Get your Kyoho grapes before they disappear. The vendor at my local UC Irvine farmer’s market tells me this Saturday will close out her season, and they won’t be back until next July.

Kyohos are one of Asia’s most popular table grapes. With its high sugar content and distinctively strong flavor, they almost taste artificially enhanced by some flavor scientists’ mad experiments. They resemble Concord grapes in their large size and thick skin. Some describe them as tasting like Concord grape jelly, but to me, they taste more like Japanese grape flavored beverages or candy. To each his cultural reference, I guess.

Park’s Vineyard grows them on their Temecula property about two hours’ drive south of Los Angeles. If you miss out on local kyohos, you’ll see imported Chilean kyohos next spring.

Park’s Vineyard also sells them at the Santa Monica farmer’s market on Pico Blvd and Centinela. Both the Santa Monica market and the one at UC Irvine are held on Saturday mornings, and I suspect their booths will sell out by noon time. Look for this banner, and don’t show up late.

Corporations have midlife crises too. McDonald’s is reputedly dumping the McRib sandwich after 25 loyal years to chase after a younger, fitness conscious female market. So farewell, McRib, you boneless pressed porkwich. Hello slim sexy Asian salad!

Or is it possible that the “Save the McRib” petition is just a poorly disguised ploy to harvest gullible McRib lovers’ email addresses? Perhaps the site’s images of iPods and tattooed young people are an attempt to reposition the old porker as a hip, teen-savvy object of desire?

There’s a photo gallery on the McRib website where consumers can submit photos of themselves from their cell phones. Though I have to believe the fetching young people wearing McRib logo tees are paid models, Carl’s Jr has a similar web promotion, where seemingly real people submit unflattering photos of themselves on the Burger Slayer of the Month website.

Welcome to corporate food marketing aimed at the MySpace generation. I wonder if teens are buying this, or as on MySpace, if they can spot a balding, middle aged marketing man on the other end of the screen?

A camera crew from the History Channel taped footage at last April’s BBQ’n at the Autry contest, and I wondered to myself why History Channel was taping a food show, and not FoodTV.

In recent years, the Food Network progams as much substantive food education as BET broadcasts hockey, so I’m relieved and excited that the A&E Television Networks (which owns History Channel) is picking up their slack.

As it turned out, that Autry contest coverage aired in an episode of Modern Marvels: “BBQ Tech,” a show on the history and technical innovations of this uniquely American style of cookery. This show rebroadcasts again tonight and tomorrow (Sept 19 & 20) so set your Tivo’s! My BBQ team had our 1.5 seconds of fame. Screenshots are posted on the BBQ Junkie’s site.

American Eats is another History Channel show I’ve watched with great enthusiasm. Like their sister show, they focus on one food item (pizza, ice cream, cookies, barbecue) that Americans love and delve into its place in our nation’s history. Most episodes are well researched and employ known subject experts. Check the link for upcoming shows, and tune in.

Don’t screw with my car, my family, or my morning coffee. That’s not too much to ask, is it? The OC Register reported that Starbucks assimilated Orange County’s own Diedrich’s Coffee into the collective.

Even though Diedrich’s combined holdings made them the nation’s second largest coffee retailer, the Irvine based corporation roasts a decent bean. Their many locations made it easy to get a quick cuppa joe, though I seldom bought my beans there. I’m not privy to the workings of their company, but I’m guessing a series of wrongheaded corporate decisions (like selling out to the Borg for a piddling $13.5 million) caused Martin Diedrich to leave his family’s company and start Kean Coffee in Newport Beach.

What does this mean to Orange Countians? Diedrich’s dumped their 40 company owned retail stores and will focus only on its wholesale business. Those 40 locations will close over the next few months, then reopen as Starbucks clones. Diedrich franchisees will continue to operate their stores as always, although I can’t imagine they’re excited to report to their new bosses. Why would they have bought into Diedrich’s in the first place?

We have industry iconoclasts like Peets and Starbucks to thank for launching America’s coffee revolution in the 1970`s against the Maxwell Houses and Folgers of that day. Ironically, their successes have made them targets of today’s artisan roasters. The coffee revolution enters a new phase, and I’m taking sides with local independent roasters like Kean, Polly’s Coffee and Javatinis.

Kean Coffee
2043 Westcliff Drive Suite 100
Newport Beach, CA
949-642-5326

Javatinis
148 Main Street
Seal Beach, CA
562-626-8202

Polly’s Gourmet Coffee
4606 East 2nd Street
Long Beach, CA
562-433-2996