Weekly Media Mix: Blogger Jailed Over Critical Review; Olive Oil Fights Heart Disease; And IHOP Expands To The Middle East
Every Friday, The Daily Byte's Weekly Media Mix rounds up some of the week's big food stories.
Politics
• A Taiwanese blogger has been sentenced to spend 30 days in jail after writing a critical restaurant review. [Taipei Times]
• In an act of transparency, the FDA released a "special report" detailing the struggles of regulating imported foods. [Atlantic]
Restaurants
• Top Chef's Mike Isabella opens his "Italian and Jersey-inspired" eatery, Graffiato in D.C. [WaPo]
• Ex-partners Laurent Tourondel and Jimmy Haber gear up for the messy split of their BLT restaurant empire. [NYT]
Health
• Scientists believe they've found a compound in olive oil that fights off heart disease. [Wine Spectator]
• A new Harvard study measures how consuming daily servings of specific foods (like French fries) affects the average person's weight over the course of four years. [WSJ]
Press
• Food & Wine has created a new form of poetry for their upcoming issue — Pieku. [Twitter]
• David Chang and McSweeney's debuts the first issue of their food journal, Lucky Peach. [GS]
Products
• Gama Go releases a knife that is designed to karate chop your food. [Gizmodo]
• Italian scientists have developed software that teaches perfect pasta skills. [BBC]
Industry
• Chipotle pledges to double its use of local produce. [NRN]
• IHOP announces plans to open 40 restaurants in the Middle East, marking its first major international expansion. [HuffPo]
Sports
• Bruins players celebrate their Stanley Cup victory with a $100,000 bottle of champagne. [Boston]
Shame of the Week
• Nineteen San Antonio-area Chick-fil-A restaurants hosted daddy-daughter "date night" this week. While we applaud the chain for encouraging family bonding, calling it "date night" certainly adds a creepy overtone. [My SA]
Video
• Funny or Die parodies the growing segment of our population obsessed with "Yelping." [Funny or Die]
The Daily Byte is a regular column dedicated to covering interesting food news and trends across the country. Click here for previous columns.