The Most Overused Menu Descriptions

Food & Wine takes a look at the freshest cooking talent the US has to offer

(NEWSER) - Food & Wine has posted its Best New Chef awards for 2008. Look for their profiles in the July issue, but take a peek at the winners here:

1. Jim Burke: owner of James, a modern Italian restaurant in Philadelphia's Bella Vista neighborhood.
2. Gerard Craft: owner and chef at Niche in St. Louis, where bacon and eggs sandwich and braised pork belly top the menu.

Go beyond the Joy of Cooking with Slate's recommendations

(NEWSER) - What to get the foodie or chef who already has all the classic cookbooks? Slate compiles offbeat favorites recommended by Mollie Katzen, James Oseland and other standout chefs, food editors, and more.

1. Ethan Becker: Cookwise—Less a cookbook than a bible of general cooking knowledge.
2. Dan Barber: The River Cottage Meat Book—"A carnivore's manifesto."
3. Melissa Clark: The Mensch Chef —Traditional Jewish recipe perfection.

10 best gut-stretching meals around the country

(NEWSER) - Tired of picking at salads and counting out almonds? Fill up your plate with the 10 "best-tasting, most gut-stretching" meals the Discovery Channel could find.

1. Lambert's Cafe, Sikeston, MO
2. Eagle's Deli, Brighton, MA
3. Seiad Valley Cafe, Seiad Valley, CA

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

"Sous vide" vacuum cooking sweeps the Bay Area

(NEWSER) - "This is not your mother's boil-in-a-bag," write's Tara Duggan of the San Francisco Chronicle of "sous vide" cooking, a French cooking technique of immersing food in a vacuum-sealed bag. While they don't trumpet it on menus, Bay Area Chefs are smitten with the precision and flavor of sous vide. More»