Fake Butter Harming Chefs?; Crave Ceviche Bar Closed by Crane AccidentA federal investigation is under way in New York’s kitchens to measure the hazards cooks face when handling an ingredient in artificial butter that is known to cause tissue damage. [Seattle Post Intelligencer]
Frank Bruni thinks Thomas Keller should just stick to what he knows and avoid this casual-dining nonsense he puts on at Ad Hoc. [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
Sexy British TV chef Nigella Lawson has reportedly put on some weight, with one catty source saying, “The result is a butt like a Budweiser horse.” [NYP]
Mediavore
Joe Chirico Allegedly Served As Mob Extortionist; Femme Fatale’s Clubhouse to BeBrooklyn Restaurant Association president Joe Chirico, indicted last week along with the Gambino clan, allegedly lived a secret life in which he served as an extortionist for the mob. [NYP]
Related: New York Restaurant Association Big Netted in Gambino Roundup
Foodies all over the country are willing to drop serious money to sit at chefs’ tables, but is it worth the hefty price tag at a place like Café Gray? [WSJ]
If insects aren’t dirty or disease-ridden and they are packed with protein, then why aren’t we eating them? [NYT]
Related: What’s It Take to Get a Decent Grasshopper Around Here?
Mediavore
NYSRA Fights Calorie Law Again; Bovine Waterboarding Video ReleasedThe New York State Restaurant Association filed another suit in federal district court yesterday to prevent a law requiring some restaurants to post calorie information on menus and signs from being enacted. [Grub Street]
Was the Times guilty of scaremongering with its slew of mercury-in-tuna stories? [Slate]
With the recent spate of wine bar openings, it’s worth considering what really constitutes a wine bar. A good wine list is a good start! [Mouthing Off/Food & Wine]
Mediavore
Calories to Show Up on Menus Starting March 31; Mercury Levels Horrifically HighThe Board of Health decided yesterday in a unanimous vote to make all chain restaurants with fifteen or more outlets – approximately 10 percent of the city’s restaurants – post calorie info on their menus starting March 31. RIP, 1,230-calorie triple Whopper with cheese. [CNN]
Laboratory tests run on sushi samples from twenty Manhattan stores and restaurants revealed shockingly high levels of mercury in bluefin tuna, so high that the FDA could technically take the fish off the market. And if you’ve got to have your tuna sushi, you’d best head to Fairway and avoid Blue Ribbon Sushi at all costs. [NYT]
Gourmet editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl is “obsessed with” Momofuku Ssäm Bar, “like everyone else in New York,” according to her. [TONY]
Beef
Fast-Food Biz Wins Fight Against City HallGluttons in denial about their diet will be overjoyed to hear that a federal judge has ruled against Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to make fast-food restaurants post calorie information. (Naturally, the New York State Restaurant Association, a lobby group representing the fast-food interests, isn’t too sad about it either. ) But the reasons for the decision seem surprisingly weak.
Mediavore
Whole Foods Is the New Pickup Scene; Ramsay Helps Ruin Another RestaurantNew York’s cheesiest singles go to Whole Foods on the Bowery to pick up cage-free eggs — and each other. [NYS]
Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant-rescue record takes another blow: Dillons is on the brink, and now the British restaurant “helped” by the truculent chef is going into liquidation. [Evening Telegraph]
Next season’s Top Chef will take place in Chicago. [Chicago Tribune]