Here’s a new one for the Restaurant Porn column (and for the Vancouver Aquarium’s crowded shelf of interesting ideas): Check out this underwater restaurant concept launching in Norway.

Called “Under,” the restaurant will stand on the sea bed five meters below the surface, its thick walls designed to withstand the most variable sea conditions.

Whole Foods has published their projections for 2018 food trends. They include “functional mushrooms,” banana milk, eggplant and spirulina.

Eater shares their picks for the 38 essential restaurants across America for 2017. The Restaurant of the Year title goes to The Grey in Savannah, Georgia. Closer to home you can pay a visit to Seattle’s Bateau and Portland’s Kachka.

Scout pays a visit to Spade on Commericial Drive. The Italian-themed cafe/restaurant from Prado’s Sammy Piccolo is set to open this week.

The Vancouver Sun’s Mia Stainsby heads to North Van for some dry brined rotisserie chicken and tallow-fried beignets at the recently opened Two Rivers.

Speaking of which, Scout suggests ordering the cheeseburger on your next Two Rivers visit and be sure to snag a seat in front of the grill to see the delectable magic in the making.

While the welfare food challenge is underway, The Vancouver Sun’s Daphne Bramham argues that it’s actually housing costs rather than food, that’s causing increased financial distress for low-income residents.

“While the challenge focuses attention on the longstanding concerns about low welfare rates, it also blurs the message. The biggest problem for welfare recipients isn’t that food is too expensive. It’s that HOUSING is too expensive. Keeping a roof over their heads eats deeply into the little money they receive and forces them to choose between shelter and food.”

On his recent visit to Asia, Donald Trump was served a 360-year-old soy sauce during a stop in South Korea.  Why such delicacies are wasted on a man that takes his steak well done with ketchup is beyond me.

Italy recently hosted the first Tiramisu World Cup and awarded the grand prize to a 28-year-old eyeglass factory worker. But when it comes to tiramisu in Italy, controversy abounds!

“…..no world cup would be complete without controversy. According to Yahoo, Italian foodies have been battling for decades about the origin of the espresso-flavored dessert. Veneto and Friuli-Venezia both call tiramisu their claim to fame, believing the dessert originated in their territory.”

Cheers to Mila Kunis! In a recent interview, the actress and Jim Beam spokesperson revealed that she’s been making monthly donations to Planned Parenthood in Vice President Pence’s name. Meanwhile, pro-life advocates are calling for a boycott of the world famous whisky company.

From salted and sweet to clarified and ghee, the folks at Bon Appetit eplain the difference between butter varietals.

Thrillist outlines a solid list of signs you might be a terrible restaurant customer. It’s all old hat stuff. If you don’t snap your fingers and refer to your server as “Waiter!” you’re probably doing fine!

The bar industry is welcoming a new review on liquor pricing with open arms as current laws have them paying well above wholesale prices for every bottle.

This week in odd food trends: cafes in India and England have decided that glitter is the next frontier for latte art. I’ll pass, thanks!

And speaking of advances in latte art, this barista out of Taiwan is doing some amazing pet portraits with nothing but espresso, chocolate, jam and milk foam!

The all-female charity bartending competition Speed Rack is at it again! The annual event benefitting breast cancer is back on tour and will be making a PNW stop in Seattle on December 3rd.

Top Chef judge Tom Colicchoio pens an open letter to male chefs calling out the sexist and misogynistic culture and behaviours within the restaurant industry.

Eating via Instagram honours this week go to @dineoutwithdee and one stunning brunch spread from the folks at Nemesis Coffee.

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