Did you notice that article on the front page of the Food section of today's ? There's a big picture, showing a snazzy santoku hollow-edge knife on a green cutting board, illustrating an article called "Tools of the Trade" which details how the Food staff had to buy a bunch of stuff for their kitchen and then recommends that you buy a bunch of the same stuff for your kitchen too. One brand they recommend in particular is All-Clad, maker of really expensive high quality pots and pans, including their 3-quart saute pan.

And did you look at the back page of today's Food section? There's a full page ad for The Cellar, the housewares department at Macy's. It has a big photograph of a happy chef cutting some tasty looking butternut squash along with a couple of smaller pictures showing, among other things, a snazzy santoku hollow-edge knife on a green cutting board and an All-Clad 3-quart saute pan. Doesn't that seem kinda too coincidental? SFist didn't go to journalism school, so we never took a class on ethics in journalism, so maybe we have our head up our ass, but doesn't that seem like a little bit of a conflict of interest? It recalls the big flap the LA Times got into a few years ago when their editorial department and advertising department were working just a little bit too close together.

At least the squash looks tasty.

Chronicle