For several years now, the wife and I have had a running joke about the Pollo Campero mascot, this extremely giddy chicken who, with wings wide apart in welcome, appears to beseech us to enter his restaurant and eat all his little friends. We amuse ourselves, we really do.

But now, in the latest issue of Gastronomica, writer Mark Morton serves up a brilliant essay on the very subject. Here’s the nut graf of the piece (which is regrettably not online):

Read More “Animal Mascots That Offer Themselves Up to Eat” »

The latest issue of Gastronomica has a smart feature by Alexandra Greeley titled, simply, “Finding Pad Thai.” I call the piece “smart” because it willingly accepts and promotes contradictions about Thai cuisine’s most famous dish, pad Thai, which isn’t really Thai at all.

Read More “The Non-Thai Dish That All Thai Restaurants Are Judged By” »