Outré cuisine: Is "weird old guys cooking" the new culinary trend for 2007? In addition to Christopher Walken's surreal roast chicken video, David Lynch cooks quinoa in the DVD extras of Inland Empire. [Madison Capital Times] Rachael Ray is looking to buy a house in the Hamptons. I'm assuming that this is the kitchen in the guest house. [People; Wall Street Journal] A look at Wild Oats Market on its home turf as the Boulder, Colorado–based green grocery chain prepares for possible sale to Whole Foods. [Forbes] Majority of Canadians worried about food imports. [The Globe & Mail] The reason to get up in the morning. [Cat and Girl; via VJarmy.com]... More

Philly developer buys Saxelby's Coffee, plans to offer a "milder, homier alternative to Starbucks." [Philadelphia Inquirer]China is the latest country to be hit with rising food prices [New York Times]. Meanwhile, the Chinese TV reporter who hoaxed that cardboard-filled-pork-buns story is sentenced to jail—one year [Washington Post].Even if it's just dining in the dark: First Los Angeles, then San Diego. Will pitch-black dinners catch on in San Francisco? [San Francisco Chronicle]New York food blogger Restaurant Girl becomes New York Daily News restaurant critic [Eater]. And the Village Voice weighs in on her lack of anonymity. Popular Thai food court in L.A. closes temporarily. Seems that demand for papaya salad, fish cakes, and the like outpaced available parking spaces at Wat... More

Caffeine may bolster women's memories. [cbsnews.com, via Yumsugar] FDA drops ball, allows one million pounds of suspect Chinese seafood go unscreened. [International Herald Tribune] In agriculture, the serious money is in specialty work such as inseminating cows, trimming hooves, sheering sheep. [Boston Globe] Grocery stores installing recipe kiosks. Scan an item, and the machines spit out possible preparations, wine pairings, and more. [BakingBites.com] Amazon now selling fresh food online. Don't click away just yet, though. It's only available to residents of Mercer Island, Washington. [Slashfood]... More

U.S. health officials visit Beijing to talk food safety with Chinese government. This, after the recent string of tainted product scares. Officials on both sides want to devise ways to increase the flow of information about products and to come up with regulations that will govern production and transport. Meanwhile, Paris-based food chain Carrefour makes hay at locations in China by promoting itself as a safe alternative, with its in-store food-testing labs. FDA food-safety officials give their own department's inspections a flunking grade. But, hey, they're working on it, people.... More