Sampler Platter: Frank Bruni stops critiquing, canned pork brains & xiao long bao

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

What do you do after getting kicked out of indie rock band the Shins? You open your own Mexican food cart. This and people who eat weird food for your voyeuristic pleasure, bans on 40-ounce beers and the legal battle over urban chicken-farming in today’s Sampler Platter.

• The New York Times’ Frank Bruni will leave his post as the paper’s restaurant critic and move to the Sunday magazine. Now the jockeying begins: Who will replace him?
• Former Shins drummer Jesse Sandoval opens Mexican food cart in Portland. Portland Mercury
• Abby Abanes breaks down xiao long bao (“won ton soup in reverse”) for you. LA Examiner
• Speaking of dumplings, LAist obsesses over mega-dumplings at Yu Ga Ne in Koreatown.
• Internet eating sensation Dave Chang takes on canned pork brains. AV Club
• If you like that, check out the original: Steve, Don’t Eat It is an occasional feature on The Sneeze in which Steve samples potted meat, pickled pork rinds, Beggin’ Strips, silkworm pupae, prison wine and some weird fungus growing out of a tree.
• Say goodbye to your 40-ounce beer. San Bernardino enforces a ban on all single cans and bottles of beer. The ban’s actually been on the books since 1989. KCAL9
• Bacon, tofu, chili, guacamole — cook-offs are the hot new trend in NYC. New York Times
• Overland Park, Kan., is one step closer to allowing urban chickens. KCTV5

— Elina Shatkin