Piven: Stop Making Fun of Me!

Please don't take your shoes off, smear food on yourself

(NEWSER) - Ever wonder how that celeb behaves at the corner table you got muscled out of? The Frisky lists misbehaving A-listers who have been kicked to the D-list by restaurants:

• Jeremy Piven: Left an Entourage DVD for a tip at an Aspen sushi joint, along with a snide "Thanks for nothing" as he departed.

Filmmakers go undercover to find illegal whale meat

(NEWSER) - The makers of The Cove, the Oscar-winning documentary about dolphin killing in Japan, have aimed their cameras closer to home in a sting to expose illegal whale meat served at a California sushi joint. The operation began in October, when they heard rumors that the Hump, a Santa Monica restaurant, was selling the endangered Sei whale. After identifying the meat and alerting federal authorities, the filmmakers decided to revisit the restaurant when they were all in town for the Oscars, the New York Times reports. More»

Endangered tuna yields to farmed variety, humbler fish

(NEWSER) - As bluefin gets ever closer to extinction and governments mull a ban on international trade in the prized tuna, some restaurants are taking it off the menu. Others are sticking with the old favorite because it's what customers expect, but converts embrace the change. “It forces me to be much more creative,” one chef tells the Boston Globe . “In my experience, if you stick to what you actually believe in, people will follow you.” More»

Celery, seaweed could work wonders for your diet

(NEWSER) - The usual admonitions we hear at this time of year about eating right are probably going in one ear and out the other, so perhaps these unusual health-food suspects from Men’s Health will catch your attention as you prepare that New Year’s resolution.

• Celery: Its phytochemicals are thought to lower blood pressure. Bonus: It’s great in Bloody Marys.
• Seaweed: High in potassium and calcium, which lower blood pressure. You’re most likely to see it wrapped around sushi.

Anal seepage among pitfalls of escolar, aka white tuna

(NEWSER) - There’s likely to come a point in the next few days when you’re sick of turkey, but if sushi is your proposed cure, be sure to steer clear of a fish that comes with a side of anal seepage: escolar. Sometimes seen on menus as “white tuna,” and known to detractors as the “Ex-Lax fish,” the buttery species often ends up in tuna nets—and, Mother Jones reports, the industry is trying to position it for popularity. More»