The Juicy Bits
This summer is breaking heat records everywhere, particularly in Texas. Take a peek inside Louie Meuller's famous Texas BBQ restaurant to see how pitmasters endure 130ºF pit rooms day in and day out. Feeling oddly sick after eating your favorite BBQ brisket or any meat? You may be among the half a million Americans who now have a meat allergy linked to lone-star tick bites, according to the CDC. Yeesh. As if we need another new disease. Thankfully, Salmonella poisoning may soon become less common: researchers recently developed meat packaging that can warn consumers of Salmonella contamination. Meanwhile, in the upper echelons of the restaurant world, Michelin just released its California guide, adding six new restaurants to the Michelin-starred ranks. Congrats all! And around the country, it appears that restaurant diners now order more cocktails than beer, according to data from the Distilled Spirits Council. Chalk it up to the pandemic and the taste that Americans developed for to-go cocktails, now legalized in 16 states. If you're among the converts, you may have recently sipped a cocktail crafted with fat-washed booze. Say what? Yes, it's rich, delicious, and makes a mean old-fashioned. Learn how to create your own fat-washed bourbon at home right here. It's simple. Cheers!
Cooking
A Day In The Life Of A Tour De France Chef
Image Source: Will Tracy
It takes loads of calories to race a bicycle 2,115 miles over 3 weeks and 30 grueling mountain climbs. What do these competitive athletes eat? Owen Blandy, chef for the EF-Education/EasyPost team, shares an inside look at the fresh meals he feeds pro cyclists every day, including the planning, prep, cooking, and 16-hour days required to meet their caloric needs from a tiny food truck with a modest cooktop, small oven, and limited pantry space.
Restaurants
Michelin Releases California Guide And Earmarks Atlanta
Image Source: Michelin
Six restaurants joined the Michelin-star ranks in California this year, including 1-star ratings for San Francisco's Thai spot, Nari, and Napa's hyper-local, hyper-seasonal Auro. Despite no new 2-star or 3-star ratings, California still has the most Michelin-starred restaurants in the country, followed by New York. The Michelin Guide also announced that Atlanta will be the newest US city to receive star ratings in a city-wide guide releasing this fall.
Beverages
Distilled Spirits Eclipse Beer Sales At Restaurants For The First Time
Image Source: Courtesy of Z'TEJAS
The pandemic was good for cocktail sales, which rose 42% to $1.6 billion in 2021, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the US. That's due in part to 16 states passing laws that made to-go cocktails permanent. Consumers also developed a taste for high-end spirits as they tried to replicate restaurant-quality drinks at home. As a result of our predilection for booze, the Council's new report shows that 82% of US consumers now prefer ordering cocktails at restaurants because "they taste better than beer."
More Beverage News
Tales Of The Cocktail Foundation Announces 2023 Spirited Award Winners
Welsh Single Malt Whisky Gains Legal Protection, Joining Scotch And Champagne
How To Make Fat-Washed Bourbon For Richer Cocktails
Heineken Becomes World's #1 Most Valuable Beer Brand
Researchers Discover Yeast Gene That Enhances Haziness Of Beer
Anchor Brewing Announces Closure And Employees Step Up To Buy America's First Craft Brewery
BBQ Hot Spot
Texas BBQ Pitmasters Brave 130ºF Temps During Record-Breaking Heat Wave
Image Source: Peter Holley
Pitmasters are used to working with wood-fired ovens in poorly ventilated rooms, where temperatures regularly hit 100ºF. But this summer's heat dome in Texas has broken decades-long records, sending pit room temps as high as 130ºF. This year's surge in summer travel has only increased demand for Texas BBQ, putting pitmasters at increased risk of dehydration, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke for weeks on end. Take a peek inside Louie Meuller's iconic BBQ pit room to see how some cooks are pushing the outer limits of human endurance.
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Health
World Health Organization Agency Declares Aspartame A Possible Carcinogen
Image Source: Tony Cenicola
After analyzing three human observational studies, the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded that aspartame may be carcinogenic to humans. However, the WHO's Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives disagreed, stating that the evidence did not draw a convincing link. The US Food and Drug Administration has also declared the artificial sweetener safe to consume in moderate amounts. Thousands of sugar-free products like diet sodas, chewing gums, yogurts and energy drinks include aspartame. While a definitive conclusion requires more studies, most nutrition experts recommend reducing consumption if you can.
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Last Bite
Creators Of TV's South Park Reopen Casa Bonita, Denver's Eatertainment Wonderland
Image Source: Hyoung Chang/Getty
The "Disneyland of Mexican restaurants" features waterfalls, cliff divers, Black Bart’s Cave, gold and silver mines, puppet shows, and a person in a gorilla costume chased by a sheriff. It's a wacky eatery that opened in 1974 and went bankrupt in 2020. Enter the heroes, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who rescued the beloved landmark, in part because Parker had his own childhood birthday parties there. The pair also featured Casa Bonita in a 2003 episode of their irreverent cartoon "South Park". They've since dumped $40 million+ into restaurant upgrades, including major improvements to the food, now overseen by executive chef Dana Rodriguez (aka Loca), a six-time James Beard Award nominee. Why do Parker and Stone care? C'mon, these guys have always thrown themselves recklessly into the preservation of childhood memories. Will it be as successful as South Park? More than 100,000 potential customers have already signed up for reservations after the soft opening. Long live whimsy and playfulness.
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