Media Mix: Hottest Restaurants; Denmark's Fat Tax; and Jacques Pépin on Newbie Chefs

The Daily Byte brings you all the food news fit to read.

Signs of a Good Restaurant: Big chefs and sous chefs in the dining room (they rarely eat out, so when they do, it must be good); young chefs working for free in the kitchen. The Wall Street Journal rounds up six of the hottest restaurants, now that El Bulli is gone. [WSJ]

Wait, So What’s Happening to School Lunch Potatoes?: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack chats about the USDA’s problem with potatoes (it’s the cooking process, not the tuber) and the farming industry. [NPR]

“Fat Tax” Implemented in Denmark: Danes who go shopping will have to pay roughly 15 cents more for a burger and 40 cents more for a small package of butter. Chips, milk, cheese, and minced meat are also taxed, and shoppers will pay an extra 16 kroner ($2.90) per kilogram (2.2 pounds) of saturated fat. [ABC]

Jacques Pépin On Chef Newbies: The king of French cooking in the US thinks budding chefs are too focused on fame. “The idea of old was to conform yourself to a style of cooking, it was not to create a style of cooking," Pépin says. "Now the chef is so much into 'I want to sign that dish and say I am the one who made that dish.'" [USA Today]

Breaking! Burgers are More Popular Than Salads: A recent study showed that while 47 percent of Americans like having healthy options, only 23 percent actually order them. Only 11 percent of adults order fries in Happy Meals for their kids. This explains the obesity problem, no? [AP]

The Daily Byte is a regular column dedicated to covering interesting food news and trends across the country. Click here for previous columns.

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