food

The 404 1,193: Where we take the number 2 train (podcast)

Welcome to today's show, where we're finally analyzing the food photography trend for what it is, with the help of this article in the New York Times that profiles restaurateur David Bouley and the creative tactics he's come up with to stop the dining room distractions.

The way we see it, the problem with food photography is that we've collectively lost our shame and sense of subtlety when it comes time to dine. Instead of snapping a quick 3-second iPhone pic, we've seen folks stand on chairs, use tripods with a giant dSLR, and even ask the restaurant to adjust the ceiling lights to suit the mood of the picture.

The fact is that there's really no better way to prove you're eating above your budget than to take a picture of it. Argue all you want, it's just a tacky move and plenty of restaurants agree. Check out today's show to hear some places are doing to avoid the awkwardness.… Read more

The Insta-Zombie Workout Plan

Like most folks, I've made "enthusiastic" commitments to be more resolute in staying healthy this year. Such crazy claims include getting off the buttocks and working out, eating healthy, and other life-changing nonsense. Recently, one of my friends started this diet called the TAO Diet, which stands for Ten and One. The premise is simple: You eat 10 salads and one meal of whatever you please. Then rinse and repeat.

I've come to realize that I'm an attention-seeking and easily distracted geek with a healthy track record of...falling off track. But rather than giving … Read more

Pinterest acquires recipe sharing Punchfork

Pinterest announced its first acquisition today and it's one for the foodies: Punchfork, a visual bookmarking site focused on sharing recipes.

Punchfork CEO Jeff Miller said he is joining the engineering team at Pinterest and shutting down the Punchfork site and apps soon.

"Initially, support for Punchfork will continue, but we will soon be retiring the Punchfork site, API and mobile apps," Miller wrote in a note to the Punchfork community. "We believe that a unified destination benefits our users in the long run, and the Punchfork team will focus on contributing to Pinterest as the … Read more

Burrito Bomber drone drops non-weaponized meals

We all wanted so badly for the Tacocopter to be real, but the supposed Silicon Valley quadrocopter taco delivery service was just a clever fake, designed to appeal to our most basic desires for Mexican food delivery by airborne gadget.

Just because we've had our hopes dashed once doesn't mean we shouldn't come back for more. A new hope has arisen. It's called the Burrito Bomber. As its name might suggest, the Burrito Bomber is a flying drone capable of dropping a burrito payload from the sky.… Read more

The vending machine that dispenses caviar

We have finally dispensed with the idea that there is any difference between the 1 percent and the 99.

How moving, then, that some of life's utter essentials are now being dispensed to everyone. Well, everyone who can afford them, that is.

It is with stomach-tightening joy that I bring you news of a vending machine that has been placed in the Burbank Towne Center. This is a vending machine that brings all of America's social classes together and gathers them around foods without which they cannot live -- like caviar, truffles, and escargot.… Read more

Top holiday cooking apps for Android

Let's be honest: family and friends are swell, but food is really the star of the show whenever the November holiday rolls around, right? That means that whether you're celebrating at home or heading out to a potluck, the heat is on to make something oh-so-delicious for the festivities.

To help you in your endeavor, we've got a list of our favorite cooking apps for the Android platform. They'll not only help you find the best Thanksgiving recipes to get you started, but they'll also provide you with some extra tools to get the cooking … Read more

Top holiday cooking apps on iOS

Are you hosting Thanksgiving or bringing a dish to a potluck? If so, plans are probably already in place for the turkey, side dishes, and desserts, but there might be a chance to take your recipes to the next level -- if you have the right apps.

There are several cooking apps for both iPhone and Android that are great year-round, but they also often have special featured recipe collections around the holidays. If you want to kick your green-bean casserole (or any other holiday dish) up a notch, I suggest you take a look at what these apps have to offer.… Read more

Let me Foursquare that for you

What do you feel like for dinner? Where can we go for amazing pizza? Replace the last word of either question with another meal or food type, and you have the two most dreaded questions on the face of the earth. Maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I think we can all agree neither question is a welcome one.

The next time you hear either question, calmly open up the closest Web browser, be it mobile or desktop, and type lm4sqtfy.com into the address bar. If the question included a food category, enter it into the … Read more

Kenwood Cooking Chef now available in the U.S.

Way back in October 2009, I wrote about the Kenwood Cooking Chef. The device has finally made it to the U.S. What sort of gadget is this machine that has taken so long to grace our shores? Well, the answer appears to be more of what it isn't as opposed to what it is.

Combining a stand mixer with an induction plate, the multitasking appliance carves out a new niche on the countertop. By allowing chefs to cook directly in the work bowl, the Kenwood Cooking Chef offers a new way to operate in the kitchen.

The highly … Read more

Personalized dining app tells you where to eat, drink

Ness, the app that claims to know where you should eat, is expanding to other services. Just as Ness now offers users personalized recommendations on restaurants, the app will be able to tell users which bars and nightlife scenes may fit them, or where they should take their next vacation.

Ness combines artificial intelligence with and information gathered from a user's actions and social media feeds like Facebook and Foursquare to create a "taste profile" that is added to over time. It's kind of like Siri meets Yelp. The theory is the more Ness learns, the … Read more