Sampler Platter: Novel Cafe expected to close, advice to Starbucks, sugar prices shoot up

Whale meat, pizza, goofy names for otherwise reasonable dishes and a giant tuna lead today's roundup of food news.

• Detroit's Peaches & Greens produce truck encourages healthful eating. NPR
• Top chefs pick their favorite fast food. Esquire
• There's a big, delicious rumor that N.Y.C.'s Magnolia Bakery might come to West 3rd Street. And it's a fact that D’Amore’s Pizza is open and serving late-night slices in the area. Blackburn + Sweetzer
• A beautiful ode to whale meat. YouTube
• Novel Cafe on Pier Avenue in Santa Monica will likely close. LA Observed
• Sugar prices shoot to 28-year highs, on shortage fears. Los Angeles Times
• Seven restaurant dishes that are too embarrassing to order by name. Consumerist
• Calgary, Canada, restaurant pays $25K for giant tuna. CBC
• Advice to Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz from someone who actually works there. Fortune

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: A fisherman slaughters a Baird's beaked whale at Wada Port, Japan. Dating back to the 16th century, coastal whaling is a tradition in Japan, and Wada is one of the last ports where fishermen hunt in Japanese waters. Credit: Franck Robichon / EPA