- Rapper, actor, restaurateur, and Cheesecake Factory aficionado Drake is a pretty good guy. Last week, Drizzy stopped by a Miami supermarket and bought groceries for everyone in the store. He even helped customers with their shopping. The final bill was almost $50,000.
- Poultry giants Tyson Foods, Perdue Farms, Pilgrim’s Pride, Koch Farms, and Sanderson Farms are facing lawsuits over allegations that the companies have colluded to inflate prices on broiler chickens. Grocery retailers and food distributors claim Big Chicken has been engaged in price-fixing since 2008.
- Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond is shooting yet another season of her down-home Food Network series, and boy, she sure knows her audience. “I started filming a new season of Pioneer Woman today, and I’m excited!” Drummond said in an Instagram post. “I made sure to get up at 4:30 a.m. so I could read my bible, make myself an extra large coffee, find my favorite lip gloss and locate my elastic waist jeans, because Lord knows I’m gonna need ’em all.”
- P-Dub’s biggest fanatics may be Americans from the Midwest and South, but she can count Great British Bake Off winner Ruby Tandoh as a fan, too. Tandoh also loves another stateside food celebrity: Guy Fieri, the fashion icon and human bowling shirt mannequin himself. “I watch a lot of food TV though — I find it soothing and infuriating in equal measure,” the reality TV star-turned-cookbook author says. “I love Ree Drummond’s strange fantasy ranch life, and I love Guy Fieri’s over-the-top enthusiasm and Nigella’s specific brand of whimsy.”
- It’s been 34 years since one of the greatest single achievements in American culinary history.
This week 34 years ago Scattered, Smothered & Covered debuted on the menu. We're celebrating with a double order today! #tbt #WHhistory #WHarchives pic.twitter.com/jZBPeSY6ZU
— Waffle House (@WaffleHouse) February 8, 2018
- Ever watch Gordon Ramsay’s verbal abuse of fellow chefs and think, “Gee, it would be fun to be on the receiving end of that”? There’s a new Alexa skill for Amazon’s line of Echo devices that allows fans to bring Ramsay’s shouting and insults into their own kitchens.
- Since sugary soft drinks are going out of fashion, PepsiCo wants a slice of the sparkling water market that lately has been dominated by LaCroix. The new line of beverages, called Bubly, will come in eight flavors with peppy, colorful packaging (sounds familiar). Time will only tell if loyal LaCroix bois around the world will consider changing brands.
- Yes, Barb did deserve better.
thanks guys pic.twitter.com/4EnZOEyZvf
— Shannon Purser (@shannonpurser) February 7, 2018
- Whoops, chefs for the Norwegian Olympic team in South Korea screwed up the translation of a breakfast order and wound up with 15,000 eggs, 10 times more than the 1,500 they actually wanted. Who wants an omelet?
- Toronto has a new dining critic. Wall Street Journal alum Jason Chow will review restaurants for the Globe and Mail.
- Chile has gotten rid of junk food mascots such as Tony the Tiger and Chester Cheetah in an effort to fight obesity. The Chilean health ministry claims three-quarters of the country’s population is overweight or obese.
- Take a look inside the world’s oldest restaurant, where the same fire has supposedly been burning for nearly 300 years.
- Dunkin’ Donuts is finally making a move to eliminate styrofoam packaging. The doughnut and coffee chain plans replace all foam cups with paper versions by 2020.
- From the New Yorker: “Welcome, everybody, to the Four Loko brewery tour. Right through these doors is where the world’s favorite malt beverage that the F.D.A. once described as ‘liquid hopelessness in a can’ is lovingly crafted by our brewmasters!”
- Finally, here’s celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck cooking a Valentine’s Day dinner on the Late Show.