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Brookline: The town has approved a food-truck pilot program. Patch offers a handy-dandy map. [Patch]

South End: Smithfield Kitchen will replace Pops. [UH]

Photo: Justin Ide

This might seem shocking, but the people who work at Barbara Lynch's Menton probably can't afford to dine there. The Times once again shines a light on the Lynch empire (their last article revealed juicy details about her life of teen crime), this time going behind the gilded curtain at Menton to reveal tattoos, class warfare, and cheap beer.

For all Valentine's Day cheapskates and nonconformists, Waffle House is offering a "tablecloth/candlelight" dinner on February 14. Alternatively, you could eat some chocolate-covered cockroaches. [Deal News]

It's time to think seriously about sweets: When Valentine's Day is around the corner, and the doldrums of winter (even one this mild) have taken hold, there's something about dessert that speaks to everyone. And these days, more than ever, pastry is getting the due that it deserves: Food & Wine is launching a search for the country's best new pastry chef; Top Chef keeps churning out seasons of its pastry-only spinoff; Johnny Iuzzini and Michael Laiskonis were rightfully heralded as stars when they recently departed their respective restaurants; and every other show on TV is about cake wars. We won't call it a sugar renaissance, because dessert never went away, but pastry is undeniably playing a larger part in the culinary conversation than it ever has before.

• The CEO of Friendly’s restaurant will step down after 18 months, just a month after the company emerged from bankruptcy protection. Harsha Agadi told staff in an email that he has "personal commitments" that require his attention. [AP/Herald]

• Michelle Obama is bringing her focus on nutrition to troops, since "obese Americans in the military are a national security hazard," as this article says. Ouch. [Reuters]

"I'll show them chilensis!"

• Hilarious: A wine from Chile's Maule Valley with the label "Chilensis" has some Chinese people upset, and others laughing their asses off. The word loosely translates as "f**king nuts" in Cantonese, and thus it went from a cheap bottle to a collector's item within days. [Drinks Business]

• Ice wine makers in the Czech Republic breathed a sigh of relief this week as temperatures finally dipped in this unusually warm winter and allowed them to harvest grapes for their expensive dessert wines. [Daily News Online]

• Napa Valley vintners sighed and cried this week as a villain was sentenced. Mark Christian Anderson — who torched a wine-storage facility in 2005 to cover an embezzlement scheme, and destroyed at least $50 million worth of premium vintages in the process — got 27 years. [Grub Street SF, Earlier]

Cambridge: Devra First revisits the good ol' Blue Room, one of the first fancy places she ever dined on her own dime. Chef Robert Grant, following in the footsteps of local legends like Chris Schlesinger and Tony Maws, helms the kitchen. At the bar, " it’s hard to beat chickpea panisse, springy little cakes that taste like a fresher version of falafel, embellished with tzatziki made with creamy yogurt from Sophia’s Greek Pantry in Belmont and slivers of pickled onion." Unfortunately, seasoning is uneven and dishes are sometimes too salty. [Globe]

While we were distracted by Crif Dogs' line of condoms and the revelation that Wolfgang Puck used to be shy, weird food stuff was going on right under our noses. So much weird food stuff! We've compiled the best of it in this week's edition of the James Weird Awards, straight ahead.