The Wednesday Wrap: Food News to Go

Road Trip: New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni leaves Manhattan to explore 15 "acclaimed, ambitious, promising or intriguing new restaurants from coast to coast." [New York Times]

Can You Hear Me Now?: The LA Times looks into just how loud is loud when it comes to the noise level at restaurants. [LA Times]

The Day of Pigs: Georgeanne Brennan goes whole hog in a weekend celebration of all things porcine. [San Francisco Chronicle]

Back in the Kitchen: Nancy Leson offers a fascinating profile of the career of Seattle chef Scott Simpson, who went from rising young chef to 469-lb shut-in with Domino's on speed-dial. [Seattle Times]

How Low Can You Go?: In preparation for her upcoming appearance at the Charleston Food + Wine Festival, Ruth Reichl offers some thoughts on Lowcountry cuisine. [Charleston City Paper]

The "Just-Kidding" Defense: Jerry Seinfeld on calling Sneaky Chef author Missy Chase Lapine a "wacko" and mentioning that "many of the three-named people become assassins" during the controversy surrounding his wife's cookbook: I was joking! [New Jersey Star Ledger]

Bruni Beat: It's two stars ("very good") for the West Village's Bar Blanc, "which belongs to a growing brood of establishments whose names suggest scruffier atmospheres and more modest menus than the places actually present." [New York Times]

--BTP