Top Chefs Meet Their Meat

Charlie Trotter plans 'sabbatical' after 25 years

(NEWSER) - A Chicago landmark will soon be history. Legendary chef Charlie Trotter is closing his restaurant in August, after a quarter-century of service. It's not a financial matter: "We’ve always been profitable, that’s for sure," he tells the Sun-Times . But Trotter is ready "to put the flag in the sand" and achieve some non-culinary goals, including travel and a graduate degree in philosophy and political theory. More»

Fritos, Cheetos, and donuts, oh my!

(NEWSER) - Even a world-renowned chef sometimes needs a good old-fashioned cheeseburger. Daily Meal got a number of chefs as well as restaurateurs, food critics, and other VIPs in the food world, to admit to their secret food vices. A sampling:

• Mario Batali: "Three things: Really well-made ice cream; really well-made Mexican food—like chips and salsa; and raw shellfish. I could live for weeks on nothing but oysters."
• Bobby Flay: "A cheeseburger with two slices of American, potato chips, and chipotle ketchup." (Another chef even admitted to loving McDonald's cheeseburgers; a third said he likes burgers "if I'm drunk.")

Mark Bittman: It includes better food education for children

(NEWSER) - The US needs a modern version of old-school home ec classes, writes foodie Mark Bittman. "When people cook their own food, they make better choices," he writes in the New York Times . Let's provide food education for kids and cooking classes for any adults who want them, Bittman writes as part of a "food manifesto" for the nation. He's also kicking around something called a Civilian Cooking Corps, but it gets just a mention for now. More»

Humane Society video sparks new battle with farmers

(NEWSER) - A video showing chickens being slammed into metal crates has reignited a battle between the Humane Society and farmers. The footage, shot by an undercover Humane Society volunteer, shows chickens held in battery cages over enormous manure pits and chickens being violently shoved into a euthanizing chamber. "We're asking they not be crammed into cages and crates barely larger than their bodies," says a society rep. More»

Celebrities lead fight against 'torture in a tin'

(NEWSER) - A growing number of British retailers and restaurants have switched from foie gras to faux gras as part of a nationwide move toward politically correct food. Faux gras is made with liver from free-range poultry blended with goose or duck fat, instead of engorged livers from force-fed birds. Consumers seem to like the ethical alternative, with sales at one store surging 60% last year, Grist reports. More»