A Morning Menu of LAF-Style Food News and Stories to Begin Your Day

Atlantic City Casino Closures Hit Formica Bakery Hard

Bringing the NYC Burger to London

Black’s vs. Black’s in Austin

Bagel Boy, Masquerading as Fairmount of Montreal, Comes Clean

Atlantic City Casino Closures Hit Formica Bakery Hard

We don’t mean to take any credit away from Atlantic City’s White House Sub Shop — there are plenty of other sub shops in town that use Formica bakery bread yet don’t even belong in the discussion with White House — nonetheless, a White House sub would not be what it is without the phenomenal fresh sub rolls delivered multiple times a day from local bakeries. One of their main suppliers (but not the only one) is Formica Brothers Baking, across the street.

Formica is best known for their sub rolls but there are dozens of other breads baked at the old-time bakery.

Formica is best known for their sub rolls but there are dozens of other breads baked at the old-time bakery.

Formica Brothers, baking bread in Atlantic City since 1919, had expanded in recent decades, in large part due to the demand from the local casinos. Lately, however, as the casinos have closed, demand for Formica’s breads has taken a big hit. Read about Formica’s plight and what they are trying to do to compensate for the lost business.

Bringing the NYC Burger to London

A London Shake Shack burger

A London Shake Shack burger

American-style hamburgers are all the rage in London, and American burger masters want a piece of the action, entering the fray with the real thing. Or as close to the real thing as they can get. Perhaps not surprisingly, it’s not a simple matter to reproduce an American burger overseas. The biggest hurdle is dealing with beef from British cattle, which are raised and butchered differently from their American counterparts.

A burger from London's Chop Shop

A burger from London’s Chop Shop

Then there are British food laws to consider, which forced Shake Shack to change the color of its buns and replace American cheese with real cheddar. The results come close to the originals but they are not identical. Read more about the experience of American restaurateurs selling British burgers in this Eater story.

Black’s vs. Black’s in Austin

Brisket, Black's BBQ, Lockhart, TX

Black’s smokes their briskets in Lockhart before bringing them to Austin.

Kent Black owns Black’s Barbecue in Lockhart, TX. His nephews opened Terry Black’s Barbecue in Austin (Terry Black was their father’s, and Kent’s brother’s, name). Now Kent has opened a branch of Black’s Barbecue in Austin. So… which Q joint is better? CultureMap Austin did a taste test and the clear winner was the original Black’s Barbecue. Read the full story here.

Bagel Boy, Masquerading as Fairmount of Montreal, Comes Clean

An assortment of big-holed Montreal-style bagels from Fairmount

An assortment of big-holed Montreal-style bagels from Fairmount

Bagel Boy attracted far more attention than he ever imagined was possible when he obtained a Fairmount Bagel Twitter account and began tweeting away. He’s come out of the closet, sort of (unless Bagel Boy is his real name), and has written his story for Cult Montreal.