The Intelligence Brief is our weekly compendium of food and drink news sourced from outlets all over the world.

Eater shares the origins of the Appletini and why the cocktail-loving public turned their backs on the 90’s classic.

The Verge takes us inside the viral YouTube show Hot Ones (“It’s the show with hot wings, and even hotter questions…”).

As the hospitality industry grapples with the issue of mental health, a number of local chefs band together to increase awareness and raise money for a good cause.

A OneZero essay on the ethics of eating road kill:

Earlier this month, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into effect the Wildlife Traffic Safety Act, also known as the “roadkill bill.” The act will soon make it legal for drivers to take home and eat animals they accidentally kill or find dead on the road, provided they register that there’s been a collision on an app that the state uses to collect data about traffic accidents. Before the bill was signed, salvaging animals was a misdemeanor. Eating roadkill is quietly going mainstream as food insecurity rises and the climate crisis mounts. With this bill, which mandates a pilot program to track collisions using an app by January 2022, California joins a list of 28 other states where it’s legal to eat some form of “salvaged meat” — the new law states that it’s wasteful not to. There’s a good chance the trend will continue.

How Humphrey Bogart and his many acting roles helped us define what it means to drink well.

Remember that study that came out a few weeks ago telling us all to resume regular red meat consumption? Yeah, a couple of problems there. First: The study didn’t consider environmental impact. Second: apparently the lead researcher didn’t notify anyone of his past ties to the industry.

On the history, evolution and inner workings of the modern vending machine.

Chew on this: Atlas Obscura explains how General Antonio López de Santa Anna invented bubblegum while exiled on Staten Island:

“Santa Anna hoped that his supply of chicle, a natural latex harvested from trees in the same fashion as rubber, would make him rich. He’d pitched Thomas Adams, a local inventor, on developing this foreign substance into an inexpensive replacement for rubber. It never worked. But after he left for Mexico for the final time, dumping his chicle on Adams, it became something else: the first modern chewing gum.”

Making the argument for Dosanko as Vancouver’s most underrated restaurant.

Would you like your Bloomin’ Onion with a side of surveillance? Wired details how one Outback Steakhouse is taking some extreme steps to monitor their staff.

“The system uses machine learning to analyze footage of restaurant staff at work and interacting with guests. It aims to track metrics like how often a server tends to their tables or how long it takes for food to come out. At the end of a shift, managers receive an email of the compiled statistics, which they can then use to identify problems and infer whether servers, hostesses, and kitchen staff are adequately doing their jobs.”

The Ottawa Citizen explains why Michelin fails to consider some of Canada’s top restaurants for their coveted star-ratings.

New York, on the other hand, is a meteor shower of Michelin Star restaurants. Check out the recently released star guide for the city.

Eating via Instagram honours this week go to @comotaperia, preparing for service in that perfect afternoon light:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by ¿CóMO? Taperia (@comotaperia) on Oct 31, 2019 at 9:08pm PDT

Two years after the BC Liquor Branch seized $40k worth of whisky from Fets, the owners are headed to court to try to recover what was taken.

An upcoming documentary from CNN, HBO and Focus Features will detail the life and legacy of acclaimed chef and author Anthony Bourdain.

While you may not cry over spilt wine, suing for $30,000 over it isn’t out of the question.

Chef Brad Hendrickson of Biota Fermentation explains how to best enjoy a healthy obsession with fermentation.

Four women come forward with accusations of sexual assault against a well known New York sommelier: The New York Times reports.

Get to know more about Filipino food and culture at Magkasama, a Filipino pop-up market taking place on November 16th.

From honey-dipped donuts at Lee’s to the Currywurst at Bestie, Scout has launched a map guide to Vancouver’s best comfort food.

The devil’s in the details and even though it boasts only three ingredients, you should always pay attention when mixing up a classic Manhattan.

Despite being known as a summer destination, The Vancouver Sun highlights all the culinary goodness Salt Spring has to offer year round.

The sweetest trick-or-treater of the year goes to this kid who noticed a candy bowl was running low and donated some of his own to top it up.

On the origins of sliced bread and the nonsensical reason why it was once banned in the United States.

Looking for work in the industry? Check out who’s hiring!