Welcome to Off-Menu, where we’ll be rounding up all the food news and food-adjacent internet ephemera that delighted, fascinated, or infuriated us this morning.
News
- For a week in early March, London’s The Bookclub in Shoreditch will serve red-velvet “period pancakes” topped with tampon-shaped macarons alongside (what else?) Bloody Marys. A percentage of the proceeds will go towards the charity Big Bloody Brunch as part of their efforts to de-stigmatize menstruation and provide period essentials for women in poverty—which is a lovely cause that is still not quite enough motivation to make me want to eat something that looks like it was just inside of me.
- We’ve got dueling stories of outsized tips this morning: First, The Takeout wonders whether a man who handed out $22,000 in tips at a Nashville Marriott while under the influence of drugs and alcohol should get his money back (that would be nice for him, but why would he?). And second, a a New Brunswick restaurant is trying to track down the customer who tipped $802 on a $10.91 bill because the staff are concerned he did so by mistake. “Maybe he was trying to put his PIN number in. [It’s] so easy to do and it happens all the time,” the waitress who was stood to benefit from the unwitting largess told CTV Atlantic. “So it never crossed my mind if it was real. I always just thought: ‘We got to get this money back to him.’”
- The San Francisco Chronicle talked to the owner of the only restaurant still serving hot meals last Friday along Highway 50 to Tahoe travelers stranded as a result of the intense snowstorm. “They say civilization is just five hot meals from cannibalism and murder. That was the case on Friday,” Kim McCarthy, co-owner of 50 Grand restaurant and bar, said.
- An Oklahoma man hijacked a Pepsi truck, leaving a trail of soda behind him, and the Associated Press‘s characteristically deadpan recounting of the different motivations provided is truly high art: “Police say Steven Hart told them he was trying to get to the airport after an argument with his girlfriend. The girlfriend says he was searching for her.”
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Not News
I’m not entirely sure if I trust the UK’s Express‘ sourcing, and I have no idea why they’re quoting from a 2010 book today, but I’m going to consciously set aside my misgivings for the sake of wholeheartedly believing this juicy tidbit from luxury cruise doctor Ben MacFarlane: “Apparently the world’s keenest sushi lovers like nothing better than playing a bit of Russian roulette with the blowfish[…] The chefs dissect out the gall bladder to remove the toxins – but leave a tiny bit of the bile duct intact so the diners feel the buzz of poison on their lips as they swallow.” Rich people are wild, amiright?
Something Nice
Never talk to me or my butter Pikachu ever again.
Buy These Shoes
Or just marvel at the extremely narrow moment in our cultural zeitgeist in which $140 avocado toast-themed chunk sneakers from Saucony get extensive pre-release coverage. And if that’s not your speed, check out the “Ramen,” also from Saucony Originals:
More
From VICE
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Screenshot: Shaun Cichacki
