Saturday Food Section: From Coffee Benefits to the History of Pho

Cheers to the weekend! Now’s the time to settle into a laid-back rhythm and catch up on all the best food news on the web. For your perusal, here’s a thoughtfully curated selection of stories that we loved reading this week.

• Can drinking more coffee help reverse liver damage? That’s what one new study claims. [New York Post]

• With greater interest in food than ever before, food media wields tremendous influence, but there are a number of problems that need to be addressed. Here, a few of the issues with food media—from conflict of interest to untested recipes—that nobody wants to talk about. [First We Feast]

• Learn more about pho, Vietnam’s best-known noodle soup, including how the country, with its turbulent political history, has developed two distinct pho cultures: one in the north and another in the south. [Eater]

• New York and San Francisco often top the short list for James Beard Awards. So why isn’t Los Angeles on the map? [LA Weekly]