• Grace is simply stunning: Portland, Maine's newest restaurant pulled off an epic historic renovation to turn Chestnut Street United Methodist Church into an impressive dining experience (at right).
  
• Don't pass on the parsnips. They offer a "sweet, caramel-y flavor" that makes them ripe for roasting.
• The old-school Chateau Brane-Cantenac is enjoying a quality upswing with notable new wines.
• Battle Lobster: Steve Corry will represent Maine in an "Iron Chef"-like charity event.
• No locale is safe from fiddlehead fever: Portland jumps on the bandwagon with a recipe for a tasty sauté with sugar snaps and baby carrots.
• California's producing bottles of sauvignon blanc that offer surprising softness.
• A recipe for tasty but fattening Congo Squares.
• A rundown of local events.

• Foods like fiddlehead ferns and ramps may be farmers market favorites, but too much foraging carries a big environmental price tag.
• Japadog is a Vancouver street food experience created to transcend the city's strict street vendor laws.
• Some suggestions for making a charcuterie platter for home entertainment.
• Globe wine expert Beppi Crosariol hunts down trendy bottles of wine for the younger generation.
• Don't soil the soil: That stuff in the garden is a lot more than just dirt. According to one gardener, it's "the critical backbone of the garden."
• A look at Romelia, a richly flavored mixed-rind goat's milk cheese.
• Poached eggs, stir-fried shrimp and cheese are even better when paired with asparagus.
  
• Mark Bittman's Flexitarian diet encourages folks to avoid animal products, processed foods and simple carbs before 6 p.m.
• How to make a Thai Rye, a tasty cocktail that won even Jean-Georges' stamp of approval.
• Raw seal heart is a traditional Inuit food -- and is also known as "the caviar of the north."
• Take matcha out of the tea cup with a recipe for Strawberries with Jellilfied Matcha.

• Forget the usual Tommy Atkins mango, all tart and stringy, and invest in some creamy smooth Ataulfo.
• Two chenin wines hit LCBO shelves, plus a few others: a classic chianti, a cabernet sauvignon, chenin blanc, and rasteau.
• Sometimes it's easier to just let the professionals make it -- especially if it is pig's feet stuffed with fois gras, straight from Au Pied de Cochon -- that place Bourdain visited while in Montreal. And there's more on the feet and new cookbook here.
  
• There's no better music to my ears than news of more Mexican restaurants in Toronto. The latest -- a fresh tortilla establishment called La Tortilleria.
• The fresh taste of community-shared agriculture.
• Fiddleheads start popping up north of the 49th parallel.
• Restaurant review: Kara Mia.

• It's springtime, so that must mean it's time to drink something pink.
• Michael and Jane Stern are the king and queen of road food.
• Fiddleheads: they look like fiddles, but taste like asparagus!
• A review of Roy Finamore's new cookbook, Tasty.
• This week's recipes: Seared Scallops with Watercress and Shiitakes, Rhubarb Compote, and Real Good Meat Loaf.

With the opening of an exhibition about the tools used for eating at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Julia Moskin asks are we really afraid of flatware? (Of course not. We’re just saving it for a special occasion!)

The message to eat local, organic and avoid processed foods is at the core of a Berkeley nutrition professor's book What to Eat, which tells you how to shop for groceries and select the most nutritious foods.

An oyster zealot shares his passion along with the history and flavors of the oyster in the Northwest.

Foraging for wild plants in the woods is what really gets some chefs heated up in spring, though the seasonal ramps, ferns and bitter greens are not always the easiest sell to diners.

The minimalist, Mark Bittman, does a video preparation of grilled lamb with miso-chili sauce at the NY Times website.

Frank Bruni dines at August and gives it two stars.

[Image NYT]