5 food news bites: Mystery meat, another tip-free restaurant and more

1. WHERE’S THE BEEF FROM? My colleague Evan Bush found out what people like Russell Flint have to say about the (unfortunate, to say the least) Congressional repeal of country-of-origin meat labels. Flint’s butcher shops, Rain Shadow Meats, will still label everything; so will PCC Natural Markets. If it doesn’t say where it’s from, do you want to put it in your mouth?

2. THE RAM GOES TIP-FREE: The latest local restaurant to put an end to tipping is the Northgate branch of six-state chain the Ram, with this nice note. They’re adding a 19 percent service charge to make up the difference and will correct “the scale of inequality” between front-of-house and back-of-house workers. Can’t say this one was expected; which place(s) will be next?

3. MINIMUM-WAGE PRICE HIKE: In order to stay ahead of New York’s rising minimum wage, Danny Meyer’s famed chain Shake Shack has raised prices. Before you freak out: The price of fries went up 4¢ and a burger went up 10¢, this in order to pay the workers (who, again, live in New York) $12 to $13.50 an hour.

4. BEE NEWS: New EPA research shows that the class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids are, indeed, killing honeybees when used on certain crops. They’re not killing them when used on other crops. This is, according to the AP, “a nuanced answer that neither clears the way for an outright ban nor is a blanket go-ahead for continued use.” A beekeeper in Yakima worries that a ban will mean a return to previously used pesticides that also killed bees — or new, untested ones. And the study’s being criticized for not including wild honeybees, which are even more sensitive to pesticides. The Seattle City Council has already enacted a ban on neonicotinoids’ use on city property. Overall: We’ve made a huge mess of this one, and it needs to be cleaned up, fast.

5. CAT CAFE NEWS: In better-than-bee-news, this headline about a Vancouver cat cafe gives me a perhaps inordinate amount of joy. (Meanwhile, there’s no such issue at Seattle’s new cat cafe, so go!)

BRAND-NEW: TARADISE CAFE in White Center (with recipes from the late Charlestown Cafe, including a lauded clam chowder); PELOTON in the Central District (a cafe/bicycle shop hybrid); CLOUDBURST BREWING near Pike Place Market (no food, though).

MOVED: MILSTEAD AND CO. and CAFE TURKO have both moved in Fremont, but only a little ways.

OWNERSHIP CHANGES: HANA on Broadway has been bought by a new ownership group; co-owner Aung Aung tells me no changes are planned (except the addition of more rolls) and that no one in the group owns any other restaurants. EL CAMINO in Fremont is now under the ownership of this happy couple, who used to own Ama Ama Oyster Bar in West Seattle. And COASTAL KITCHEN on Capitol Hill has also changed hands, with no planned changes.

NOW CLOSED: CASSIS in West Seattle (but, they say, we’ll see them soon in a new location TBA).

FOOD EVENTS: Amuse your bouche.