At a Nathan’s hot-dog-eating contest qualifier in Phoenix, American Joey Chestnut shatters the world record set by Takeru “the Tsunami” Kobayashi. [NYP]
In a rare critic-on-critic showdown, Frank Bruni comes down hard on Il Brigante, whose pizza the Voice’s Robert Sietsema called “the city’s most perfect evocation of the true Naples style.” Hardly, Bruni says. “Nothing about this pizza argued strongly for a trip outside your own neighborhood.” [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
Related: New Restaurant Not Just for Lonely Mountain People [Grub Street]
A critical roundup of the city’s lobster rolls decrees Ed’s Lobster Bar “the world’s best.” [NYP]
Related: Consider the Lobster Roll [NYM]
Harvey Weinstein and Giuseppe Cipriani each have a piece of Socialista, the West Village lounge recently opened by the former doorman of Bungalow 8. [NYP]
A man catches a 43-pound bass in Far Rockaway — then brings it home to Bed-Stuy on the subway. [Gothamist]
Boxed wine is no longer synonymous with vile swill. [NYDN]
Dutch scientists are attempting to grow pork in a lab. “I can imagine that some people will have problems with it,” the scientist behind the project says. “People might think it is artificial.” [Scientific American]
The birth of the Haute Barnyard movement is carefully reconstructed in a new book about Alice Waters and her Berkeley restaurant Chez Panisse. [NYT]
Related: The Haute Barnyard Hall of Fame [Grub Street]
