food

Marriage proposals are pretty routine at America's high-end restaurants. They can lift the mood in the entire dining room, boost tips and create lifelong customers. Unless the answer is "no," that is.

National

Dinner With A Side Of I Do's: For Restaurants, Proposals Are Good Business

7:00am February 13, 2016

by Alan Greenblatt

Marriage proposals are pretty routine at America's high-end restaurants. They can lift the mood in the entire dining room, boost tips and create lifelong customers. Unless the answer is "no," that is.

Bottles for sale at Passage de la Fleur, a natural wine shop in Brooklyn, N.Y. For some, natural wines must be completely unadulterated — without the use of sugar, clarifiers or other additives common in modern winemaking. Other natural winemakers, howe

Arts

What The Heck Is Natural Wine? Here's A Taste

3:13pm February 12, 2016

by Andrea Shea

Natural wines can be off-putting at first: perhaps darker than usual, a little fizzy or cloudy. Some find them charming, others unsophisticated. Here's a guide to this trending, quirky style of wine.

Russ Finch holds up half of a Cara Cara orange grown in his geothermal greenhouse in Alliance, Neb.

Citrus In The Snow: Geothermal Greenhouses Grow Local Produce In Winter

5:10pm February 11, 2016

by Grant Gerlock

Greenhouses could make local fruits and vegetables more available year-round, but they're energy intense. In the Midwest, some growers tap into the Earth's internal heat to warm the structures.

Combines harvest a corn field in Grand Island, Neb.

National

Buy Crop Insurance, Double Your Money

2:00pm February 11, 2016

by Dan Charles

The nation's crop insurance program is really a lottery, says one prominent economist. And it's rigged so that farmers win. In fact, farmers typically get back double the money they pay for premiums.

Corn is delivered to the Green Plains ethanol plant in Shenandoah, Iowa.

The Shocking Truth About America's Ethanol Law: It Doesn't Matter (For Now)

3:15pm February 10, 2016

by Dan Charles

Ted Cruz doesn't like the law that requires the use of ethanol in gasoline. So what would happen if it was abolished? The surprising answer: not much, probably.

A recent supper club in Josh Haynes' apartment in Birmingham, Ala.

Birmingham Chefs Test Appetite For New Flavors With Supper Clubs

7:59pm February 09, 2016

by Ashley Cleek

Pop-up dining experiences are cropping up across the country. While diners savor an exclusive meal, chefs get to try out recipes and gauge the local market for their food before opening a restaurant.

Queue Listen Now

A picture of Meret Oppenheim's September 1935 design notes for the prototype of her brass and ocelot fur bracelet. Pablo Picasso's comment about the bracelet may have inspired Oppenheim to wrap a teacup, saucer and spoon in fur as well.

Arts

'Luncheon In Fur': The Surrealist Teacup That Stirred The Art World

4:39pm February 09, 2016

by Nina Martyris

In 1936, the surrealist Meret Oppenheim wrapped a teacup, saucer and spoon in fur. In the age of Freud, a gastro-sexual interpretation was inescapable. Even today, the work triggers intense reactions.

Divers around the open-ocean aquaculture cage at the Cape Eleuthera Institute in the Bahamas. These cages are not currently used in the Gulf of Mexico, but represent one type of farming technology that could work in the region.

Gulf Of Mexico Open For Fish-Farming Business

8:44pm February 08, 2016

by Tegan Wendland

For the first time, companies can apply to set up fish farms in U.S. federal waters. The government says the move will help reduce American dependence on foreign seafood and improve security.

Queue Listen Now

Chipotle Closes Restaurants To Hold Meetings On Food Safety

7:53pm February 08, 2016

by Jim Zarroli

Chipotle held food safety meetings on Monday in all its restaurants. Stores won't be open for lunch but will be later in the afternoon. Managers will review new protocols designed to prevent the outbreak of food-borne illnesses. More than 500 people got sick last year after eating at a Chipotle.

Queue Listen Now

Sushi burritos from Washington, D.C., restaurant Buredo. These are delicious, but there's no way they'll earn certification as authentic Japanese cuisine under a new program from the government of Japan.

Sorry, Sushi Burrito: Japanese Program Certifies Authentic Cuisine

1:50pm February 08, 2016

by Clare Leschin-Hoar

In a world of Big Mac sushi and Cajun rolls, Japan is launching a new program to certify the 89,000 Japanese restaurants outside the country that uphold traditional washoku cuisine values.