Don’t worry,  Y&H didn’t know that the Fast Foodie had left, either. I just stumbled upon these videos this morning and fell for the character played by Hannes Phinney when he said, “I got to get back to basics. I got to get back to my reality. My reality is burgers and fries, tacos, extreme burritos and french fries and burritos and overstuffed nachos and occasional breakfast sandwiches.”

You can watch more Fast Foodie videos here.

The Wall Street Journal published a smart, counter-intuitive piece today that suggests fast-food giants, in an effort to stay ahead of the recession, are squeezing the hell out of their franchisees, leaving them with little to show for their efforts.

So much for the idea that McDonald’s is making a killing in this bad economy.

The gist of the story is this: Fast-food companies are trying to lure customers back by demanding that franchisees add new, sometimes “gourmet” items, which then require new machines and new overhead costs.  These same franchise operators also got hit with a minimum wage hike in July. There apparently just isn’t that much margin in franchise operations to make those numbers work.

Reports the Journal:

Read More “The Recession May Not Be Good for Fast Food Franchises After All” »

Hey, look, a celebrity chef!

We’re all slaves to celebrity — or at least celebrity chefs. This week’s top item is devoted to a freakish coincidence: I happened to be at G Street Food right when Rick Bayless popped in for a sandwich to go, to take with him for his flight out of town.

How powerful is Bayless’ draw? Powerful enough to knock Select 55 out of the top spot. Here are your faves from the blog this week:

1. Rick Bayless Drops by G Street Food This Morning
2. Budweiser Launches Select 55, Light Beer Arms Race Gets Absurd
3. Terrible Restaurant Names: We Can’t Live Without (Mocking) Them
4. Secret Fast-Food Menus: Truth or Myth?
5. Barton Seaver to Be Named Esquire’s Chef of the Year, Controversy Ensues
   

A press release just came to Y&H’s attention, although it really seems aimed at Five Guys‘ soft flabby underbelly: Boardwalk Fresh Burgers and Fries plans to compete with the famous local burger chain on its home turf.

BFB&F thinks it has the formula to squash Five Guys — sell ground beef and buns to the same Five Guys’ specs, then supplement these greasy offerings with healthier options like salads and chicken sammies. What’s more, the budding burger chain knows it has an ace up its sleeve with the Boardwalk name, which is tied to the more famous Boardwalk Fries brand. They’re sister companies.

Boardwalk Fresh Burger stores will come fast and furious: Kert Gennings, former COO for Jersey Mikes and Chesapeake Bagel Bakery, bought the franchise rights for D.C., Virginia, and North Carolina. Over the next five to seven years, he plans to open 50 of these joints.

The press release is after the jump.

Read More “Hey, Five Guys: Boardwalk Fresh Burgers Is Gunning For You!” »

Not that your friendly Y&H is a cynic, but when I saw this article on Mental Floss, I immediately thought, “I bet you can’t get half of these ’secret’ menu items at your local _____ (fill in the fast-food outlet).” So I went to my nearby Starbucks in Adams Morgan and asked the barista for the smallest cup of coffee I could get.

I was expecting one of those thimble-sized sample cups.

He wasn’t quite sure what I wanted, so he started showing me all the various cups available — the Tall, the Grande, the Venti, the Ubermassenhaft. (OK, I joke about the last one, but only because Starbucks deserves it for corrupting the language.) Among the cups he showed me was this petite white cone that holds a reasonable eight-ounce pour.

Read More “Secret Fast-Food Menus: Truth or Myth?” »

Food Network Humor revels in its self-imposed role to bring the foodie cable channel to its knees — or at least “back down to Earth.” This posting on ugly tattoos is a little off-target for the site, but hilarious nonetheless.

By Y&H’s unofficial count, the breakdown of tats goes like this:

Read More “The World’s Ugliest Food Tattoos” »

The brilliant parody aims for and hits a number of targets: corporations jumping onto the green bandwagon, vacuous TV morning programs, even the dining public’s naivete over what foods are really good for the environment.

Taco Bell’s New Green Menu Takes No Ingredients From Nature

The Heart Attack Grill takes food porn — or fast-food porn in this case — to its illogical conclusion.

And how does the enterprising manager respond? By throwing french fry grease at them.

Joining such gastronomic prognosticators as this one and that one, NPR’s Bonny Wolf lays out her predictions for the coming year in food. Most of Wolf’s ideas have been expressed elsewhere, but this one stood out to me:

The recession has brought back home-cooked meals in a big way, Wolf says.

“It will mean an increase in cooking classes, because people will have to learn how to cook since we haven’t been cooking at home for many years,” she says.

Home cooking means more mashed potatoes, meat loaf and spaghetti and meatballs.

“But it won’t be exactly like your grandma’s,” says Wolf. “There will be slightly more sophisticated twists — artisan cheese mixed in with your mashed potatoes. And things will probably be healthier — less butter, more vegetables.”

Read More “More Food-Trend Predictions from NPR’s Bonny Wolf” »