Sampler Platter: Meat grown in a lab for first time; we're wasting more food than ever; road food flowchart

Would you eat meat grown in a lab? Or drink wine made by a stockbroker? This and more in today's food news roundup.

-- Scientists reportedly grow meat in a lab for the first time! Telegraph
-- Eating the Road debuts its Where Should I Eat? Chain Restaurant Flowchart.
-- After East, David Judaken's next venture will be Hollywood nightclub MY Spot. Eater LA
-- Music to inspire chef José Andrés: Elton John, Ennio Morricone, Counting Crows. KCRW
-- Every Thanksgiving turns into a pie fight at Mommie Helen's in Colton. Wall Street Journal
-- The 99 Cent Chef makes holiday stuffing cupcakes with cranberry frosting.
-- A wave of MBAs and bankers turn winemaking into the second career du jour. New York Times
-- Americans waste more food than ever before -- nearly 40% of the food supply. Discover
-- Philadelphia restaurant firebombed. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
-- Full Yield dietary program thinks health savings start in the company cafeteria. New York Times
-- Where Washington D.C.'s elite go to eat: Komi, Charlie Palmer, the Palm, the Oval Room, Bombay Club, Ben's Chili Bowl and more. CNN

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times

Kiss My Bundt needs to sell 5,000 mini bundts to stay in business

The charming 3rd Street bakery Kiss My Bundt, which we have featured a few times in this blog (since its bundts and cupcakes are so tasty) is in a bit of trouble. Due to the recession and the rising cost of ingredients such as milk, butter, sugar and Belgian chocolate, the little bakery is struggling to stay afloat.

Last week, investor Erin Hill sent out an e-mail saying in part:

Chrysta [Wilson], the owner of the bakery, has been fighting valiantly since things got tough in January, but hasn't been able to build the business fast enough. So it has come down to the next few weeks, in which she has to sell about 5000 mini bundts to raise the money to keep her doors open into the Christmas season, when business will hopefully pick up.

It's surprising news, since the bakery has become a favorite with a lot of dessert-loving people I know and is often mentioned on popular blogs. Wilson even has a "Kiss My Bundt" cookbook coming out over Thanksgiving.

-- Jessica Gelt

Photo: A maple bacon bundt cake from Kiss My Bundt. Credit: Noelle Carter / Los Angeles Times

Crumbs debuts 'Twilight'-themed cupcake

If you're more likely to suck the sugar out of Pixy Stix than the blood out of a human's neck, but you're willing to out yourself as a fan of "Twilight," "the love that dare not speak its shame," Crumbs has the cupcakes for you.

From now through the end of November, all Crumbs Bake Shops are offering a "Twilight"-themed cupcake ($3.75). It's a chocolate cake (what, not blood red velvet?) with strawberry filling and cream cheese frosting adorned with bat-shaped sprinkles and a pair of fangs. Maybe you can bring one with you to "Twilight: New Moon," using the tickets you got from Jamba Juice.

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo credit: Crumbs Bake Shop

Small Bites: Southern Girl Desserts brings cupcakes to Lucy Florence; Frysmith truck officially launches today

Cupcakes come to Lucy Florence: Southern Girl Desserts, whose sweet potato pie cupcakes placed third in the Best Original Cupcake category at last year's LA Cupcake Challenge, has opened its first storefront at Lucy Florence Image. In addition to cupcakes, owners Catarah Hampshire and Shonijeh Robison specialize in Southern favorites like pineapple obsession, banana pudding and cobbler. 5671 W. Pico Blvd., L.A. (310) 686-8916, www.southerngirldesserts.com.

[UPDATED: A previous version of this post listed the telephone number incorrectly.]

Gourmet fries on the move: The Frysmith truck that we first covered back in July officially launches today, bringing its rajas fries (roasted poblano chiles, caramelized onions and shawarma-marinated steak with Jack cheese); kimchi fries (kimchi with Kurobuta pork belly, onions and cheddar cheese); vegan chili fries and chicken sweet potato fries to the hungry masses. Follow them on Twitter @frysmith, or keep up with all of L.A.'s food trucks.

--Elina Shatkin

Photo: Sweet potato cupcakes from Southern Girl Desserts. Credit: Rob Takata / For The Times

Sampler Platter: bacon popcorn, useless kitchen appliances, Pabst brewery for sale

Want to see more useless kitchen appliances than you can find in SkyMall? Or badly named Chinese knockoff brands? Or squash blossom quesadillas? You've come to the right place.

--You think they've put bacon in everything, then you discover bacon popcorn! Uncrate
--20 of the world's most useless kitchen appliances. Restyle Your Kitchen
--Gather your pennies, hipsters. Pabst Brewing Co. is for sale. New York Post
--Husband leaves his wife after she forces him to eat cake for every meal. Metro
--40 chefs under 40, only one from L.A.: Matt Molina (#38), Mozza executive chef. MNN
--Kiss My Bundt needs to sell 5,000 mini-bundt cakes in the next few weeks to stay open.
--The wackiest Chinese knockoffs. "Nalencia" oranges? Yum. Business Insider
--A photographic ode to the po'boy. New York Times
--Costco bans Coca-Cola due to pricing dispute. Consumerist
--Wine DJ iPhone app, which helps you pair music with vino, launches.
--Berkeley cracks down on Cupkates truck. California Taco Trucks
--First it's pumpkins, now an Eggo shortage. Signs of the end times? Google
--Food Court LA becoming Spacecraft-designed gastropub? Blackburn + Sweetzer
--Squash blossom quesadillas on the Gold Line. 99 Cent Chef
--MillerCoors contributes $500,000 to water education. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
--"Eating Animals," Jonathan Safran Foer's new pro-vegetarian book, gets a mostly positive review from the Los Angeles Times and a meh one from the New York Times.

--Elina Shatkin

Photo: Rochon Armwood of Mother's in New Orleans stands firmly behind the restaurant's po' boys. Credit: Alex Brandon / For The Times.

Small Bites: Looking for Thanksgiving pies, cakes, galettes and cannoli? Try Village Bakery, Cake Monkey or Platine

Looking for Thanksgiving desserts you can pick up or have delivered? Here are a few bakeries that are doing all the work for you. There's not only pumpkin pie but double-decker pecan and pumpkin, apple and brown butter galettes, pecan dacquoise cake, and cannoli too.

Holy cannoli! Over at Village Bakery & Cafe in Atwater Village (the bakery that has taken over the former LA Bread space on Los Feliz Boulevard), Barbara Monderine (who was a founder and baker at Auntie Em's in Eagle Rock) is baking three kinds of pies for Thanksgiving. There are apple, chocolate-pecan and pumpkin pies. But don't miss out on her pan forte or cannoli (she fries her own cannoli shells) or maybe the individual lemon-olive-oil-rosemary cakes. Anyway, it sounds like you can't go wrong. Place orders by Monday. Open 'til noon on Thanksgiving for pickups. 3119 Los Feliz Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 662-8600, www.thevillagebakeryandcafe.com.

Fake-it-and-bake-it: Jamie Cantor at Platine Cookies in Culver City is offering take-and-bake pies: apple, apple cranberry, pecan, and pumpkin for $25. You need only pop them in the oven; meanwhile, it will look like you've done all the work (rolling out the dough, preparing the filling ... ). It gets even easier: Fully-baked pies are $28 to $30, including a double-decker pecan pumpkin pie. And if cookies are required (who doesn't need cookies?), Cantor's twist on the old-fashioned oatmeal raisin cookie has rolled oats, zante currants, granola, chocolate chips and walnuts (the classier compost cookie!). Place orders by Saturday. Pick up  on Wednesday (delivery can be arranged); closed Thanksgiving. 10850 Washington Blvd., (310) 559-9933, www.platinecookies.com.

Did you say toasted marshmallow? Online bake shop Cake Monkey's quirky, refined-retro aesthetic extends to its Thanksgiving offerings. Honey braised pumpkin tart with heirloom pumpkin custard in a graham cracker crust is topped with toasted marshmallow ($40, serves eight). Mini galettes are made with rustic pastry dough filled with either cranberry preserves or roasted apple with brown butter and Vermont cider jelly ($3.75 each, or $37 for a 9-inch that serves eight to 10). Pecan dacquoise cake is layered with brown butter cake, pecan dacquoise and caramel buttercream (individual, $7; 9-inch serves 12 to 17, $68; 10-inch serves 18 to 24, $80). Apple crumble cake has layers of burnt-sugar cake, roasted apple filling, crumble and burnt-sugar buttercream (prices and sizes same as pecan dacquoise cake). Order by Monday. Pickup or delivery. Call (877) 640-CAKE (2253) or (818) 841-0202, www.cakemonkey.com.

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: Pumpkin pie by Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times

Food truck profile: Little Spoon dessert truck rolls across Los Angeles

Melissa Hanna and Laurel Tincher think they've found their sweet spot. Backed by food truck juggernaut Road Stoves, the two college-age entrepreneurs recently launched the Little Spoon dessert truck (Twitter: @weliketospoon), bringing together a wealth of freshly made baked goods from a variety of local vendors. Prior to the current food truck craze, Hanna had spent two years developing a business model for a dessert company that was based on partnering with local bakers and chocolatiers. "We're not trying to be a cupcake truck," Hanna says. "That's already out there."

With more experience in publicity and event promotion than in working at a professional oven, the pair will leave the baking to others. Little Spoon has contracted with several different caterers to produce the truck's rotating menu of brownies, cookies, bars, layer cakes, eclairs, tiramisu, creme brulee, (maybe) cupcakes and novelty items like pumpkin brittle, macarons and cookie bark (layers of toffee and chocolate drizzled on top of cookies). Drinks include an assortment of high-end teas and vintage sodas.

After testing the waters during the last couple of weeks, Little Spoon will start to roll out on a regular basis, splitting its time between private catered events and public locations. Wherever a sweet tooth aches, wherever a worker needs a distraction, wherever 3 p.m. rolls around and energy flags, Little Spoon will be there.

-- Elina Shatkin

Photos: Courtesy of Little Spoon.

Small Bites: Chocolate dim sum at the Peninsula; choucroute garnie at Bistro LQ; bartenders from New Orleans' Cure at the Edison's Radio Room

Dim sum for dessert:The Peninsula Beverly Hills puts a spin on a tribute to its Hong Kong roots with chocolate dim sum -- yes, chocolate. The dessert dumplings, created by executive chef James Overbaugh and executive pastry chef Miguel Torres, are being offered in the hotel's Club Bar and the Living Room (where resident pianist Antonio Castillo de la Gala performs, 7:30 p.m. to midnight Tuesdays to Thursdays and from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays). The warm, crisp, sweet dumplings are filled with either dark or white chocolate and citrus cream cheese. They're dusted with powdered sugar and served with three dipping sauces -- passion fruit, orange-raspberry and ginger-caramel -- and green tea ice cream. 9882 S. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 975-2736, www.peninsula.com.

Sausages-n-sauerkraut: Nothing says "Alsace!" like a platter of choucroute garnie. Bistro LQ chef-owner Laurent Quenioux will be serving the traditional French-German dish on Nov. 24 and 25. His includes sauerkraut poached in Riesling, jambonneau (cured pork knuckle), Morteau sausage, apple wood smoked bacon, pork shoulder, ham hocks, boudin blanc, Strasbourg sausage (wieners), blood sausage and steamed potatoes. The three-course menu also includes herring with quail egg as a first course and dessert and mignardises. $40 per person. 8009 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, (310) 951-1088, www.bistrolq.com.

The last Radio Room of 2009: Tonight's Radio Room at the Edison downtown features guest bartenders from New Orleans' Cure, which owner Neal Bodenheimer opened this year, hiring a crack team of bartenders, including Richard Gomez, Kirk Estopinal and Danny Valdez. Gomez, Estopinal and Valdez will be "behind the stick" tonight at the Radio Room, the last one for this year, along with Plymouth gin brand ambassador Simon Ford (expect plenty of gin cocktails). Tickets for the 8 p.m. event are $10; proceeds will benefit the Los Angeles chapter of the U.S. Bartenders Guild, the Sporting Life and the Museum of the American Cocktail. 108 W. 2nd St., Los Angeles, (213) 613-0000, www.edisondowntown.com.

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: chocolate dim sum. Credit: Peninsula Beverly Hills.

Sampler Platter: Make a bacon lamp, meet the White House Crustmaster, testing Campbell's Soup's noodles claim

The Crustmaster uses pies to lure Michelle Obama to the dark side. The original recipe for Worcestershire sauce is discovered (we assume it's the British equivalent of the original top-secret formula for Coca-Cola, but without cocaine). And the most practical how-to ever: making your own bacon lamp.

--Meet White House pastry chef Bill Yosses, a.k.a. the Crustmaster. CBS4 Denver
--Restaurant groups unhappy about health-care bill. Nation's Restaurant News
--"Emeril Live" may return to TV -- but not on the Food Network. ABC Action News
--The 10 most beloved and unhealthy gaming snacks. Topless Robot
--100 things restaurant staffers should never do: Part 1 and Part 2. New York Times
--Campbell's claims every can of chicken noodle soup has 32 feet of noodles. KING5
--Who would Jacques Pepin most like to cook naked with? Nigella Lawson. Gastrobuzz
--Original Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce recipe found. Daily Mail
--How to make a bacon lamp. Oddity Central
--Diners plan to spend 20% less on restaurant meals. Bloomberg

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: Jacques Pepin's dream date, Nigella Lawson. Credit: Tina Fineberg / For The Times

Thanksgiving countdown: Chocolate bouchons

It's never too early to start thinking about dessert. Whether you want a classy change from pumpkin pie or need a gift for a dinner host on Thanksgiving Day, these velvety chocolate bouchons please the eye and the palate. Click here for more Thanksgiving recipes and desserts.

-- Kelsey Ramos

PHOTO GALLERY: A Thanksgiving feast for the eyes

Our best Thanksgiving Day recipes

This Thanksgiving, let someone else do the cooking

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Photo credit: Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times