Sampler Platter: chili wars, lava salt, Vietnamese pub food

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So much yummy news...

• The son of the founder of Original Tommy’s sells bricks of what he says is his dad’s frozen chili, but the corporate honchos who run the burger chain are displeased. Fast Food Maven
• Foo Fighters demand bacon (a.k.a. ‘God’s currency’) on their tour rider. Bacon Today
• Living smokestacks? Global warming’s handmaidens? But pigs are so delicious and cute! And the methane in their manure is now being converted into electricity for the local power grid in Sterksel, the Netherlands. N.Y. Times
• Wanna be a chewing-gum taster or a professional egg peeler? Some tips from Irena Chalmers, the author of ‘Food Jobs.’ Mouthing Off
• Potatomato checks out Vietnamese pub food (quán nhau) at Dinh Thieng in Little Saigon.
• Rustic Canyon plans to launch Huckleberry Café in Santa Monica in February or March. Zagat LA
• Even our gingerbread houses have to be environmentally friendly? Sigh… Serious Eats
• ‘Top Chef’ Season 4 contestant Richard Blais is opening his upscale burger joint Flip Burger Boutique next week in Atlanta. A Hamburger Today
• Recession era chow: Short Order’s ultimate vegetarian chili.
• Foodista gushes over black lava flake salt.

-- Elina Shatkin