Photo: stevendepolo/Flickr
LOCAL BITES
Sugar Rules (Pun Intended)
Sugar rules the behavior and health of more Americans than we care to admit. It is time to regulate? Tom Ashbrook of On Point speaks with Robert Lustig, professor of clinical pediatrics at UCSF, food writer and NY Times columnist Mark Bittman and economist Art Carden of Rhodes College in a heated debate. 373 comments at the time of this writing. Read more, and listen in.
Mad about Mad Men?
Then grab your fedora or string of pearls and head to Blue on Highland on March 8, 6-8 PM, to celebrate the return of the hit series. Co-authors Judy Gelman and Peter Zheutlin (they’re local! From Needham!) of The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook will be there to meet and greet you, and sign your copy ($16.95 that evening). The event is free (RSVP to press@blueonhighland.com), and includes complimentary passed hors d’oeuvres. Mad Men episodes will run in the background.
Meaty Issues
On March 9-10, the Museum of Science will examine the issues surrounding sustainable meat. Grass-fed or grain-fed? Can you really taste a difference? Can planet-healthy meat feed us all? The series will showcase a four-course sustainable meat dinner prepared by Russell House Tavern’s Chef Michael Scelfo, the chefs at Le Cordon Bleu, and Whole Foods Market’s R&D Chef Todd Schiller, plus a screening of the film American Meat and discussions with the experts, farmers, and distributors.
Resto Week Returns
Mark your calendars and bookmark Open Table: Boston Restaurant Week begins March 18. (FYI: polenta will be back on the menu at Amelia’s Trattoria!)
Barbara Lynch & Menton Make the Grade
Chef Barbara Lynch’s two-year-old, French-inspired restaurant Menton of Ft. Point Channel has been named a Grand Chef Relais & Châteaux property, the first and only in the city of Boston. With this unique distinction, Lynch joins an élite group of 19 chefs in North America and 161 chefs worldwide who have been awarded the title of “Grand Chef.” Menton’s Facebook page features an interview with Lynch about the award.
NATIONAL TREATS
Get Inspired: Food for Change
Serious Eats has introduced a new feature profiling organizations dedicated to improving food access. These stories are so inspiring! Boston’s own The Food Project has made the list of five.
Major Tom to Ground Control: ‘Send Tabasco!’
From NPR’s The Salt, scientific inquiry into why astronauts crave fiery food when they’re in space.
The Story of Sushi: It’s Big, and Small
As reported by Huff Post Food, this video created for Bamboo Sushi in Portland, OR, is a call to action against the current fishing practices that source our sushi bars nationwide. It’s a sobering message, artistically wrought.
Moxie
A restaurant called Mozzeria, run by a deaf couple, has opened up in San Francisco’s Mission Hill district. Mozzeria is a family affair and has become a kind of “beacon for the Bay Area’s close-knit deaf community.” The San Francisco Chronicle covers this couple’s story and the technologies they use to serve their clientele, both hearing and non-hearing.
GLOBAL TASTINGS
The ‘Rambo’ of Food Crops
This BBC report out of Africa chronicles just how critical cassava is to a traditional African diet, outperforming crops such as maize, beans and millet in poor growing conditions stemming from climate change.