Lunch Room Chatter: Crankshaft cuisine, anyone?

The latest in food news, ideas and philosophy, just in time for your lunch break.

• More useless urban comparisons, this one on whether New York or San Francisco has the more outrageous wine descriptions. Sample: "Cate Blanchett elegance at a Jamie Lee Curtis price." In whose world is Jamie Lee Curtis cheap? (Zagat Buzz)

• Hey, bartenders, you might want to get those stirring arms in shape for the Games of the XXX Olympiad. (T.G.I. Friday's)

• I'm sure we would have found a way to overfish the thalattosaur had it survived the volcanic explosions. (HuffPo)

• Francis Lam and his exquisite human touch: "But then, a voice calls from the kitchen: 'Sarah, order up!' As a server, that is the voice that cannot go unheeded. That is the voice of food dying in the window. That is the voice of a cook who is watching their sweat and their own hard work go away, forever. And Palin picks up a magazine to sign an autograph. Piper says, 'Mom's doing horrible as a waitress. I wouldn't tip her because she's spending too much time at the tables talking.' Piper Palin, 2012!" (Salon)

• Maybe the chef will replace Grant Achatz's high wires for Jimmie Johnson's crankshaft? (Times-Picayune)

• White House holidays wines: affordable, domestic and friendly to military marching bands. (WSJ)

• Wish I could find a $30,000 bottle of wine hiding in my "cellar." (KFOX-14)