Food news antipasto

The tenth annual Smithsonian food history gala was held in Washington, DC on Thursday, with Chez Panisse founder Alice Waters receiving the Julia Child Award for her contributions to the culinary world. Star chefs like José Andrés and Jacques Pépin attended the event along with food writers and other industry professionals including all nine previous Julia Child Award winners. Waters spoke about Childs’ influence on her own cooking, noting that Child had taught her that “one should adopt the cultural perspective of the dish to cook it well.” 

Not only was it caramel week on the Great British Bake Off, it’s also National Caramel Month, so we can celebrate the delicious concoction all through October. It’s believed that caramel was first made by ancient Arabs in about 1000 CE, and has enjoyed a rich and delicious history ever since.

In August we brought you the news that Binding Agents, a cookbook store, was returning to the Philadelphia area and shared a link to the Indiegogo campaign created by the shop’s owner, Catie Gainor. We are happy to report that the shop had its grand opening on October 18, and will be open going forward at its 908 Christian Street location Wednesday through Saturday. Look for author talks and more to appear on the World Calendar of Cookbook Events for this new shop!

Restaurant critic Jay Rayner penned a column this week about the effects of large numbers of restaurant and pub closures that have hit the UK broadly and London in particular over the last couple of years. Between the shocks of Covid, inflation affecting both food and energy, and a struggle to find workers, the hospitality industry has been rocked to its core. While noting these issues, Rayner says it is broader than just these economic factors. He notes that hospitality jobs are used by artists, actors, and writers waiting for their big break or between gigs, and that we risk losing talented people because they won’t be able to find flexible hospitality jobs to keep them going. “Without those starter jobs, we limit who can make it to the few who have access to the bank of mum and dad,” says Rayner.

In a sign that the restaurant industry struggles are not relegated just to the UK, a leading Australian restaurateur announced he is closing all of his locations. Opel Kahn says that with food costs and wages at all-time highs, it is difficult to make money in the restaurant game, and he says other restaurateurs are also feeling the pinch. Kahn shuttered his recently opened Bistronomie, that was supposed to be a response to the high costs of eating out that has caused a slowdown in restaurant visits, and he also closed his small pasta restaurant. “I’m going to take a little break, but I live and breathe food and wine so don’t count me out doing another restaurant,” he says.

The US Food and Drug Administration updated its recent announcement that nearly 10 million pounds of meat and poultry have been recalled across the US. Now the list includes the supermarket chains and stores that have been affected by this gigantic recall due to the finding of listeria monocytogenes in an Oklahoma processing plant. Affected stores include most of the places US customers buy their groceries, including Trader Joe’s, Giant Eagle, Wegmans, Kroger, Walmart, Target, Aldi, Meijer, H-E-B, and other retailers. A further update listed several schools that had purchased products subject to the recall.