Sam Talbot Has a Mystery Suitor; Marco Pierre White Is Still the ManSam Talbot bailed from Spitzer’s Corner because some powerful restaurateur made him an offer he couldn’t refuse, and something big is in the offing. [NYP]
Marco Pierre White’s rags-to-riches memoir continues to inspire struggling cooks on both sides of the Atlantic. [Gothamist]
Related: Batali, Bourdain, and Ramsay Mentor to Finally Take on America? [Grub Street]
A shocking new study reveals that — are you sitting down? — there are more bodegas and fast-food restaurants in Harlem than on the Upper East Side. [NYP]
Beef
Chodorow Blog Lets Slip the Foodies of WarThe Chodoblog’s first two posts just haven’t been enough to sate us. Thanks heavens, then, there are so many comments being posted.
Back of the House
The Travails of the Produce Biz; A Rebuke to Our Rachael Ray DefenseAn inside look at what restaurants’ produce suppliers go through and the razor’s edge their business turns on. [NYT]
Nina Lalli believes that we were wrong to defend Rachael Ray, who, she says, just throws fatty food at the masses, with no care for their well-being. [VV]
Joël Robuchon has confirmed that he’s going to open a restaurant in Chicago; now it looks like Alain Ducasse will be doing the same. If, as some speculate, Ducasse never reopens here, we may actually end up behind Chicago in something. [Chicago Sun-Times]