Restaurants

Kentucky Fried Chicken is offering $500 worth of grilled chicken in exchange for information leading to the safe return of a missing Colonel Sanders bust.

The 24-inch bronze bust vanished from a Berea, Ky., KFC just before closing time on Jan. 31.

"There were three men in the restaurant, and the employee went to the kitchen," spokesman Rick Maynard recounted. "When she returned, the three men and the Colonel had flown the coop."

The bust has graced the restaurant's dining room since the 1970s, making the outlet one of the few to house expensive KFC-related art. According to Maynard, the bust – depicting a jolly Sanders in his "trademark glasses and string tie" – is worth $1,500.

"Folks who frequent the restaurant kind of miss it," Maynard says. "I think it's been replaced with a potted plant."

Everybody knows that the safest bet if you want to eat healthy is to cook at home so you can control the ingredients. But that's not always an option when you're traveling or just crazy-busy. A new Food Court Survival Guide from cookinglight.com addresses that dilemma and offers six relatively healthy choices from McDonald's, Taco Bell, Starbucks and other fast-food restaurants.

Sodium, saturated fat and calories were the key considerations for the guide, according to the author, Katherine Brooking, M.S., R.D. While salads and sandwiches with grilled chicken are obvious choices, there were a few surprises on the list. Two items, including the Fresco Grilled Steak Soft Taco from Taco Bell, have beef, which is often considered a no-no for people trying to eat healthy. There's also a "Wok Smart" entrée from Panda Express that's not bursting with sodium (a common pitfall with fast food, says Brooking) and has only 250 calories. In other words, it's not only low in calories -- it's too low in calories for lunch, which should be 350 to 500 calories or more, depending on your individual calorie needs, says Brooking. (She suggests adding some extra brown rice and perhaps another side if you need a full meal).

Can't decide between the brisket and the ribs and the pork belly?

At Percy Street Barbecue in Philadelphia, which opened mid-November, diners don't have to choose thanks to the introduction of "The Lockheart" (named after a town in Texas Hill Country) -- a family-style, fixed-price sampling of everything on the restaurant's menu.

For $24 a person, for tables of four or more, diners can try: Moist or Lean Brisket; Spare Ribs; House-Made Sausage; Chicken; and Pork Belly. Sides include: Pinto Beans; Coleslaw; German Potato Salad; Collard Greens; Root Beer Chili; Macaroni & Cheese; Black-Eyed Pea Salad; Green Bean Casserole; and Vegan Chili.

"It's great because people came in and they wanted combo plates," pit-master and executive chef Erin O'Shea told Slashfood. "We found people did want to try everything on the menu . . . the idea is that each person will end up with a half a pound of meat and two sides, but it's all served family style so you get to try everything on the menu."

Tipping may be contentious, but it's generally not too complicated. Most diners today are in the habit of adding at least 15 percent to their bills for the luxury of not having to pour their own drinks, fetch their food from the kitchen or clear their table at the end of their meal.

But even practiced tippers continue to struggle with what may very well be the most complex tipping quandary for restaurant-goers: Should one tip on takeout?

Here's why the problem's so advanced: It forces the customer to evaluate what's happening behind the scenes, a tricky proposition even for seasoned industry insiders. Since no server is going to bore you with the details of how your order was taken, placed, boxed and bagged, it's up to you to figure out whether anything tip-worthy transpired.

Tip-haters will be delighted to know I don't think there's generally anything wrong with skipping the tip on a to-go order. My fellow servers and I expect to be tipped on things like knowing the menu, anticipating diners' needs and keeping the dining room spotless – all of which are irrelevant in a take-out situation. While I'm quite sure there isn't a server anywhere who'd turn down a tip, few servers plan to get rich handing bags to customers.

Valentine's Day is fast approaching, and for lots of couples that means a dinner and wine at a fancy restaurant. But for couples who work together in restaurants, it's not always so romantic . . . it's more like being Santa on Christmas Eve, working hard to make your evening special.

So how do these culinary couples keep the romance alive? What's it like working together in an environment that's notorious for cantankerous chefs, attitude and high-pressure situations? Do they ever want to kill each other? We spoke to five kitchen couples to find out.

Marc Meyer and Vicki Freeman own Five Points, Hundred Acres and Cookshop restaurants in New York City. Marc is the executive chef and Vicki runs the front of the house. They've been married 11 years ("too long" according to Marc) and have two boys.

Is it hard to separate your personal life from your professional life?
M: There is no such thing, no separation. How could it be otherwise? Who can compartmentalize that kind of thing anyway?
V: It's all mixed together.