Ex-Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz Brews Up More Speculation of a Presidential Run

• Howard Schultz, the billionaire former Starbucks chief executive officer, is once again stirring speculation that he may be planning a run for President of the United States. Schultz will embark on a book tour next year, and Axios notes it feels like the early stages of a political operation: “Schultz, 65, will hit the road to promote his book that’ll come out February 12, with the campaign-y title: From the Ground Up: A Journey to Reimagine the Promise of America.” Axios reports there may be room for only one corporate titan in the 2020 Democratic primary, and that slot could come down to a contest between Schultz and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
• Kudos to this kewl mom who, per People, threw her 1-year-old a totally out-of-bounds Guy Fieri-themed birthday party. Do toddlers like donkey sauce?
• Some clever inmates at an Irish prison recently ordered Chinese food delivery via drone, according to Munchies. “There’s no other conceivable way a Chinese takeaway could get into the prison other than by a drone,” a prison source tells Dublin Live. “Prison staff were left scratching their heads as to how it got there and a drone was the only possible explanation. It goes to show inmates will go to great lengths to get what they want.”
• Church’s and Popeyes are both going after enthusiasts of state fairs. Both fried-chicken chains are now selling deep-fried Oreos, reports Food Beast.
• Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who has been accused of sexual assault by multiple women, once reportedly got in a bar fight because he thought a fellow patron was the lead singer of ’80s reggae-pop band UB40. The Late Show has now provided the world with a Kavanaugh-themed remix of UB40’s biggest hit, “Red, Red Wine.”

Late Show host Stephen Colbert spent the first two-and-a-half minutes of his Tuesday-night monologue discussing this stereotypically college 1980s bar fight.

• It’s October, which means spooky food and drink specials are on the menu at big restaurant chains. Applebees is taking a page from Starbucks with its latest dollar-booze item, pouring up a “zombie cocktail,” according to People. This neon-blue beverage is reportedly made with rum, passion fruit, pineapple, cherry, and lime, and it’s topped with a “gummy brain candy” and served in a 10-ounce mug.
• A new selection of emoji, including food options such as bagel, salt shaker, and cupcake, is coming to iPhones with the iOS 12.1 software update, reports CNBC.
• For Mic, Devra Ferst profiles the “smartest women in restaurants” who are working to change the industry in the #MeToo era.
• An activist investor is encouraging Papa John’s to stop fighting with its disgraced founder, Papa John, according to the Wall Street Journal. “We want to get back to the business of selling pizza and away from the business of dealing with controversy,” says Ted White, a managing director of Legion Partners Asset Management LLC.
• Finally, the Takeout examines whether man’s best friend prefers homemade dog food, made with recipes from Feed Me: 50 Home Cooked Meals for Your Dog, to the stuff that can be bought in a supermarket. It turns out Fido enjoys the gourmet chow, but not much more than store-bought food.