Sample Platter: exploding couscous, El Coyote protests, Hawaiian carbs

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• Jonathan Gold’s 99 essential LA restaurants. New additions: Akasha, Animal, Anisette, Comme Ça, 8 Oz. Burger Bar, Father’s Office II, Jitlada, LA Mill, the Nickel, Osteria Mozza, Palate Food + Wine, Wolfgang’s Steakhouse. LA Weekly
• 5 lbs. heavier and presumably many $$$ richer, backburnered bartender settles discrimination suit against Foxtail. CBS2
• Brian Wilson loves El Coyote. Prop 8 protesters don’t. They’re boycotting the joint but not because of its food. WeHo News
• Exploding couscous! Daily Telegraph
• Locanda Veneta getting new owners. New name too? Eater LA
• ‘Rock ‘n’ roll chef’ Kerry Simon (you may know him from Simon L.A.’s diabetes-inducing junk food sampler) looks for late-night dining deals in Las Vegas. NY Post
• Gross science: Mouth bacteria make some food, wine taste better. Reuters
• Tantra in Silver Lake closed for good? Eating L.A.
• ‘Bacon is the new black.’ In other news, ‘X is the new Y’ cliché shows no signs of dying. Chicago Sun-Times
• Any excuse to drink before noon: Happy 56th birthday, Irish coffee! SF Gate
• Michigan library lets readers pay late fees with food. MLive.com
• Salt Lake City cafe lets customers pay what they want. They can’t turn a profit, but they could get all the library books they want ... from Michigan. Salt Lake Tribune
• Supplies dwindle at Ventura County food bank. Sadly, it’s part of a larger national trend. Ventura County Star
• Another winner in the 2008 presidential election: carbo-loading, Hawaiian-style. NY Times
• Europe welcomes bent fruit, double entendres. news.com.au

-- Elina Shatkin