand it, Great Britain) is in the midst of a food revolution. People are becoming more aware of what they eat and the increasing popularity of food writing has both contributed to and been influenced by this rise of epicurianism. There's still a place for Levy's style of writing (as Slashfood noted, one of the best things about the foodie revolution is the chance to hear lots of different voices in food writing), but the more active, exciting, and accessible style of Mssrs Bourdain, Buford, et al is becoming the norm, and frankly, we're okay with that.

What do you think? Do you enjoy books like Kitchen Confidential and Heat or do you prefer the food writing of yesteryear?

Food, Inglorious Food [Slate]
British Toff Decries The Coarseness of Modern Food Writing [Grub Street]
Is Food Writing Better or Worse Now? [Slashfood]
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly [Amazon]
Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany [Amazon]

[Photo: Anthony Bourdain]

Recently, we've noticed an odd trend in the greater Boston dining scene: restaurants holding "Sinatra nights", evenings that feature a Frank Sinatra impersonator covering Old Blue Eyes' songs, drinks, dancing and dinner. Now, we enjoy Sinatra as much as the next girl (we're especially partial to anything off Swing Easy!), but we're a little confused as to why there are so many Sinatra nights. After all, Sinatra was a Jersey boy, so it's not like it's a hometown connection as there would be if we were suddenly seeing a proliferation of, say, James Taylor nights or Jonathan Richman nights (we would totally go to the latter, by the by). And, while the Chairman's music is ideal for dinner and dancing, so are the songs of countless other artists. So why Sinatra?

The answer, it would appear, lies with Michael Dutra. Dutra is a New England based Sinatra impersonator who performs more than 300 nights out of the year. He is at LTK once a week (next Monday and then every Tuesday in October) and Red Sky every Wednesday. He makes a multitude of appearances throughout the suburbs and as far away as Providence. It seems that Dutra has built a career off of founding Sinatra nights at Boston restaurants, so, we suppose, the real question is not why there are so many Sinatra nights in Boston restaurants. The real question is why the monthly Sinatra night at Vinalia doesn't involve Michael Dutra. Will there be a Sinatra impersonator showdown in the Hub's future? Because that would be awesome.

Michael Dutra [Official Site]
LTK [Official Site]
Red Sky [Official Site]
Vinalia [Official Site]

Sunday's Globe Magazine contained a truly fascinating article by Scott Haas about the rising prices of entrees in certain Boston restaurants. Foodie luminaries from Gourmet editor Ruth Reichl (who contributed this post's titular quote) to Anthony Bourdain opined on the reasons why main courses are passing the $40 mark with increasing regularity. The conclusion seems to be that there's a sucker born every minute and many of them seem to be living in our fair city. Bourdain thinks that restaurateurs are charging these astronomical prices "because they can." Reichl opines that "You need great diners to hold the chefs to really high standards, people who want really good food, but don't want to spend hundreds of dollars." Tim Zagat (of the guidebooks, obvs) concurs, claiming that anyone who would order, say, the Wagyu beef from KO Prime "doesn't know what they're doing."

Bourdain and Daniel Bouloud (Barbara Lynch's cooking idol) have been getting some flack for their statements unfavorably comparing the Boston restaurant scene to that of New York, but we happen to agree that while the Boston restaurant scene is full of delights, New York is in a class of its own. That being said, there were a few pieces of the article to which we take some umbrage. Firstly, Haas's example of an overpriced dish is the grilled Wolfe's Neck sirloin at Rialto. As we mentioned way back on our very first day of blogging, this just so happens to be one of our two favorite Hub meals. Do the ingredients necessarily justify the dish's $43 price tag? No. Does the taste? Yes. Admittedly, we've never been to Rialto while footing our own bill (hi Grandpa!), but if we had $43 to throw down for dinner, we certainly would.

The larger issue with the piece, however, is that it doesn't address a corresponding trend, namely, the proliferation of high end yet reasonably priced restaurants. Petit Robert Bistro (which was briefly mentioned by Haas) and Beehive won't break the bank, and this summer has seen the openings of Gaslight and Rocca. The main dishes at Myers + Chang, which started serving dinner last night, top out at $15. It seems to us that Boston's evolution as a foodie city is visible in the intersection of these two trends: on the one hand, a rise of luxury restaurants, but on the other, an ever-increasing amount of fine dining that won't break the bank.

What do you think? Why do entrees cost so damn much money?

Raw Deal [Boston Globe]

[Photo: Australian Atlas of Mineral Resources, Mines & Processing Centres]