The Game, the Food, and the City

This post originally appeared in EIC Amanda Kludt’s From the Editor newsletter, a weekly recap of the most important intel in food and dining each week. Subscribe now.

Headliner: The Game

I come from and happen to be visiting Pats Country this weekend, so both my father and my 10-month-old are wearing Patriots-themed apparel right now. That said, what’s more interesting to me than the Super Bowl tomorrow is a) the food, and b) how the city of Houston has been frantically prepping for the onslaught.

First, the food: Here’s everything you need to know about how fried pickles became a thing at sports bars. The history of potato skins. How wings became the king of all Super Bowl food. What recipes people are searching for, state by state. And Daniela Galarza on the superiority of jalapeño poppers. Want to just read a lot about buffalo wings? We got you.

Meanwhile, in Houston, restaurants have been pleading for more labor in anticipation of the 140,000 fans expected to descend upon the city. And new restaurants are furiously opening their doors in time to greet the hordes of fans. Bobby Heugel just opened his 25-seat cocktail bar Tongue-Cut Sparrow, and Chris Shepherd’s One Fifth, Phillippe Verpiand’s Brasserie du Parc, and Hugo Ortega’s Xochi all came in just under the wire. If you’re going to Houston for the big game, this guide should help.

And one more thing: the 10 best Super Bowl commercials of all time (and a roundup of this year’s ads).

Images courtesy La Dame de Pic

Opening of the Week: La Dame de Pic

Who is behind it? Anne-Sophie Pic, the fourth female chef to attain three Michelin stars and the only woman in France right now to maintain the honor.

What is it? A London outpost of her Paris restaurant La Dame de Pic. At the new location, she’ll serve French food made with British ingredients.

Where is it? Inside the Four Seasons, right near the Tower of London.

When did it open? Last week on January 26th.

Why should we care? Anything Pic does, and especially anything she does outside of her native France, merits close attention. This arrival is especially interesting to me because savvy London diners are becoming increasingly skeptical of big-name outsiders opening London branches of their restaurants when so many homegrown culinary heroes are making headlines and headway of their own.

Bill Addison

Must Reads on Eater

• Intel: Eleven Madison Park is closing this summer for a major renovation; DC’s RJ Cooper is opening a spot in Nashville; the guy who launched Umami Burger and pizza chain 800 Degrees is now on to a noodle and sushi mashup; Danny Meyer’s Daily Provisions opened just yesterday next to Union Square Cafe; Madison Square Garden bought a massive stake in clubstaurant Tao; In-N-Out is coming to Houston; Guy Fieri debuted a new menu at Planet Hollywood in Orlando; Louisville chef Edward Lee is opening a new whiskey bar with a 40-week mentorship program; and Austin chef Philip Speer opened a coffee trailer that hires recovering addicts and donates to a recovery program, three years after his DUI crash.
• This week in do-gooding: 350 coffee shops around the nation are donating a portion of their sales to the ACLU this weekend, an owner of an NYC pizzeria chain has pledged to hire 100 refugees, and Starbucks has pledged to hire 10,000.
• Holy lord this is a gorgeous sandwich (Bill Addison also has a newsletter, if you’d like to subscribe).
• The Los Angeles City Council finally voted to decriminalize street vending, protecting immigrants who would have been vulnerable to deportation.
• A woman dining in California got a $30 “seen rat” discount.
• Our own Lucas Peterson found an incredible couple running a barbecue trailer on a remote and windy hilltop in Hawaii.
• Hooters is launching a new spinoff chain called Hoots, which will employ fully-clothed men and women.
• Here’s what happens when a bunch of chefs in Montreal add things they shouldn’t to poutine.

What to Read Off Eater

• Saveur asked a bunch of architects to weigh in on the structural integrity of famous desserts. Build pastries, not walls. [Saveur]
• I keep meaning to write our version of “Yes, of course food is political. Stop telling us to avoid politics.” Here’s Food52’s, and it’s pitch perfect. [Food52]
• The next version of shapeshifting restaurant Next will be a tasting menu of other famous chefs’ dishes. [Forbes]
• Refugees have emerged as a key labor source for the nation’s slaughterhouses, and about one-third of meat-packing workers are foreign-born. Of course, meatpacking is one of the lowest-paid industrial jobs (no unions), with high turnover rates. [Mother Jones]
• New York chef Anita Lo on why she’s closing her restaurant Annisa after 17 years: “... the day-to-day gets wearing when you don’t have a lot of cushion. And the cushion keeps getting taken away — the government keeps taking more and more and more — and it’s just not worth it anymore.” [Grub Street]