This avocado smash encapsulates what’s important to Americans right now.

Welcome to the weekend! Now’s the time to settle in and catch up on all this week’s food news. Here are top-level highlights of some of the food stories we’ve been reading this week.

• Avocado toast has reached peak popularity not just because it’s delicious, but also because it symbolizes everything it means to be eating in America right now. [Healthyish]

• After years of speculation, Momofuku creator David Chang is finally opening a restaurant in Los Angeles—and he’s nervous about the competition. [Los Angeles Times]

• Activated charcoal is the latest food trend, and the pitch-black ingredient is showing up in ice cream, hamburger buns, and more. But is it safe to eat? [Real Simple]

• On a related note, this cafe is serving charcoal fish and chips that looks like, well… [The Daily Meal]

• Chicagoans are as famous for their disdain for ketchup as they are for their love of hot dogs—so Heinz pulled a prank on the city and renamed its product Chicago Dog Sauce. [Eater]

• The Georgia peach has a history that’s, well, not so peachy: the orchard crop was formed on the same culture as cotton and other slave-tended crops. [NPR]

• Thanks to the rise in alternative milks, we live in a golden age of non-dairy ice creams. [The New York Times]