Top New Chefs: Read 'Em & Eat!

These restaurants pair great food with excellent wines for the full dining experience.

(NEWSER) - Food & Wine magazine names its favorite new restaurant wine lists from around the country.

1. Catalan, Houston, TX
2. Addison, San Diego, CA
3. Perbacco, San Francisco, CA
4. Craftsteak, New York, NY
5. Osteria di Tramonto, Wheeling, IL

From 'grilled to perfection' to 'garden fresh'

(NEWSER) - Tired of menus that use the same old phrases over and over? So are the food critics at the Chicago Tribune. They nominated nine menu clichés for the compost pile:

• "Grilled to perfection": Subjective to the point of meaninglessness. And why always grilled, and not “boiled” or “baked”? Can only grilling reach perfection?
• "World famous": Almost always an empty boast.
• "Kobe burger": “Kobe” is becoming a general synonym for “high quality”; it doesn't apply unless the beef actually came from Japan.

Food & Wine's annual list of the hottest emerging culinary talents in America

(NEWSER) - Here are Food & Wine's picks for the 10 best new chefs—up-and-comers who are deploying their culinary talents in intimate and stylish restaurants around the country.

1. April Bloomfield, The Spotted Pig, New York, NY
2. Gabriel Bremer, Salts, Cambridge, MA
3. Steve Corry, Five Fifty-Five, Portland, ME
4. Matthew Dillon, Sitka & Spruce, Seattle, WA
5. Gavin Kaysen, El Bizcocho, San Diego, CA

Charlie Trotter plans 'sabbatical' after 25 years

(NEWSER) - A Chicago landmark will soon be history. Legendary chef Charlie Trotter is closing his restaurant in August, after a quarter-century of service. It's not a financial matter: "We’ve always been profitable, that’s for sure," he tells the Sun-Times . But Trotter is ready "to put the flag in the sand" and achieve some non-culinary goals, including travel and a graduate degree in philosophy and political theory. More»

Expensive wines can break the bank and cheaper ones may give off the impression of mediocrity, but they can save money without losing their taste

(NEWSER) - While most people prefer choosing from the top of any wine list, it’s not where you get the best bang for your buck, writes Eric Asimov in the New York Times. He suggests starting at the bottom. While expensive wines are a must-have for any respectable restaurant, “the lower end is their opportunity for personal expression.” More»