The Amateur Gourmet: Communal tables: not really as cool as they're supposed to be. -- Jeff Gordinier The New York Post: Say hello to "tip creep": no, not the diner who stiffs the waiter on a gratuity, but the trend toward more generous tipping. A Cornell researcher says that 25 percent is becoming the new 20 percent. -- Patrick Farrell Wine Spectator: Matt Kramer, extreme wine writer, offers suggestions on how to beat the system buying wine. -- Eric Asimov Specialty Food News: The possibility of an Oct. 1 strike by the International Longshoremen's Association looms over 36 ports on the East Coast, threatening our supply of imported cheese (among other issues). -- Julia Moskin NPR: The drought-shriveled apple harvest in Michigan, the nation's third-largest producer (after New York and Washington) is stunting jobs and income in the state, and could affect the presidential election. -- Glenn Collins The Washington Post: The Food and Drug Administration says it will propose limits on arsenic in rice, just as Consumer Reports releases a study showing the presence of harmful levels in about 60 rice products, from baby food to cereal. The agency sets ceilings for arsenic in drinking water, but not food, even though rice is something of a magnet for arsenic in soil. -- Patrick Farrell Take Part: In some parts of the country, hospital food is getting a fresh-and-local makeover. It's about time. -- Jeff Gordinier Food + Tech: Interesting new data map of how shoppers are making healthy food choices (or aren't). -- Julia Moskin The New York Times: McDonald's move this week to start posting calorie counts for all its menu items is being hailed as a milestone in the fight against obesity, but it's all been done before -- in vain. An Op-Ed piece recounts the calorie-counting craze of the early 20th century. -- Patrick Farrell Travel + Leisure: Adam Sachs undertakes an arduous alpine quest to track down the best cheese in France. -- Jeff Gordinier Serious Eats: Maggie Hoffman has excellent recipes for bourbon cocktails, 10 of 'em. Don't try all at once. -- Eric Asimov Grub Street: "We got a little microbrewery thing goin' on." In his drawling, pushed-up-shirtsleeves mode, President Obama tells David Letterman (and audience) about the origins of White House Honey Ale -- or as Mr. Obama puts it, "some tasty stuff." -- Patrick Farrell The Journal News: A beloved herb garden gets spruced up at the John Jay Homestead in Katonah, N.Y. -- Jeff Gordinier Crain's New York Business: The 84-year-old gourmet fruit monger Daniel Spitz tells all about his 55-year career. He started the Orchard, in Brooklyn, in 1957. There's a Jimmy Carter story. And currently his store is stocked with snowcots, donut peaches and elephant plums. (Subscription only.) -- Glenn Collins Cooking Light: The Chinese-American chef Ming Tsai on growing up in French restaurants, his first fried rice, and a multigenerational family trip to Beijing. -- Julia Moskin Tasting Table: Cucumbers? Passé. The chic thing to pickle these days is ... shrimp. -- Jeff Gordinier