Lucky Dip – Tuesday, October 18th, 2011

Remember when the theme at McDonald’s was “you deserve a break today, eat your food and go away”? So what’s up with the fancy new decor and now, in California, TV and a whole McDonald’s channel? Now they want us to linger? [Toronto Star]

Does “ethnic food” exist? [Wall Street Journal]

Cara (owners of Harvey’s, Swiss Chalet and Milestones) are set to buy Prime Restaurants, which include Casey’s, East Side Mario’s and Bier Markt). [Financial Post]

I’m not sure whether to be pleased or horrified – the Girl Scouts of America have come up with a “locavore” badge. [LA Weekly]

Rob Rossi’s Bestellen will not be a German restaurant. Just so you know. [Toronto Life: The Dish]

Neurogastronomy and where memories are made. The problem is that a dish designed to trigger one person’s memories might be meaningless to another. Which makes the whole thing look awfully douchey. Especially at $245 a head. [New York Times]

As the kid who would, at age 12, bring a bunch of other kids home for lunch and whip up crepes for them, I’m probably in the minority, but it seems odd to me that most teenagers and young adults can’t cook, and don’t really learn until their late 20s. [Guardian]

Put a little south on your mouth. Leave it to Paula Deen to come up with butter-flavoured lip balm. [Eater]

Ohh… 10 foods that don’t exist, but should. [College Humor, thanks to Dana McCauley for the link]

Dear consumers, fruit roll-ups are not fruit. And they’re not good for your kids. Don’t let General Mills tell you otherwise. [AdWeek]