Our weekly serving of off-the-menu items—a few popular favorites from the week, as well as a few morsels that may have slipped your notice.
What Will New Yorkers Eat in 2029?
As part of their “future” issue, New York magazine invited 10 of the city’s most innovative chefs to imagine a dish for 2029. Chefs like Ignacio Mattos (Savory bar with ancient grains, mushrooms and seaweed, above) who says, “I think by then we will be eating in a more rational manner,” Kia Damon (Frog Tenders) and Angie Mar (Dover sole en flambee) weigh in on a delicious future for Gotham.
Big Trouble in Dairyland
This week Dean Foods, the largest milk producer in the United States, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. Fast Company looks at some of the consumer trends (dairy-free milks, specialty milks) that have contributed to the company’s failure.
Image by Emily Kask for The New York Times
What Happens When Oysters Are Off the Menu in New Orleans?
With climate change and man-made disasters threatening the oyster harvests along the Gulf Coast, oysters are being pulled off the menu in a city that is almost synonymous with the culinary delight. The New York Times covers the outsized effect the oyster crisis is having on the Big Easy.
Hyper-Palatable Foods
It should come as no surprise that the foods that fill the the snack aisle and glut the landscape with fast food chains are highly designed. But a recent study from the University of Kansas provides a quantitive definition of these “hyper-palatable foods” that are actually designed to encourage people to overeat. A look at these ultra-processed foods and what makes them addictive.
A future for Chinese Takeout Restaurants
Fast-casual startup Junzi Kitchen is looking to acquire and rebrand Chinese takeout locations with owners that are looking to retire. Yong Zhao, the young entrepreneur who is CEO and co-founder of Junzi Kitchen, just raised $5 million from investors like Union Square Hospitality Group president Chip Wade to explore a new model for growing the footprint of the startup.
Meaty Politics
Design researcher and MOLD friend Erica Petrillo spoke about the slippery definition of “natural,” violence and masculinity in discussions of the politics and ethics of cultured “lab grown” meat in her recent presentation at TedxUniMannheim.
75,000 Cabbages and the Rise of a Social Network
In 2016 when Kenyan farmer Noah Nasiali-Kadima was left with 75,000 cabbages from a deal that went south, he turned to Facebook for an answer. He decided to start a Facebook Group to connect with other farmers like himself to “discuss solutions and problems just like this,” according to an NPR interview with Nasiali-Kadima. The African Farmers Group now has 138,000 online members in Kenya and throughout the continent.
