The Feed: October 23, 2013

The Feed is my weekly round up of interesting food-related stories from newspapers, magazines, blogs and websites.

New York Times Magazine: "Food & Drink Issue: The Octopus That Almost Ate Seattle," by Marnie Hanel.
Sunday's New York Times Magazine, its annual food and drink issue, had a lot of interesting stories focused on the restaurant business. I particularly enjoyed the pictoral search for acceptable glassware and cutlery for the forthcoming reopening of Tavern on the Green. But this story about hunting giant Pacific octopus was my favorite. It identifies an interesting conundrum: Seattlites are happy to dine on exotic octopus but are so turned off by the sight of it being hunted that they've moved to protect it, despite it being in no way "endangered."

Washington Post: "Weeknight Vegetarian: Bowl win," by Joe Yonan.
When fall vegetables arrive, a lot of recipes call for roasting them in casseroles, often with a lot of other heavy ingredients like cheese and cream. Lately, I've been taking a different approach and enjoying them in grain bowls like this bulgur with butternut squash or this mixed rices with sweet potatoes. Evidently, Joe Yonan's been on the grain bowl kick lately too, sharing a recipe forChimichurri-Pumpkin Bowl from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's vegan cookbook.

Sippity Sup: "Prime Thyme Emmy Time Cocktail," by Greg Henry.
The Boys Club featured the Prime Thyme cocktail this week, a refreshing drink Henry created in honor of this year's Emmy Awards. I'm no stranger to creating cocktails inspired by television orawards shows, so I really love this. Even cooler: his book, Savory Cocktails, was apparently included in this year's Emmy gift bag. Nice.

Love and Lemons: "Kale Stem Pesto," by Jeanine Donofrio.
As I was prepping kale for my salad last night--carefully removing the leafy parts from the stems and tossing the stems in the trash--I thought it was a shame I didn't have a good use for the stems. Too bad I didn't read Love and Lemons' post first. She saves the stems and makes pesto, an ingenious idea.

Wall Street Journal: "Burning Question: Do people really taste wine differently?" by Heidi Mitchell.
The answer, it seems, is likely "yes," and Mitchell provides a thoughtful answer to this question, discussing how our different reactions to a key taste--bitter--may play an important part, as well as a learned appreciation for the stinging sensation from spicy or fermented foods.

Tyler Cowen's Ethnic Dining Guide: "Lines are overrated, and totally empty restaurants are underrated," by Tyler Cowen.
Finally, someone else who, like me, finds ridiculous the trend of restaurants having their patrons wait outside in a long line before they can eat. Cowen also argues persuasively that just because a restaurant is empty isn't a sign it's a bad place. There may be other reasons for it.