Alan Warburton’s food and politics series

The Hi-Rise Bread Company

Once the stomping ground of Julia Child, Cambridge, Massachusetts just outside of Boston, is replete with gastronomic delights. Innovative, modern cooking served in bank-vaults-turned-restaurants sit beside down-home cafes serving New England comfort food. Hi-Rise Bread Company in North Cambridge falls nicely into the latter category, dishing out absolutely addictive breads, cakes, sweets, and sandwiches. Here, diners sit at long, wooden communal tables — often elbow to elbow — while bakers scurry around the half open kitchen, pulling steaming breads and muffins out massive steel ovens. Whether you go for the hearty oatmeal with cranberries and walnuts or the infamous egg salad sandwiches or vanilla loaf, you’re these scrumptious New England treats are sure to satisfy. [photo via tinyurbankitchen]

The Middle East Club, Cambridge

If you happen to find yourself in the trendy Harvard Square area in Cambridge with a hot date and nowhere to go, then you should head down to The Middle East Club. Not only does it own the restaurant ZuZu next door, but head past the perfect mural on the wall and downstairs or upstairs, and you’ll witness great live performances from indie bands, jazz bands, electro bands, you name it, all filled with college aged peeps to cool and wise thirty-somethings.

Pork Stuffed Bacon Roll

You know, a lot of people look at a latticed sheet of bacon with ground pork rolled up inside of it as an unnecessarily extreme indulgence, sure to cause an instantaneous heart attack, but I look at that slab of protein and fat as — I’ll say it — health food. Ok, bear with me, please. I just read the book Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health by Gary Taubes. I know it sounds like a crazy fad diet book due to its unfortunate title, but it’s actually an obsessively researched tome that documents the history of the nutrition debates between doctors and scientists, and how the ‘fat is bad’ hypothesis won out more for political reasons than for hard scientific and medical reasons. Citing dozens of studies and dissenting researchers from the past century of medicine as well as describing clearly the physiology and science behind their claims, Taubes asserts that the increased consumption of refined carbohydrates such as bleached white flour and high fructose corn syrup are the real culprits behind the epidemic of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer. Read more

Crimea X’s Secret Playlist

Crimea X is the coming together of two offbeat, disparate characters, DJ Rocca (Ajello, Super Sonic Lovers, Maffia Sound System) and Jukka Reverberi from 90s Italian glam cult rockers, Giardini di Mirò, who have often have been compared with the sound of Mogwai, Arab Strap, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. We asked them about their favourite music and they started with The Smiths song, Ask [listen below] ‘I saw them playing live on Italian TV. It was during the 80s when I was extremely young, and I’ve never stopped listening to this song’. Read the rest of Crimea X’s Secret Playlist.

Abandoned Swimming Pools

I love the curated selection of abandoned swimming pool photos on Feature Shoot today, featuring work by Carlo Van de Roer and Albert Jodar, amongst others.

Win a set of Sony personal audio prizes

Thanks to Sony Australia, four Lost At E Minor readers will win personal audio prizes, including the new 8GB Walkman S series video MP3 player and the MDRXB500 Extra Bass headphones. Read more