Franz Ferdinand's tour rider might be a bit extravagant this fall, at least with requests for local cuisine, but it's not just for their own self-gratification.

While darting around the globe, frontman and former chef Alex Kapranos will add food columnist to his already expanding résumé of top Scottish rocker and one of Esquire's best dressed (see [article id="1507427"]"Pharrell Is The World's Best-Dressed Man According To Esquire, Anyway"[/article]).

The Glaswegian songster kicked off his new gig as a food critic last week in London's Guardian newspaper, where the artist's tasty tidbits will run every Friday in a column titled Soundbites.

"Over the last couple of years, the group has taken me around the world two and a half times. Sometimes I eat appallingly, sometimes phenomenally," Kapranos wrote in his introductory column. "I never eat predictably."

Kapranos will highlight savory or not-so-appetizing fare weekly as he tours the world with Franz Ferdinand, starting in Chicago and finishing up in Italy in late December.

"I've chipped my molars on tiny pearls from mussels in Brussels," Kapranos boasted of his previous eating-on-the-road experiences. "I've been poisoned by a mole from a Mexico City convent. I've eaten alligator sausage in New Orleans, and eaten blinis in what were once KGB offices in St. Petersburg."

Known for his habitual and unrelenting songwriting (see [article id="1490820"]"Franz Ferdinand Pen Songs Like Most People Write Postcards"[/article]), Kapranos will have to take some time to shift his focus from new tunes to tarts, and from lyrics to lobster tails.

The tour starts September 20 (see [article id="1505484"]"Franz Ferdinand Announce Fall Tour Dates"[/article]).