Irradiation, Jell-O, Candy Bingeing, and Other Food News

Starting local, Nancy Leson gets two scoops this week: 1. Trader Vics closes, to be replaced by a restaurant named Pearl. 2. Fremont's Asteroid Cafe closes, done in by its larger surroundings. When asked if her blind item about the new restaurant space Asteroid owner Marlin Hathaway was negotiating to take over was Sitka & Spruce, Leson only blew electronic kisses.

Love Food? Think Twice Before Jumping In by Michele Maynard (NY Times): Please send a copy of this story to every lawyer or English professor you know who dreams about starting a restaurant. Then wait three weeks and send it again.

Why You Should Avoid Raw Salmon by Jon Rowley (Gourmet.com): Our local seafood guru spies salmon tartare on menus and warns: Eat it at your own risk (of developing a tapeworm, that is). I have a friend who loves to jokes about using tapeworms to lose weight. Having seen this YouTube video, I think I'll stick to bicycling.

FDA Is Allowing Radiation to Be Used to Kill Deadly Bacteria on Spinach and Iceberg Lettuce by Andrew Schneider (P-I): This has been in the works for ages, so no surprise that it's gone through. A friend who conducts microbiology research and who is an avid cook thinks the paranoia over irradiation is ridiculous. While he may be right, I suspect irradiation will be used to correct for all manner of awful farming practices.

A Little Jiggle From Down South by David Hagedorn (Washington Post): First Jell-O shooters returned to fashion. Now someone's making good on all my jokes about the return of the Jell-O salad to the realm of gastronomically approved dishes. What's next? Cool Whip?

M&Ms as Diet Food? by Susan Brink (LA Times): Those 100-calorie mini packs of sweets? They tend to inspire bingeing.

Rocco DiSpirito, continuing his downward trajectory from hallowed chef to snide joke, signs on for Dancing With the Stars.

Lastly, perhaps the most disquieting cooking video I've yet posted: