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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today introduced two new proposals designed to improve the organization's effectiveness to respond to outbreaks of food-borne illness, calling them the "most sweeping changes to the nation’s food protection system since Theodore Roosevelt held office." The first rule requires manufacturers to develop robust in-house protocols for preventing food contamination and to keep detailed records that would aid the agency when illnesses are reported. The second rule is meant to prevent contamination of fruits and vegetables at farms, fields, and orchards by requiring producers to have stronger food-safety controls like sanitary on-site outhouses for workers, for example. These things may seem simple and self-explanatory, but they're not: Food-safety advocates argue that the scope of the cantaloupe-related listeria outbreak of 2011 that caused more than a dozen deaths could have been mitigated, for example, if more concise protocols had been in place at the point of production and distribution. [NYT, Earlier]

Short-lived Romera has been closed for months now, and the space beneath the Dream Downtown finally has a new tenant: Cherry. It's a "French-inspired Japanese restaurant and supper club" from Jonathan Morr, owner of BONDST and Republic, and executive chef Andy Choi, who's worked at Le Cirque and Má Pêche. Grub got a sneak peak at the menu, which includes standard meatpacking fancy-pants food like miso-glazed sea bass, tuna spring rolls, and lobster tacos — but actual cherries get no billing. It's open to the public (but because it's at the Dream, more like pseudo-models and bankers) on January 9.

Rejoice: Patrick Dempsey has succeeded in his heroic mission to save Tully's Coffee, a Seattle-based company that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October. "We met the green monster, looked her in the eye, and ... SHE BLINKED! We got it! Thank you Seattle!" McDreamy tweeted last night. (Somewhere, Hugh Jackman is brooding.)

The Underground Gourmet spotted the simit at the baklava specialty shop Güllüoglu a few years back, calling the Turkish bread a "secret love child of the bagel and the street pretzel." Simits, which are chewy and brushed with olive oil, may be fine at tea time in Istanbul, but they haven't really caught on Stateside, say, like croissants. A new chain called Simit + Smith wants to change everything you thought you knew about Turkish bagels, however, Crain's reports, and is planning to open twenty shops in two years. There are already three shops open, and one opened last month at 124 West 72nd Street on the UWS. Leases have been signed for two more in the financial district, all of which will no doubt propel Simit + Smith, which bases its product on a centuries-old recipe, to a more regular appearance at breakfast time. Things are looking up for the old-fashioned bagel, indeed. [Crain's, Earlier, Related]