• Now that you’ve stopped eating mercury-laden bluefin tuna, get ready to part with Chilean salmon. A virus is wiping out millions of the fish that would otherwise be headed for the U.S. If the unsanitary conditions the fish live in won’t make you stop eating it, then the inevitable price increase will. [NYT]
• The inventor of McDonald’s classic Egg McMuffin has passed away at the age of 89. [AP]
• The cheese-mongers have spoken: Switzerland’s Gourmino Gruyère was selected from 2,000 different varieties at the 27th Biennial World Championship Cheese Contest as the finest cheese. The only place it can be purchased in the U.S. is Murray’s Cheese, which, by the way, will be spawning mini-franchises across the country soon. [Insatiable Critic]
• Though Grant Achatz was seriously considering bringing his beloved restaurant Alinea to Manhattan, he decided against it because he couldn’t promise the city anything more than a “knockoff” of the Chicago venue. But there’s some hope: “I expect we will open in New York eventually. I love the city.” [Feed/TONY]
• The delicious croissants at Rheon Café are formed by robotic machines, which apparently makes the product soft, not metallic-tasting. [NYT]
• For the Century Association, a 160-year-old social club, the search for a replacement for their perfect macaroon-maker is nothing short of an epic quest. [NYT]
• A 62-year-old deliveryman was arrested for fondling a Bedford-Stuyvesant woman’s breasts and then running off. [NYP]
• Downtown frat destination the Village Pourhouse plans to open an uptown outpost in May for those poor, bored Columbia students who have nothing to do. [Feed/TONY]
• Frank Bruni’s love-hate relationship with Centovini is really getting the best of him. [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
• Like many a chef these days, Market Table’s Mike Price would like the trend of “culinary chemistry” to go away already. [Restaurant Girl]
