"GrubStreet" news and stories

New York Times and coffee. Photo: The Nickster, Flickr

We reported back in May, along with the rest of the food blogosphere, that Frank Bruni, dining critic for the New York Times, was departing his beat as perhaps the most powerful journalist in the national restaurant scene.

Blogs like Eater, Grub Street and Gawker covered the departure obsessively, and their sadness at the departure of the man some called the Brunz -- or when feeling particularly tender, "King Brunz" -- was palpable.

Now Sam Sifton has stepped into the spotlight and, as editor Bill Keller's memo notes, up to the treadmill. (Bruni wrote about his rigorous workout routine for Men's Vogue). Food writers are already apoplectic about the newcomer: Eater has given the casual "Sifty" a shot, whereas Gawker is far more interested in finding a proper costume for the not-at-all-anonymous Sifton, who has long been the Gray Lady's Culture Editor. No doubt the suggestions of Gawker commenters, which range from Harry Potter to Lenny Dykstra to Anna Wintour, will prove helpful to the new critic.

As per the departure of the Brunificent One, his photo was released to the public this week. Gael Greene quickly tweeted, "Would you trade in your clunker and buy a new car from this man?" Eat Me Daily -- to hilarious effect -- delivered at once.

Latte. Photo: Erin Meister.

On Mondays we tend to need a little more coffee than usual, so we were pleased to discover this profile of Intelligentsia Coffee spokesperson David Latourell.

Aside from some handy tips about locating a good café (something our own CoffeeMeister has ably covered), Latourell opines about the different coffee cultures across America. The chain's Venice Beach, Calif., shop is (no surprise) "laid-back," whereas Chicago coffee culture is a bit more "9 to 5." Latourell also gives credit to San Francisco for re-starting the modern coffee obsession with the opening of a Peet's in the 60s.

So we have to ask: What American city has the best coffee culture?


[Flavorwire via Grub Street]

In 2007, the WHYY program A Chef's Table, was up for a James Beard Award. An acquaintance of mine works as a producer for that show and so I followed the outcome of the awards with a fervor akin to that which my fellow Philadelphians apply to the Eagles. Sadly, Lari and her team didn't win (although they did get a nice dinner out of it).

The 2008 award events were held over this last weekend and this morning the complete list of award winners was available online. I was particularly glad to see that Barbara Kingsolver won for her book on local eating, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Congrats also to Josh Ozersky and Daniel Maurer who write New York Magazine's food blog Grub Street for grabbing the award for Multimedia Writing on Food.

Make sure to check out all the nominees and winners, as there is so much amazing writing, radio and television on that list. It could potentially keep you busy until the awards are announced next year.

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As someone whose second meal yesterday was a late supper at a local sushi bar, preceded by a lunch of a succulent chicken shawarma platter chock full of bits of crunchy skin, the very idea of a near-starvation diet that may increase longevity engenders nothing less than sheer horror.

Adherents of Calorie Restriction follow a diet that leaves their bodies close to starvation in the hopes that such a regimen will radically increase their life span. Or so I learned yesterday after reading a fascinating article about it in this month's New York Magazine.

The author, Julian Dibbell, gives the movement a fair shake. He cites scientific evidence that curtailing caloric intake in mice increases their life span 50 percent. He also makes what I consider a monumental sacrifice by toeing the CR line for two months.

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