@OttaviaBourdain

"@NoReservations in Rio heckling the James Beard Awards via twitter"

Last night, as many of our loyal readers watched NBC's The Voice, ABC's Dancing With the Stars, and Travel Channel's No Reservations, a bit of a virtual battle was taking place on Twitter. Perhaps a few folks (likely from the culinary industry) tuned in to the live webcast of the James Beard Foundation Awards ceremony as well. Last night seemed pretty kosher for a Monday evening, in terms of entertainment.

Because Anthony Bourdain rarely misses an opportunity to make things extra-entertaining, he live-tweeted the awards ceremony (which is the Academy Awards of the culinary world) from Brazil. Tweet after tweet, he described the lack of recognition for the hard-working, often-undocumented Hispanics who toil behind the scenes at successful restaurants.

"Let's play a game. Count the Mexicans at the #jbfawards one.....two.....uh....." read the tweet that opened the floodgates for his outspoken disapproval of the ceremony.

Bourdain, we're with you 100 percent.
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The original soup man and shop.

The Soup Nazi episode remains one of Seinfeld's most famous. You surely remember: The gang heads to Al Yeganeh's Soup Kitchen (still at 55th Street and Eighth Avenue), but not before George Costanza, played by Jason Alexander, is warned to "follow the rules" -- which means placing one's order in a certain manner. Otherwise Al, the Soup Nazi, will become quite upset. George fails to follow the rules and gets tossed from the shop, with Yeganeh shouting, "No soup for you!"

Al Yeganeh went on to expand his real-life Original SoupMan business to include franchised restaurants, a line of soups sold in supermarkets, and food service operations that supply schools and institutions. Now Alexander has joined his former fictional nemesis as "Brand Champion" for these aforementioned projects of SoupMan, Inc. (The company prefers Soup Man to Soup Nazi, the latter term presumably not deemed suitable for promo material.)

"I think it's great coming full circle with Al's Soups," Alexander says. "I lined up with New Yorkers for years for his amazing creations. Then we had one of the greatest episodes of Seinfeld ever, somewhat at his expense. But now I get to make amends by helping bring his recipes to everyone... Finally, I get to say, 'Soup for you! Soup for everyone!'"
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Tennessee-based Ruby Tuesday Inc. announced Wednesday it will acquire Miami's Lime Fresh Mexican Grill for $24 million.

The deal includes Lime's intellectual property rights, as well as the assets of seven company-owned restaurants, and will offer Ruby Tuesday an opportunity for growth, particularly in Florida, says founder, chair, and chief executive Sandy Beall.
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Jamie Chung for Time.

​Spam is the gold standard for food imperishability. The expiration date on cans says two years, but Phil Minerich, vice president of research at Hormel, claims they write that "to help the customer move it through. We don't want it to be sitting on the shelf for 12, 15 years."

The canned meat product actually lasts longer than that, but there is work being done by numerous and divergent groups -- from university food scientists to NASA to the U.S. Department of Defense -- to produce foods that last nearly as long. An article by Deborah Blum in Time magazine ("Food That Lasts Forever") explains and summarizes the advances in technology that can dramatically stretch the life span of comestibles.

NASA, for instance, has whipped up a bread pudding that can last four years. The Pentagon has created a pound cake that retains sponginess for five years. If nothing else, it's good to know that workers at these key agencies are eating well.
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Eat one, do it now.

​After a successful test run in three American cities, Taco Bell last Thursday rolled out its newest menu item--Doritos Locos Tacos, a new crunchy taco with a shell made with Frito-Lay's nacho cheese-flavored Doritos chips and filled with beef, lettuce and shredded cheddar cheese.

The Irvine-based subsidiary of Yum! Brands Inc. tested the new taco shell for a whole year at three of its restaurants in Bakersfield and Fresno, Calif. and in Toledo, Ohio. It seemed to be popular among consumers so now it's available nationwide, at participating restaurants of course.
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Michael E. Miller

RIP Raúl Galindo, Miami's Cuban sandwich king.

​​A handful of family members and friends gathered last night at 8 p.m. at La Ermita de la Caridad to say goodbye to Raúl Galindo, the king of the Cuban sandwich. It was a sad, sudden end to what had been a lively life spent behind lunch counters in Havana, Chicago, and Miami.

Galindo passed away last week in Texas after undergoing a heart procedure. After several years away from the restaurant industry, he was preparing to open a new joint in Little Havana.

"He was a character," remembers business partner Robert Quintero. "He always had folklore, poetry and stories to tell you." Quintero says Galindo will live on in his recipes.
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​You're enjoying a day at the beach roasting in the hot sun and occasionally dipping in the ocean. Then hunger rears its ugly head. But leaving the beach just isn't an option. Got an iPhone or a Droid phone? Download URGE Miami, the app that delivers anywhere.

URGE doesn't actually deliver for the restaurants. To be more specific, URGE is a service that brings restaurants to its customers, no matter where they're at using location based on GPS coordinates given by their phones.
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Hey, Burger Beast: Just $700K and you've got your own burger emporium!

​Burger 21 is a new "fast casual" concept brought to you by the folks behind a rather old concept, The Melting Pot Restaurants Inc. The idea behind this particular burger emporium is to offer 21 "chef-inspired" creations culled from freshly ground beef, chicken, turkey, shrimp, and tuna -- with creative, hand-crafted toppings. The stores also sell Hebrew National hot dogs and hand-dipped shakes. There are two locations currently operating in Tampa, and two more in development.

Interested in owning a Burger 21 of your own? An executive roundtable for prospective franchisees is being held tomorrow from noon to 2 p.m. at The Grill on the Alley in Aventura. If you can't make it, another roundtable occurs the next day from noon to 2 p.m. at Seasons 52 in Boca Raton.

What you will need:
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​A rally, organized by the Florida AFL-CIO to oppose Florida Senate Bill 2106 is planned for this afternoon, February 21 at 3 p.m. in front of Outback Steakhouse in Miami Lakes.

The Florida AFL-CIO is inviting all restaurant workers who work for tips and union members to show up in 1980s garb and and wave signs in protest of this bill which would lower the minimum wage for tipped workers in Florida from $4.65 per hour to $2.13 an hour, a rate last seen in the '80s.

The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (FRLA) has been heavily lobbying for this bill to pass, urging restaurateurs to fill out and sign form letters like the one on their website, which state that the bill would help both restaurateurs struggling to stay in business because of increased food costs, unemployment tax hikes, and minimum wage laws, and restaurant workers.
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​​The International Association of Culinary Professionals has announced the nominees for its 2012 writing awards. These honors are handed out for all manner of food writing -- newspapers, magazines, internet, blogs, television shows, cookbooks. It even gives nods to the most "Intriguing Use of New Technology" and best "Culinary Product or Brand Website." In this latter category, I'm rooting for The Official Homepage of the Idaho Potato. I think most would agree that if the IACP can hand out two awards to me (2008; 2009) it can certainly hand one over to the Idaho Potato.

One of the more interesting showdowns is between Jacques Pepin and Ming Tsai for best television series. Andrew Carmellini, of The Dutch, is about the only local name (sort of) I can find on the extensive 2012 list (nominated as author of Best American Cookbook). Winners will be announced at the IACP Awards Ceremony in NYC on April 2.

Anyway, here are the nominees in a few of the categories:

Best Culinary Website:
Chow.com
Saveur.com
Find. Eat. Drink
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