• Regarding the booming popularity of coconut water, and how it came to happen. Hint: It's all about the yoga chicks. [Slate] • Virgin CEO Richard Branson just made an undisclosed but "multimillion" dollar investment in SF-based Square, the company...
Also, the NYT pays tribute to Chez Panisse's menus.
• There's been slightly less nightclub-related and nightclub-adjacent violence this year in S.F., and that may be due to the fact that the Entertainment Commission has greater power now to revoke permits when violence occurs. [Chron] • Prince Harry dropped...
• After no small bit of turmoil this year, Groupon launched their IPO today, and share values have already shot up about 40%. [NY Mag, Chicagoist, Earlier] • A roundup of kid-friendly restaurants that will be serving Thanksgiving dinner. [7x7]...
• Pacific Brewing Laboratories (Pac Brew Lab), a nano-brewery operating out of a garage at 5th and Clara in SoMa, is about to expand, and tonight will be their last open tasting night at the garage. [LiveSoMa] • Boccalone, at...
• Those rules about nudists covering their genitalia before being seated in restaurants and putting a towel down before sitting on public benches were approved by the Board of Supervisors yesterday. [Examiner, Earlier] • As part of Chinese Food Week...
• An innocent young woman dresses as Mr. Pickle (of Mr. Pickle's Sandwich Shop's sidewalk icon fame) for Halloween, gets lambasted by Mission-focused website for inauthenticity. [Uptown Almanac] • Leave it to Salon to totally ruin Halloween candy for everyone;...
• Losing weight can be contagious! A new study from Stanford University finds that relatives of people who undergo bariatric (stomach-stapling) surgeries tend also to adopt healthier eating habits and lose three percent of their body weight. [Tribune] • More...
• Polk Street has become a bit of a "Moroccan hub," and the Chron profiles three restaurants there, Aicha, Tajine, and Café Zitouna. [Chron] • 30-year-old Donut Alley in Larkspur, always trying to keep up with trends, is contemplating launching...
• Yelp says they can put the extortion claims behind them now, because a federal judge has thrown out the class-action suit against them, for good. However there still may be another one brewing in Texas. [SF Biz Times, Earlier]...
• The producers of a new reality dating show are on the hunt for a heterosexual male chef, restaurateur, or "serious foodie" to be cast in a lead role to find the woman of his dreams. The pitch was clearly...
• Young local fashion designer Cari Borja has designed an entire collection inspired by Chez Panisse, or the vegetables she saw while working there, or something. [Chron] • A fruit seller in the Haight got attacked Sunday by a parolee...
• The Chron Food & Wine section did a taste test of different brands of candy corn, and they say Jelly Belly is the best and has "a nice waxy chew." [Chron] • A Q&A with Bottle Cap bar manager...
• Anthony Bourdain talks with the Mercury News about the food scene in California — where, as Jonathan Gold says, eating is a "counter-cultural activity" — in advance of his appearance at the Paramount Theater in Oakland tonight. It looks...
• A look at the early morning workings of Dynamo Donuts, and their new Halloween flavors. [The Feast] • Monica Martinez of Don Bugito is all over the news this week, and now she's the subject of the cover piece...
• Regarding Wicked Grounds, the little café for the BDSM community that closed last week in SoMa, and what a huge loss this is for the "queer and kinky" of San Francisco. [SF Weekly] • Zagat Buzz hits up Canela,...
• The James Beard Foundation has put out the official call for nominations for the 2012 awards, and (sign o' the times) this year there is a new Outstanding Bar Program category. [JBF via Scoop] • In an effort to...
• The Board of Supervisors and Mayor Ed Lee continue to try to reach an agreeable compromise — and one that won't enrage the restaurant community — regarding those healthcare set-aside funds and how soon a restaurant can re-pocket unused...
• A hot dog vendor in San Jose is accused of selling guns and drugs from his hot dog stand to undercover federal agents. He says he's innocent. [CBS, NBC] • SFoodie has begun a series in which they're interviewing...
• More reason only to eat grass-fed local beef!: A SoCal meat company has recalled almost 380,000 pounds of ground beef in circulation in California and Nevada that may be tainted with E. coli. [Chron] • Zuni is expecting a...