Tanya Pai, deputy managing editor
• In a truly impressive (and mildly disturbing) display of gluttony, Food52 challenges Serious Eats to a cherpumple-off. Don’t know what a cherpumple is? Allow me to enlighten you. The Cherpumple-Off: Food52 Vs. Serious Eats
• Those awesome futuristic soda dispensers may soon include booze options—a fact that will in no way help my weird obsession with them. Coca-Cola Freestyle Machines May Soon Include Booze
• And in things I was unaware of, apparently “doughnut hole,” until now, did not appear in the OED. Oxford English Dictionary’s New Food Word Additions Include “Frankenfish,” “Locavore”
Jessica Voelker, online dining editor
• Sure, mojitos are labor-intensive, but it’s all relative. What happens if the Ramos Gin Fizz gets super trendy? No more mojitos!
• Lindy West is right about this. I Know You’re Mad at Chick-fil-A, But Stop Taking It Out on Fat People
• A deliberation of Kierkegaardian proportions at the fixins bar: One Anxiety Attack, Hold the Fries
Sophie Gilbert, associate arts editor
• New Yorker contributor Atul Gawande explores the Cheesecake Factory as a microcosm for capitalism itself. His thesis is long; most surprising is how much he seems to enjoy his dinner there, in a self-conscious, New Yorker-y way. “As for the food—can I say this without losing forever my chance of getting a reservation at Per Se?—it was delicious.” Big Med
• No one knows why Newsweek went for that absurd porn-y asparagus shot when they could have used this great image instead. Eric Ripert sandwiched between the Sydney Opera House and the Statue of Liberty FTW. Newsweek’s ‘101 Best Places to Eat in the World’ Gives Recommendations From 53 Chefs
• The Guardian offers a few insider tips when it comes to photographing food, and admits “things shouldn’t look too perfect these days.” My tips? Use heavy Instagram filtering, and turn on a light. Food photography: the tricks of the trade
Anna Spiegel, assistant food and wine editor
• These have been pretty darn amazing: Watch as Yet Another Actor Reads a Real Yelp Review.
• “Restaurants are not intent on annoying people.” The New York Times takes on obscure versus accessible vino: Should a Wine List Educate or Merely Flatter You?
• And while we’re reading the Times, a delightfully scathing review of Michael White’s new East Village pizza joint, Nicoletta. Pizza “resembles the September issue of Vogue” and mozzarella is “ankle deep.” Eater NY, we’re hoping you’ll give this one the Sifton-cat treatment. An Empire Stretches Its Dough
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.
