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Laura Bush recently announced the White House has a new pastry chef.

His name is Bill Yosses, and his credentials are quite impressive: Paul Newman's Dressing Room, Josephs Citarella, Bouley Restaurant and Bakery, Tavern on the Green, Montrachet -- all fantastic restaurants, to be sure. But what Mrs. Bush failed to mention was Yosses' experience as an author, which On Deadline was quick to note.

The new White House pastry chef, you see, is also the author of Desserts for Dummies. -- Keith Plocek

Gooey cheese and lots of spicy pork made for an outstanding quesadilla al pastor at Taqueria Torres. It clearly outclassed the one we tried from Jesse's Taqueria, right across the street. We weren't nearly as impressed with the Torres hamburguesa estilo Mexico, even though we liked the fact that it had avocado and a slice of ham on it. The burger patty was just too skinny for our tastes. Extra points for the Mexican cokes and great artwork. Jesse's Taqueria excelled in the chicken taco genre. And they had a copy machine too, in case you needed to duplicate some documents while you ate lunch. We also liked the dancing man air blower advertising and the Virgin Mary painting at Jesse's.

These two taco trucks compete for your business right across the street from each other behind the Mexican Consulate on the 4400 block of Caroline. When a taco war breaks out, the man in the street can't lose. -- Robb Walsh

For the first installment of our new column, Chef Special, Robb Walsh sent a list of burning questions to Randy Evans, executive chef of Brennan's of Houston. Among other things, he found out what irks Randy: "My biggest pet peeve is people that are closed-minded about food. I wish people would try something different when dining out. It is great to have a favorite dish at a restaurant, but maybe mix in a new appetizer or entree every now and again. I know that you hated lamb when your mother overcooked it, but the racks that I purchase are amazing. Hell, you might just end up with a new favorite dish." Find out Randy's favorite musician, where he eats on his day off and more in the next issue of the Houston Press.

When I reviewed a school bus selling Monterrey-style roasted chicken on the East Side, a reader named "Jason" recommended I try the blue school buses that sell roasted chicken on Long Point.

El Norte�o is the name of the Long Point roasted chicken dynasty. And "pollo asado estilo Monterrey" is their specialty. I saw one of the blue buses parked at Gessner and Long Point, but I bought my chicken from the blue "El Norte�o" truck out in front of the shopping center at 9893 Long Point.

We ate the roasted chicken on corn tortillas with the caramelized onion and roasted chiles it came with. It was pretty spectacular. But the "costillas al carbon" were an even bigger hit. A whole slab of these grilled spare ribs with onions, chiles and condiments goes for $15. A half slab, which went for $7.50, was more than enough for two. -- Robb Walsh

One of our favorite late-night hangover busters just got popped by the U.S. Department of Labor for not paying its workers enough.

La Tapatia, home of the best burrito al pastor money can buy at 2 a.m., has agreed to shell out $109,708 in back pay after an investigation by the Feds.

Says the Department of Labor:

The company not only paid servers straight time for all hours worked but also failed to pay overtime to non-exempt cooks.

"All employees are entitled to be paid the wages they have rightfully earned," said Cynthia Watson, the Wage and Hour Division's regional administrator for the Southwest. "We are pleased in this case that almost $110,000 will be recovered in back wages for these workers."

Yeah, we're pleased too, although we can't help but feel a little guilty about asking for so many salsa refills over the years. — Keith Plocek

Earlier this week we posted about Luby's shelling out $366, 864 in back wages to its employees. For those of you who didn't see that post (and are too lazy to click on the link above), all you need to know is: There was some funny business going on with tip-pooling that resulted in some employees not even making minimum wage.

We followed up with the Department of Labor to find out what exactly went down, and here's what spokeswoman Elizabeth Todd told us via email:

Basically, waiters, waitresses, countermen, busboys and service bartenders are paid $2.13 [an hour] by the employer. They are to keep enough of their tips to reach the minimum wage of $5.15. Of the remaining tips over and above this amount, the company may retain 15 percent. Beyond 15 percent is a violation, which was the case in the Luby's investigation. Therefore, the company had to reimburse employees.

Kind of reminds us of when our high-school buddies would go through the line twice and only offer up one ticket to the cashier. — Keith Plocek

Luby's, the Houston-based hotspot for late-in-life, early-to-bed diners, recently agreed to pay out $366,864 in back wages to 1,680 current and former waiters, cashiers and checkers.

Apparently there was some funny business going on with tip-pooling that, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Labor, resulted in some folks not even getting paid minimum wage.

"The Department of Labor is committed to enforcing the law to ensure that employees receive the wages they have rightfully earned," said Cynthia Watson, Wage and Hour southwest regional administrator. "In this case, the employer's practice of 'tip-pooling' left workers paid below the minimum wage. This is illegal."

Still no word on why the heck they make you get your receipt in one place and pay somewhere else. — Keith Plocek

Texas "Ruby Red" grapefruits are in season, and the best way to eat them is bare naked--not you, the grapefruit sections. A little old lady who works in a grapefruit grove in Mission, Texas taught me how to do this. It's faster than sectioning, once you get the hang of it. Naked grapefruit sections are called "grapefruit supremes" in kitchen-speak. They are awesome on salads.

Here's the step-by-step: