Has Pizza Hut changed its name to "The Hut"? Despite the chain using this shorter name on its signage and delivery boxes, it claims that the name has not officially changed. Apparently, "The Hut" is just a "simpler and easier" nickname for the "texting generation" to use. If they're going to go there, why not 'Za Hut, then?
[Nation's Restaurant News]

New York's Bravest took a break from putting out fires to light a few last weekend during the Jim Beam Terry Farrell Firehouse Cook-Off Competition. The fundraising event has five teams of firefighters compete for the best barbecue recipe. The winning team's secret ingredient was Dana Lamel, who trained at the Culinary Institute of America and works for Todd English in between fires.
[NY Daily News]

A new three-acre organic and sustainable farm opened on Governors Island last week. Volunteers planted squash plants and sunflowers on the southern tip of the island overlooking the Statue of Liberty. The farm is a collaboration between the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation and Added Value, a Brooklyn nonprofit that trains teenagers to work on local, sustainable urban farms.
[NY Times]

A lot of Italian restaurants claim to be serving authentic home cooking. Enoteca Maria on Staten Island has enlisted actual Italian grandmothers to cook for its customers. Every night, one of eight nonnas, each from different parts of Italy, comes in to make one of her specialties.
[NY Daily News]

Vinegar might be the next weight-loss craze. A new Japanese study conducted on mice resulted in those being fed a high fat diet with vinegar gaining less weight than those being fed a high fat diet without.
[Forbes]