Photos by Andrew Shrewsbury

Firefighters battled the flames at Late Night Pie for nearly three hours.

​A fire that started 45 minutes after Late Night Pie closed last night at 3 a.m. burned the pizza joint nearly to the ground. ABC-13 reported that the restaurant had suffered major damage as a result of the fire, which the Houston Fire Department battled for three hours.

Public reaction to the news was mixed, with most people remembering all of the bad pizzas and bizarre service they'd received at the late-night spot.

"The only memories I'll have of Late Night Pie are bad pizza and the help drinking liquor from the bottle, behind the bar," wrote Houston Press photographer Groovehouse on Twitter. "Rest in ashes LNP."

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Photo courtesy of Landry's

Click here to see a high-res version of the proposed plans for the new Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier.

​Longtime residents of the Houston metro area will no doubt remember the Flagship Hotel. Jutting out on a pier from Galveston Island's seawall, it was the only hotel in North America situated entirely over a body of water. Hurricane Ike all but destroyed the hotel in 2008, and it was completely torn down two years later at the same time as Landry's announced plans to build an amusement park on the razed site.

The news may have annoyed many a Houstonian, who surely had visions of the pillaged and tourist-plagued Kemah Boardwalk in their minds (another Landry's waterfront project). But the amusement park that Tilman Fertitta's empire has in mind for the pier actually has its roots deep in Galveston's own history.

The original Galveston Pleasure Pier was the largest of its kind in the country, where national acts played nightly in the Marine ballroom and guests enjoyed a variety of midway games, rides and other attractions. Built in 1943, the amusement park itself was destroyed by another fierce storm -- Hurricane Carla -- and then razed to build the Flagship Hotel in the 1960s. In this ironic twist, the new Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier is a return to the site's roots as a popular tourist attraction.

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Photo by mintprofusion

Oysters affected by red tide are toxic to humans.

​On January 27, two small portions of Texas Gulf waters were conditionally opened to shellfish harvesting after a red tide epidemic forced the indefinite closure of oyster season in October.

San Antonio and Espiritu Santo Bays were approved by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for commercial oyster harvesting, while the Texas Department of State Health Services closely monitored the waters for remaining signs of this year's devastating red tide.

Cautiously optimistic news came yesterday from Jim Gossen, owner of Louisiana Foods and oyster expert, who stated that the red tide appears to have finally subsided.

"It appears that, as of the end of last week, the red tide in Galveston Bay has officially dissipated," Gossen wrote. He was quick to caution, however, that this does not mean that Texas Gulf waters are now fully open for oyster harvesting.

"No higher than acceptable readings were found anywhere in Galveston Bay last Thursday or Friday," Gossen reported of the red tide's toxins, which are produced by an overabundance of algal bloom. In the Gulf of Mexico, the algae responsible for red tides is Karenia brevis, algae that occurs naturally in the ocean.

In normal periods, the algae is present in much lower concentrations and poses no threat to marine life. During a drought, like the one Texas just experienced, a red tide can and often will occur as the result of a lack of fresh water flowing into increasingly salty Gulf waters.

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Welcome, indeed.

​Rick and Georgia Bost aren't new to the grocery game. Their flagship store, Georgia's Farm to Market, has been a wild success since taking over the old Sandy's space in West Houston more than two years ago.

The Bosts kept much of the Sandy's model in place: organic foods, bulk spices and herbs, ready-made sandwiches and salads, a popular day-long buffet and plenty of locally raised meats were all still stocked when the Bosts took over.

They aren't new to the meat and produce game, either. That locally raised meat that Sandy's once sold was theirs, after all. The Bosts have been running Georgia's Texas Grassfed Beef for a dozen years and they helped found Urban Harvest, the vast network that now administers farmers markets across the city.

The duo also founded Texans for Urban Sustainability, which helped create the state's first organic certification program, back in 1992 -- so they're not new to the organics and sustainability movements, either.

The second location of Georgia's Farm to Market, says Rick Bost, was "always a dream of Georgia's." And after years of planning, it will finally be open tomorrow, January 27.

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Not everyone's picky about how their meat is served: raw, in a Walmart, both...

​Last week, we brought you a short compendium of the dumbest fast food-related crimes, eventually reaching the conclusion that McDonald's Chicken Nuggets make people do crazy, crazy things. (Don't tell me that correlation doesn't imply causation!)

This week, we take a look at the dumb things that meat makes people do. The skyrocketing cost of beef could very well lead to more crimes of the steak-stuffed-down-a-man's-pants variety in the future, so prepare for meat crimes to increase in number as well -- the Internet already has.

After all, there's already an entire Tumblr site devoted to meat crimes.

10. A quick protein boost

We all know the story by now of the man arrested for snacking on raw meat in a Walmart. Wait, you don't? The mostly toothless gentleman above was arrested on charges of felony theft in Pennsylvania after Walmart employees found him eating raw ground beef and hamburger stew, then putting the packages back on the shelves. C'mon, guys...he's got no teeth! He was just tenderizing the meat as a favor to the other customers!

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This tiny helmet of Blue Bell ice cream was the only food worth buying at Minute Maid Park previously.

​The minor explosions you may have heard yesterday were the heads of Astros' fans imploding over news that new owner Jim Crane could possibly change the name of the franchise next season -- as well as its uniforms, ticket prices and Minute Maid Park's food policies. It's starting to feel like the beginning of Major League around here. All that needs to happen next is for Charlie Sheen to show up.

The good news, however, is that in addition to lowered ticket prices for home games next season, Astros fans -- those of us left -- will finally be able to bring our own food into the park. The new food policy is particularly notable because the Astros were long the only MLB team that didn't allow its fans to bring outside food into its stadium.

Chronicle columnist Ken Hoffman was one of the policy's few defenders, although he himself noted that the policy tended to draw harsh criticism of former owner Drayton McLane, as fans lambasted him for "gluttony, lust, greed, wrath, envy, sloth, pride and the eighth, and deadliest sin...$7.50 beer."

While I doubt the new food policy will allow fans to bring alcoholic beverages inside Minute Maid Park, here are a few food suggestions for next season if you feel like taking in and packing out. All of these suggested places are downtown and have reasonably easy access to street parking so that you can zip in and out before the game.

Note: As of right now, the Astros have said that food must be brought inside in small, clear, plastic bags. Bags. Not even containers. That's just dumb, and I hope they reconsider this policy as it severely limits the types of foods fans can bring into the park.

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​Ronnie Bartley is a rancher on the verge of bankruptcy after 16 years in the business. Texas is on the verge of another devastating drought this summer. And our nation is on the verge of a severely depleted beef supply.

These are the stories told in this week's cover feature, Meat Market, which examines the many reasons -- from the hoof up -- that you'll be paying more for your meat in 2012.

The long and short of it is this: Cattle are incredibly inefficient animals. For every 20 pounds of feed you give them, they produce only one pound of flesh. That's 20 pounds of feed -- which could be corn, alfalfa or other such crops -- that could be used to feed human beings. And you have to own a lot of land in order to have a profitable ranch: A regular cow-calf operation requires three acres of land for each cow and her calf.

You can see, then, why the drought of 2011 was so devastating for Texas ranchers. Not only were their fields burned up -- and without fields in which to graze, you can't support cattle -- but other crops were too. Hay, cubes and all other types of feed were suddenly rendered in short supply. Prices soon skyrocketed, and ranchers began to liquidate their herds as quickly as possible since they could no longer afford the cost of feeding their animals.

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​Update: A company spokesman with Novartis called this afternoon to address the rumors that Paula Deen has signed an endorsement deal with the pharmaceutical firm, which the company says are false. Novartis issued this statement: "The rumors that Novartis has signed a multi-million dollar spokesperson deal with Paula Deen for a Diabetes treatment are not true. Novartis is not working with Ms. Deen."

Since April 2011, rumors have been floating around the Internet that popular cooking show host Paula Deen had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes -- the kind of diabetes brought on by a life of the same rich, fatty, "Southern" foods that Deen constantly advocates on her shows and in her cookbooks.

This type of diabetes is frequently called "adult onset" to distinguish it from the far less common diabetes mellitus type 1, which is unrelated to diet and diagnosed in childhood. While most people who develop type 2 diabetes are genetically predisposed to the condition, its onset and severity are exacerbated by things like a poor diet, excess body fat and a lack of physical activity.

If the rumors of Deen's diabetes are true, she would join 285 million diabetics across the world -- a figure that's increased drastically from a mere 30 million since 1985.

The Food Network star is reported to have just signed an endorsement deal with major pharmaceuticals company Novartis, which would bring her a hefty financial payoff in addition to her cookbooks, shows, clothing line and other endorsement deals with ethically and morally dubious organizations like Smithfield.

In short, Deen is quickly becoming the worst possible role model in food at this moment: She advocates a delicious albeit incredibly unhealthy diet supplemented with pork products from dangerous and inhumane sources, then turns around and further profits off her own butter-induced health condition by hawking Big Pharma to her moon-eyed masses.

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Photo by Mike Overall

​The bitter, extended legal battle between the 120-year-old Dr Pepper plant in Dublin, Texas and its parent company, Dr Pepper Snapple (DPS), has finally been resolved. At issue were the liberties that the Dublin plant had taken both with its distribution and merchandising, as the plant had long sold its cane sugar-sweetened cola far outside of its allowable distribution area as per the terms of its franchise agreement with DPS. Whether that resolution will please avid fans of the Dublin brand of Dr Pepper remains to be seen.

According to a press release sent out this afternoon, Dublin Dr Pepper as we knew it has now ceased to exist. Says the release:

Under the terms of their agreement, DPS has purchased all of the Dublin bottler's sales and distribution operations and related assets, as well as the rights to distribute Dr Pepper and other DPS brands in the six-county territory previously served by Dublin. The former Dr Pepper bottler now does business as Dublin Bottling Works Inc. It will continue to produce other soft drinks at its bottling facility and operate its museum and Old Doc's Soda Shop, offering tours and selling soft drinks, food and officially licensed Dr Pepper merchandise.

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Photo by Troy Fields

Two scoops of Hank's famous ice cream in salute of Hank Wiggins, 1937 - 2012.

​Long before dessert pioneers like the Eatsie Boys were making sweet corn ice cream out of their colorful food truck, Hank Wiggins was making batches of the stuff -- as well as other seasonal favorites -- at his namesake ice cream parlor on South Main. Wiggins passed away on Saturday at the age of 74 after a long hospital stay. He had suffered a spinal injury in a fall this past summer.

Wiggins and his wife, Okemah, opened Hank's Ice Cream Parlor in 1985. The 27-year-old ice cream shop is a favorite with Houstonians and critics alike. Former Houston Press food critic Robb Walsh named the "homemade Southern flavor" of Hank's ice cream No. 46 on a list of his 100 favorite Houston dishes.

Walsh also named Hank's the No. 1 spot for ice cream in Houston in his 2009 cover story on the best ice cream experiences in town.

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