Jewish delis on the decline, top winter wines, the $100 cup of coffee

• The New York Times Magazine has previewed a bit of its annual food issue, and the results are depressing. Michael Pollan tells us we’re not allowed second helpings, and Jon Gernter looks at a study of people who cut 25 per cent of their food intake to see how it affects aging. Apparently, calorie restriction is a powerful defence against disease, potentially even more so than exercise. Don’t need to tell us twice; we’re cancelling our gym membership ASAP. [New York Times Magazine]

• Derek Zavislake, co-CEO of Merchants of Green Coffee, discusses civet coffee: civet cats eat the ripest coffee berries, digest and excrete them, and then the beans are retrieved from the cats’ droppings. These beans will have acquired a “unique flavour” due to enzymes in the cat’s body. The delicacy is incredibly rare, and a single cup of coffee can go for £50. Some of the finer civet beans are due at Zavislake’s shop this autumn. [National Post]

• An employee at a Sainsbury’s in the U.K. recently refused to sell a pregnant woman unpasteurized cheddar on the basis that the food would be bad for the baby. The Guardian discusses other pregnancy myths, like raspberry tea inducing labour and shellfish causing allergies in the baby. No mention of ice cream with pepperoni or other pregnancy pang peccadilloes. [Guardian]