Restaurant Farmers and Braised Tongue Are Good, Gluten-Free Beer Not So Much

​Today's notes on national stories, local trends, random tastes, and other bycatch dredged up from the food media.

1. Farming for chefs, not markets. Civil Eats recently ran a great story about a new career option for young farmers: managing restaurant gardens. Across the country, farmers are aging fast, but land prices are so high that motivated, trained people who want to farm for a living are having a hard time breaking in without incurring massive debt -- especially in the Bay Area, where we're acutely interested in eating locally grown food. I'd be curious to know if restaurants save money on produce by leasing land and hiring gardening staff.

2. On 7x7's blog, Carolyn Alburger calls it: Tongue is everywhere. She calls out Acquerello, A16, Kitchenette, and Hog & Rocks, among other restaurants. I'd have to add that the tongue I ate a few weeks ago at Locanda was one of my favorite dishes.

3. Sorghum brews. In the Chronicle, drinks writer Jason Wilson confirms what I feared: The gluten-free beers currently on the market are as appetizing as vegan cheese. "Ahead of it, I would recommend wine; 100 percent agave Tequila; brandy; rum; and dry French or Spanish cider. Heck, I would even suggest potato vodka." Good drinks, all.