Celebrity Chef Slapped with Sexual Harassment Suit; Michelle Obama Craved Bread Pudding at SXSW

Election 2016 may be dominating the news cycle these days but there's plenty of food-related news to keep up with as well, including a particularly unsavory sexual harassment lawsuit involving a popular TV chef; Michelle Obama's most recent craving; and Yelp's latest milestone. Read on for more:

— Late yesterday the news that celebrity chef Michael Chiarello had been slapped with a sexual harassment lawsuit hit the internet and Eater SF has all of the awful, graphic details, including the fact that Chiarello told his restaurant managers to employ the following hiring policy: "If you don't want to fuck them, don't hire them."

Update: Chiarello's camp has posted a response to the accusations:

Mr. Chiarello is very upset by the allegations made by two former employees. The allegations are not only upsetting to him, they are also against his core beliefs.

Mr. Chiarello strongly believes that a great restaurant cannot really be great without an outstanding team. Throughout his career, he has served as a mentor to the people who work with him and helped them climb the ladder in their careers. This claim flies in the face of who Mr. Chiarello is and how he has lived his life. Mr. Chiarello is the son of immigrant family, a true American success story, who became the acclaimed chef he is today by using the skills he learned from watching his monther cook when he was a young boy and caring about the people with whom he worked.

We are also disappointed that neither Coqueto nor Mr. Chiarello were provided a copy of the lawsuit prior to the former employees' attorneys sending it to the media. Mr. Chiarello intends to vigorously defend himself, his reputation and his team against these unfounded claims in a court of law.

— Look, it's Donald Trump with egg on his face:

Trump with egg on his face is the creation of NYC/Austin-based artist Jessie Bearden, who frequently makes use of food in her portraits.

— Michelle Obama continues to have excellent taste in restaurants. Last night, while in Austin for SXSW, the First Lady dined at Salty Sow. Apparently she had a craving for the restaurant's bread pudding. Will there ever be a cooler First Lady?

— Portland has a new bakery where one can go to tango, which is just delightful.

— Yelp crossed a milestone this week: The site now boasts over 100 million reviews. In an interview with the Washington Post, CEO Jeremy Stoppelman admits that when he started Yelp he didn't think people would volunteer user reviews without any kind of incentive. What this says about Stoppelman's ability to predict success or failure is a whole different story.

— Finally, a short film showing the makings of a breakfast through the lens of a thermal camera: