"WashingtonPost" news and stories

Today, the Washington Post published an article discussing the effect of the economy on area restaurants. It's not a pretty story. Not only do ingredients cost more, but people are eating at home more often than they used to. There's no question that fine dining restaurants are suffering, and that they're adjusting their menus and business strategies to cope.

On the flip side, however, the article mentioned that some less expensive restaurants are actually doing well. Personally, I think I'm in the camp of people going out less frequently, but still attending the restaurants that I would ordinarily attend. I'd rather save up for a few nice meals than eat out regularly at places that I don't love. Check out the article if you have a minute, and let us know what you think!

Source

Do you consider yourself a pizza lover? A specialist of sauce? A connoisseur of cheese?

Can you express your love for pie in poem form?

The Washington Post wants your pie-kus, written in - you guessed it - haiku form (which, for those of you who weren't paying attention in fifth grade, is an un-rhyming poem consisting of three lines: The first is five syllables, the second is seven, and the third is five.

Get your creative juices flowing, because the deadline is April 30. E-mail your poem to food@washpost.com with "PIE-KU" in the subject line, or send it to: Pie-Ku Contest, c/o Joe Yonan, Food Section, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071. Make sure you include your full name, address and telephone number.

Good luck, my pizza-loving poets.

Source

We don't usually hear or read too much about food cart vendors. You know the ones - everyone has grabbed lunch from them at some time or another - whether in an unfamiliar city with no immediate restaurant choices, on a quick break from a long meeting, food cart meals are the original "go-to meals," before the term "go-to meal" even existed.

But the anonymity of vendors has changed this week, as articles appeared in both The New York Times and The Washington Post about the food carts and the businesspeople who run them.

In New York, Latin food vendors who have served the players and fans at Brooklyn's Red Hook soccer fields for the past 33 years faced being ousted from their spots if the Department of Parks and Recreation succeeded in "regulating" its permit process. In the end, the vendors were all allowed to stay and were issued a new six-year permit. But despite vendor fees remaining about the same (about $10,500 per year), reps of the vendors worry that the permit's new rule of standardizing equipment will mean vendors paying hefty fees for updated ovens and plumbing.

In D.C., vendors are feeling similar pressure, but for a different reason: instead of cutting back, D.C. wants to expand, but not among the current food options. Instead, citing surveys of citizens who say they want a larger food selection, the city is opening up the market to companies like Zipcar, an electric car company that wants to expand into gourmet and healthy food vending.

Source

A couple of jobs ago, I had a co-worker who had a book that featured images of toy chicks, posed in a variety of ways and in a bunch of different scenarios. The Washington Post recently held a contest with a similar result in mind. Create a diorama in a sideways shoebox (or other appropriately sized vessel) in which Peeps are costumed and and posed in ways that tell a story.

They've put the top 22 dioramas into a slide show on their website and they are all fantastic and hysterical. The winner is a scene entitled, "Peeps are a Girl's Best Friend" and features a yellow Peep dressed up a Marilyn Monroe. Others include a scene featuring Batman and Robin and shower scene in which one Peep is peeping at another Peep.

Thanks Roz!

Source

We've been waiting for some time now for Fast Food Nation, the theatrical version of Eric Schlosser's popular book from about 5 years ago, to hit theaters. Fortunately, we don't have to wait much longer as the release date is November 17th.

The Washington Post has an interview with Schlosser and director Richard Linklate, who co-wrote the loosely adapted and fictionalized screenplay with Schlosser. Instead of only taking questions from an interviewer, however, they opened the floor to some curious readers from around the country so that they could ask their own questions about what went into making the film and what issues Schlosser has had to deal with since writing the original book. For example, one wants to know how many lawyers they needed to "cover-their-ass," while another wants to know if Schlosser has seen any big changes since the first publication of the book.

The interview doesn't offer as much food for thought as the book, but it's still enough to whet the appetitie for the movie's premier.

Source