There’s a really nice piece about Dirt Candy up at one of my favorite blogs, Serious Eats, one of the few bigtime food blogs that’s 100% food and 0% gossip. I’ve read it for years and the people who run it are so sincere and honest in their devotion to food that they sometimes make me feel shallow and facile. Plus: how did they get those pictures? They snapped those pics in a few minutes at their tables while they ate and they look like the result of a five hour Vogue shoot around the pool at an Italian villa.

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Then NBC’s food site, Feast, rounds up reactions to the new Department of Health restaurant rating system. Previously, health inspections got a numerical grade, with points taken off for violations. Now they’re going to get a letter grade that have to be posted in the window. A lot of chefs are irritated by this, but to be honest it’s going to be hard not to get an A (I have obviously just jinxed Dirt Candy and ensured we receive an F). Not only do grades below an A get a one-month grace period to fix their problems followed by a re-inspection before the final grade is posted, but if you get below an A the second time you can appeal the decision and get another chance. If you’re still getting below an A after your second chance, then you might have some real problems.

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“Where’s the A+, young lady?”

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Of course, given my luck, the Health Department will show up on a day when some disaster has befallen us and I’ll get a C.

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Feast rounds up some reactions and most chefs seem pretty ambivalent about it but no one seems downright outraged. Most of them feel a bit like I do: another thing we have to post? I’m running out of room! I was surprised to see one chef repeat the common stereotype that Chinatown kitchens are dirtier than other kitchens (I’m not sure how many Chinatown restaurants even let outsiders into their kitchens to judge their cleanliness levels, anyways, but maybe this chef knows something I don’t). Another chef seems to think that everyone has iPhones – how elitist! Oh, wait, I have an iPhone….okay, not so elitist after all.

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In all my life I have only seen two restaurants

across the continent with less than an A.

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Finally, the folks at MindBodyGreen have a nice piece about vegetarian restaurants where vegans and carnivores can lie down together in peace and we’re included. Yay! Dirt Candy: where absolutely no one is allowed to eat vegans.

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