Food news antipasto

Jamie Oliver is not a quitter. Six years after he had to shutter his Italian restaurant chain’s UK locations, he is bringing Jamie’s Italian back with a new partner. The new iteration of the restaurant is backed by Brava Hospitality Group, which hopes to revive the chain. The first location will be located in London’s Leicester Square. Despite the obstacles currently faced by the hospitality industry, Jamie is optimistic about the new venture. “In theory it’s not the easiest time to return but conversely, I think it’s the perfect time,” Oliver said. “I believe the mid-market needs excitement, surprise and delight and that’s exactly what I am planning on delivering.”

Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream co-founders have been sparring with the company’s owner, Unilever, over the company’s direction. As the ice cream portion of the mega corporation is spun off to an entity named Magnum, the dispute has become heated, with Magnum CEO Peter ter Kulve saying that it is time for Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield to move on. He also said there were governance issues with the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation. Cohen says that these are “phantom allegations” and that Unilever (and now Magnum) is trying to stifle the company’s activism, which he says is legally protected.

If you struggle to keep your kitchen neat and organized you might want to try the 5-7 method. This method has a simple goal: if you use a small appliance or other kitchen tool that takes up valuable counter space fewer than 5 days per week, you should store it away in a cupboard or pantry. While this is a simple idea, it is not meant to be rigid, so if you use something 4 days but you really like it, you can bend the rules. The article also links to a couple other kitchen organization methods.

A few weeks ago we wrote about a trademark dispute concerning Sabzi: Fresh Vegetarian Recipes for Every Day by Yasmin Khan. The owner of a cafe in Cornwall called Sabzi had been able to obtain a trademark on the word, had threatened legal action, and claimed to Amazon that the book infringed on her intellectual property rights. While the legal battle was being waged, the book was pulled from Amazon’s listing and Khan was not able to speak publicly about the issue. Now that the issue has been settled – with the trademark withdrawn and the book available again on Amazon – the cookbook author has written about how distressing the ordeal was for her.

The US Food and Drug Administration has added nine additional cookware brands to a safety warning about possible lead leaching from the pans into food. The agency found lead levels that it deemed unsafe for use. This brings the total number of brands with dangerous lead levels to nearly 20. The cookware is made of aluminum, brass, aluminum, brass, and aluminum alloys known as “Hindalium/Hindolium or Indalium/Indolium.”

Other articles you may have missed:

• Winter is meant for baking
• Welcome to soup season
• Tis the season for baking
• Cooking? There’s an app for that