• The increase in food prices last month was the greatest one-month hike in eighteen years. [NYP]

• Mariah Carey was very protective of her wedding cake — which was delicious, by the way – on the way to the Bahamas. [Mouthing Off/Food & Wine]

• Not only is there free coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts today, but you can also get a free Southern Style Chicken sandwich at McDonald’s if you buy a drink. [Midtown Lunch]

New and improved Momofuku Noodle Bar set to open next week. [NYT]
Related: Keeping Up With the Momofukus [NYM]

More Greek chefs are invading New York; “gastro-taverna” Athens Tavern opens today with a menu from top Athens chef Yianni Baxevanis. [NYT]
Related: Psilakis Isn’t the Only Chef Who Knows Greek

The chairwoman of the board of trustees of the James Beard Foundation resigned yesterday saying that her role as host of the PBS series Chef’s Story would make the show ineligible for awards. [NYT]

Michael Ruhlman blasts the Beards in his blog, questioning the organization’s whole purpose: “I’d like to know exactly what it is they intend to do, beyond give themselves an expensive party once a year.” [Ruhlman]

Yum Brands, owner of the E. coli–ridden Taco Bell and the rat-infested Taco Bell–KFC, is making all kinds of money despite two PR disasters in one year. [International Herald-Tribune]

A St. Vincent’s Hospital–bound ambulance was delayed, and not for the first time, by the congestion in front of the Waverly Inn, as “drivers for wealthy patrons slowly inched their limos out of the way.” [NYP]

The Beard Foundation, in the spotlight as Monday’s awards approach, is still on shaky ground financially, and questions still linger about the way it spends its money. [NYT]

Restaurants are lobbying customers to vote for them in the Zagat survey, a trend nobody likes, but which few in the business can stop or resist. [NYP]

The days of the fat chef seem to have been passed, leaving mostly whippet-slim cooks to inherit the world’s kitchens. [Waitrose via Serious Eats]