KFC Invades Tibet; Whole Foods Hires Momofuku Alum

Colonel Sanders is headed to the Himalayas, of all places. KFC will open its first store in Tibet in January, a two-story behemoth occupying nearly 6,000 square feet (about twice the size of the average KFC location) in the capital city of Lhasa. While Tibet is currently home to "hardly any foreign business," the fast food chain is intended to cater to a recent surge of tourism from China. KFC is also building a gigantic frozen storage in the Lhasa suburbs, with intentions to litter the region with more buckets of fried chicken and mashed potatoes.

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The prepared foods section at your local Whole Foods may be about to get a bit more exciting: The bourgeois grocer just hired an alum of David Chang's Momofuku empire as its very first vice president of culinary and hospitality. Tien Ho's resume includes a stint at Má Pêche, where he snagged the title of best new chef for 2011 from New York Magazine. "Hiring Tien is a signal that Whole Foods may view ramping its prepared foods as a way to propel the company out of its slump," says Forbes. Tien "plans to partner with more local chefs to bring their cuisine into the stores."

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While eating horse is widely accepted in other countries including France, here in America most people — not to mention animal rights groups like PETA — don't look too kindly on eating equines. But could horse meat find its way into the U.S. food supply anyway? While horse slaughter is illegal in the U.S., more than 100,000 horses are shipped out of the country annually to be killed, after which point the meat can potentially "sneak into the backdoor of any nation’s—and thus any company’s—food supply." Bottom line: When eating purported 'exotic' meats such as bison, wise diners should be wary of the meat's origins.

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The New York Times examines the big impact online reviews can have on small businesses, noting "studies show that consumers overwhelmingly choose businesses based mainly on star ratings. Even a decline of one star, on a scale from one to five, can hurt revenue and send a business into a slide." How can restaurateurs and other business owners fight back against negative comments and low star ratings on sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor? By keeping a close eye on review sites, and "apologizing and asking for another chance" when a negative review crops up.

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