GOURMET HIGHWAY: Tailgating Down South...

By Doc Lawrence. It is a hallowed culinary ritual down here, inextricably tied to NASCAR races, college and NFL football. Tailgating is core heritage, vital bedrock, and a super-sized, high-octane picnic as Deep South as grits with red-eye gravy. Many wonder where tailgating began. Frank Spence, a former top Atlanta Braves executive and a respected student of Southern customs believes that the 1861 “Great Skeedadle”...

Philly Phlavors...

By Marsha Fottler. Visitors by the thousands travel to Philadelphia and famous surrounding communities every year to experience America’s dramatic struggle for independence in the places where it happened more than two centuries ago. But they also come to discover great art, world-class gardens, historic homes, major league baseball and, of course, exceptional regional food. As early as the 1780s Philadelphia was the...

Travel Tips From A Professional...

By Barbara Glanz. As a Certified Speaking Professional, I travel at least 100 days a year. Consequently, I’ve learned a few things about negotiating the potentially unfriendly skies these days. It’s wonderful to travel to exciting cities and to experience exotic culture and restful havens; but you need to be prepared. Luggage Buy the lightest possible luggage you can. The average suitcase weighs from 12 to 15 pounds,...

Eating on the Cheap in New York, Part Two...

By Chef Judi Gallagher. NYC is a mecca of fine food, international style, and some of the best dim sum available for pennies on the dollar. On our last visit we had a plan. We armed ourselves with a list of ‘must try’ dim sum restaurants in Chinatown. Our goal – to try five places on a Sunday early afternoon. Well that part NEVER happened, as our overly ambitious appetites gave out after three stops. Dim sum in...

GOURMET HIGHWAY: A PRAYER FOR THE GULF...

By Doc Lawrence. Apalachicola – A visit here is like planning a wake. No matter how you hate thinking this could be the last time to enjoy such natural beauty, there’s no denying the fear of terrible things not yet seen but looming nevertheless. I had to get away from the frivolities and superficial things that dominate popular culture in large cities like Atlanta. The journey here takes me back to what composer Randy...

Daddy Design Does A Kitchen...

By Steven V. Philips. The condo is in Back Bay Boston. It is a fourth floor walk-up. It is 720 square feet, a generous two-car garage size. When I first saw it, the Samagainian Army had evidently occupied it for the 20 years prior. With their livestock. Severe work was needed before the Health Department moved to condemn. The cost of this dream condo was a gynormus multiple of my first car’s cost. Plus another $50,000. The...

GOURMET HIGHWAY: Chef Dean Fearing...

He may be the best By Doc Lawrence. (DALLAS, TEXAS): The creator of Fearing’s Restaurant and its “Elevated American Cuisine – Bold Flavors, No Borders,” Chef Dean Fearing has developed one of the hottest dining concepts in the country. Chef Dean Fearing & His Favorite Knife Named “Restaurant of the Year” and “Table of the Year” by Esquire Magazine in 2007 and No. 1 in 2009 for Hotel Dining in the...

New York City On The Cheap, Part One...

By Chef Judi Gallagher First, in full disclosure, the Upper West Side of Manhattan is like home. I grew up in Connecticut, jokingly called a suburb of New York. My relatives came from Westchester, Manhattan, New Rochelle and Yonkers. Thus, Zabar’s, that amazing store of smoked salmon cases, pickled herring, barrels of fresh roasted coffee and cinnamon Danish, could be my corner market. I feel at home when I pass H &...

The Art of The Meal...

By Marsha Fottler. There’s a new international culinary trend out there and it involves art, food and you. Museum administrators are stepping up to the plate, literally. They’ve realized that just as a superior gift shop boosts the museum’s bottom line, so too can a decent restaurant. Not just a decent restaurant, but a fine one with ambience, views out the windows to something lovely (maybe a sculpture garden),...

Young Wines Mirror Spring Magic...

By Doc Lawrence. Then younger than springtime, am I, Gayer than laughter, am I, Angel and lover, heaven and earth, Am I with you! (From “South Pacific.”) “South Pacific” was one of the first movies I recall from childhood. It played at Atlanta’s Fox Theater, an architectural and cultural treasure where over the years I would see Elvis, Johnny Cash, Elton John, the Metropolitan Opera and a special concert by...