• Bill and Nicolette Hahn Niman takes a look at the why and how of the swine flu H1N1 virus, and the Smithfield Foods facility in Vera Cruz, where it seems to have originated. [The Atlantic]
• As cocktails get more complicated, so do bartenders’ tools. The pros bring their own fancy jiggers, strainers, and muddlers to work with them, like a chef with his or her prized kinves. [SF Gate]
• A whole field of “food prophets” jostle for our attention, but favorites include Michael Pollan, Alice Waters, Morgan Spurlock, and Jessica Prentice. [CoCo Times]
• Christian “Hitsch” Albin, executive chef at the Four Seasons in Manhattan, died this weekend just five days after learning he had cancer. [AP]
• Next up on the list of nutritional bad guys: salt. Some doctors are pushing to make the issue front and center, in an effort to reduce hypertension and heart disease rates. [San Francisco Chronicle]
