Sampler Platter: Lobsters, the FDA and Mexican restaurants in downtown L.A.

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Savory bites for Monday afternoon ...

• Opening in mid-February, Yxta Cocina Mexicana, owned by Jesse Gomez of Highland Park’s El Arco Iris, will replace the defunct Sixth Street Bar & Grill at 6th & Central in the industrial district of downtown L.A. Angelenic

• 20-pound, 140-year-old lobster freed by Manhattan restaurant. Despite the thousands of other fish and shellfish the restaurant serves each year, PETA views this as a blow for freedom. CNN

• Beer is the hot new cocktail mixer. SF Gate

• What made Oprah fat? Blue corn chips. Serious Eats

• When even scientists at the FDA say the FDA is fundamentally broken, it might be time to listen. CNN

• R.I.P., Alan S. Geisler, pioneer of the ubiquitous red onion sauce that New Yorkers slosh on their hot dogs. New York Times

• If you like peanut butter-and-pickle sandwiches, how about beet-and-pickle tacos? Hot Knives

• Southwest Airlines joins the grub-for-points game with Rapid Rewards Dining.

-- Elina Shatkin