Hangover edition! Let’s pretend it’s yesterday afternoon, and you’re reading this as we put it up on time.
• Bill Daley continues his oenophiliac world tour along the 45th parallel with a stop somewhere less unexpected than China or the Russian steppes: Oregon’s Willamette valley. The Willamette is a recent but established contender in the “let’s grow French grapes outside of France!” school of winemaking, churning out pinot noirs (pinots noir?) by the bucket. Pop quiz: How surprising is it that hippie/hipster winemakers in Oregon talk a lot about climate change? Answer: not remotely!
• Susan Taylor profiles Sweet Miss Giving’s, a bakery operated by Chicago House that provides employment to homeless and disabled Chicagoans. They don’t have a storefront, but orders can be made online. Meanwhile, our hearts are swelling with compassion and happiness, which is kind of an unfamiliar experience over here.
• Augh, more the world’s most boring food expo. Poor Janet Helm. We’re sure that this was actually not as horrible an experience as all that, but probiotics and omega-3s? Tell it to Gwyneth Paltrow, and pass the bacon.
• Joe Gray does a Q&A; with Cheftestant Radhika (raise your hands if you watched the premiere last night!) Rad apparently lurves her lobster: when Gray asks her what’s best on the menu at Between, she answers “curried lobster bisque, macadamia-encrusted lobster cakes and a warm lobster salad.”
• Heather Lally has some coffee with the Meinls, pere et fils, to discuss the finer points of joe. The conversation here is “edited for space,” and we are dying to know what was left on the cutting room floor.
[Photo: cupcakes from Sweet Miss Giving’s, via their website]
