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Remember that trend, over the last year or so, of restaurants moving away from bottled water because it's bad for the environment with all its packaging, not any better than the tap and sometimes even harmful because it often is subject to more lax regulations? Did you think that was going to stick? Come on, how much money is there in not selling something?

This is more like it, from today's Washington Post:

Desalinated seawater from Hawaii, meanwhile, is being sold as "concentrated water" -- at $33.50 for a two-ounce bottle. Like any concentrated beverage, it is supposed to be diluted before drinking, except that in this case, that means adding water to . . . water.

And from Tennessee, a company named BlingH2O -- whose marketing imagery features a mostly nude model improbably balancing a bottle of water between her heel and her hip -- is retailing its water at $40 for 750 milliliters, with special-edition bottles going for $480 -- more than a million times the price of the liquid that comes from your tap.

What's Colorless and Tasteless and Smells Like... Money? [Washington Post]
The snob appeal of tap water [Slate]
Water Sommeliers [Fine Waters]

[Photo: Tap via id/flickr]

Deborah Hartz-Seeley over at the Sun-Sentinel's food blog Chew on This let us know about an interesting deal at Coal Mine Pizza in Boca Raton: spend $25 or more per table and get a free gallon of gas. Or rather, a reimbursement in the amount of the day's average cost of a regular gallon of gas. The program continues until the end of August. It's an interesting idea, and one that might actually bring in crowds during the slow summer months.

Will eat pizza for gas/ Coal Mine Pizza pay you for a gallon of gas [Chew on This]
Coal Mine Pizza [Official Site]

We've all heard Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is a beer drinker. He sure likes his Pabst Blue Ribbon, at least on the campaign trail. But now word comes that he's actually going to have his own brew. From Chow's Grinder:

In Kenya, Barack Obama’s father’s homeland, they’ve been drinking Obama beer for months, and now one American brewery is offering its own Obama-inspired suds. Brooklyn’s Sixpoint Craft Ales is now brewing small batches of Hop Obama ale, to be available in bars and restaurants in New York and Massachusetts.

Wouldn't it be hilarious (and harmonious!) if Hensley picked up Six Point's Obama brew as a product? Somehow, though, it doesn't appear McCain would approve. Aside from his obvious political differences with the brew's namesake, he's apparently not so hot, in general, on the nation's favorite sudsy treat:

It's going to be a long, weird election season. Better lay in a stock of cold ones early, whatever your brand or distributer.

Punchy, Straightforward, Totally Obama [Grinder]
The Audacity of Pabst: Barack Obama, PBR Lover?
Is Barack Obama the Messiah [Official Site]
McCain beer ties might brew conflicts

Gigi and Liza Meoli, the owners of Ouzo's Mediterranean Bistro, likely need a shot of the Greek liqueur after which their Mediterranean dining spot is named. Last September, the couple traded a locale on 71st Street on Miami Beach for a new space in Sunset Harbour—a piece of prime real estate that came with a hefty $30,000 lease. But this spring, Florida Power & Light erected construction fences that virtually block access to the restaurant, as the company works on the electrical transmission lines between Overtown and West Avenue.

Liza Meoli told the Miami SunPost that restaurant activity dropped from an average Friday-night revenue of $8,000 from 150 customers, to a meager $2,000 from 40 customers. Meoli also told the paper that they had to borrow money from friends to make rent one month, and that they were late on their lease payment the following month.

But who better than restaurateurs to make lemonade (or rather, a lemonade stand) out of lemons? In order to boost business, the Meolis created Mystery Mondays: an undisclosed five-course menu served on that day and which will change every week. With executive chef Pablo Cittadini at the helm and signature dishes that range from grilled octopus to a whole Mediterranean dorada, we can’t wait to be surprised.

Collateral Damage [Miami SunPost]
Ouzo's Mediterranean Bistro [MenuPages]
Ouzo's Mediterranean Bistro [Official Site]

• As N. Korea normalizes, food aid flows freely [Reuters]
• Global food export curbs hurt poorest people [UPI]
• Energy efficient milk jugs confound consumers [NYT]
• Artisanal bottled water won't survive peak oil [WaPo]
• What if salmonella wasn't caused by tomatoes? [Bloomberg]

• These tacos will change your life. [MP: Boston]

• Congratulations are in order for our own Adam Peltz, Chicago Reader's food writer of the year! [MP: Chicago]

• French fries are the best sandwich ingredient ever. [MP: Philadelphia]

• Is there any better use of white beans than cassoulet? No. [MP: San Francisco]

• Steak salad with more of the former than the latter? Sign us up! [MP: South Florida]

You know you’ve found real Cuban comfort food when your plate is piled high with greasy goodness and the only green comes from a wedge of lime. In Westchester, Rio Cristal has been serving up platters of mariquitas and mojo, bacalao a la vizcaina, masas de puerco, and palomilla steak for over 25 years. The unassuming place offers down home cooking and a relaxed family atmosphere. When I have out of town guests, Rio Cristal always makes the itinerary for its authentic criollo cooking and more than generous portions.

One of my family’s favorite moments at Rio Cristal comes when our unsuspecting guest is served the house specialty — a Rio Cristal palomilla steak and French fries (pictured). You can barely see the steak under all the golden hand-cut fries. Their eyes usually bug out of their heads and hands anxiously pat the paunch, as if checking capacity. After a good laugh, the waiter brings over an extra plate for the fries and everyone tucks in.

Other family favorites include the pollo a la plancha, a butterflied chicken breast flattened even further on the grill, the bacalao, salted codfish in a tomato-based sauce, and, of course, the black beans and rice. Despite our bulging bellies, we always find room for dessert and rarely miss out on Rio Cristal’s creamy flan de leche.

Rio Cristal [Official Site]

Leave it to the Ethicurean to turn one of the world's great comedy props into a serious political issue. Dear me, they increase our carbon footprint! Oh, noes, a banana crisis looms! Okay, they had a little help from the stuffy old New York Times, but still, how can anybody stand reading this about bananas:

The history of the banana is fascinating, involving technological innovation (it’s not easy to bring bananas from the tropics), oppression (terrible labor conditions), geopolitics (the U.S. sponsored overthrow of the Arbenz government in 1954 at the behest of United Fruit), marketing (bananas were too phallic for polite society in the late 19th century, so attitudes needed to be modified), and more.

The banana telephone bit ranks right up there with pretending to walk down the stairs behind a counter. It's even got its own song:

More after the jump

Here's a gigantic banana scaring mall customers. Would this be as funny if it were a cucumber? No:

You're writing a comedy bit and you don't have a punchline? Just stick a banana in there. Instant funny:

And, of course, slipping on a banana peel!

Finally, the world gets turned upside down:

The banana situation in Montreal [Ethicurean]
The slippery slope of banana disasters [Ethicurean]
Yes, We Will Have No Bananas [New York Times]

• Hezbollah-dominated Beirut eats at 'Buns and Guns' restaurant [AP]
• New Yorkers discover edible comestibles at Disney World [NYT]
• Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis not going quietly in the night [Trib]
• Legendarily cheap Vegas casino food succumbs to reality [LAT]
• Ice cream among many food products threatened by bee die-off [NBC/DC]

Former pro wrestler Abdullah the Butcher may just run the coolest restaurant of all time.

It's called Abdullah the Butcher's House of Ribs & Chinese Food. Located in a converted 7-11 on the outskirts of Atlanta, the menu includes everything from rib tip and chicken combo dinners to almond chicken to some killer fish sandwiches. The sides include some great southern greens and, of course, the sweet tea is free-flowing.

The food isn't bad. However, the highlight is the floor show. Unlike some other celebrity restaurant owners, Abdullah (nee Lawrence Shreve) frequently hangs out at his own restaurant. While he's there, the former wrestler lets guests put quarters into his head. You see, Abdullah has deep grooves in his forehead from self-inflicted wounds he gave himself to bleed more in the ring.

Here's what Atlanta alt-weekly Creative Loafing had to say:

The best attraction is Shreve, who is usually present -- and pleasant. He kindly thanks people for coming and eating, hanging out in the dining area smiling and answering questions in his sweet voice.

Abdullah's culinary split personality represented by two registers for orders -- an African-American woman at one, and an Asian woman at the other. If it's busy, line integrity disintegrates and either cashier will take your order. But the duality is strangely disturbing.

Barbecue selections are kept simple: Ribs, rib tips and chicken. The ribs are smoked in a small building next to the main structure. Thankfully, the rib meat is soft, pink and tender. [...] I wasn't at all tempted by the thought of Chinese food at a rib shack. Finally, though, I bit the bullet and ordered a serving of "Abdullah's Favorite" (6.99) from a list that includes standards like kung pao chicken and lo mein. The mix of miniature shrimp, beef strips, green peppers, baby corn, carrots and mushrooms was sauteed in a sweet sauce and served with a side of fried rice. [...] But honestly, it's generic Chinese for the masses -- and like Abdullah himself, it's not half as scary as you might suspect.

Pro wrestling, barbecue and Chinese food? Sign us up.

Abdullah the Butcher's House of Ribs & Chinese Food [WFMU]
Abdullah the Butcher's House of Ribs & Chinese Food [Creative Loafing]

(Photo: Abdullah's House of Ribs via WFMU)

El Novillo has long been one of my family's favorite restaurants to celebrate a birthday, anniversary, or special event. The decor of the restaurant instantly transports you to another time and place, where you feel as though you have been invited dine at a Nicaraguan hacienda.

A special occasion dinner always starts with a pitcher of sangria and a plate of assorted appetizers. The sangria is not too sweet, just how we like it and the variety of the appetizers ensures that everyone will find something that they like, whether it is the kielbasa, spare ribs, beans and tortilla, taquitos, fried cheese, or my favorite: vigoron, Nicaraguan cole slaw with yuca and chicharron. Most main courses provide a protein served with a trio of tasty sides, plantain chips, sweet plantains, and gallo pinto (red beans and rice), as well as a side salad. The restaurant's signature dish is the churrasco steak which comes in three sizes: the 8 oz. "Baby," 12 oz. "El Novillo," and the 16 oz. "Big Daddy". My family also likes the chicken churrasco and the Nicaraguan fajitas, but we recommend avoiding the Medallions Marchand de Vin as the sauce masks the flavor of the meat. When we have room, we also order the tres leches, which is, without exception, one of the best tres leches commercially available in Miami.

El Novillo [MenuPages]
El Novillo [Official Site]

We've got a new record, folks. Chances are, you won't have a hard time reserving a table at the Damascus Gate restaurant in Syria, the newly certified largest restaurant in the world. But God help you if they mix up your order. According to the blog World Amazing Records:

During the busy summer months up to 1,800 staff are employed in the 54,000 sq-m dining area and 2,500 sq-m kitchen. The open air area complete with waterfalls, fountains and replicas of archaeological ruins for the summer, and there are separate themed sections for Chinese and Indian cuisine.

The Damascus Gate, which serves 6,014, replaces Bangkok's Mang Gorn Luang, which only holds 5,000 diners. Talk about your hole in the wall! Check out this BBC video of the new champ.

So yes, it's very big. But is it any good? Well, that was harder to pin down. Two commenters on a Topix post said it was great, and the BBC quoted the manager as saying, "In this part of the world, all people care about is their stomachs, so the food has to be the best." Not exactly a Michelin star, but definitely worth a visit if you happen to be in the neighborhood.

The (Current) Largest Restaurant In The World [Google Sightseeing]
Damascus Gate — The Largest Restaurant In The World [World Amazing Records]
Size is all for Syrian Restaurant [BBC]
Damascus Gate Restaurant [Topix]

[Photo: via World Amazing Records]

• Two-and-a-half stars for Andu Restaurant & Lounge, which is hosting a grand opening party tonight, despite having been open for several months already. Stick to the simpler dishes there, which can be quite good. [Miami Herald]

• Baleen is still coasting along, not really changing much about the mediocre menu. [Miami New Times]

• Linda Bladholm sums up Coral Rose Cafe in Hollywood as a place that serves "Paul Bunyan-sized breakfasts and good home-cooked food in a pleasant spot that marches along to its own quaint beat." [Miami Herald]

• The appeal of the new Stir Crazy location in the Shops at Pembroke Gardens is the made-to-order stir fry at the Market Bar. [Miami Herald]

• Gail Shepherd gives you two options for budget dining out in these difficult economic times: Grandlake Chinese Cuisine and Heart Rock Sushi. [Broward-Palm Beach New Times]

• S. Korea to accept U.S. beef again; future of gov't unsure [NYT]
• Japanese/Chinese food row reenacted by Olympics team [Reuters]
• Texas Gov. comes out hard against food-crop ethanol [SETR]
• Mars/DoA/IBM to sequence, manipulate cacao genome [WaPo]
• Frozen chickens stolen from NJ food bank found! [NJ]

• The first Hardee's opened in Greenville, NC near the East Carolina University campus.

• Burgers cost 15 cents at that first Hardee's.

• Hardee lost controlling interest of his company after just one drunken night of cards in the early 1960s. He was playing with his two business partners, and he bet his stock. Hardee obviously wasn't a good card player, because by the end of the night, the other two partners owned 51 percent of the company.

• Hardee's is fourth among the fast-food chains in the US, behind McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's.

• That Thickburger pictured above packs a whopping 1,420 calories and 107 grams of fat. Eat enough of those and you likely won't live to see 89.

Founder of Hardee's Dies at 89 [ABC News]
Hardee's [Official Site]

Photo: OPBuzz/flickr

The British airwaves are no stranger to men kissing one another. Anybody ever heard of a little show called Torchwood? It's strange, then, that the Heinz mayo ad in which a British businessman kisses a New York deli clerk raised such a ruckus that Heinz actually pulled it.

The ad features a stereotypical New York tough guy in the role of "mum," making sandwiches as a family leaves the house in the morning. As the husband rushes out, he plants a kiss on the white-hatted face. Pretty tame stuff, compared to Skins' Maxxie or the "switch-flicking" kiss from Mighty Boosh. It created a huge backlash from hysterical homophobes (including Bill O'Reilly) furious that two men would kiss on the public airwaves. Heinz bowed to the pressure and yanked it.

Then, this morning, the European gay newspaper Pink News reported that 1,300 (more by now) people had signed a petition calling for the ad to be reinstated. Meanwhile, other bloggers are taking (somewhat obviously tongue-in-cheek) pot-shots at the portrayal of the New Yorker in the piece. Phew, this is getting exhausting. Does nobody have a life anywhere?

So what's causing all this commotion? See for yourself:

Lame, eh? Still, if you just can't stand to get back to work yet, and you feel strongly about it, you could sign this pro-"advert" petition.

Heinz pulls mayo ad after complaints [AP]
1,300 sign online petition calling for Heinz gay ad to be reinstated [Pink News]
Heinz Cans Gay Mayonnaise Commercial [Epi-Log]

Yesterday we had lunch at Michael's Genuine Food & Drink. Michael's is always a pleasure from the service down to the dollop of whip cream on your dessert, and yesterday was no exception. At 12:30, the restaurant was bustling and we were seated at the at the adjacent art gallery that serves as a second dining room. Trying to be virtuous, we ordered the spicy beef salad and were pleasantly surprised to find that it contained an equal ratio of roughage to beef. The perfectly cooked beef sat on a bed of tender napa cabbage curls marinated in spicy kimchee. Micro-greens cooled the palate adding a sophisticated crunch. Bites from our significant other's caprese sandwich, made with heirloom tomatos and a piece of baguette good enough to eat on its own, also soothed the burn. A side order of broccoli rabe seemed well cooked, but less flavorful, although this may just have been the result of comparing it to the heightened flavor of the beef salad.

Michael's Genuine Food & Drink [MenuPages]
Michael's Genuine Food & Drink [Official Site]

• Food stamps go out to Midwestern flooding victims [Reuters]
• Cashew juice, now for sale, confounds the imagination [NYT]
• Surge of deep-dish pizza to arrive in Iraq for July 4th [AP]
• Monsanto profits soar on yield-bumping weed-killer sales [Bloomberg]
• Florida buys U.S. Sugar to restore 187k acres of Everglades [AFP]

The big news out of the Everglades today is that the State of Florida has purchased U.S. Sugar and its 187,000 acres of prime wetlands for $1.7 billion (are the workers seeing any of it? Of course not). This is a good thing for the environment, since the sugar cane fields block waterflow, release pollutants and generally take up space.

U.S. Sugar is the largest sugar producer in the United States, responsible for 9% of the nation's sweet white powder supply. That's a pretty big proportion, and includes beet sugar production as well. Beet sugar makes up 55% of the crop, leaving cane sugar with 45%. So 20% of our cane sugar's about to go away! Isn't this going to foul up prices?

Short answer: no.

The government has been subsidizing domestic sugar production and putting quotas on sugar imports for many decades now. If we had no tariffs on sugar, we'd be flooded with South and Central American product, prices would plummet and sugar growers around the country would go bankrupt. A very strong lobby has prevented this from happening, but at the beginning of this year, NAFTA kicked in and ended tariffs against Mexican sugar. So why hasn't the U.S. sugar industry collapsed in a sticky white heap?

The answer lies in the 2008 Farm Bill. The provision concerning sugar sends any excesses (which is to say, any amount of sugar that would cause a price decrease through oversupply) to ethanol plants, just like in Brazil.

Problem solved! What NAFTA giveth (to consumers), the Farm Bill taketh away. When 9% of our sugar production goes offline in six years, the difference will simply be made up by Mexican sugar producers, and the price won't budge a cent. The cost of gasoline may go up a little, but what else is new. Did you really think Charlie Crist would have bought the farm if it meant a nationwide rise in sugar prices? That's so sweet.

Florida to Buy Sugar Maker in Bid to Restore Everglades [NYTimes]
U.S. Sugar [Official Site]
Sugar and Sweeteners: Policy [NYTimes]
Cane and beet share the same chemistry but act differently in the kitchen [TIME]
Cane and beet share the same chemistry but act differently in the kitchen [SFChron]
Sugar and Sweeteners: Policy [USDA]
Farm bill improves sugar program [AG Weekly]
Human cost of Brazil's biofuels boom [LATimes]

[Photo: a sugar pyramid scheme, via VsTrash/flickr]

VIP Wine Club has recently opened a new store on Sunset Drive at the intersection with 87th avenue. We checked it out while waiting for our shoes to be shined at a nearby shoe repair shop. At 11:00 am, it was too early to drink, but we did scope out the atmosphere. Rich wood wine racks line one side of the shop/restaurant,while display cases for food stuffs and cigars dot the opposite wall. A sleek bar finishes the room, which is also decorated by Jorgen's paintings of long-necked women. The cool dim room is a welcome respite from the heat and hurry of the Sunset strip mall, and the servers are friendly. Tapas and dinner specials are economically priced and the wine selection is extensive. The only drawback I can see to for this franchise is the location. Tapas usually start the night and there is not much in the way of entertainment or other restaurants/bars nearby. However, VIP Wine Club also functions as an actual club with membership dues that pay for sommelier seminars and wine tastings, so a night at the Club might be sufficient in and of itself.

VIP Wine Club [Official Site]

Looks like Artfish on the Mile is gone, according to some very observant chowhounds. It's a shame, because we heard that it was really quite good. But it's not surprising, given this exceptionally slow summer and the insanely high rents on the Mile. It didn't even last a year.

Coral Gables 6/24/08 Dinner $25-35 p/p (w/o alcohol). What's a hot spot for that kind of money? [Chowhound]
Artfish on the Mile [MenuPages]

The latest all-time favorite sci-fi based cake showed up on Boing Boing today, linked from Craftster:

Are you seeing that? It's a Doctor Who TARDIS cake! That's right, a British Craftster member named Umbrolly made this for her little sister because her little sister, a big Doctor Who fan, is the luckiest girl in the world. If you follow the link, you'll get step-by-step photos. It appears this cake suffers from some structural problems incurred by being too moist. According to its maker, "I have learned form making this that randomly shaped things are much easier than square things, and even though moist cake tastes better it does tend to collapse."

Well, this is still a brilliant job, and it's a lot more ambitious than the Torchwood cake we couldn't help searching for after seeing it. It does, however, face some competition from this professionally made Dalek cake.

Just for fun, check out the Timelords/KLF Doctorin' the Tardis music video after the jump.

Dr Who TARDIS Cake [Craftster]
Torchwood cake [Rachaely/Flickr]
Dalek cake [Gallifreyan Embassy]

• Food voucher giveaway sparks mini-riot in Milwaukee [AP]
• 17 states require insurance to cover eating disorders [Trib]
• Youth exposure to alcohol advertising on TV increases [NYT]
• Brazil's biofuel farmhands treated predictably poorly [LAT]
• Chinese fast food market splintered but surging [Reuters]

"I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent and of human knowledge that has ever been gathered together at the White House — with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone." -John F. Kennedy, addressing Nobel Prize winners at the White House in 1962

Have you ever had that thing happen where you're listening to your headphones or something and you hear a word and right as you hear the word in the song your eyes happen to fall on that word in print, passing by on a bus ad or something, and you muse to yourself, "it's a living world. What a miracle," and then turn your eyes back ahead and resume standing in line at the bank?

Well, a similar thing just happened with this article in Epicurious. I was just explaining to a friend how pleasant it is to go to the movies alone, and comparing it with the equally unpleasant act of dining out alone, when Heather Tyree's essay on dining alone came across the RSS and chopped my words up, sauteed them lightly in a nice cream sauce, and fed them to me with a side of crow.

Because Tyree is right. Dining out alone can be one of life's true pleasures. It allows you to focus on, well, whatever you want, be it the food, a book, a tough problem you've been trying to crack, or even your server. You certainly don't have to watch where you take the conversation, or hold back from pouring that next glass of wine, or refrain from eating the last bite of something.

And it turns out that many higher-end restaurants (including Daniel, according to Tyree) give solo diners VIP status. It's unclear why, exactly, but my guess is that it has less to do with pity than it does an appreciation of the fact that the customer decided to undertake this socially uncomfortable excursion because he or she wanted the restaurant's food just that badly.

Whatever the reason for the solo meal, or the treatment it incurs, Tyree's article left me with the strong desire to dine alone at an establishment somewhat fancier than the corner deli. It's a challenge, yes, because the practice is stigmatized as pathetic, lonesome and weird. But it's good for you, and not in a broccoli way, either (something you glumly consume because you think you have to). Dining alone should be savored.

I've never done it by choice, but on trips or in other necessary situations, I've always enjoyed the practice. Tyree's article was enough encouragement for me to resolve to take myself out on a proper date. It's an exercise from which we could all stand to benefit, as it encourages being comfortable with one's self, one's surroundings and one's place in the big, living world.

Table for One [Epicurious]

[Photo: The Jefferson Memorial — Thomas Jefferson silhouetted via David Paul Ohmer/flickr]

We're currently in the middle of another one of those five-minute long vegetable seasons that gets foodies' motors running at high RPMs. This time it's scapes you'll find making a cameo at the green market.

According to the Accidental Hedonist, "scapes are those long, smooth, curly green things. They are the tops of garlic and farmers cut them off so that the plant grows the garlic bulb instead of a garlic flower." This is the kind of thing that would, up until people like you started developing a taste for interesting vegetables and plants, have been thrown out with the wheat chaff and the corn stalks. New York Times writer Melissa Clark related the following tidbits from her search for scapes:

My urgency amused Bill Maxwell, of Maxwell Farms in Changewater, N.J., who, after telling me to cool my heels until mid-June, offered a pearl of scapes insight.

Although they’ve been gaining a following over the last few years, he said, scapes came to market “when someone figured out they could make money from something they were cutting off the garlic plant and getting rid of.”

Peter Hoffman, the chef at Savoy, added, “At some point someone realized the scapes were tender and delicious.” He suggested that I sauté them with other vegetables or soft-shell crabs, or even grill them whole to show off their curves.

Clark offers a few scape and green-garlic recipes in the Times piece, but almost more informative were her descriptions of how she came to use the short-lived greens. The kind of food writing that includes not just the recipe/prep process, but the thought process that led to the recipe, always makes a project more attractive, and Clark offers plenty such insight.

Of course, not everybody has the time to experiment with weird, hyper-seasonal veggies. It's better to let professionals handle that kind of thing anyway. You could use the MenuPages find-a-food search to see if any restaurants in the area have added scapes to their menus.

However you get ahold of them, you'd better act quickly, because these fleeting greens will be off the shelves in a matter of weeks, not to return till next year.

Scrapes on the bar-b [Accidental Hedonist]
A Garlic Festival Without a Single Clove [NY Times]

[Photo: iLoveButter/flickr]

Conventional supermarkets may provide convenient and reliable shopping, but they lack personality and charm. However, there are a few hold-outs from the old days that forgo air-conditioning for local flavor. These markets may not have menus, but they do serve up some signature dishes.

El Palacio de los Jugos: Located on the northwest corner of Flagler and 57th Avenue, this market has all the criollo goodies you can ask for. Watch a man hack open a coconut with a machete, buy freshly made cheese and guava sandwiches, or chew on the best chicharrónes in Miami. 5721 W Flagler St, 305-264-4557

Pinecrest Wayside Market (pictured): Order fresh juices and yogurt muffins to go or sit underneath the oak trees to pass the time. 10070 SW 57th Ave, 305-661-6717

Robert is Here: A Redland classic, Robert is Here has been around for over 45 years selling the finest Redland tropical fruit. The Redland revitalization program now makes this place easier to find; just follow the signs. 19200 SW 344th St in Homestead, 305-246-1592

Knaus Berry Farm: Run by the Mennonites, this bakery/farmer’s market makes a mean cinnamon bun and an even better strawberry shake. A South Florida favorite, the farm is only open through the winter growing season, but it is certainly something to put on your radar. 15980 SW 248th Street, 305-247-0668

• India losing ability to feed itself [NYT]
• Candy business booming in tough times [AP]
• UK: GMO not necessarily the solution [TPA]
• Corn growers on HFCS charm offensive [WSJ]
• For fast food, a globalized future [BSun]

Looks like Bacardi is bringing back Hatuey beer. It'll be brewed and bottled in Wisconsin, and we imagine the recipe will be the same:

"It's been inaccessible for so long, the brand has a strong emotional tie with Cuban Americans," he said. "It's not just your father's beer. If you're Cuban, it's the beer your father would drink, if he could. He just hasn't had access to it. It has that cachet to it."

Bacardi relaunched the beer several times throughout the 1990s and 2000s. Each time, "they weren't happy with the direction at that time," Shaifer said.

With the reformulation and new marketing initiative, executives are hopeful the brand will find favor beyond Miami-Dade County and move throughout South Florida.

Admittedly, the brand has a rough road ahead, Hoyos said. As a "niche beer" focusing on the very slim audience of Cuban exiles and Cuban Americans, the key will be to tap those "assimilated Hispanics" who recognize the beer from their parents' consumption back on the island.

"There's a folklore to it. They know it might not be the same, but they can at least relate to it through the logo," Hoyos said. "They recognize it from when they were there or when their parents spoke about it. The goal should be to try to get that old consumer and second- or third-generation American to associate with it."

Cuban beer enjoys tasty relaunch [MSNBC]
Hatuey [Official Site]

Photo: willceau/flickr

• Can we interest you in a hot fudge sundae? [MP: Boston]

• What about a lovely cheeseburger dress? [MP: Chicago]

• Maybe some melted cheese curds? [MP: Philadelphia]

• Or some exemplary iced coffee? [MP: San Francisco]

• Eh, let's just have some organic ice cream. [MP: South Florida]

Do you know what today is? Correct, it's Friday. It's also the first day of summer. It's also just about the summer solstice. This is a big day that calls for more than just a video blog post. It calls for several videos, all about ice cream!

First, you're going to need protection: Ali G's got you covered (this video is pretty much safe for work, but don't show it to your kids; here's some language):

Awesome. After the jump: Wu-Tang clan and

Here's what you need protection from. Creepy!

And finally, though not ice-cream-related at all, here's my favorite summer song, complete with dancers who look like they just stepped out of a Baskin Robbin's case:

• Need a place to watch futbol? Here are a few ideas. [Chowhound]

• A Chicago hound needs some help. Get to work! [Chowhound]

• Take a trip through Kentucky's bourbon country with this photo-heavy post. [Blind Mind]

• This version of chakchouka, an Israeli hash with onions and chiles and an egg on top, looks like it would hit the spot. [Chadzilla]

• Several top aides sacrificed in S. Korea beef row [Bloomberg]
• House might add $1.25B in emergency food aid [Reuters]
• Following floods, agr. stocks in the toilet [CNN]
• Hair in the steak today, gone tomorrow [Tribune]
• McDonald's dieter story finally hit the wires [AP]

We love the name. We're a bit...ambivalent...towards anchovies, but it wasn't long ago that we were in the vehement "no anchovies!" camp. The restaurant isn't new to northern Palm Beach County residents, but it's just re-opened in its new spot on Alt A1A in Lake Park. No seats here; it's strictly take-out. They pack enough food for two, unless you specify for more, and come with detailed cooking instructions. The menu is filled with Italian-American standards; the best options, we think, are the baked pastas (ziti, stuffed shells and lasagna) and dishes like chicken or eggplant parmesan would likely hold up well to reheating. We also like the idea of "take & bake" pizzas, which are prepared on-site and cooked at home. Pizza is always best right out of the oven anyway. And you can even get anchovies on it!

No Anchovies! To Go, 9339 Alt A1A in Lake Park, 561-840-7771

Take a look at the above picture. Oklahoma East Central University cartographer Matthew T. Campbell created a huge map of the names people call soft drinks by. Here's what we learned by looking at the map:

• "Pop" is the generic name for soft drinks in most of the country in terms of sheer land mass. The majority of the Midwest, the Rocky Mountain states and the Pacific Northwest all call it by that name.

• "Soda" is the preferred moniker for soft drinks in terms of population. Both the Northeastern United States and the state of California call them that.

• "Coke" serves as a generic label for soft drinks throughout much of the South. Oklahoma, New Mexico and Kentucky all serve as fault lines in the Pop/Soda/Coke divide.

But what's truly interesting is the anomalies. Coke is the preferred term for soft drinks not only in the traditional south, but also in Maryland's Eastern Shore. Although most of Florida is in the "Coke Belt" as well, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and other counties with a high percentage of northeastern expats all call it by that name. Meanwhile, a belt of land along the Mississippi River stretching roughly from central Illinois to St. Louis defies the Midwest's "pop" sensibilities by opting to call it soda. Meanwhile, residents of Buffalo and Pittsburgh are more like Midwesterners than Northeasterners in their soft drink naming habits.

As for us, we'll just call it soda.

The Soft Drink Map [Pop Vs. Soda]

Something about this ice cream scoop (a Cuisipro featured on Boing Boing Gadgets) looks familiar:

What is it? Where have we seen that perfect cylinder of ice cream on a cake cone before? Think, think...

Of course! The ice cream counter at Thrifty Drugs! Anybody remember that? At the risk of showing some age here, those of us who did any growing up in Southern California ought to take a minute and celebrate that institution that made mom's stupid trip to the drug store worthwhile. And then when we got old enough to ride our bikes to the store alone, it was the one thing worthwhile we could afford. Even in the 80s, a $0.25 scoop of ice cream was a hell of a deal.

Of course, it went to $0.50, then $0.75, then we moved away, and who knows if Rite Aid, which eventually bought Thrifty, even sells it anymore (actually, according to this Chowhound thread, they do, which is heartening).

Anyway, dang, one of those weird, cheap, fantastic scoops would go down pretty nicely right now. Anybody in LA want to send one express mail? If not, we may have to make do with one of those Cuisipro things.

Cuisipro invents the better ice cream scoop [Boing Boing Gadgets]
Cuisipro Ice Cream Scoop And Stack [Wrapables]
Ice Cream At Rite Aid [Chowhound]

[Photo: via Boing Boing]

• The Herald leads today with a very informative article on sustainable seafood with lots of good suggestions for keeping fish in your diet while not completely depleting the ocean's reserves. The verdict: eat more sardines. [Miami Herald]

• Enrique Fernandez is back with his roundups, this time of diners in Miami-Dade. [Miami Herald]

• The highlights of raw-food vegan haven The Art of Food are, surprisingly, the smoothies and desserts, the latter of which is described as "nothing short of sensational." [Miami New Times]

• Fork on the Road visits Chuck's Grill, where you can get a whole grilled chicken family meal with rice and beans for $10.99. [Miami Herald]

• The new China Grill in Fort Lauderdale gets three stars. Did you know that happy hour on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays features $9 cocktails and free sushi and dim sum? [Miami Herald]

• This has got to be our favorite Gail Shepherd review; she visits Falafel Bistro in Coral Springs and just describes the food, energy and owner so well. It really sounds like a great place, and though cranberries in falafel sound a bit strange, we'd definitely be willing to give it a try. [Broward-Palm Beach New Times]

• The verdict on Zia's Restaurant & Lounge: it's a great place for drinks and dancing, but you might be better off getting dinner elsewhere. [Palm Beach Post]

• Many more stricken by TomatoGate, which may never be solved [USAT]
• Can a countertop scanner help with your grocery shopping? [NYT]
• Widespread wheat fungus to wipe out 1-2% of Kansan crop [AP]
• Reeling from 8% food inflation, Mx. locks prices for 6 mos. [BBC]
• Will Canada ban horse slaughter for food production? [CBC]

It's weird to see how little is left of the Orange Bowl. Sad too. We accidentally drove past it recently and were surprised to see how much had been taken down. We knew it was coming down, but it didn't register until we turned onto NW 6th Street and were up close and personal with the crumbling stadium.

But, enough about the past. We're writing today about the future of the site, which will soon be the Marlins' new home. It's not the best site for a baseball stadium (no public transit!), but, well, Orange Bowl it is! Of course, team ownership is expecting that the stadium will usher in some sort of renewal of the neighborhood:

The vision is to create growth and development with shops and restaurants surrounding the new Marlins home, which is scheduled to open in 2011.

"The stadium is going to spur baseball-related development, and it's going to change Little Havana," [team president David] Samson said. "It's Little Havana's turn. That whole area is going to become like a redesign area."

One reader from Ireland caught Samson's attention with a request to include an Irish pub in the ballpark.

Considering that the stadium is being built in the heart of Little Havana, Samson replied: "Do Irish pubs serve Cuban coffee?"

"I didn't get a response back," Samson said.

Another reader suggested the building of a restaurant in the ballpark, similar to Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, where people can enter from the street.

"I can picture a restaurant where you can enter both inside and outside the stadium," Samson said. "I don't know if that is going to happen yet. That is something that has been suggested."

Here's what we'd love to see inside the ballpark: a concourse with outposts of local restaurants similar to that of Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. We're thinking Cuban sandwiches, empanadas, arepas and mariquitas would make excellent ballpark food. A good fish fry place would be great too; we remember enjoying some excellent fried fish at PNC Park while taking in a Pirates game. And we bet an inside-the-park Pollo Tropical would do very well.

Marlins working on new stadium visuals [MLB]

Have you ever thought, hey, this bottle of soda could use a smiling photo of a presidential candidate? The folks at Jones Soda seemed to think it was a good idea. They're even holding an election of sorts; each bottle you buy goes towards that candidate's totals. So far, Obama is the runaway winner; he's the only candidate with more than 4,000 votes.

It's a fun idea, although we do think Jones Soda missed a great opportunity to make a different soda flavor for each candidate. From the looks of things, the same cola is in each bottle. But just think of the possibilities!

Jones Soda's Campaign Cola [Slashfood]
Campaign Cola 2008 [Official Site]

Photo: Jones Soda

A new study — one of the biggest of its kind ever — out of the Autonomous University of Madrid finds that drinking excessive amounts of coffee can actually help prevent heart disease in large percentages of men and women. In your FACE, yoga!

From New Scientist:

The study tracked 129,000 men and women over two decades. It found that people who consumed several cups of coffee every day were less likely to die of heart disease than those who shied away from the stuff. Heart disease is an umbrella term for conditions including heart attacks, stroke, and arrhythmia.

The researchers found that women who drank four to five cups per day were 34% less likely to die of heart disease, while men who had more than five cups a day were 44% less likely to die.

Other studies have, however, shown just the opposite. In 2007, Sofi analysed more than 20 studies of health and coffee drinking and found little consensus.

One explanation for these conflicting results could be genetic. In 2006, a team of Canadian researchers discovered that people with a mutation in a gene involved in metabolising caffeine had higher rates of heart attack than people without the mutation.

Guzzling coffee may cut heart disease [New Scientist]
Coffee May Prevent Heart Disease [Boing Boing]

[Photo: Buzz!! via [n]/flickr]

• Commercial banana industry to collapse in 5-10 yrs [NYT]
• Why the FDA hasn't solved TomatoGate yet (ever?) [Trib]
• Sen. McCaskill (D-Mo.) to fight InBev takeover of A-B [MW]
• U.S. food inspectors to China; theirs come here [AFP]
• Veganic farming movement employs new adjective [AP]

On Eater this morning, we saw that today is National Cherry Tart Day. This is actually the subject of some controversy: some sources list the holiday as today, while others peg it as tomorrow. Maybe it's a lunar holiday and it begins at sundown or something?

We sniffed around for corroboration, but none of the Unofficial National Cherry Homepage, the National Cherry Growers & Industries Foundation, or even the National Cherry Festival (scheduled for July 5-12) had anything to say on the matter.

Apparently, these fake national holidays are often sponsored by commercial concerns who lobby Congress to have their products reified as a named date (this is sort of how the saint days work, too). Of course, the government doesn't bother to keep an easily accessible record of their assignments, so we tried skulking around the Congressional record a bit. While we discovered some interesting tidbits about how 2002 was a terrible year for Michigan cherry farmers, it does not appear as though Congress has had much to say on National Cherry Tart Day since at least 1993.

It's just as likely that some enterprising cherry marketer simply invented National Cherry Tart Day one afternoon and emailed (or snail mailed, depending on when this occurred) interested parties and one thing led to another and voila, here we are blogging about it. But it ultimately doesn't matter; all this chatter was just an excuse to show you some delicious cherry tarts we found on Flickr:

Cherry tart with Graham crust, via show and tell:

More cherry tart delirium after the jump...

Spiced pickled cherry and almond tart with cherry custard and whipped vanilla cream, via AussieBarracuda:

Gluten-free, dairy-free, eggless and free of refined sugar pecan-crusted cherry tart, via lastbeanburrito:

Cherry tart with Graham crust (but a different recipe from that first one), via shutterbean:

Cherry tart baked at 1am, via soundless_space:

We've failed to mention the Miami Spice preview until now, mainly because we've been poring over the menus, comparing them to regular menus, trying to find the best deals. We did find lots of variations on pan-seared red snapper and grilled mahi-mahi, in addition to a number of versions of panna cotta. We were also pleased to note quite a few chilled dessert fruit soups, of which we're fond. Also common: an entree of organic/free-range roasted chicken. We'd probably steer away from it, since we've found it's very easy and inexpensive to roast a chicken at home.

For highlights from this year's Spice preview, click on the jump. Keep in mind that the [lunch] and [dinner] links at the end of each item are .pdf files of the restaurant's Miami Spice tasting menu.

• The menus at 1 Bleu seem like a good value (assuming portions aren't microscopic). The "civet of duck" with lentils, cabernet reduction and a foie gras emulsion sounds intriguing. [lunch] [dinner]

• Acqua's lunch menu is unexciting, but the dinner entree options (red snapper with roasted fennel or pinot noir-braised short ribs) sound pretty good. [dinner]

• We'd go to Azul just for the desserts: black sesame cream with bing cherry compote; basil panna cotta with lemon olive oil sorbet; and chocolate hazelnut bar with orange compote. [lunch]

• Given the regular prices of dinner entrees at Bleu Moon ($24-36), the dinner menu is a good value, and the entree options — gnocchi, seafood risotto, mahi mahi and rack of lamb — sound promising. [dinner]

• We're suckers for a good spring pea soup; add truffles and crab and we'll go nuts. That's one of the appetizer options on the dinner menu at The Cascata Grille, which is also featuring some interesting entrees for the promotion: guava-braised wagyu beef short ribs and grouper; and grilled quail with seared scallops. [dinner]

• We're mentioning China Grill Sobe because of the unorthodox way they're doing things; all entrees are served family style. So two people choose one entree, three choose two, and four or more choose three. It's an interesting idea — we eat mostly family-style anyway with our dining partners — but it puts parties of two at a disadvantage, because instead of trying two dishes, they get just one. But it might be a good place to visit with a larger party. [lunch] [dinner]

• In the middle of the summer, three heavy courses are probably a bad idea, which is why we really like the simple lunch menu at Cioppino: a light salad or carpaccio, some pasta or fish, and a cool dessert. The red berry soup with rose petal ice cream sounds like a perfectly refreshing midsummer dessert. [lunch]

• Forgive us, but we're really into soups-as-desserts at the moment, and the chilled lemongrass soup with pineapple and coconut ice cream at Joley sounds great. Entree options for lunch are hangar steak and roasted free-range cornish hen; dinner entrees include those two plus a seared halibut. [lunch] [dinner]

• If you want Kobe or Kobe-style beef at Kobe Club, you'll have to purchase the $30-80 upgrades; otherwise, you've got wild salmon, snapper, pork chop, organic chicken and wild mushroom pasta. Might be worth it to choose one of the upgrades; it's still a good deal when compared to regular prices. [dinner]

• Ola's menu features a gazpacho blanco with cantaloupe sorbet, a pineapple barbecue grilled salmon, a skirt steak with sweet potato, yucca and black truffle powder, and a peach tres leches parfait, among many other things. [dinner]

• Social Miami at Sagamore wins for most extensive — and complicated — Spice menu. It's our impression that you get one of the "fruits de mer" options, a salad, and an entree or a pizza. Highlights include: braised pork belly taco, paella croquetas and gnocchi oxtail ragu. For a few extra dollars, you can upgrade to Kobe beef sliders or Caribbean lobster tempura. [dinner]

• Talula's lunch menu is a surprise each day, but the dinner menu is set, and we think it sounds pretty good, even if the entrees are a bit predictable. [dinner]

• Kobe beef made its way onto the Spice menu at Tantra, where it's wrapped in bacon. Wonder how small the serving must be. There's also a catch of the day option and a "vegan medley" of tofu with vegetables. [dinner]

• Four courses at Tuscan Steak! You get an appetizer, a pasta (gnocchi gorgonzola), an entree (chicken, salmon or steak), and dessert and coffee. [dinner]

Slate writer Seth Stevenson gives a pretty severe treatment to this Amstel Light ad this week:

Stevenson basically makes the point that, aside from a few key factors, all beer choice boils down to is marketing, which companies do arbitrarily and in spades:

By my reckoning, there are five valid, logical criteria for choosing one beer over another. 1) Flavor. 2) Calorie count. 3) Packaging (because who doesn't love the functional advantages of wide-mouths, minikegs, tallboys, and forties?). 4) Alcohol content (because some beers get you drunk much faster than others). 5) The good or bad corporate citizenship of the brewer. Everything else is just meaningless imagery.

Similarly, if you have to decide between Pabst and Budweiser, assuming they're equal along Stevenson's criteria (they're both cheap, watery brews made by giant corporations and taste like ass), wouldn't you like to be able to choose between the one that makes you look like a hip urbanite/drug-addled trucker and the one that says, "I don't care where my brew comes from?"

Stevenson is right that image, especially if it is generated by a massive corporate advertising campaign, is an illogical and unimportant factor on which to base a beer choice (or any other choice for that matter), but it's unrealistic to think we can live in a vacuum if we want to. Image is not nothing, and image-consciousness is not going away any time soon.

The best thing you can do is not resist this image-influence, but own it: Find which brands you like, based on Stevenson's five logical factors, then drink (for example) Pacifico at the beach, Heineken at the bar, Pabst at the rock show, Guinness when it's cold out, and, because some advertising campaigns really are unconscionable, never, ever, ever drink Coors Light. Ever.

Amstel Light and the Arbitrary Nature of Beer Ads [Slate]

If the thought of Miami’s punishing summer heat gives you hives, here are a few places to cool off and indulge in some frosty treats. These ice cream shops are independently owned and have their own unique personalities.

Whip n’ Dip Ice Cream Shoppe: Serving happy customers since 1985, this family-owned ice cream shop hand makes all of its ice creams, cookies, cakes, and novelties. Flavors change frequently as fresh batches run out. Whip n' Dip also serves light creams for the calorie conscious.

Wall’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream: Keeps it retro with a 1950s theme and thick, creamy ice cream hand scooped into crunchy waffle cones. Any ice cream can also be blended into a shake with your choice of toppings. With a large parking lot and ample seating, Wall's is a great place to go with a group of kids or grown-ups acting that way. (8075 SW 67th Ave in South Miami, 305-740-9830)

Soli Organic: For guilt-free ice cream indulgence, Soli Organic provides all the flavor and creaminess without added pesticides and sugar. By using agave nectar as a sweetener, instead of sugar, owner and ice cream designer Jorge Garcia reduces the number of calories in the ice cream without sacrificing taste. A commitment to organic ingredients also makes Soli one of the greenest ice cream shops in town.

Whip n’ Dip Ice Cream Shoppe [Official Site]
Soli Organic [Official Site]

• Getting close to the source of tomatogate [Reuters]
• Midwestern flooding inundates 15% of crop [LAT]
• NYC trans fats ban becomes complete on 7/1 [AP]
• Is Milan's Peck the world's greatest market? [Trib]
• New plan for rice: higher yields without GM [NYT]

One of the best and worst parts of working at Menupages is the task of editing user reviews. Our users are, for the most part, thoughtful people who leave informative and balanced feedback that requires little fixing before approval.

A minority of reviews, however, must be nixed. Often this is because the writers have obviously never used a machine with a keyboard before. Others are either so overly sensitive or so thoroughly burned by a certain restaurant that their reviews turn into descriptions of what might be a modern Dante's ninth level. It's hard to stay relevant and topical when you're in full-on "vent" mode, so often those reviews get nixed; however, they're some of the best reading.

You'd think that two hours of such editing work would be enough for today, but for some reason, those horror stories are ultimately compelling. Perhaps that's why, even after a marathon editing session, it was hard to click away from the Accidental Hedonist post, "The Worst Meal You've Paid For," in which readers relate, well, tales of the worst meals they've paid for.

Frankly, a lot of our users get more colorful and horrific, but it's still hard to read something like this:

"What arrived was pasta that was both crunchy on the outside, and soggy in the middle. The Sauce? The sauce was water with a reddish tint, with a tiny pool of Kraft Parmesan Sawdust pooling itself into mini quicksand."

Many responses are relate-able, but some are just puzzling: "I spent a week in New Orleans with the wrong people and got 2 decent cups of soup out of it." What? Ah, well, It's a good way to avoid working for a few minutes this afternoon, anyway.

The Worst Meal You've Paid For [Accidental Hedonist]

[Photo: via octoberdog/flickr]

We've got two openings of note today. First, the much-anticipated Philippe is now serving food at the new South Beach hotel Gansevoort South. It's fitting that the southern outpost of this posh Manhattan hotel would also feature a New York restaurant. The menu will most likely very closely resemble that of the original restaurant in New York, which specializes in peking duck.

The Capital Grille also opens today in Palm Beach Gardens. The steakhouse chain already has locations in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, so with this new opening, it's saturated the South Florida market.

Menus for both restaurants should be online tomorrow.

Philippe, 2305 Collins Ave in Miami Beach, 305-674-0250
The Capital Grille, 11365 Legacy Ave in Palm Beach Gardens, 561-630-4994

Gansevoort South [Official Site]
Philippe Chow [Official Site]
The Capital Grille [Official Site]

For fans of competitive eating, the Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest at Coney Island is like the Kentucky Derby. One of the oldest eating competitions in the Unites States, the 12-minute orgy of meat-tube gluttony goes down each Fourth of July at noon, just as regularly as fireworks at 9 p.m. But this year things will be different.

Recently unearthed notes from the earliest days of the contest reveal that it was initially designed as a 10-minute pig-out, not 12. According to the Brooklyn Paper, which broke the story last week, Major League Eating chairman George Shea made the decision to cut the contest back two minutes after reviewing the notes, unearthed by Nathan's.

Shea allowed The Brooklyn Paper an exclusive look at the notations, which were in a lady’s neat handwriting scrawled on a program from the 23rd annual convention of the Optical Society of the State of New York, which was held at the Hotel St. George in Brooklyn Heights in 1918.

“Handwerker’s frankfurter rules,” the scribbles state, a reference to Nathan Handwerker, who opened Nathan’s in Coney Island in 1916 and oversaw the celebrated first hot-dog-eating contest that year, which, according to legend was won by Jim Mullen with 13 hot dogs and buns. Last year’s winner set a record with 66 HDBs in 12 minutes.

But according to the scribbles on the Optical Society program, Handwerker’s “rules” in the early years consisted of a noon contest that lasted “10 minutes.”

Last year's champion, Joey Chestnut, of San Jose, Calif., called the change "ridiculous". Another competitive eater anonymously charged contest organizers with trying to "sanitize" the show by preventing contestants from throwing up bits of Nathan's hot dogs.

Shea denied that, calling himself a "strict constructionist" regarding the contest's rules.

Call off the dogs: Nathan’s frank contest goes on a two-minute diet [Brooklyn Paper]
Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs [Official Site]
Major League Eating [Official Site]

[Photo: Nathan's Famous scoreboard via w00kie/flickr]

We had a craving for Asian food for lunch and decided to check out RA Sushi in South Miami only to find that it won't open until June 27. Disappointed, but still hankering for some soy sauce, we pulled out the umbrellas and hiked over to Origin Asian Bistro & Sushi. This turned out to be an excellent decision. Friendly service and reasonable prices always make us happy, especially when the establishment offers many flavors for the price of one. All lunch specials include soup or salad, rice, and crispy dumplings. The lunch combos take flavor and value up a notch by adding crispy chicken wings, fried rice, and a four piece California roll to your choice of one of four entrees for under $15. We tried the curry chicken and found it to be very flavorful and just a little bit spicy. For more heat, try chicken or beef in basil sauce. We were especially impressed by the quality of the greens served with the side salad. Most sushi restaurants offer iceberg lettuce, shredded carrot, and tomato wedges, but Origin's salads carry anti-oxidant rich dark greens like baby spinach and crispy bean sprouts for a much appreciated change. Even though the atmosphere is sophisticated enough for a date night, families can also enjoy Origin as they are quite kid-friendly and have an isolated side room perfect for containing the newly mobile.

Origin Asian Bistro & Sushi [MenuPages]
Origin Asian Bistro & Sushi [Official Site]

• Flooding in Iowa severely damaging corn crop [NYTimes]
• China reveling in bumper summer wheat crop [ChinaDaily]
• Canada's fast food chains bring back tomato [TCP]
• U.S. states embroiled in tomato blame game [AmAg]
• Nanotech food conference in D.C. this week [N&DN]
• Paula Deen's Savannah restaurant on fire! [AP]

• Your craving for an egg salad sandwich. [MP Boston]

• A whole page of house rules (gag). [MP South Florida]

• Your parents, children. Listen to your parents. [MP Chicago]

• The rules of the game, even when it comes to ballpark food [MP Philadelphia]

• Your own body when you feel hungry. Just eat. [MP San Francisco]

There's a pretty great timeline over at Epicurious covering Salmonella outbreaks in recent years. Something to check out while you glumly chew your tomato-less burger. How quickly we seem to forget. Most of the examples are foods that were distributed to the American public at large, though the largest single outbreak came from one food festival stand.

Anyway, this whole tomato thing is the pits. I found myself staring intently at a stack of slices on my diner plate, wondering just how bad it would be if I risked throwing them on my burger. But the hysteria affected me and I didn't eat them. Plus I've got to move next weekend and can't risk getting sick.

After all, look at what happens when you don't pay attention to what you eat: TMZ gets all up in your business and won't let you live it down. Then NBA Commissioner David Stern won't even believe it.

Salmonella & People: A Love Story/Timeline [Epicurious]
A Fatal miSTEAK [TMZ]
Stern Warning: Steakgate's a Load of Bull [TMZ]

[Photo: via Adactio/flickr]

We've spent much of the past few days processing new menus, which, as you might imagine, can get a little monotonous. But every once in a while, a menu comes along that makes us laugh. Enter Madrono, a Nicaraguan restaurant on 107th and Flagler which is listed on the site as of this morning. First, the menu is 11 pages long, and one page is devoted to listing the house rules, which appear in both English and Spanish. Because this is the kind of stuff that is generally not included on the online menu, we thought we'd list it here (just the English version) for your enjoyment:

• ID is required in order to process your credit card
• $10 minimum per credit card
• No personal checks accepted
• We do not seat incomplete parties
• No smoking
• No substitutions
• Soliciting is prohibited
• No pets allowed
• We are not responsible for lost or stolen items
• No outside food or drinks allowed
• A gratuity of 15% is automatically added to all checks*
• Only two seperate [sic] checks per table. Please advise your waiter before ordering
• We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone
• Proper attire required
• Alcoholic beverages will only be served with your food
• Cake cutting service $1.00 per person
• Restrooms are only for our customers
• Corkage fee $15.00

They range from the perfectly reasonable ($10 credit card minimum, no soliciting, no personal checks) to the annoying (automatic tip included in the check, cake cutting fee per person). Personally, we think it's a bit of a turnoff to be greeted by such a long set of rules while ordering dinner. Then again, we appreciate the owners' desire to set everyone straight from the beginning, so that there's no confusion when the check comes. We just wonder what kinds of scenarios have made them feel the need to dedicate an entire page of the menu to this long list of rules.

Madrono [MenuPages]

* This rule is in large text and written in English, Spanish and what appears to be Creole.

• Congress to subpoena dodgy imported food safety testers [NYT]
• Tomatogate toll up to 228, with one possible death [AP]
• ConAgra: food prices could rise 9% a year through 2012 [SeattlePI]
• Mugabe cruelly using internal food aid to fix elections [VOA]
• Shedding light on opaque Louisiana restaurant inspections [Shreveport Times]

For those planning a summer trip to Texas, Texas Monthly just produced an all-barbecue issue. Included:

• A look at Texas' best barbecue restaurant.

• How a small town in Texas' "German Belt" has become home to two competing barbecue meccas.

• Barbecue's "holy of holies."

• A barbecue joint that specializes in forearm-sized beef ribs.

• Texas' top fifty barbecue restaurants, including one that specializes in "hog wings." As they put it, "the delectable hickory-smoked wing—actually a pork shank—looked like a juicy meat lollipop."

• Lyle Lovett's ode to barbecue sauce.

• A loving guide to barbecue pits.

• Texas style barbecue... in Manhattan?

Barbecue '08 [Texas Monthly]

Strange new drinking glasses are all up in the news today. This series of wine glasses based on the deadly sins goes nicely with this article in the Wall Street Journal about sneaky taverns swapping out 14 oz glasses for pints(!)

Apparently the skyrocketing cost of yada yada combined with a downturn in the whatever blah blah are causing the bottom line to fizze... GET YOUR LIES OFF MY BEER!!!

What's really infuriating is that some sleazy jerk of a glassware wholesaler got right in there right away and started making these thick-bottomed glasses that feel like pints even though they're 2 oz. lighter.

Should we have a beer police like they have in Britain? Hell yes. The weights and measures people come around and regulate gas stations so they don't sell less than a gallon. They won't let McDonalds sell a quarter pounder that weighs any less than 4 oz., but here we are just guessing whether or not we're getting a real pint. Across the pond, they get this:

In the U.K., the Imperial Pint (equivalent to 19.2 U.S. ounces) has been a government-regulated standard for several centuries. The standard requires use of official pint glasses -- with the word "Pint" and the European "CE" marking -- etched onto each glass. The glasses actually hold more than an Imperial Pint, so there's room for the foam.

A bartender at a Florida location of the GameWorks chain said it serves beer in the thick-bottomed 14-ounce glasses, adding, "We are trained to say it's a pint." Pat Hart, the GameWorks chain's vice president of operations, says the policy is to serve 16-ounce pints. At that location, Mr. Hart says, "they probably just ordered the wrong glasses."

Meanwhile, the guys at the Honest Pint Project, mentioned in the Journal article, are working to apply peer pressure to bars that mess with our brews. They've got a petition you can sign, and the blog works as a forum for outing dishonest bars. Meanwhile, we at MenuPages invite you to chime in on our user reviews section if you catch a bar or restaurant slinging "falsies."

Deadly Glasses [Hamilton Design]
Wine Glasses Based On The Seven Deadly Sins [Boing Boing]
A Pint Sized Problem [Wall Street Journal]
The Honest Pint Project [Beervana]

[Photo: Honest Pint Project via Beervana]

• The salads are fresh and good, but the best dishes include beef or cream at Miami Beach Argentine restaurant Bartolome. [Miami Herald]

• Lee Klein describes Kobe Club as the "steak house of Marilyn Manson's dreams," from the decor (flames, chain links, samurai swords hanging from the ceiling) to the spanking received when diners get their checks. [Miami New Times]

• Linda Bladholm looks favorably upon La Boite A Pizza. Sorry, but we're still not convinced that curry belongs anywhere near a pizza. [Miami Herald]

• Cafe Chardonnay gets a first-date thumbs up and has heavenly-sounding desserts. [Broward-Palm Beach New Times]

• Need a seafood restaurant with a view in Broward? This article offers a few ideas: Rendezvous Bar & Grill, Catfish Deweys and CC's Original Fish Camp. [Miami Herald]

Miami’s pizzas may not be as famous as Chicago or New York style pizzas, nor do they have one signature element that ties them all together, but they do reflect Miami’s multicultural and Latin American influences. Here are a few of southwest Miami-Dade's signature pizza shops.

Frankie's Pizza: Owned by the Pasquarella family, this one location pizzeria has been in business for over 50 years. There signature 1950s-style sign has been an icon on Bird Road for years. Their pizza has a thick chewy crust which complements the hearty sauce and toppings. Frankie’s famous pizza is also available “half-baked” for shipping cross country or just the short drive to your home for the ultimate in freshness.

Casola's Pizzeria & Sub Shop: First started by Ramon Casola and Agustin Bunuel, both from Massachusetts, the pizzeria has been open for over 25 years. They serve a truly enormous slice of pizza loaded with toppings. Casola’s is also open late making it a popular spot with the after hours crowd. Unlike Frankie’s, Casola’s offers ample seating at long picnic tables in their dining room.

Graziano's Pizzeria: A more upscale pizza parlor that doubles as a fully stocked wine store, although right now the many delicious bottles of wine only taunt you from the shelves as you eat your pizza; Graziano’s is currently reapplying for its liquor license. Once they complete the process, servers will happily uncork your choice of red or white tableside. If you aren’t in the mood for pizza, Graziano’s also serves excellent salads, paninis and gelato. Graziano's Alla Romana Pizza is pictured to the right.

Montes de Oca Original Pizza Cubana: Pizza gets a Cuban-style makeover at this family-owned restaurant. The sauce is distinctly criollo, but the cheese and bread are true to traditional pizza. Another purveyor of Cuban style pizza is Rey’s Pizza with nine locations in Miami. While Cuban pizza may be an acquired taste, the price makes training your taste buds easy.

Frankie's Pizza [MenuPages]
Casola's Pizzeria & Sub Shop [MenuPages]
Graziano's Pizzeria [MenuPages]

• FDA had a food safety plan, but they didn't follow it! [NYT]
• Tomato salmonella sick count up to 167, no deaths [Chron]
• InBev offers $46B — approx 100 euros — for Budweiser [Reuters]
• Corn, up 18% this month over flooding, passes $7 [Bloomberg]
• Stephanie Izard wins Top Chef with panache, pistachios [Trib]

He has great tips throughout the article, but here are the restaurant-specific ones:

7. Look at restaurant menus differently. If you’re cutting back on meat, there are three restaurant strategies. Two are easy, and one is hard, but probably the most important.

The first: go to restaurants that don’t feature meat-heavy dishes. It’s harder to go overboard eating at most Asian restaurants, and traditional Italian is fairly safe also.

The second: Once in a while, forget the rules and pledges, and eat like a real American; obviously you can’t do this every time, but it’s an option.

The third is the tricky one: Remember you’re doing this voluntarily, for whatever reasons seem important to you (or at least seemed, until you were confronted with the lamb shanks on the menu). Then order from the parts of the menu that contain little or no meat: salads, sides, soups and (often, anyway) appetizers. If all else fails, offer to share a meat course among two or even three or four people; many restaurant entrees are too big anyway.

Putting Meat back in its Place [New York Times]

Photo: nichpr/flickr

Finally, there's scientific proof that we get hangry. Everybody knows it: You turn into a self-defeating jerk when you're running on an empty stomach, which can often make it impossible to even decide where and what to eat, thus leaving you more hangry.

A study published last week in the journal Science proves that notion, or at least heavily supports it. Researchers at UCLA and Cambridge manipulated serotonin levels in test subjects, then had them make decisions about whether or not to accept fair and unfair offers. When serotonin levels were low, the subjects tended to reject unfair offers, even though it meant they got nothing at all. From Science:

In the current study, the researchers recruited 20 volunteers and asked them to fast the evening before the game. The next morning, some of the volunteers were given a drink chock-full of every amino acid the body needs to make protein, save tryptophan, an amino acid from which serotonin is manufactured. The result, says Crockett, is that the amino acids rush to the brain, "crowding out" any residual tryptophan and creating a temporary shortage of tryptophan and therefore serotonin. Control subjects were given drinks that contained tryptophan.

Their findings highlight why some of us may become combative or aggressive when we haven’t eaten. The essential amino acid necessary for the body to create serotonin can only be obtained through diet. Therefore, our serotonin levels naturally decline when we don’t eat, an effect the researchers took advantage of in their experimental technique.

So there you go. You need to accept or reject a business deal? Look at an apartment or make an offer on a house? Take a long drive with your family? Eat something first. Preferably a turkey sandwich. Turkey has lots of tryptophan in it. Also have a coffee. Tryptophan can put you to sleep.

Deal Or No Deal? [Science]
Low Serotonin May Make Unfairness Seem Worse [UCLA Magazine]
New research explores role of serotonin in decision-making behaviour [Cambridge]
Big decisions 'best made on full stomach' [Telegraph UK]
Need to use your brain today? Then eat something [Slashfood]

[Photo: via Blue Diego/flickr

There aren’t too many restaurants in Miami that serve upscale Mexican food, but Poblano Cocina Mexicana fills that niche in South Miami. Bottle blue and terracotta dominate the décor and lend a sophisticated Mexican flair to the dining room, while a wall mounted candelabra burns next to the bar. The meal begins with a complimentary dish of home-fried tortilla chips, refried bean dip, and pico de gallo. We also ordered an appetizer of guacamole, which came topped with three fried pork rind spears. Although the richness of the pork rinds paired nicely with the citrusy guacamole, the portion served by Poblano is a bit stingy for the price. We tried the green enchiladas, very tasty chicken wrapped in a classic poblano sauce and topped with a cheese sauce. The enchiladas come with a side of rice, which reminded us of Uncle Ben’s with butter. We suggest stirring in some of the green sauce to heighten the taste. The steak tacos (pictured) keep it simple with charred beef, red onions, cilantro, cotija cheese, and two dipping sauces. Although we didn’t try dessert, we would have loved to taste the Mexican coffee, a version of Irish coffee with tequila instead of whiskey.

Poblano Cocina Mexicana [MenuPages]
Poblano Cocina Mexicana [Official Site]

• 100k beef protesters in S. Korea want their gov't out [Economist]
• Anti-biofuel lobbyist group of diverse backgrounds launches [WorldPoultry]
• Americans turn to vegetable gardening in record numbers [NYTimes]
• Burma says it has enough rice, but no one else agrees [Reuters]
• What to do if you find yourself near a dreaded tomato [AP]

Partially inspired by this article in Time Out Chicago about restaurants sponsored by quasi-religious institutions, we thought we'd take a tour of your better-known groups' restaurants that we dare not call "cultic" for fear of legal retribution (not to mention eternal damnation!)

A surprising number of religious sects have restaurant fronts; they make money, increase visibility in a non-threatening way, and can serve as a meeting space when necessary. Some are even said to have good food! Also, religions have used eating as a metaphor for absorbing spirituality for some time — consider the Eucharist.

Let's start out with the redoubtable Scientologists and their Renaissance restaurant in Los Angeles. It's located in the garden of the Celebrity Centre and features an American/Continental menu with dishes like Orange Roughy served on fettuccini, tomato, basil, garlic and a white wine butter sauce for $22. The name "Renaissance" refers to the Scientologists' belief that by rescuing artists, musicians and movie stars from their heathen ways, some sort of cultural renaissance will occur. Okay!

The Hare Krishna have Indian-style vegetarian restaurants all over the world, including in Stockholm, Madrid, Fiji, and Los Angeles. Govinda's offers a $7 all-you-can-eat buffet that somehow made it onto the 2008 Saveur 100. Even if it wasn't good, it would be hard to beat the value. Most Govinda's have temples attached in case you feel the need to call out to Krishna.

For our third example, we're compelled to return to LA. Why does Los Angeles have so many cults? An anthropologist friend of ours pointed to a "complicated blend of culture and geography," and we'll judiciously leave it at that. Anyway, back in the mid-1970s, a cult called The Source that mixed hippyism, free love and celebrity in a non-violent fashion opened a raw/health food restaurant on Sunset Boulevard that closed only recently. A former member describes some of the restaurant's dishes on a fascinating personal website:

One of the Source Restaurant's most popular salads was the "Aware Salad," which was a salad in a huge bowl, featuring lettuce, grated beets and carrots, red cabbage, alfalfa sprouts, sunflower seeds, pine nuts, cucumbers, tomatoes and avocado. In the 1990's, I used to like getting their brown rice pancakes for breakfast, and their "Peasant Lunch" (a bowl of soup, apple, and cheese) in the afternoons. For dinner, I liked their "Aware Salad." I also really liked their iced hibiscus tea and the "High Potency Drink" which had orange juice, banana, wheat germ, honey and egg.

A few addenda to round out our list:

• Opus Dei, a Catholic fringe organization recently popularized by the Da Vinci Code, runs the United States' only all-women’s hospitality management college, in Chicago. The school offers programs in hotel/restaurant management and culinary arts, so its graduates could be anywhere!

• The Heaven's Gate cult's final meal was at Marie Callender's in Carlsbad, Ca. All of the members had the same order: salad and chicken pot pies, with cheesecake for dessert. Wow.

• The Miracle Restaurant Group owns 58 Arby's in the Midwest. Some of their locations have Bible quotes on the walls.

• The Mormons don't have a signature restaurant, but there was a joke going around the LDS section of the internet last September about a Mormon-themed chain of steakhouses called "The Steak Center." The joke contains a lot of religious references we don't understand that make us somewhat uncomfortable, like "they'll have breakfast items, including Pearls of Great Rice and Frosted Minivans, as well as Adam-ondi-Omelettes" and "[t]he waiters will be 12- and 13-year-old boys wearing white shirts and their fathers' ties." Actually, can they please make that restaurant happen? We'd fly to Salt Lake City to try it out.

[Photo: DON'T WORRY, via Stephanie Andrews/flickr]

It looks like tomatoes are the latest culprit of a food poisoning scare, as reported yesterday in the Los Angeles Times, linked here in our FYI roundup. In this case, red plum, red roma and red round tomatoes have been found responsible for some 145 cases of salmonella since mid-April, according to the Food and Drug Administration. At least 23 of those resulted in hospitalizations.

Apparently, McDonald's, Taco Bell, Wal-Mart, Chipotle and Target, among others, are curbing their tomato usage and sales until the thing blows over. Also, according to the Times, supermarket chains Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons have stopped selling the three types of tomatoes on the Food and Drug Administration's frowny list.

While the FDA hasn't yet identified the source of the contaminated tomatoes, it has published a list of areas determined not to be the source. If you're eating tomatoes from Arkansas, California, Georgia, Hawaii, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, Netherlands or Puerto Rico, you're good. They're also keeping an updated list of this information for your reference.

For now, just be careful when you indulge in these red summer classics. Either figure out where they're from or make sure they're not one of the potentially contaminated types. It might be fun to make gazpacho with cherry tomatoes, which are right now on the safe list, or perhaps dice some grape tomatoes onto your burger. There's something deflating about that, though. Maybe we'll stick to hot dogs for the near future.

Salmonella outbreak causes tomato recall [LA Times]
FDA Warns Consumers Nationwide Not to Eat Certain Types of Raw Red Tomatoes [FDA]
Advice for Retailers, Restaurateurs and Food Service Operators [FDA]

[Photo: via Jackie-Dee/Flickr]

The early bird gets the crispiest croissant at Morning Call Bakery. Located on Sunset Drive between US-1 and 57th avenue, this retail bakery store offers a wide variety of classic baked goods like croissants, blueberry scones, and artisanal breads as well as local goodies like Mischa’s cupcakes. The bakery does not make any of the goods on premises, but serves as a nexus for area chefs to bring their products to consumers. We visited Morning Call for dessert just this week and found the service to be friendly and efficient. The barista also gave us the scoop on deliveries: breads and croissants are delivered at 5 a.m. still warm from the baker; Mischa's cupcakes arrive after 10 a.m. in all flavors; scones are devoured by 11 a.m., but you can call and reserve your favorite flavor ahead of time. A red velvet Mischa cupcake paired nicely with a steaming soy latte, and we also tasted the grilled chicken sandwich with mayo, balsamic vinaigrette, Swiss cheese, fresh greens and tomato on focaccia bread. The robust sandwich more than exceeded our expectations and was certainly worth the price. The hearty portions are almost enough for two people.

Morning Call Bakery [MenuPages]
Mischa’s Cupcakes [Official Site]

• Disastrous grain yields this summer bode poorly for world [NYT]
• S. Korea US beef import row metastasizes into gov't crisis [Guardian]
• Anti-tomato hysteria continues as McD's & Walmart drop 'em [WSJ]
• Multiple hazmat incidents at the Chicago chocolate factory [Tribune]
• After decades of woes, Senate privatizes its food services [UPI]

It seems that restaurant grease, which used to be thought of mostly as trash, is now a hot commodity because of rising gas prices, according to the St Pete Times. Griffin Industries, a Kentucky-based company that collects restaurant grease in 21 different states, has complained that the drums of grease are gone by the time its workers come by to collect them.

The competition for Florida grease has become so heated that several grease collection companies are suing each other, claiming everything from theft to unfair competition. One company official from Boca Raton said he has bought $50,000 in surveillance equipment, including night-vision goggles, to try to stop all the stealing.

"I tell people every day, I'm in a war," said Pat Cassese, operations manager of Universal Grease.

How did grease get so hot? Blame it on the increase in gasoline prices.

Restaurant grease can be turned into biodiesel fuel, which produces far less air pollution than regular diesel. It has slowly gained in popularity as an alternative fuel for powering trucks, farm equipment, boats, anything with a diesel engine. Pinellas County's dump trucks burn biodiesel, as do fire trucks on Sanibel Island and military vehicles at Eglin Air Force Base in the Panhandle.

Griffin Industries has been handling restaurant grease for decades, filtering it to make "yellow grease," the basic ingredient for biodiesel.

In the past year, the price of yellow grease has climbed from just over $2 a gallon to nearly $3.50 a gallon in the Southeast, according to the Jacobsen, a Chicago agency that tracks renewable fuels. That's still below the cost of a gallon of gas.

Restaurants used to pay Griffin to pick up the grease. Now Griffin often pays them.

"Grease is no different from diamonds," Chris Griffin said. "They both have value, they're both a commodity. Right now it's the highest market I've ever seen."

Slick Florida thieves haul off grease [St Petersburg Times]

Photo: mikeysklar/flickr

The ceremony itself and more photos, after the jump...

This year's awards were co-hosted by Bobby Flay and Kim Cattrall, the latter wearing a dress cut down to here. There was plenty of awkward scripted flirting, made all the more unbelievable by the fact that we saw Flay's ridiculously gorgeous wife in the press room before the show. The light and music cues were overwhelmingly poorly timed and we in no way understand the seating. Shouldn't nominees have been placed in aisle seats near the front? The woman who accepted the awards for Best Cookbook: Single Subject and Cookbook of the year on behalf of Fergus Henderson was seated behind us.

Highlights from the ceremony: Terry Theise, winner of the Outstanding Wine & Spirits Professional Award, calling his wife, Gala Reception co-chair Odessa Piper, "a total fox"; Traci Des Jardins getting somehow lost on her way to present the Best Chef: Pacific award; Todd English muttering that Bobby Flay ought to be presenting the Best Chef: Southwest award, Michelle Bernstein of Michy's regretting her decision to tell her husband not to bring a camera, Naha's Carrie Nahabedian being generally lovely and charming, Patrick Connelly of Radius thanking his girlfriend for giving him a reason to leave the kitchen and eliciting a collective "aww" from the audience, Momofuku Ssam Bar's David Chang (who brought not one but two alcohol-stocked party buses to the awards) surprising no one with his Best Chef: New York City win, Alinea's Grant Achatz doing the same with an Outstanding Chef awards but giving a moving speech nonetheles; and, of course, Central Michel Richard's Michel Richard bounding across the stage like a post-millennial Robert Benigni when his restaurant won Best New Restaurant. Notable no-shows: Padma Lakshmi, Anthony Bourdain, and Mario Batali.

After the awards, of course, it was time for the feasting. We sampled plates from 22 of the 32 tables before we couldn't take anymore. (We also partook of several of the wine, beer, and cocktail offerings.) Our favorites? Primo's squash blossoms with handmade sheep's milk ricotta, heirloom tomatoes, and Sicilian pesto pantesca, Aziza 's bodega goat cheese with tomato-citrus jam, pistacios, and argan oil, No. 9 Park's warm Animal Farm butter soup (BUTTER SOUP!!!) with Pat Woodbury's littleneck clams, Island Creek razor clams, and Rosenthal honey emulsion, North Pond's anise hyssop and goat cheese sorbet with rhubarb relish and an herbed shortbread cracker, Telepan's scrapple with a poached egg and sweet pork sauce, Vetri's corzetti pasta with walnut pesto, marjoram, and parmesan, and Hen of the Wood's domestic prosciutto with Jasper Hill Farm Blue Cheese and Honey Gardens wild flower honey on grilled Red Hen Bakery bread. The last was so good, we broke our number one rule for the evening and took seconds.

By the time we made our way home, we were stuffed to the gills, more than a little bit tipsy, and damn close to unable to walk in our shoes: all signs of a pretty awesome night.

Two sides of the coffee elitist coin flitted across the interwebs this weekend. On one, stereotypical whiny, entitled Starbucks customer Ron Leiber suggested in the New York Times that the company's new loyalty rewards aren't enough. (He wants special seating, shorter lines and reserved laptop plugs in addition to the newly offered free Wi Fi, syrup shots and refills.)

On the other side, Amateur Gourmet Adam Roberts documented a competition between some of New York City's best and most indie baristas, who went head to head at local caffeine cult favorite, Joe: The Art Of Coffee, in a latte-art throwdown. This seemed to represent the more fun-loving, whimsical side of the coffee elite.

Both pieces exemplify to a trend that only a hack would continue to point out, 20 years after the rise of the latte: Nobody drinks regular old coffee anymore. Even fans of black, drip coffee are starting to flock to boutique joints like San Francisco's Blue Bottle and Philz, where one-cup-at-a-time brews have replaced the percolator.

But in this increasingly time-consuming coffee world, where people use the cafe as an office, status symbol, and canvas, is there any room left for the hurried Nine-to-Fiver, just trying to get his or her fix before that daily grind pulls him or her ever further under its heel?

Instead of shorter Starbucks lines for elite customers, how about shorter lines for less-involved drink orders? Maybe a drip line and an espresso line? Why not a competition to see, not how pretty coffee drinks can be made, but how much a barista can kick out in a certain time?

Of course, the most healthy move for our society is away from the ever more frantic pace of daily automated life and toward pretty drinks made by people you like, but sometimes the tone of your day comes down to just a few minutes in the morning — whether you make that train, get to the meeting on time, punch the clock at 8:59 or 9:01. In those cases, all you want is a simple cup of black Joe.

If a coffee shop came along that could dole out high-quality mud in less than a minute for just such a rushed crowd, it would probably make a killing in one hour a day. Until then, we'll stick to the brown water at the corner deli. It's nasty, but at least we're on time to work. Usually.

Your Money — The Card-Carrying Starbucks Fan [NY Times]
The Latte Art Throwdown [Amateur Gourmet]
Blue Bottle [Official Site]
Philz [Official Site]

When three of the James Beard Award nominees in the Best Chef: South category were from South Florida, one of them was bound to bring home the prize. And last night, that's exactly what Michelle Bernstein of Michy's did. She beat out Zach Bell of Cafe Boulud in Palm Beach, Douglas Rodriguez of Ola in Miami Beach, John Currence of City Grocery in Oxford, Miss., and Chris Hastings of Hot and Hot Fish Club in Birmingham, Ala.

Congratulations Chef Bernstein!

James Beard Award nominees and winners [Official Site]
Michy's [MenuPages]
Cafe Boulud [Official Site]
Ola [Official Site]
City Grocery[Official Site]
Hot and Hot Fish Club [Official Site]

Photo, of Bernstein on Check Please!: Channel 2

• Grant Achatz, heroic molecular gastronomist, wins Beard award! [AP]
• Takeaway from food summit: biofuels outrank starving people [G&M]
• Wild salmon is gone, farmed is dangerous; maybe sardines? [NYT]
• Niche marketing for food allergy sufferers growing rapidly [WaPo]
• Roma, red and plum tomatoes are out in salmonella scare [LAT]

• A cocktail called "Jail Bait": yes, unless it involves schnapps. [MP: Boston]

• Free wine: yes, unquestionably. [MP: Chicago]

• Beer with barbecue: oh hell yes. [MP: Philadelphia]

• Grease: no, not even if it comes from bacon. [MP: San Francisco]

• Bargain-priced beer: probably! [MP: South Florida]

One of my favorite food writers tackled one of my favorite topics in Slate Wednesday and I had to be referred to the article by Slashfood. I was on an airplane most of the day, but still...

It was a great article by L.E. Leone, of San Francisco Bay Guardian "Cheap Eats" fame, on both the greater urban farming movement and the more personal act of slaughtering livestock one raises one's self:

I'll own it: There's a part of me that likes to kill. When I do what I do with a hatchet and a chicken, I feel like crap, and I feel like God. I feel alive and in love and closer than ever to death. So I guess that is, for me, mixed feelings, yes. And the mix itself is welcome and intensely gratifying.

Farmer or no, the slaughter of an animal for food is an exercise most of us should probably try at least once, if we eat the meat of that animal. Other than the fish many of us have probably caught and gutted, a chicken seems the easiest — both because you can buy them live at some markets and because you likely either own or could easily obtain a small ax. Not to mention they don't have large, doe-like eyes to stare back trustingly at you as you raise the bolt gun to their forehead.

But if we eat beef, it would be morally honest to at least be willing to slaughter and butcher a cow. I know I don't relish the thought, but it seems like hypocrisy to happily munch on the end product without being comfortable with the rest of the production line.

Unless you are a farmer or a very determined (and well-connected) individual, it will probably be difficult to get the opportunity to participate directly in the slaughter and butchering of a cow or other large mammal. Breath your sigh of relief, but know you can at least familiarize yourself with the process. A good place to start is the photo series on Chris Cosetino's Offal Good blog.

The executive chef of San Francisco's Incanto documents a beef cow's journey from live animal to cuts of meat with a directness and compassion that makes the whole process as close to palatable (and real) as you're probably going to get.

As Leone and Cosetino rightly illustrate, not all parts of meat production are as pretty or appetizing as a perfectly cooked and plated cut, but done with the right attitude and technique, the process seems to be immensely rewarding and grounding. It's something I'll probably have to try at some point, but maybe it would be better to think about it in more detail after lunch.

Notes On The Urban Chicken Movement [Slate]
Could You Kill A Chicken? [Slashfood]
Humane Cow Slaughter [Offal Good]
Incanto [MenuPages]
Incanto [Official Site]

[Photo: Beef cows before slaughter, via Offal Good]

• Frodnesor found out that the chefs at Neomi's Grill do a little molecular gastronomy in their spare time, so he asked them to prepare a cutting-edge birthday dinner for him and his guests. They did, and it sounds amazing — check out Frod's description. We especially love the idea of a pre-dessert "sweet caprese." [Chowhound]

• If you ask Hy Vong Vietnamese Cuisine owner Kathy to just bring the best dishes of the house, this is what you'd get. And it would be very good. [Miami Beach 411]

• Chowhounds agree: the food may not be up to par at Mai-Kai, but it's a great place to get drinks. [Chowhound]

• Spoto's Oakwood Grill is offering a great deal this summer: every Monday through October 27 will be Family BBQ Night. Pay $17 per person, and you get unlimited ribs, chicken or pulled pork, fries, baked beans and cole slaw. [Hungry Man]

• The food is good and the portions are huge at George's in the Grove. [Blind Mind]

• Food crisis conf. solves nothing, especially on biofuels [Guardian]
• Why food subsidies might make sense for African farmers [NewSci]
• Food bank demand continues to skyrocket among non-poor [Reuters]
• Brits against eating cloned meat for safety, profit [Telegraph]
• Will salmonella tomato scare lower bacon demand via BLTs?! [Reuters]

Take a look at the image on the right. It's a picture of Jimmy Wales, one of the founders of Wikipedia, a site you may have heard quite a bit about lately. The Ayn-Rand loving Wales has created one of the most popular sites on the internet... and one that is drowning in food related articles.

Keep in mind — when we say drowning, we mean drowning. After parsing Wikipedia, we made a shocking discovery: The site has the weirdest, coolest food-related entries we've ever seen.

Here are a few of the many we encountered.

• Mexican pizza — Yes, the Taco Bell specialty merits a Wikipedia entry.

• Gyros — "In Brazil, gyros is sold as churrasco grego (Greek barbecue)."

• Bacon — This article reminded us that Americans are an overweight nation when they mentioned that "in the U.S. and Europe, bacon is often used as a condiment or topping on other foods."

• Broccoli: "United States President George H. W. Bush was known to have an active disdain for broccoli, having actually said so in an offhand remark during his presidency. In response, a powerful broccoli agriculture lobby sent several tons of it to the White House. This broccoli was promptly donated to the Capital Area Food Bank."

• Aktu Taktu: "Aktu Taktu is a fast food restaurant chain based in Iceland. Their menu consists of American style cheeseburgers, hamburgers, pylsur (hot dogs), tacos and fries. The Restaurants are mostly drive-thru, with indoor seating. Aktu Taktu are famous for putting Paprika on their fries. This normally leaves foreigners wondering what the taste is, as it is an unusual ingredient."

Wikipedia [Official Site]

[Photo: Jimmy Wales via Wikimedia Commons]

• Enrique Fernandez has only good things to say about Abokado. [Miami Herald]

• The eighth annual Flapjack Flip-Off: it's a good read, and it has us hankering for some pancakes drenched in syrup. [Miami New Times]

• D Wade's still needs some time to improve. The service is efficient, but the food is lackluster. And by the way, if you go, pick up a menu, will ya? We've been promised menus that never materialize. [Miami Herald]

• Gail Shepherd checks out the raw food eateries in the area: Sublime in Fort Lauderdale and Soma Center Cafe in Lake Worth. [Broward-Palm Beach New Times]

• Don't dismiss Cut 432 because it's hip and trendy; the food is great too. Charles Passy highly recommends the short ribs which are cooked on a wood grill. [Palm Beach Post]

Karu & Y is officially closed, for good this time. Despite the talk of re-opening the restaurant with a new menu, we had a feeling that wasn't going to happen, especially in this market. The Miami Herald reports today that the club/lounge is joining the restaurant's shuttered status:

Celeb not-so-hot spot Karu & Y is way done.

The $25 million downtown Miami restaurant closed in February and now Y Ultralounge, the other glitzy half of the complex, has shuttered its doors, too.

Opened in September 2006, Karu never could seem to shake the fact that it was on the edge of an impoverished section of Overtown. High-end patrons often had to be escorted to their cars by bodyguards, and kids on bikes peddled around the entrance asking for money.

Attempts to contact the restaurant/lounge owners were unsuccessful.

Karu's former publicist, Susan Brustman, had high hopes when the restaurant opened, saying then: ''In other cities, restaurants have turned neighborhoods around,'' she said.

Karu & Y: Stick a fork in it [Miami Herald]
More News On The Karu & Y Closing [MP: South Florida]
Closed: Karu Restaurant & Y [MP: South Florida]

The author of the acclaimed joie de vivre-focused weight-loss guide French Women Don't Get Fat, shares some insights about wine drinking in this month's Bon Appetit. Much of the information seems very common-sense, but still, sometimes you need to be told these things.

For example, Mireille Guiliano writes, "Just because a glass or two a day is beneficial doesn't mean 56 ounces a week would be good for you, most especially if you consume those ounces over the course of a weekend." We needed to be reminded of that after the recent, particularly festive graduation of a family member.

But more than telling you stuff you should already know about the importance of moderation, Guiliano relates some useful tips on how to ensure that moderation. A Cornell University study published in February found that a main reason the French don't get fat, though they indulge in rich foods, is that they use internal cues, such as feeling full, to know when to stop eating. Americans, the study found, use external cues, such as whether there was food left on the plate.

While Guiliano doesn't specifically refer to that study in her article, she captures a similar theme in her description of her own drinking habits:

Here's how I ensure moderation when I'm dining at home. My husband and I know that after our first or second glass, it can be deliciously simple to pour a third or fourth. So we first bought some half bottles (375 milliliters), and after we drank them, we kept the empties. Now whenever we open a new bottle of wine for dinner, we immediately pour half the contents into an empty half bottle and quickly cork it. The wine has seen air for perhaps 15 seconds. Recapped and usually refrigerated, it will last in top form for days, weeks, and even months.

A half bottle of wine equals about three full glasses. But you should never fill your glass more than two-thirds full: To taste wine properly, you need room to swirl it, exposing it to the air to soften it. Plus, the empty part of the glass is what holds in the bouquet. We pour half glasses at dinner, and then enjoy two refills from the same half bottle. It is amazing how easy it is to fool ourselves. Three pours are far more psychologically fulfilling than one single pour in a large glass.

French Women Do Drink Wine [Bon Appetit]
Mireille Giuliano [Official Site]
French Paradox Redux: When Are We 'Full?' [Cornell]

• Latest from food conference: nothing being accomplished [Reuters]
• Private capital finds agriculture, with unknown consequences [NYT]
• Smuckers buys Folgers for $3B with more acquisitions to come [Trib]
• Burma makes refugees work for food aid, boots them from housing [AP]
• Monsanto plans to double yields of corn and soybean. Eek! [IHT]
• Utah schools have more junk food available than any other state's [SLTrib]

Did you know that 20 percent of the population can't taste pepper? That's the subject of an interesting article in the New York Times today, about a recent article in The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Researchers began by studying shiraz wines from Australia, which are known for their peppery aromas, in an attempt to isolate the chemical that causes it.

The Australian researchers did detect trace quantities of a peppery molecule in shiraz wine, but not enough to analyze it. So they looked for the same molecule in ground white pepper, and found it at levels of a few parts per million — enough to positively identify it as a chemical called rotundone.

Most white pepper comes from Indonesia, where peppercorns are fermented in water for up to two weeks to remove the fruit layer covering the seed. Black pepper (unfermented peppercorns with the fruit left on) has rotundone, but in much smaller amounts.

Perhaps because of its low concentration, nobody had noticed the presence of rotundone in pepper before. But the Australian team found that most people can smell rotundone at levels of parts per billion, making it by far the most potent aromatic in pepper, and a significant contributor to the aroma of shiraz.

...

they tested 49 people and found that about 20 percent of them could not detect rotundone at all, even at concentrations far above what’s found in white pepper. The scientists say this shows the different experiences two people can have of the same wine, or of the same pepper-seasoned food.

What's the Peppery Note in those Shirazes? [New York Times]

Photo: drsno/flickr

After reading Lesley Porcelli's online hand-wringing over the future diet of her unborn child, our first impression was one of mild disdain. "Come on, Lesley," we said to no one in particular, "The kid will be fine. Just don't be crazy about it and let him or her do his or her own thing and it will all work out." Having younger siblings made us an early expert on the subject, so she should listen.

But then after lunch (machaca, which we would have hated as a kid) we realized we were totally wrong. Parenting likely has everything to do with raising a child who healthily indulges all sorts of new foods. Where else will the child pick up on that adventurous trait? So in honor of Porcelli's upcoming youngster, as well as an indulgence in the forces that shaped our own childhood, we went and found this 1988 classic from the king of food songs. Enjoy:

The Kid's Menu [Gourmet]

Our satisfying lunch at The Fish House the other day got us to thinking about some of the other elbows-on-the-table seafood spots which don't often land on the radar of tourists or even long-time residents of Miami. These fish houses are safe, affordable and reliable. A great fish lunch or dinner is never too far away or too expensive.
Here are some of our favorites:

Disco Fish: Don't let the name fool you this isn't a cheesy eighties-style night club. Disco Fish serves super fresh seafood and reasonable prices. They even have their own fish market inside. Some of our favorites are the seafood soup, the fried majuas (bite-sized sardines fried whole), and the whole fried snapper. Come ready to practice your Spanish skills and enjoy the casual atmosphere.

La Camaronera: Offers fresh fish and reasonably priced meals. After some fried fish or camarones enchilados, you can head to Lucerne Bakery for a cortadito and some sweets to finish your meal. One caveat, the restaurant just changed hands and we haven't had a chance to try the new cook's handiwork. Comments about recent visits would be greatly appreciated.

Cayo Esquivel : A chain version of the criollo mom-and-pop fish house, you can try their fried conch and bacalao (codfish) fritters for a few small bills as well as the fresh fried fish. The dining room in Cayo Esquivel is also significantly larger than either Disco Fish's or La Camaronera's, which makes it a better choice for large groups.

Jimbo's Place: Tucked away in Virginia Key, Jimbo's has been selling smoked fish to its hungry customers for years. Although Jimbo's has a pretty limited menu (smoked fish, soda, and beer), visiting this place is more about a little known piece of South Florida history and the atmosphere. Bocce ball and frequent celebrity photo shoots make this a unique place to visit.

If you don't see your favorite fish house on this list, we would love to hear about it. Leave us a comment!

Fish House Opens In Dadeland [MP: South Florida]
The Fish House [Official Site]
Disco Fish [MenuPages]
La Camaronera Fish Market, 1952 W Flager St in Miami, 305-642-3322
Cayo Esquivel [MenuPages]
Jimbo's Place [Official Site]

• 20% of people can't taste pepper's most active ingredient [NYT]
• UK's row over food dyes and child hyperactivity comes here [Tribune]
• CFTC has unconvincing plan to normalize food commodity trading [Forbes]
• Salmonella outbreak from tomatoes sickens dozens in 9 states [AP]
• After the FAO food conference is done, G8 to pick up mantle [Xinhua]

Never mind your politics and morals; whenever Hugo Chavez, Robert Mugabe and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (the presidents/dictators of Venezuela, Zimbabwe and Iran, respectively) are in a room together, it's a hot party. So what brings them all to the bacchanalia capital of the world? Nothing less than a summit on the global food crisis hosted by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome over the next few days.

The reasons for such a conference are myriad: food prices are up 83% over three years ago, 800 million people suffer from hunger or malnutrition, and a hundred million more are now at risk. Dozens of countries have experienced food riots in the past few months, and countless lives are at stake (not to be overly dramatic).

And the causes of the price spikes are equally numerous: increased biofuel production, government agricultural subsidies, export caps, commodities speculation and rapidly increasing demand. Various delegations (like the United States and Brazil) have argued that biofuels have played less of a role than expert observers ascribe to it, but regardless, everyone recognizes that there has been a drastic and fundamental shift in the balance between what the world grows and what it eats.

Solutions, it seems, are not in short supply: end the subsidies that allow rich countries to flood poor countries with cheap grains and thereby destroy the local agriculture industry, leaving poor countries powerless and hungry when commodity prices rise! Stop using food crops for biofuels! End export quotas to maintain an open and fair commodities market! Improve developing countries' agricultural practices through sustainable fertilization and irrigation techniques! GMO for everybody, whether they like it or not! And so forth.

But while all of these things are being repeated at the summit, nothing is new here, and it's not like an "international law" is going to be passed that will take care of the world's problems. For all the hoopla, the summit is basically a big brainstorm/info session. So what's U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon's goal in calling this meeting?

The clue is that a good chunk of the media coverage of the summit is on the three aforementioned leaders. Ahmadinejad wasted no time in denouncing Israel for somehow single-handedly causing global food crisis or whatever; Chavez (along with Brazilian president Lula) has been railing against American agricultural subsidies and other things red, white and blue; and Mugabe is a walking shitstorm between the decades of plundering Zimbabwe's farming heartland and his most recent crime of stealing the country's election.

Maybe what the U.N. is looking to do by inviting these incendiary figures is to create a media blitz that finally snowballs global public opinion toward materially caring about the global food crisis. You can have unified, terrified experts prattle on about how we're dooming ourselves for years, and people only start paying attention when a flashy movie comes out (cue Al Gore); perhaps this conference will be the "Inconvenient Truth" of the global food crisis?

Various countries (the U.S. included) have plans for combating the crisis, but as long as the public is disinterested, progress will be slow going. Mugabe may be bad for Zimbabweans, but he's great PR for man-made catastrophes like this one.

United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization [Official Site]
'Act now or 290m people will go hungry' [Scotsman]
Summit on Food Crisis Scrutinizes Causes, Solutions [NPR]
Brazilian Ethanol Doesn't Hurt Food Output, Lula Says [Bloomberg]
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attacks Jews at UN food summit in Rome [Telegraph]
Officials Criticize Mugabe’s Presence at a U.N. Conference in Rome [NYTimes]
SECRETARY ED SCHAFER PRE-TRIP MEDIA AVAILABILITY FOR UNITED NATIONS FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION JUNE 3 CONFERENCE ON WORLD FOOD SECURITY [USDA]

[Photo: Raja Islam/flickr]

If South Beach prices and attitudes have you down, don't despair. There are two places that offer quality drinks for the cheap and thirsty on the dry dusty island of Miami Beach. Both of these places ditch the hype and the flashy signs for quality and anonymity.

The Abbey Brewing Company: It's easy to miss this gem amidst the glitz and glam. The dark tinted windows and generic sign (pictured) conceal a treasure trove of unique beers from around the world and an independent atmosphere. Once we found this place, we came back again and again for many a casual night of drinking and talking until the wee hours. Some of our favorites are the Apricot Ale and the Immaculata IPA. Both are refreshing and light.

Zeke's Roadhouse: Found right in the heart of Lincoln Road, Zeke's Roadhouse caters to a different crowd than the South Beach regulars. This is a no-frills kind of bar that draws customers in with astonishing prices. During happy hour, any beer from anywhere is only $3. Zeke's has a strict policy forbidding outside food and drink and often gets crowded on weekend nights, but the prices are still worth the trip.

The Abbey Brewing Company [Official Site]
Zeke's Roadhouse, 625 Lincoln Rd, Miami Beach, 305-672-3118

Picture from The Abbey's website.

Dear bacon,
Don't get us wrong, we really do love you. At breakfast you shine brightly, bringing ordinary eggs with you to a new level of deliciousness. In salads or dishes where you act as a flavoring agent or even the main ingredient you can not only hold your own, you thrive. But we're frankly getting a little tired of this kind of thing:

Yes, readers, that there is French fry-coated bacon on a stick. Yes it's sort of a joke but no, it's kind of not. The fries apparently use corn-dog batter to stick to the bacon.

It's not like things like bacon bloody Marys and bacon ice cream (well, maybe bacon ice cream) are necessarily gross. It's just that we're getting a little tired of bacon's roll as a culinary punchline, no matter how delicious. Something needs to step in and take it's place as the obscure flavor of the month. We're thinking maybe beef jerky. Got any ideas of your own?

French Fry Coated Bacon On A Stick [Last Appetite]
Best "On A Stick" Food Ever [The Grinder]
[Photo: via Last Appetite]

• Here's a detailed review of Nobu Miami Beach. The sea trout and dessert sound incredible. [A Mingling of Tastes]

• Sara finds Adriana Restaurant in Surfside to be pleasant, but not too surprising. [All Purpose Dark]

• Both the food and beer menu seem limited at Red Light, but the items are interesting and the food is great. [Mango&Lime]

• Photographic evidence of cupcakes at the Upper Eastside Bakery. [Daily Cocaine]

• The Miami Spice 2008 Chowhound thread has begun. [Chowhound]

• How are we going to grow 50% more food in 22 years? GMOs? Probably [AP]
• Delegates snubbing starvation-monger Mugabe's presence at conference [NYT]
• Ahmadinejad uses conference to decry Israel (but not its food policies) [Telegraph]
• Lula defends Brazil's biofuel production and fingers ag. subsidies [Bloomberg]
• Gains we've made against global poverty in past decade to vanish [Trib]
• Organic fast food sweeping the nation! [WaPo]

Remember that guy in the Chicago Suburbs who had a Pabst Blue Ribbon coffin made for him? We thought that admirable, but a new bar has been set for product-placement in burial. Word comes to us through Boing Boing that the designer of the Pringles can has died and had his cremated remains buried in an actual Pringles can. From the Cincinnati Enquirer

Dr. Fredric J. Baur was so proud of having designed the container for Pringles potato crisps that he asked his family to bury him in one.

His children honored his request. Part of his remains was buried in a Pringles can - along with a regular urn containing the rest - in his grave at Arlington Memorial Gardens in Springfield Township.

Dr. Baur, a retired organic chemist and food storage technician who specialized in research and development and quality control for Procter & Gamble, died May 4 at Vitas Hospice. The College Hill resident was 89.

According to the article, the Pringles can was Baur's "proudest accomplishment." The Proctor and Gamble compliance specialist and food-storage technician received a patent for the can and sealing method in 1970.

Pringles can designer dies; remains buried in Pringles can [Boing Boing]
Fredric J. Baur was designer of P&G's Pringles container [Cincinnati Enquirer]
[Photo: Pringles Cans via Marc's International Pringles Can Collection]

We have a special affection for food art, most likely developed from our mother's refusal to let us practice it at the table. But lately we've been seeing much more ambitious and delicious-looking projects than the simple mashed-potatoes tower we'd have created. A few weeks ago, this series of carved edible sculptures from Fabulously 40 made the blogging rounds:

Today, a series on Toxel documents some of what's happening with sushi art, including a re-creation of Van Gough's Sunflowers, and a platter of rolls that elicited some excitement on the comments screen ("that platter looks like its got a dude mooning someone on it!"). It turned out the roll was supposed to be a peach, which symbolizes longevity. Still, it does kind of make us crack up. And laughter's supposed to be the best medicine and all, so maybe it's doing its job:

We absolutely love Southern food, and we did our very best to eat as much of it as possible during our four days in Georgia. Here we present the photographic evidence:

Titanic Brewery & Restaurant shares little with its eponymous and ill-fated seafarer. Good food and award-winning micro-brewed beer, crafted on premise, keep this University of Miami favorite afloat. Although in our opinion the beer is better than the food, there are a few dishes worth coming back for even if you don't indulge in the potent potables. For starters, try the crawfish and andouille bisque in a cup or bowl. There are chunks of crawfish and sausage in a savory broth. If you are in the mood to be healthy, you can't go wrong with the classic Greek salad. Titanic uses a creamy feta and doesn't skimp on the olives or the spicy peppers. If you are looking for something a bit more substantial, try one of the po' boys, shrimp or soft shell crab, with a sweet remoulade. Beside food and great beer, Titanic also offers nightly entertainment featuring rock, blues and even karaoke. Titanic's proximity to the University of Miami, right across the street from Mark Light Field makes it a handy stop before any Canes baseball or basketball game. Limited parking is available in the rear.

Titanic Brewery & Restaurant [MenuPages]
Titanic Brewery & Restaurant [Official Site]

• Mugabe audaciously makes an appearance at Rome food conf. [AFP]
• Fast food represents supermajority of children's budgets [NYT]
• Food shortage suicides in Afghanistan kind of our fault [Trib]
• Cellulosic ethanol development slow despite promise [Reuters]
• More meat getting to your plate without Big Ag's interference [AP]