Sampler platter: Sonic boom, Las Vegas restaurants go bust and eating meat to help the environment

Ontario grocers band together to slip out from under the boot heel of corporate tyranny; a small town where Sonic is king; and a German chef has a tragic accident with liquid nitrogen in today's food news roundup.

• Pity poor Totowa, N.J., so bereft of fast-food options that the opening of a Sonic causes near-chaos. Baristanet
• German chef blows off his hands cooking with liquid nitrogen. The Local
• Food She Thought blogs about Friday's East L.A. Meets Napa event.
• Buy-local push prompts Ontario, Canada, grocers to go independent. CBC
• Do less attractive people have to eat grosser food in the "lookist" world of food TV? Jezebel
• After the Las Vegas restaurant boom, the bust. New York Times
• I only like science that tastes good: eating meat for the environment. Utne

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: A fog of liquid nitrogen surrounds Steven Rojas' compressed watermelon dessert at the Rancho Bernardo Inn in Escondido. Credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times