Each week, when SmartBrief editors comb through food and restaurant coverage to bring you the most useful, relevant and interesting stories, we have to pass up some quirky tales that don’t quite fit. On Friday, we get a chance to share.
Among this week’s highlights: a New Yorker documents the passing of a bagel institution, scientists reinforce the weighty dangers of too many chips, Eater cracks on flash-in-the-pan restaurant concepts, and a chef gets grief when he charges for environmentally friendly treated tap water.
- In “The State of the Bagel,” New York Times writer Clyde Haberman shares the grief of many and the joy of some that West Side institution H & H Bagels has closed, as well as the many ways New Yorkers found to share their opinions on who truly makes the city’s best bagels.
- It’s no secret that chowing on chips and fries tends to pack on the pounds, but a study from the New England Journal of Medicine says snacking on fried potato treats can contribute more to weight gain over time than indulging in many other foods, including cake and doughnuts.
- Inspired by last week’s shutdown of 2-month-old Soul Daddy restaurants, Eater compiled a list of 10 short-lived, blink-and-you-missed-them New York City restaurants, only one of which made it a whole year.
- Canada’s brewers are moving beyond whiskey and beer to turn out sake that they say rivals the original rice wine from Japan, The Globe and Mail reported.
- Australian chef Mark Best spent $6,000 on a system that let him replace eco-unfriendly bottled water with carbonated tap water at Marque Restaurant in Sydney, according to Reuters, but charging $5.30 per glass sent anger bubbling up among patrons, even with unlimited refills.
- Sturgeon might be a protected species, but who’s protecting boaters along Florida’s Suwannee River from its unpredictable — and sometimes dangerous — antics?