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- Taco Bell is bringing back its over-the-top naked chicken chalupa this week. For those who don’t remember, this item consists of chalupa fillings stuffed inside a taco shell-shaped fried-chicken cutlet. This time around, there is a new version that is dressed with something called “wild” sauce, which is described as “bold” and “smokey” — does T-Bell serve anything that falls outside the realm of “bold”?
- Congratulations to the city of London, which will soon have a Taco Bell location to call its own. The chain currently operates 22 locations in the United Kingdom.
- Is this Chipotle’s new guerrilla-marketing strategy to get back on top? A baby was born in one of the chain’s parking lots, so the child received a burrito-themed baby shower. New Chipotle chief executive officer Brian Niccol really is pulling out all the stops.
- Yes, “hangry” is a real emotional state. “When our blood sugars drop, cortisol and adrenaline rise up in our bodies — our fight or flight hormones,” Sophie Medlin, lecturer in nutrition and dietetics from Kings College London, tells the BBC. Apparently the neurons in human brains that trigger hunger are the same ones that trigger anger and rage.
- Well here’s something no one asked for: pickle soft serve. Pickles are good, and soft serve is good. Pickle soft serve sounds like a tough sell, but those who are curious can find it at New York City’s Lucky Pickle Dumpling Co.
- The owner of extremely popular NYC sweet shop Magnolia Bakery wants to take the cupcake chain to 50 new markets, with 200 franchises, over the next few years.
- Here’s a look inside the massive success of restaurateur Stephen Starr, whose most recent opening, Le Coucou in New York City, won the James Beard Foundation award for Best New Restaurant in 2017. “Everything about human nature, I think I learned from being on the boardwalk in Atlantic City,” Starr tells Food & Wine. “I learned to sell. I learned how to market, and I learned what makes people tick.”
- Seattle-based caffeine giant Starbucks is attempting to make inroads in the world’s best coffee culture. The company’s first Italy location, which will set up shop in Milan, has set an opening date for September 2018.
- And finally, fancy restaurants and skateboarders aren’t exactly a match made in heaven, but here are some Michelin-branded Vans sneakers, for some reason. Only 100 pairs are being made, and they can be won via Michelin’s “street tread” contest.
