Leftovers, Pitch

It's time to say goodbye to your Thanksgiving leftovers

Jonathan Bender — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 10:15:58 -0600

It's OK if you need a moment. You've probably bonded with that turkey leg.…

The candy black hole in the office lunch room

Jonathan Bender — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 11:15:56 -0500

There is a slight shift in the space-time continuum in your office. Fear not, it doesn't lead to the inside of John Malkovich's head, and it only poses a threat to the leftovers in your Halloween candy bowl (or the candy you're able to poach from your kid's trick-or-treat bag).

I'm talking about the candy black hole, where an obscene amount of sweets can disappear over the course of a day in a normal office lunch or break room.

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Plumbing the depths of the freezer

Jonathan Bender — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:48:29 -0500

Spring is for the annual garage cleaning. Fall is when I tackle the annual fridge and freezer inspection.…

I say hummus, you say Hamas

Owen Morris — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:15:06 -0500

The new Sasha Baron Cohen movie Bruno debuted this weekend. Among the more genteel scenes is the clip below, in which the Austrian fashion designer goes to Jerusalem and makes a food faux-pas.…

KC tap water: interesting enough to be the subject of a book

Owen Morris — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:30:58 -0500

Kansas City has the best tap water of any major city in the United States. At least that's what a study by Sustain Lane concluded, saying our water had "no recorded pollutants."…

More on Julia Child than you ever wanted to know

Owen Morris — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:00:53 -0500

In addition to having one of the better articles explaining the fall of AIG, Vanity Fair's August edition also has a refresher biography about the life of Julia Child, who's being portrayed by Meryl Streep in the upcoming Julie & Julia.

Child's life has been well-documented by multiple biographers but she remains an enigma, which makes sense considering that she spent several years as a spy in the Office of Strategic Services. The article attempts to explain what Julia meant to America's cooks:

America's First Lady is not always the president's wife, though she does

tend to be tall and tireless, and has in the past come from Wasp stock.…
[ Read more ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Today is Fat City's one-year anniversary

Owen Morris — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:50:45 -0500

It was exactly one year ago that The Pitch launched Fat City with a root beer tasting. Since then, we've delivered 1,500 posts of news, events, openings, closings and the most informative -- and weirdest -- stuff we can find online.

Out of those 1,500 posts, there have been some definite duds.…

Food costs put the hurt on low-price restaurants

Owen Morris — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:15:23 -0500

In normal times, restaurants serving normal food and charging normal prices hope to keep food costs hovering around 30 percent of their menu prices.

But these aren't normal times, and fast food chains long ago gave up the 30 percent rule on some items.…

Have a great weekend!

Owen Morris — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:30:34 -0500

Fat City wishes everyone a safe and happy Fourth of July. See you Monday!

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Report (and slideshow!) of Kansas City Urban Farms and Garden Tour

Owen Morris — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:20:25 -0500

If you didn't get to attend the KC Urban Farms and Gardens Tour this past Sunday, here is a slideshow showing some of the things you missed.

Katherine Kelly of the Kansas City Center for Urban Agriculture and one of the tour organizers, says not only the farmers and gardeners who took part were happy, but the attendees were, too.…

Eating free on your birthday

Owen Morris — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:50:45 -0500

Fat City turns one year old next week. Birthdays are always a fun time, and if you play your cards right, they can be a perfect opportunity to get free stuff from restaurants.…

I see an ICEE

Owen Morris — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:30:04 -0500

The ICEE has often been imitated, but purists know that nothing compares with the blue-and-red-striped cup and the incredibly cold and sweet liquid ice. And the inevitable brain freeze.

Maybe this is just idyllic childhood talking, but didn't there used to be an ICEE machine on practically every corner?…

Goodnight Mr. Budweiser: the commericals of Ed McMahon

Owen Morris — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:35:51 -0500

Ed McMahon's death was sort of overshadowed by all the rest of the news in the world yesterday. But let's not forget the man who introduced, sat next to and laughed with Johnny Carson for three decades.…

Barney Frank: a one-man decriminalizing-pot machine

Owen Morris — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:15:24 -0500

For better or worse, Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank has seen his profile rise in the past year. He's chairman of the powerful House Financial Services Committee and was one of the bailout's most vocal backers, urging fellow members to pass it.…

Manipulative menus

Owen Morris — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:50:55 -0500

Gone are the days when a menu was a simple piece of paper listing items and prices. Restaurants see it as the last piece of advertising a guest sees before ordering.…

Grown-up foods

Owen Morris — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:45:27 -0500

When you're a child, it's not uncommon to sometimes think of your parents as weird. Especially some of the foods they eat.…

Need a job? The pros and cons of being a Hooter's waitress

Owen Morris — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:30:43 -0500

Pity the poor Hooter's waitress. Not only does she have to do the extremely demanding job of serving while wearing warning-vest-orange shorts, but lately rival chains have been swooping up loyal customers with cheaper food and even more scantily clad women.

As if that wasn't bad enough, she has to deal with a slew of corporate rules.…

The way the world eats on the go

Owen Morris — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:47:34 -0500

German curator Mike Meire has put together a collection of street-vendor carts from around the world. His show, Global Street Food, is "dedicated to the fascination with improvised kitchens in public places.…

Generic versus brand-name

Owen Morris — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:00:35 -0500

Let it be said once and for all that when it comes to ketchup, no restaurant should mess around with anything but Heinz. Sure, it's all well and good to have premium house-made ketchup but if some people don't want that (and they won't) you better have that classic awkward-pouring glass bottle ready just in case.

There are only a few other food basics that merit such loyalty.…

Fear Mother Nature

Owen Morris — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 11:15:43 -0500

The movie Food, Inc comes out later this week, promising to rip into Big Ag and all the evil it has done.

Big Ag, or Big Food as it's also called (really, anything with "big" in the title will work, the better to remind people of similarities to Big Tobacco) consists of a handful of companies -- Monsanto, Archer Daniels Midland, Mars -- that control a majority of food products.…

On tonight's menu: water. With a side of water.

Owen Morris — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 10:50:30 -0500

What's the biggest compliment you can give to water? That it tastes like water.…

Avoid low-fat peanut butter, pizza, soda, pretty much every food ever invented

Owen Morris — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 10:50:13 -0500

Among Michael Pollan's food rules is the one that says if your grandma wouldn't recognize the food, avoid it. Grandma knows fruits such as apples, oranges and pears but not say, fruit-by-the-foot.…

2009 is the year of the gross food movement

Owen Morris — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 11:30:25 -0500

Making food ridiculously large and unhealthy has become an art form, reaching its zenith with the bacon explosion and the blog This Is Why You're Fat. Finally, there's a name for things like 10 pound BLTs.…

The mysteries of Grape Nuts

Owen Morris — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:15:21 -0500

There is no cereal more disappointing when you're a kid than Grape Nuts. The commercials show attractive young adults running, working, driving big cars and talking about how it keeps them going.…

Domino's bread bowls -- they're alive!!!

Owen Morris — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:30:44 -0500

Domino's pasta bowls have generated a lot of press. Not much of it positive.…