The Feed: June 18, 2014

Do you love Korean Tacos? You probably have Roy Choi to thank. He's profiled in the New York Times this week.

The Feed is my weekly round up of interesting food-related stories from newspapers, magazines, blogs and websites.

Washington Post: “A Family Farm’s Russian Invasion,” by Arlo Crawford.

They say you should get to know your farmer, which I’ll have a unique opportunity to do by reading Arlo Crawford’s memoir, A Farm Dies Once a Year. Crawford is the son of Jim Crawford, the Pennsylvania farmer from New Morning Farm who sets up his market in my neighborhood every Saturday morning (and Tuesday afternoon). In this essay, Arlo recounts how a Russian traveler worked briefly on New Morning Farm in Pennsylvania, drawing parallels between the traveler and the farm. It’s part of this week’s Food section’s focus on farming and growing.

New York Times: “Roy Choi, King of L.A. Food Trucks, Moves on to a Hotel,” by Jeff Gordinier.

Roy Choi may be one of the founding fathers of the modern food truck movement (he popularized Korean tacos), but these days he has his sights on less mobile enterprises, helping to launch The Line Hotel in Los Angeles. Gordinier profiles the chef and reports on his latest move. Accompanying the story is Choi's recipe for “perfect” instant ramen doctored with butter, egg and American cheese.

New York Times: “Gluten Free Eating Appears to Be Here toStay,” by Kim Severson.

Severson writes about how the gluten-free fad doesn’t appear to be abating, and prominent restaurants like Del Posto have taken notice. Perhaps, but I love what N.Y.U. Professor Marion Nestle has to say about fad diets, “There really isn’t much better dietary advice than eating your veggies, exercising and limiting calories. People just seem to like making eating difficult for themselves.”

Eater: “New Study Shows Food Trucks are Safer Than Restaurants,” by Khushbu Shah.

If you’ve wanted to try eating from food trucks but have held back due to health concerns, fear not. According to at least one study, they are better than restaurants when it comes to food safety.

The Patriot News/Penn Live: “Restaurant Reviewer Mimi Brodeur: Putting a Face with a Name,” by Richard Abowitz.

Many restaurant critics make great effort to remain anonymous, such as the Washington Post’s Tom Sietsema. But Central Pennsylvania paper The Patriot News’ reviewer Mimi Brodeur unveiled herself last week in a move Abowitz writes was done to make Brodeur more accessible to readers.

Wall Street Journal: “The Art of Making Risotto,” by Ralph Gardner Jr.

From the headline, I was hoping for some tips on making risotto, but the author offered none, instead recounting an all-risotto dinner at Risotteria Melotti (from which he left early), as well as a visit to a nearby farm growing Japanese and, thanks to the Melottis, Italian rices.