Baum + Whiteman has been a restaurant consulting group since the '70s. The dudes know a few things about the hospitality biz, so when the company releases its annual food and dining trends for the coming year, restaurateurs tend to listen. (Or razz B+W for predicting "tongue" meat would become huge.) Restaurateurs may want to [...]

For this week's Young & Hungry column, I spent part of the afternoon with François Haeringer, the 90-year-old owner and founding chef of L'Auberge Chez François, the French country restaurant in Great Falls that can trace its roots back to 1954 in downtown D.C. In reporting the story, I spoke with Mark Furstenberg, the master [...]

Not the chops in question...and I don't plan to reveal the real ones. I may lose respect with Former Staffer (see below), but after considerable deliberation, I have decided to save my powder for another day. I'm not going to empty my guns on the unfortunate restaurant that caused me to seek the counsel of [...]

You know the thing that amazes me about this video? How the deer crashes through the plate glass at this Livonia, Mich. restaurant, but then exits politely and quickly through the front door. I mean, if the poor deer had opposable thumbs, he'd have entered through the proper door to begin with.

That's the question floated recently over at the Atlantic Food Channel, where Corby Kummer suggested that America's tipping culture is broken and needs to be fixed. Y&H has understood for more than two years now what kind of animosity tipping can bring out in diners. For those who don't remember, or missed it altogether, check [...]

Wow, Y&H really touched a nerve yesterday with his bitch about noise at local restaurants. Either we're a town of old farts, or interior designers and owners have seriously overestimated how much "buzz" diners want in their restaurants. Here's a sampling of the commentary that has hit my inbox in the past 24 hours. From [...]

Zaytinya: You practically get a metal concert with your mezze. Y&H still remembers, more than  a year ago, when the dining critic at Brand X wrote a Sunday magazine cover story about noise in restaurants and even instituted a special feature measuring decibel levels at every restaurant he reviews. What a waste of time, I [...]

Somehow Y&H missed this story when it was originally published, but earlier this month the New York Times' Business section reported that 20,000 U.S. restaurants are expected to close over the next three years. Much of the downsizing is due to a specific mania that affected many during the E-Z Credit Era, namely overbuilding. Times [...]

And average is just what we're after. If you'll recall, back on Feb. 19, we at the City Paper hit the streets to chronicle an average day in the life of the District. It was boring, it was funny, it was brilliant, it was stupid, it was what y'all do with your lives. So we're [...]

Public health professor Marion Nestle thinks restaurants cannot skirt their role in America's health problems. So she has three pieces of advice on how they can help keep both our weight and blood pressure down: Give a price break for smaller portions Make healthy kids' meals the default Cook with less salt