The Guardian: A very tense interview with Gordon Ramsay (right), a man whose life appears to be more of a complicated mess than we even realized. - Jeff Gordinier Fork in the Road: Robert Sietsema's high points of the weekend's stellar Big Apple Barbecue. Agreed: next year, less pulled pork, more mutton. - Julia Moskin Nation's Restaurant News: Tracking all those burgers and fries has resulted in an alarming global economic judgment. A sales slump in the key worldwide markets of the McDonald's Corporation (especially Japan, China and Germany) is raising concern among financial analysts about a global general consumer slowdown, and the president of McDonald's has warned investors that the chain of 33,500 restaurants will face ebbing consumer confidence over the near term, in most of its worldwide markets. - Glenn Collins Decanter: Andrew Jefford offers grim details on the source of acidity in wine, plus a discussion with the French soil scientists Claude and Lydia Bourguignon. - Eric Asimov The New York Times Magazine: French women, it turns out, do get fat - and turn to American diet plans for help. Aidez-moi, Jenny Craig! - Patrick Farrell SF Weekly: Ramen with butter? Why not? - Jeff Gordinier The New York Times: This week, food fanatics in search of the intense and exotic will descend on Aspen, Colo., for the annual Food & Wine Classic - sponsored by the white and bland: Hellmann's mayonnaise. The company wants to burnish its bona fides as "real food." - Patrick Farrell Specialty Food: The run-up to next weekend's Fancy Food Show in Washington (with 2,400 exhibitors from 80 countries) has prompted this decade-by-decade timeline highlighting the recent history of the introduction of "specialty" foods to the United States, from the return of World War II veterans whose expanded palates created a demand for more disparate cuisines, cheeses and spices, to the widespread introduction of Evian (1988), the acai berry (2000) and truffled and wasabi-ed popcorns (2011). - Glenn Collins The Daily Beast: Alice Feiring on a movement toward more restrained wines in California. - Eric Asimov Details: Got corn and tomatoes? Here's how to grill a summer pizza, according to Jim Lahey. ... Los Angeles Magazine: ... And speaking of summer, just in case you're still not sure how to eat an artichoke, seek out guidance from a Californian. - Jeff Gordinier Palate Press: White wines get all the attention in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, but Talia Baiocchi has a thing for its reds. - Eric Asimov DNAInfo: A little Scotch on that sno-cone? The pre-summer lurch toward alcoholic popsicles and other treats. - Patrick Farrell