Synthetic Burgers: The Fast Food Industry’s Wave Of The Future?

It may be as costly as a typical high end street legal sports car to produce at the moment but will synthetic burgers become the fast food industry’s “wave of the future”?

By: Ringo Bones

During the past year a Dutch scientist, Professor Mark Post of Maastricht University, had successfully created a test tube meat – i.e. laboratory grown meat – that could potentially be produced with a far smaller carbon footprint than the way we currently produce today by farming livestock. Thanks to a 300,000 US dollar grant from the US government, we are now much closer to a practical lab grown meat that can be produced with far less water and plant based feed that today’s conventionally raised animal-based meat. Unfortunately at the moment, a steak-sized sample of Professor Post’s lab grown meat still costs as much as 300,000 US dollars to produce.

Professor Sean Smukler of the University of Columbia says traditionally grown meat fed with farmed soybean will become more expensive in the immediate future due to rising demand from the world’s newly emerging economies like India and The People’s Republic of China. At present, more than a billion of the world’s inhabitants still lack a secure and steady supply of affordable dietary protein adequate enough for their daily requirements.

But food security expert Professor Tim Lang has doubts whether test tube burgers and other laboratory grown meats using current stem-cell technology can provide nourishment for our over a billion starving poor, never mind become an economically viable alternative of conventionally produced mean from animal livestock by the year 2050. Other methods of laboratory grown meat had recently sprang up all over the world’s leading biological research laboratories but a strip of muscle grown from cow stem cells currently still costs a little over 300,000 US dollars to produce – hopefully the economies of scale in the future and a prospect of a more environmentally sustainable way to produce edible protein had been the primary driving force for the race of producing the first ever economically viable test tube burger and the first to become the “fast food industry’s wave of the future”. 

Italian Restaurants: The Safest Place To Dine Out?

Given that “ethnic foods” has been unfairly branded as “unsafe to eat” (at least in America), are Italian restaurants really the safest place to dine out to?

By: Ringo Bones 

Ever since the first commercial restaurants opened for business in America, ethnic foods had been unfairly branded as something wanting when it comes to passing municipal health-code compliance. But are some restaurants – health wise at least – really safer than others, or are they just too “ethnic” for the American palate and / or digestive tract? 

A study conducted back in 1995 in the United States on the “riskiest” places to dine out / eat out – and it was not just limited to commercial restaurants by the way. The researchers arrived at these figures by estimating that each state resident goes to each type of restaurant / public eating place once a year – which may not be the case. At any rate, the table below shows a typical American’s yearly risk of falling ill to food poisoning via e-coli or related pathogens at the following restaurants: 

Italian Restaurant  -------------------------------------------------- 1 in 1,400,000

Fast Food Restaurant ---------------------------------------------- 1 in 440,000

Business Meeting --------------------------------------------------- 1 in 400,000

Family Gathering ---------------------------------------------------- 1 in 388,000

Delicatessen ---------------------------------------------------------- 1 in 240,000

Mexican Restaurant ------------------------------------------------ 1 in 136,000 

Ever since the 1980s, most cases of food poisoning caught while dining out that got attention of primetime news broadcasts are mostly on big commercial burger joint franchises like Jack-In-The-Box, Burger King and in some cases McDonald’s. A famous Mexican-themed fast-food joint – like Taco Bell – sometimes gets press coverage whenever customers get sick with e-coli poisoning via contaminated vegetables – as in tomatoes and cabbages – got accidentally mixed in into the tacos. So are we better off dining out into the nearest Olive Garden branch instead? 

Should Children Be Banned In Fine Dining Restaurants?

Given that some fine dining restaurants in the United States already ban children below 6 years of age, should the kids restaurant ban law be made mandatory?

By: Ringo Bones

It was quite a shock for some parents who regularly take their children whenever they dine out on special occasions. But when the news story about some fine dining restaurants in the US banning kids under 6 years of age in their restaurant aired on NBC's The Today Show back in August 5, 2011. Even though there are some cities in the US who already have a mandatory ban on kids under 6 years of age from being allowed in fine dining restaurants, should it be made mandatory nationwide?

Even though most of us have experienced first-hand how unruly kids can ruin ones fine dining experience, especially if one pays good money for it and not to mention restaurant critics and fine dining connoisseurs at work - is a blanket ban really justified?

Some parents with relatively well-behaved kids are already up in arms - figuratively speaking - about some establishments having a mandatory ban on children younger than 6 from entering. They say the ban should be done on a case-by-case basis since not all children under 6 are "incorrigible". And children who are well-behaved deserve a break too.

Halal Restaurants: Relatively Untapped Business Model?

Famed for having an “exotic” feel and yet probably only a comfortable walking distance away from most restaurant critics and fine dining connoisseurs, are Halal restaurants still a relatively untapped business model?


By: Ringo Bones


Ever since the Bush administration’s malfeasantly run War on Terror managed to bedevil the Islamic World and made Islamophobia fashionable to those who are into neo-Nazism big time, the Halal restaurant business has been denied their proverbial day in the sun in the Christian West since they became popular during the rise of Hair Metal in the late 1980s and Seattle Grunge in the 1990s. Given that the Bush administration’s malfeasance never managed to catch Bin Laden for eight long years, is the commercial success for Halal restaurants nigh?

Even though one has to do a significant amount of legwork in order to authenticate the local Halal restaurants that have suddenly sprung up for their authenticity – i.e. a certification from your local Council of Muftis – me and many others find that Halal restaurants have a certain ineffable charm. They also are not too crowded and most of the time, their serving staff are not especially overworked – earning them several brownie points in the service department.

Business wise, even the French burger / fastfood chain quick now seems to be riding on the Halal wave when they started serving Halal certified burgers with beef and other Halal meats prepared under approved Islamic law. The press have even dubbed it as the surest sign that Halal foods are now mainstream in Paris. Economically, this represent a 7 billion US dollar a year EU wide Halal market, but in France, most meat claiming to be Halal are not as they don’t have any certification of their local Council of Muftis. At least Halal restaurants are now on everyone’s radar again despite of the eight-year long Bush era Islamophobia.

Southeast Asian Private Dining Scene: Lemonade Stand For Grownups?

Even though it still craves for the restaurant industry recognition that it rightfully deserves, is the Southeast Asian private dining scene more than a lemonade stand run by grownups?


By: Ringo Bones


They are probably the most ubiquitous value for money eating-places in major metropolitan areas throughout Southeast Asia, and like the hotdog-vending cart of New York City, a working-class cultural icon. The Southeast Asian private dining scene are more famously known as “nondescript?” secretive restaurants that sprout up almost anywhere, that serve home-cooked meals at value for money prices.

Majority of these private dining establishments can be hard to spot because they are usually setup within the owner’s private residence. So it is always hard to these establishments from a single glance – never mind the entrance. The chefs who set up private dining establishments can be both advantageous and adventurous, especially if the chef is not hindered in preparing and presenting an exotic cuisine the way it should be traditionally served.

Even though foods are served at value for money prices, there is an “air of exclusivity” that surrounds the private dining experience. Not only because they are serving on average to only 5 to 8 people at a time. And usually of the chef’s / owner’s select clients and regular customers. So they are likely to be already acclimated when exposed to the chef’s dishes that are more exotic in comparison to the norm. Though mostly composed of traditional Chinese dishes with tastes from other parts of Southeast Asia like Thai, Vietnamese, Filipino, and others.

Given that most of these ad hoc private restaurants are run by second generation family members, the private dining scene serves as a very important source of income. Many families throughout Southeast Asia can attest that they had sent their children through college by the additional income brought by their private restaurant. And ever since the global economic downturn had dampened everyone’s spending patterns, the value for money prices offered by the private dining scene throughout Southeast Asia are simply too low to resist. And this can be also a low-priced way to sample various Asian ethnic cuisines, especially if an overwhelming majority of them serve foods that are magnitudes tastier than the ones offered in multi-national fast food franchises.