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- Back in the 1990s, naming a star after a loved one was a strangely popular gift for holidays and birthdays. The 2018 version of this idea is naming a Guy Fieri hair follicle after a loved one. A single hair costs $10, two at a time is $15, and a “constellation” of a few hairs is $20. Each purchase comes with a certificate. The project doesn’t appear to be officially affiliated with Fieri, and it’s unclear what the Platinum Prince thinks of all this.
- It’s March 14, aka Pi Day. Today’s Google Doodle celebrates with a recipe for Dominique Ansel’s salted caramel apple pie.
- 7-Eleven continues to be one of America’s greatest inventions. Locations of the convenience store chain now boast tater tot bars, where customers can apply nacho-style toppings to fried potato nuggets.
- While eating at Junoon, an Indian restaurant in New York City, Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon decided to show off his culinary skills by popping into the kitchen and making some naan.
- The decor at Starbucks in Japan appears to outclass what can be found in the United Sates. This cafe in Kyoto has a stunning dry garden. That would be a nice place to post up with a laptop.
- Trend-spotting: yoga studios inside craft breweries.
- The set designer of “Friends” explains how he built the iconic Central Perk coffee shop.
- California almonds are making a comeback. The tree nut had been struggling in the face of a four-year drought, but now harvests are at record levels.
- Someone is selling fancy shoes that feature soles made of recycled chewing gum. Stepping in used gum while wearing these would be so meta.
- In the age of Donald Trump, stressed-out New York Times columnist Frank Bruni has come to the realization that Italian food traditions, which Bruni previously thought were boring, are actually a nice form of consistency. Alternate headline: The New York Times Discovers Comfort Food. Alternate, alternate headline: Goes to Olive Garden Once.
- Trump, the king of junk food, once tried to force his now former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to eat a salad during a dinner in China. Tillerson reportedly laughed Trump off, and now we know why he was fired.
- Restaurant reservations service OpenTable wants to reward establishments that do good with congratulatory stickers.
- The United States now imports more than half the fruit that is available in supermarket produce sections. “I think it would be a tremendous loss if we weren’t growing a significant percentage of our produce, for reasons having to do both with quality, and with the knowledge of the environment that farmers bring to a society,” author Michael Pollan tells the New York Times.
- Here is a music video, for a Clairo song called “Flaming Hot Cheetos,” in which the artist dances with a human-sized bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
- An IHOP in Maine temporarily shuttered so employees could be retrained after a server asked a table of black diners to pay for their meals in advance.
- Breweries and distilleries are throwing a lot of money into self-driving-car technology. The reason: Autonomous vehicles could reduce drunk driving, which means people could drink more booze.
- Tesla, space-obsessed billionaire Elon Musk’s electric car company, has applied for permits to open a super charger station with a drive-in restaurant in Santa Monica, California. It seems Musk’s nostalgic-meets-futuristic dream is about to become a reality.
- Finally, renowned physicist Stephen Hawking just died at the age of 76. Hero chef José Andrés tweeted a nice tribute.
Dear Stephen Hawking: as im looking at the stars in the direction of a black hole, I know you are flying there happy to find God and the reasons of our existence.Chefs, @ferranadria and I we teach culinary physics because of you. And please send us a message when you get there
— José Andrés (@chefjoseandres) March 14, 2018
