Restaurants Define Themselves – How Do You Fit In?...

By Marsha Fottler - In the restaurant industry, the words “fast food” don’t exist anymore. Today,  places such as McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s or Popeye’s  call themselves is Quick Service. The product and the delivery system haven’t changed, just the name because in today’s cuisine world, fast food sounds cheap and unwholesome, which it is. The categories that eateries place themselves can tell consumers a lot about...

Travel Confidently When You Pack This Book

By Anna Dantoni - This is the month for firming up those summer travel plans with hotel, flight and cruise ship reservations, a draft itinerary, and a list of those famous restaurants you want to try during your adventures. There’s a book that should be tucked into your carry-on luggage. It’s a paperback with a long title, Let’s Eat Out with Celiac/Coeliac & Food Allergies! and its a reference for special diets that will...

Regional Celebrity Chefs Excel at Cookbooks

By Marsha Fottler - One of the best things about travel lately for culinary adventurers is the plethora of wonderful regional cookbooks written by local celebrity chefs. Collecting one in each city that you visit is a sure way to maintain a connection with the cuisine of that area. You cook from the book and recall good times. A regional cookbook is a memory keeper and a practical guide to expanding your repertoire in your...

Gone Fishing

By Chef Judi Gallagher - It’s no secret that we all need to start thinking more about our food—from its source to how much we eat of whatever is on our plate. It’s scary how many foods these days are pumped full of hormones and preservatives and sugar—in fact, Mark Bittman just published a great op-ed in The New York Times about sugar and how toxic it is to our bodies...

GOURMET HIGHWAY: Jazz, Southern Hospitality and Ra...

By Doc Lawrence - AIKEN, South Carolina – Once the home of the Hope Diamond, this lovely city is known for thoroughbred horses and all sorts of stylish equestrian competition. Southern hospitality originated somewhere and after a few days in Aiken, there is a feeling that perhaps this easy-going, elegant city, gave birth to gentle living and good manners. In the late 19th century, Aiken gained fame as a wintering spot for...

Let This Sink In

By Steven V. Philips - As a wee tyke, in the summers I’d get to stay at Grandpa Philips’ farm in northern Connecticut. They lived in a late 1800s farmhouse. It had an outhouse, but the kitchen was inside. Equipped with a cast-iron wood (really) burning stove. Ceiling grates allowed heat into the bedroom overhead, which allowed hearing what the adults might ambush me with tomorrow. I was a true frontier child. In...