• First lady Michelle Obama will participate in Mayor Emanuel’s summit on October 25 about food deserts and food access. [Chicagoist]
• Chicago-based Sara Lee, which is in the middle of a deal to sell its North American bakery business to Mexico’s Grupo Bimbo, now plans to sell them its Spanish and Portuguese units as well in advance of its planned split into separate North American food and international beverage businesses. [Chicago Business]
• Subway plans to unveil “contactless payment” via phone, keychain fobs, etc. by next year. Kind of like a real subway. [NRN]
• One hot culinary figure since El Bulli’s closing is Sweden’s Magnus Nilsson, who favors foods like gulls’ eggs and fried thrush heads at his restaurant, Fäviken. [Newsweek via Daily Beast]
• Forget supper clubs; in Basque country, the popular thing is all-male gastronomic societies, dubbed txokos. [WSJ]
