They say that reality can be stranger than fiction. I have been wondering if in the current economic downturn, we will see virtual or even fictional restaurants sprout online. Another way for the Consumed to Thrifty to share experiences without going broke. Fictional restaurants would have the best economic promise since you would need no staff, no liquor license, no space or any of the other costly ingredients it takes to run a physical location....

Some countries have experienced food riots recently due to price hikes and shortages. In The Daily Grind (The Guardian, May 31st), Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall reminds us that cooking ingredients such as pepper that we now take for granted in the past "fortunes were made from it, battles fought for it, ransoms and dowries paid with it. What Keralans call "the king of spices", pepper, was once very precious indeed". We mostly restrict its use to main...