Banning Together
A judge ruled that New York mayor Michael Bloomberg cannot ban large sodas. Headline writers responded on cue. The winner: Daily News with, “Suck It!” [Daily Intel] —Shane Harris
Chicago representative Luis Arroyo is pushing a ban on lion meat in the city. Guess someone forgot to explain to him the concept of hakuna matata. [Grub Street] —Tanya Pai
As New York City quibbles over the soda ban, Bon App rounds up other food bans around the country. Who knew margarine was illegal in Wisconsin? [Bon Appétit] —TP
Avoiding That Damn Green Mermaid
If you’ve been looking for the spot in the continental United States where you will be as far a way as possible from a Starbucks, good news. [Seattle Times] —Jessica Voelker
Weird Science
A look at what one UK lab is doing in the name of feeding the world. Get ready for—oh, boy—“in vitro burgers.” [Guardian] —Todd Kliman
HuffPo reports on a supposedly sexual-health-boosting cereal that’s trying to “penetrate the performance-enhancing cereal industry.” (Not a good enough reason to use the word penetrate.) [HuffPo] —TP
Let’s find all the places we can’t buy fresh fruits and vegetables. Yay, food deserts! [The Salt] —SH
Try This at Home
Food & Wine turns 35, celebrates with “fish in crazy water.” [The Bitten Word] —SH
Booze News You Can Use
Boozy. Shamrock. Shake. The three most beautiful words in the English language? [BuzzFeed] —TP
LA Weekly says Japanese whiskey is on the rise. If you want to know why, sub in Yamazaki 12-Year next time you make an Old Fashioned. [LA Weekly] —JV
Pet Projects
Sign of the apocalypse: Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium—a cafe for cats—is set to open in East London. [Time Out London] —TK
Foodie Fashion
Sriracha on my eggs? Tasty. Sriracha on my feet? Questionably tasteful. [The Frisky] —TP
Apocalypse Now
Holy hell, this is a story about a river in China full of dead, diseased pigs. [Grist] —JV
Quinoa: grain of controversy. (Yeah, I never would have believed it, either.) [CJR]/[Bear Witness Pictures] —TK
The Fat Files
I’m glad someone came forward to write this: an essay on the ridiculous romanticism of the Paleo diet. [The New Inquiry] —TK
With the government readying a “national requirement for posted calorie count” in restaurants, some scientists are challenging the efficacy of those counts. [The Salt] —TK
Meaty Reads
Bon Appétit takes a look at seven new novels in which food or dining figures prominently, including Herman Koch’s provocative and funny The Dinner. [Bon Appétit] —TK
Clean Eating
If you’re anything like me, you know an essential tool of dining out is Purell hand sanitizer. Just think of all the germy things you touch before the food even hits the table: The door handle to enter the restaurant, the menu, the little plastic number they give you at the coat check. If I sound obsessive, it’s because the thought of fecal bacteria co-mingling with my $30 scallops really ruins my night. And that’s why I read, with great interest, The New Yorker’s chronicle of the rise of Purell, a.k.a. my life blood. [New Yorker] —Marisa Kashino
Fast Food Nation
Required reading for those of us at 1828 L Street, Northwest—a look at Pret A Manger’s not-so-nice employment policies. [NYT] —TK
Marisa M. Kashino joined Washingtonian in 2009 and was a senior editor until 2022.
