Grub Street

Charles Ramsey was sitting on his front porch eating a Big Mac one Monday evening earlier this month when he came to the aid of Amanda Berry, her daughter, and two other women. They were later revealed to be the kidnapping victims of local bus driver Ariel Castro. After a recording of his matter-of-fact 911 call and a YouTube clip went viral, Ramsey became something of a folk hero and even had a Big Mac–esque cheeseburger named after him at the restaurant where he works as a pot-washer. He's traveling right now, but when Ramsey returns to Cleveland he'll likely be having some more meals after he's presented with a "Chuck Card," a one-of-a-kind, wallet-size I.D. that entitles him to free hamburgers for life from any of the fourteen restaurants owned by various people (one is even in Pennsylvania). "He stopped his meal midway through to help those women," says one restaurateur. "We're now making sure he has other opportunities to go out and fully enjoy his burger." Let's hope he doesn't go vegetarian. [Plain Dealer, Earlier]

Dominique Ansel's new pastries should soften the blow of waking up at 6 a.m., waiting in line for an hour, and still not getting a cronut. He has collaborated with other notable pastry chefs on a raspberry-passion-fruit Pavlova (Johnny Iuzzini), a cannelé-batter popover (Sherry Yard, formerly of Spago), a yuzu-and-praline pastry (Hudson Chocolates' Francisco Migoya), a caramel religieuse (French chef Christophe Michalak), and a chocolate-glazed éclair with caramel corn (Christophe Adam, an éclair cookbook author). Remember, folks: No need to act out if you can't purchase a cronut. These desserts are damn good alternatives, but they'll only be available from Friday through June 6. [Earlier, Earlier, Diner's Journal/NYT]

The Hip-Hop Summit Action Network is an organization that introduces rappers to political causes. Who knew this was a thing? Awesome. Clinton Hill entrepreneur Hasan Muhammad approached Russell Simmons, a proud vegan and occasional rabbi, to launch an initiative to provide healthy food to New Yorkers living in the city's food deserts. They're working to open a Brooklyn-based food factory and a chain of stores in neighborhoods that include Brownsville and Central Harlem. The idea is to mimic the business model of Trader Joe's, which both manufactures and sells its own brand of products. "We want cool, fun vegetarian stuff," Simmons told the New York Daily News. "It’s an alternative to eating poison." He's about to start raising money through a crowdsourcing campaign on his website. We'll support this cause only if Simmons releases a product called Def Jam — preferably in strawberry, but we'll settle for blueberry. [Earlier, NYDN]

Spend enough time in a professional kitchen and you pick up plenty of MacGyver-like skills and tricks that can come in handy in all sorts of situations — techniques you only learn when you're on an undermanned, overworked line and every second counts. With that in mind, welcome to Grub Street's newest column, Chef Hacks, wherein each entry will be devoted to one such useful, unexpected technique that you can put to use immediately. Today: Jimmy Bradley of the Red Cat in New York reveals how he makes coffee the very old-fashioned way.

This week, Adam Platt gave Lafayette, a "big, spangled, category-killing brasserie," two stars. Stan Sagner gave the same rating on behalf of the New York Daily News, while Joshua David Stein praised what he called Andrew Carmellini's Great Gatsby of restaurants, an endeavor conducted in a "blessed" space. But despite the glowing reviews, a dark cloud hangs over the Other Critics this week: This is the second-to-last review from Robert Sietsema, and there will be no more from Tejal Rao, both of whom are no longer writing for the Village Voice. We will miss their weekly columns.