The stuff major life decisions are based upon. Photograph courtesy of Chick-Fil-A.
Ann Limpert, food and wine editor
• New York Post critic Steve Cuozzo pays an opening-night visit to Joanne, the restaurant owned by Lady Gaga’s parents and featuring the cooking of Michelle Obama fave and Art and Soul chef-owner Art Smith. He finds a room that’s “loud as an avalanche,” “calamari like leather,” and “flaccid pasta commonly doled out along Long Island’s Jericho Turnpike.” Not even a Tony Bennett sighting could save the evening. You’ll Gag on the Food at Gaga’s
• This isn’t so insane to me. Cassanova McKinzy Cites Chick-Fil-A in Choosing Auburn Over Clemson
Jessica Voelker, online dining editor
• How do you know when the fancy ice trend has gone too far? When someone steals a hunk from a melting glacier in order to sell it to swanky cocktail bars. Man arrested for stealing glaciers
• “Can’t you see it’s made of chemicals and fat and dead, lost dreams?” Oh my God please do not eat this
• A little late to the table, but I’ll take it. The Saveur editors share the recipes they liked best from last year. The SAVEUR Editors’ Favorite Recipes of 2011
Sophie Gilbert, associate arts editor
• Academics from the University of California, San Francisco, are arguing that sugar should be regulated in the same way alcohol and tobacco are. In which case, forget the late-night Krispy Kreme run. Sugar-buzzed driving is still buzzed driving, y’all. A Spoonful of Bad Health? UCSF Researchers Slam Sugar
• NPR finally cottons on to the fact that mommies have healing powers. In this case, soup. What Heals The World? Soup, Made By Moms
• Mark Bittman is actually happy about something! Finally, Good News About School Lunches
Anna Spiegel, assistant food and wine editor
• It’s nice to have a transporting read at the end of the week, and the details in Bruce Palling’s WSJ piece provide just that. Deep-fried cod belly on a plate of hot pebbles, followed by crunchy lichen, anyone? The Latest in Creative Scandinavian Cuisine
• Speaking of transporting, Philadelphia is closer to Washington than New York and clearly worth a train ride—especially now that there’s fried chicken and fresh-baked doughnuts waiting when you get there. Till the Last Doughnut and Drumstick
• McSweeney’s “Reviews of New Food” is a pretty genius series. In the latest installment, “Buddy Fruits” come under particularly humorous scrutiny. The Tenth Batch, 2012
Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
