Madman Runs Amok With BBQ Knives; Traci Des Jardins Overboard on ‘NextA madman grabbed knives from the Texas Smokehouse Barbecue and started slashing people in Murray Hill until he was gunned down. [NYP]
Traci Des Jardins is the first one overboard at The Next Iron Chef. [Serious Eats]
A lot of good restaurants have failed health inspections, leading to: “You’ll pay $90 for a prix-fixe meal complete with foie gras and lobster at celebrity chef David Bouley’s namesake restaurant — just watch out for eight-legged appetizers.” [NYP]
Mediavore
David Chang to Las Vegas? Marco Pierre White Slams Gordon Ramsay“I don’t believe in that whole superstar celebrity-chef thing,” David Chang says in an adoring Times profile. Side note: A Momofuku may indeed open in Las Vegas. [NYT]
Related: The I Chang [NYM]
At a book signing at Borders, Marco Pierre White responds to Gordon Ramsay’s admission that he stole White’s reservation book some years ago: “That just shows what kind of person Gordon is. He’s a liar, a thief, and a huckster.” [Serious Eats]
Related: Batali, Bourdain, and Ramsay Mentor to Finally Take on America? [Grub Street]
Which won’t get in the way of Ramsay’s selling the movie rights to his life story: “I’ve been approached by some amazing guys who see it as a kind of Billy Elliot–style film, only with chef’s whites instead of ballet shoes. The climax will be our young hero picking up his first Michelin star.” We’re already tearing up. [Digital Spy]
Mediavore
McNally Loves Balthazar and Maria Bello; Imus Types Prank Chinese RestaurantKeith McNally talks about Balthazar, where the breakfast service is “absurdly busy” and his last meal would be “on the navel of the actress Maria Bello.” [Mouthing Off/Food & Wine]
More radio morons in hot water: CBS suspends Elvis and JV for pranking a Chinese restaurant, asking for “shrimp flied lice,” making dumb egg-roll jokes, and other old-time, racist vulgarities. [CBS News]
Spain’s El Bulli named top restaurant in the world again. No. 2? The Fat Duck in London. It’s a proud day for molecular gastronomy. [CNN]
Mediavore
San Gennaro Still Hanging; Power to the Deliverymen!The San Gennaro festival is still facing serious opposition from the local community board, which recommends refusing it a permit. [NYT]
The Chinese deliveryman revolution is spreading; it’s a legitimate movement driven by “sheer numbers and … some forceful advocacy groups.” [NYT]
Related: The Heartening Backstory of the Deliveryman Rebellion
One of the Gansevoort Hotel’s co-owners is found to have run a business with ties to a Russian assassin and gang leader. [NYP]
Back of the House
Foodies Fear Not Death; No Drinking and Riding?Number of E. coli victims doubles; Cali green onions probably to blame. [NYT]
Long Island Railroad to curb bar-car pre-parties. [NYP]
After deadly mêlée at the Greenmarket, foodies continue seeking out Fuji apples. [NYDN]
NewsFeed
Don’t Eat the Spinach! (Try These Greens Instead.)In a stunning rebuke to vegetarians everywhere, sinister germ E. coli, known for its frequent appearances in gnarly fast-food hamburgers, has appeared in spinach. The government has quarantined the nation’s supply, but demand hasn’t completely waned. Who besides Bluto (and possibly Wimpy) would be cheered by this crisis? From spanakopita to creamed spinach, it’s one vegetable everybody seems to love.
And so we turn to “At the Greenmarket” writer Zoe Singer, who suggests the following replacements:
