Passion fruit. Photo: Andréia, Flickr

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• A talk with Mark Caro, author of "The Foie Gras Wars: How a 5,000-Year-Old Delicacy Inspired the World's Fiercest Food Fight," about the ethics of consuming the controversial delicacy.
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When we think of heading out for a bite to eat, it's usually in a specific space somewhere, with a recognizable and large sign outside. Not Caplansky's.

If not for the onslaught of gushing praise and increasing publicity, this would be one of those beloved secret spots just outside of the downtown core of Toronto that only locals know about. Nestled in Little Italy, Caplansky's is not a restaurant, but rather an idea and some smoked meat nestled in the old Monarch Tavern. This means that there is no special Caplansky's seating or space. Rather, an efficient kitchen run separately from the tavern that produces one special and delectable delicacy -- the smoked meat sandwich.

You go in, and peruse the simple and well-priced menu, figure out your smoked meat sides, and wait for flavor you can usually only find in Montreal. Conducting business this way, it's like a special little secret, but it may not remain one. These sandwiches are in such high demand that Zane Caplansky has blogged about the possibility of moving. But small or large -- if you liked smoked meat, Caplansky's is a must.

But even better is this idea of rented kitchen space -- of great ideas starting on the ground floor. There's just one specialty, no fuss, and the wow of the personal touch. (Zane himself came to check on our order when I took the above image in September.) Maybe that will change with expansion, but I can only hope that more creative food minds take his cue. Imagine the possibilities!

Hit the jump to see a video of the experience.

In all fairness, Zingerman's Guide to Good Eating is not really a cookbook, though there are a few recipes scattered throughout its pages. It is a book for cooks. Its subtitle promises that it will tell you "How to Choose the Best Bread, Cheeses, Olive Oil, Pasta, Chocolate, and Much More" and it is one of the best, easiest to read guides you can find, and will be useful, or at least enjoyable, to anyone interested in learning more about the specifics of some important food groups. The groups are not those found on the periodic table, but are certainly obvious in the kitchens of those who love to cook.

It starts out with oilve oils, nut oils and vinegars, moving into grains, cheeses, meats and seasonings. It finishes with a section on honey, vanilla, chocolate and tea, as well as providing a handy guide to mail-order sources for the products they mention. The book's structure is such that it provides far more than brand names and selection tips. It has the history and production of a food, and tries to at least quickly visit each of its potential uses. The casual style that it is written in makes it a very pleasurable read, and a good gift for any would-be foodies in your life, yourself included.

It doesn't seem like you can get a whole lot for 54¢, but at Barney Greengrass, on the 5th floor of Barney's in Beverly Hills, you can get a taste of nostalgia. They serve up egg creams at the shockingly low price - making them the best buy in they whole store. According to LA Ritz, who found the drink while waiting for some friends to finish shopping, they did use Hershey's syrup instead of U-Bet (the horror!), but it still could be the starting place for a new trend. Of course, if it catches on, I doubt that the price will remain so low!

[Image from LA Ritz, via The Food Section]

Joe mentioned that New York's Carnegie Deli was planning to honor Jerry Springer with his own sandwich on their menu. Our friends at TV Squad picked up the story and ferreted out the ingredients in the sandwich. So, what's in it? It looks like Sarah was the closest of the commenters in her guess of "tongue and cheese." The official sandwich has "pastrami, tongue, baloney, Swiss Cheese and Russian dressing."

Maybe "honor" is the wrong word, given the contents of the sandwich. Adding the tongue and baloney as ingredients are a nice touch, so why don't we just say that they're trying to make him memorable.

Whether that's a good or bad thing - either the sandwich or the show - is up to you.

7-Eleven stores are releasing a new sandwich this week - the P'EatZZa sandwich. This crazy hybrid is a cross between pizza and a deli sandwich. The sandwiches, which come in two flavors with a third to be released in May, are flat breads stuffed with deli meats and other fillings and topped with a combination of baked-in pizza sauce and cheese. They are served as pie wedges that can be eaten with a fork and knife or by hand, but the driving force behind the concept is that is is pizza (with extra meats) that is not meant to be served hot. No need for heat means that customers can be in and out quicker and the sandwiches are easier to store. The flavors are turkey and pepperoni on pepperoni flat-bread with parmesan ranch spread and romaine lettuce; and ham and salami on a cheddar flat-bread with red and yellow peppers, oil and vinegar dressing and romaine lettuce. They are $3.69 each.

Delis will always have something for everyone. For some reason, their menus are the biggest you are likely to see in the restaurant industry. One deli that comes to mind (unnamed because their food is definitely not so hot) has over 600 items on the menu, for example. But it can be hard to get everything right when your kitchen is producing everything from Reubens to fettuccini alfredo to teriyaki stir fry, though when at least half of the menu is excellent, patrons don’t mind an omelet that is simply acceptable when their dining partner can get pizza and potato latkes at the same meal. A good deli is a great thing, though. And Brent’s is just about the best in LA, according to the huge crowds that gather in front of it every day.

Brent’s Deli has been around since 1967 and has won too many awards to count. Not only do they have a great neighborhood feel, they are widely regarded as the best deli in Los Angeles and Zagat called them the “Best outside New York.” Their goal is “to be the best family owned & operated delicatessens & restaurants in the country”, and if you’ve ever eaten there, you’ll know that they’re not far off that mark. Everything is always fresh, helped in no small part because thee restaurant is always packed. The only thing that takes longer than getting a table is trying to find a parking spot in their lot around lunchtime. Park across the street, if you can help it.