Huckabee Loves Salad and Bread Sticks; Domino’s Still Won’t Deliver in 30 orPresidential candidate Mike Huckabee chose T.G.I. Friday’s when a Times reporter offered to take him to lunch anywhere in the city, but Huck ultimately settled for the Olive Garden. [NYT via Serious Eats]
The Food Network’s ratings are hurting, which might help to explain why Emeril Live got canned. [NYT]
How do Thomas Keller and Mario Batali fare against McDonald’s when it comes to calories? Keller’s veal breast and polenta and Batali’s pork loin are worse for you than a Big Mac, but who cares? [WSJ
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Delis Are Dying, But Not Katz’s; Per Se Staff Is on the ClockThe classic New York deli is on the way out, thanks to aging owners, waistline-conscious eaters, and general apathy — but, we learn, Katz’s should stick around. An owner, as we predicted he might, goes on record saying, “If we did sell, we’d want to somehow tie in keeping the place — they could literally build on top of us.” [TONY]
Related: Mother of Mercy! Is This the End of Katz’s?
Per Se’s notoriously high-pressure kitchen apparently works under the shadow of a clock with Paul Bocuse’s name on its center and the words “Sense of Urgency” underneath. [Gawker]
Coney Island has its own beer, and while we’ve never tasted a bottle, it has what may be the greatest label of all time. [NYDN]
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Gordon Ramsay’s Dark Side Revealed; Staten Island Pizza Conquers the WorldAccording to a revealing new profile by Heat author Bill Buford, Gordon Ramsay isn’t a bad guy, “but he does get angry, helplessly and uncontrollably angry — not an earthly anger but something darker — and has trouble knowing how to stop.” [NYer]
State legislator proposes an A through F system of grading restaurant hygiene, but the Department of Health is against it. [amNY]
A Staten Island pizzeria beats out a field of 65 from six countries to win the 23rd International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. It’s Denino’s, right? Joe and Pat’s? No. It’s Goodfella’s Brick Oven Pizza. [NYDN]