food

Arts

Not My Job: We Quiz NYT Cooking Expert Sam Sifton On Vending Machines

10:54am March 20, 2021

Sifton is the founding editor of New York Times Cooking, and author of the No-Recipe Recipes cookbook. We've invited him to play a game called "I don't need a recipe, I've got $1.50 in change."

Chef Yia Vang's restaurant in Minneapolis is getting ready to open amid a fierce debate within the restaurant industry about the minimum wage. The restaurant will ban tipping.

Economy

So How Should Your Favorite Restaurant Pay Its Servers? Well, It's Complicated

8:15am March 20, 2021

by Sam Gringlas

A fierce debate is taking shape within the restaurant industry as a push to raise the minimum wage threatens to upend the tipped wage structures for servers.

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National

Some In The Food Industry Want To Stay With A Subminimum Wage — But Plenty Don't

4:07pm March 16, 2021

by Sam Gringlas

The most recent Democratic proposal to raise the minimum wage included a provision to eliminate the subminimum wage for tipped workers. What would that mean for restaurants and those who staff them?

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Rod Bradshaw, pictured in January 2021, says he's the last Black farmer in Hodgeman County, Kan. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack talked with NPR about debt relief coming for Black farmers.

Black Farmers Have Long Faced Discrimination. New Aid Aims To Right Past Wrongs

5:34pm March 13, 2021

Generations of systemic discrimination have decimated the number of Black farmers in the U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack talked with NPR about new funding for debt relief.

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National

The Food And Beverage Industry Is Getting A Lifeline In The Latest Relief Package

4:19pm March 12, 2021

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with chef Amanda Cohen, co-founder of the Independent Restaurant Coalition, about the lifeline extended to the food and beverage business in the latest relief package.

Virginia Man Wants To Set The Record For World's Spiciest Beer

6:42am March 12, 2021

Ray Parrish owns the Maltese Brewing Company in Virginia. When he found out that Guinness World Records didn't currently have a record for spiciest beer, he decided he would try and set it.

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Keitra Bates stands outside of the original location of Marddy's in Atlanta. It's a shared kitchen where home cooks can prepare their goods, and collectively market them.

'We Don't Have The Luxury To Fall Apart': Black Businesses Get Creative To Survive

8:17am March 11, 2021

by Debbie Elliott

Black entrepreneurs have long faced challenges be it getting financial capital, or discrimination in contracting. Now, the pandemic has hit them the hardest and many are trying to find ways to thrive.

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Sohla El-Waylly Says There's Still Work To Be Done A Year After Leaving 'Bon Appétit'

4:23pm March 10, 2021

by Sam Sanders

Sohla El-Waylly gained attention for appearing in Bon Appétit's popular "Test Kitchen" videos, then gained more attention for accusing Bon Appétit of unequal pay practices and racial discrimination.

From a sampling of Girl Scout Cookies, Los Angeles Times food columnist Lucas Kwan Peterson says that Samoas (also known as Caramel deLites) are the superior cookie.

Food Critic, Provocateur Definitively Ranks Girl Scout Cookies

6:00pm March 07, 2021

by Emma Bowman

Los Angeles Times food columnist Lucas Kwan Peterson breaks down his "official" — and very biased — rating system that led him to rate 12 kinds of Girl Scout Cookies.

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Health & Safety

New York Times Restaurant Critic Tries To Regain Sense Of Smell After COVID-19

8:33am March 07, 2021

New York Times restaurant critic Tejal Rao,, tells NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro about the remedies she's tried in the quest to regain her sense of smell after COVID-19.