Whoopie pies, the foodie social network and Washington’s state beverage

Every week, Restaurant SmartBrief editors scour the Internet for the breaking news and best-practices stories that restaurant owners and managers need to make their businesses smarter. However, every week, hundreds of fascinating food, beverage and restaurant stories don’t make the cut. Here are a few of my favorite stories from the past week that didn’t make the newsletter:

• Eatocracy explains why chefs hate foodies.
• A primer on starting a food concession business, thanks to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
• Foodily, the social network for foodies. Video and more on the Los Angeles Times’ Technology blog.
• Budget schmudget. Maine’s legislature will decide if whoopie pies should be the official state dessert, according to NPR.
• Do you love coffee? Do you love coffee enough to make it the official Washington state beverage? Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s Wine Blog and The News Tribune’s Peter Gallaghan discuss the issue.

Image via Andyd on iStockphoto.