Sampler Platter: pho, salmon-slapping and more

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

So much tasty food news...

• Jonathan Gold, who calls south El Monte ‘ground zero for the pho cult,’ reviews seven pho joints. LA Weekly
• Amazing reproduction of Mies van der Rohe’s modernist Farnsworth House -- in gingerbread! April Reed
• Hayashi Ya, an all-you-can-eat restaurant in Manhattan, imposes a 30% charge for uneaten food. Newsday
• Nicholas Kristof: Obama needs a ‘food secretary’ who will ‘move away from a bankrupt structure of factory farming.’ N.Y. Times
• Portland, Ore., loses ‘top-tier European restaurant’ Lucier. Portland Business Journal
• Is slapping a man in the face with a salmon the best use of fish? Metro
• Do genes make kids crave french fries? Maybe. Washington Post
• Federal court finds Nevada prison inmate entitled to kosher food. SF Gate

-- Elina Shatkin