Todd Kliman, food & wine editor
• Having finally figured out acting, George Clooney has decided to tackle a new project: making tequila. George Clooney to launch tequila brand “Casamigos”
• Detroit is ravaged, unemployment’s sky high, the motor industry is wheezing, but no worry–the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well, if this article about authentic bagel baking in the city is to be believed. Young Jews are flocking to Motown in “unprecedented numbers,” according to the Forward. Bringing Real Bagels to the Motor City
• Having finally figured out acting, Drew Barrymore is tackling a new project: wine. The starlet is debuting a new Pinot Grigio, with a label designed by Shepard Fairey of Obama Hope poster fame. Drew Barrymore Goes PG for New Adult Beverage
Ann Limpert, food and wine editor
• This week, I have gotten countless press releases telling me what to drink when Mad Men returns this Sunday. This will not involve, as some have suggested, organic vodka, sundried-pineapple syrup, or a hangover-remedy float (seriously? Draper would fire you on the spot). But in the New York Times, Robert Simonson has the right idea. A Drink as Comfortable as an Old-Fashioned, Don Draper’s Cocktail of Choice
• Is that a sub you’re eating, or is it a wedge, grinder, or dagwood? Depends on where in the country you are. LA Weekly flips through the latest volume of the University of Wisconsin’s Directory of American Regional English and pulls some more interesting food-related lingo. This Maryland native is happy to report she’s never heard anyone call cottage cheese “smearcase.” 3 Ways of Looking at a Sandwich and Other Regionalisms in the Dictionary of American Regional English
Jessica Voelker, online dining editor
• Speaking of smearcase, Bon Appetit’s Andrew Knowlton recently came out as a fan of the stuff, and swears by its compatibility with potato chips. This should come as good news to anyone living in a sorority house, as those are the two foods most likely to be in your kitchen right now. Also, cottage cheese is the food Andrew Knowlton is most embarrassed to like? He probably has a dirty habit of healing the blind, too. Ask the Foodist: What Food Are You Embarrassed to Like?
• On Jezebel, the very funny Lindy West schools us on the zero-cancer-risk lifestyle. “I make it a rule only to eat foods that are 100 percent not strawberries, not rice, not chicken, not any other meat besides chicken, not fried, not grilled, not baked, not roasted, not cooked at all, not from China, and also not from not-China.” At Last: A Foolproof Guide to Cancer-Free Living!
• Marilyn Hagerty reviews Le Bernardin, “considered tops in the Big Apple.” I’m not sure why, but this is the part that stuck with me most: “Second course: octopus. Ryan said he had never eaten it before. I nodded and said, ‘Neither have I. Dig in.'” THE EATBEAT: Elegant food, impeccable service define Le Bernardin
Anna Spiegel, assistant food and wine editor
• Having bought and never (yet) used a salmon poacher, a pizza slicer, and a porrón, I take the New York Times’s point. Must Have Gadgets for the Kitchen? Think Again
• “Wrap a slice of bread around an apple. Delicious.” No description necessary. Just read this. How to Bring Your Lunch to Work: A Guide
• And finally: Squirrels eating bakery products. It’s not just the subject of an article–it’s an entire Tumblr. Squirrels Eating Bakery Products
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.
