Hillary Clinton Professes Love for Mexican Food; Buying Coffee on the Dark Web

Happy Thursday AKA pre-Friday. In today’s food news: the dark web now sells coffee, for some reason; Hillary Clinton professes her love for Mexican food; Chicago chef Rick Bayless will be honored at the Smithsonian; protein beer is hitting it big; and South Korea’s virtual reality cafes look pretty sweet.

— The Darknet is known as a place to buy illegal drugs, guns, and any number of other illicit items — and now, users can buy coffee there. A Russia-based coffee company is now selling its “Chernyi Black” roast via Tor, playing on coffee’s reputation in Russia as a harmful substance that shouldn’t be consumed daily.

— With 11 days to go till Election Day, Hillary Clinton is campaigning hard for that Latino vote. Yesterday she went on Univision’s long-running news show El Gordo y La Flaca to dance a little salsa and profess her love for Mexican food. Is this what they call pandering?

— Forget pumpkin spice lattes and laptops; Seoul has VR cafes where patrons can experience virtual reality games — for free — while getting caffeinated. (The city is also home to drone cafes.)

— The world’s first protein beer (or is that bro-tein?) may soon hit shelves at a store near you: Mighty Squirrel, producer of a craft beer containing four grams of protein per serving, is expanding beyond the Boston area and may even launch its own brewery.

— Chicago-based Mexican food guru and yogi master Rick Bayless just became the second recipient of the Julia Child Award. He’ll be lauded today at an event at the Smithsonian, and will also donate some objects representing his career to the museum’s collection.