Esquire has come out with its "59 Best Breakfast Places in America" list, featuring everything from humble Southern cafes serving grits and country ham to Japanese salted salmon and pickles at mod San Francisco cafes. There are "no brunch places allowed" (breakfast, eaten by hunters and old men in John Deere hats is presumably very virile per Esquire logic, but brunch, enjoyed by couples and urban creative types is somehow unmanly).

I can personally vouch for several of the selections: the beignets and cafe au lait at Café du Monde in New Orleans (just don't eat the powdered sugar-coated beignets on the windy riverfront while wearing a black dress), the blintzes at Katz's Deli in New York, the waffles at Ye Olde Waffle Shop in Chapel Hill, the grits at Hominy Grill in Charleston (though I don't think the biscuits are all that), the pancakes at Aretha Frankensteins in Chattanooga, the biscuits (and everything else) at Bryant's Bar-B-Q and Breakfast in Memphis, waffles and hash browns at Waffle Houses anywhere in the South.

I'd like to add the bacon maple bar at VooDoo Doughnuts in Portland, the smoked trout hash at Cafe Pasqual's in Santa Fe, the breakfast burritos at Tesuque Village Market in Tesuque, NM, the biscuits with sorghum butter at Lynn's Paradise Cafe in Louisville, the fried chicken biscuits at Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen in Chapel Hill, just to name a few.

What are your favorite breakfast joints? Hey, go ahead and include your favorite brunch places too.

Punch and punch bowls have always bored me. All the ones that I've tried have been overly sweet and dull, and besides, punch bowls remind me of high school dances, and who wants to be reminded of high school?

But this Holiday Punch over at Esquire.com looks like something I could get into, even if it does have rum in it (not a big rum guy). It also includes Cognac and tea bags.

Back in October I linked to a drink called The Atomic Cocktail, which is made with Plymouth Gin, Galliano, and Grapefruit juice. Now comes another drink with the same name.

This one is via David Wondrich at Esquire, and he says the drink after the jump was invented in Las Vegas in the early 50s. It's made with vodka, brandy, sherry, and champagne.

Yeah, I know it sounds like the name of a stripper...sorry, "exotic dancer," but actually it's an appetizer from Zingerman's Roadhouse in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I saw this recipe in a recent issue of Esquire, part of their "Harried Man" series where they give four courses in 26 minutes.

It's very easy. You preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Cover baking sheet with foil. Cut 1 bunch of grapes into small clusters. Toss in top shelf sherry vinegar and roast on a baking sheet until they begin to shrivel and caramelize (around 15 minutes). Serve with cheese.

Men are better cooks than women.

Ha, just kidding! But I had to get your attention, right? Actually, men and women are equal in the kitchen, though they have their differences. I learned about the differences between men and women the first time I went to the beach (ba-doom bang - thank you everyone, I'm here all week!).

Esquire has a really nice section called Recipes For Men, where they feature a bunch of recipes from men, for men. Of course, don't worry ladies, we're probably making these for you tonight). Lots of meat and potatoes, sure, but spaghetti, lobster, and stews too.

I'll be the first to admit that FoodNetwork personality, cookbook author, and all-around celebrity chef Giada de Laurentiis isn't one of my favorites. I have no logical, fair reason, other than "she's annoying," because though she is "pretty" in a very standard view of what pretty might be (long, dark hair, cat eyes, deep cleavage), her head seems disproportionately large (physically, not figuratively) for the rest of her tiny, taut body, and when she "smiles," it looks so forced and unnatural that it almost looks like an evil grimace.

However, I now have real reason to not like her very much: an odd set of photos at Esquire that, given that it were anyone else, would be fairly sexy, but with Giada, looks downright disgusting.

I was going to say, "a hot dog made out of horse meat? Gah!" But then I thought, who the hell knows what's in the hot dogs that we eat now? Snouts, intestines, whatever. Maybe horse meat isn't too weird after all.

Esquire's Greg Lindsay gives us the scoop - from the horse's mouth, you could say - on the frikandel, a hot dog native to The Netherlands, Belgium, and parts of Germany. It's deep-fried sausage made out of beef, chicken, pork, and Mr. Ed.

His description (bland, soft, with pink gloop squirting out) doesn't make me want to get on a flight and try it anytime soon, but I'm not a big hot dog guy anyway.

This might be just because I'm not a big seafood fan in the first place (except for some fish, clams, and scallops), but I find oysters a rather odd food to even think about eating. The way it must feel when it's going down your throat...gah. I wouldn't eat one for a million dollars.*

But I know that a lot of you out there love them, and Esquire has everything you need to know about buying and eating them: what they are, the difference between East Coast and West Coast oysters, how to shuck them (including the equipment you'll need), and a few companies where you can buy the best oysters in the country.

Oyster lovers, rejoice!

* This is a lie. I actually would eat one for a million dollars.

A lot of people know Anthony Bourdain either as a chef or "that guy on the TV shows who travels a lot and eats funky things." Sure, he's both of those things, but he also happens to be a very good writer. Not just his books that look behind the scenes of the restaurant biz (like Kitchen Confidential, a must read for anyone in the food service industry), but also his mystery books. Bone in the Throat, Gone Bamboo, and The Bobby Gold Stories are all terrific reads. The guy can write, period.

Now he's back with The Nasty Bits, a collection of articles he's written for several publications, including Gourmet, Chow, Esquire, Best Life, Blackbook, The L.A. Times, Town and Country, and others. Nicole picked it as the Cookbook of the Day last week, and I think this might be one of his best books yet.

1. Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book - This has to be first, because it's one of the classic cookbooks, still in print since being published in 1950. The recipes and how it looks at life are a must-see.

 2. Esquire Drinks: An Opinionated, Irreverent Guide To Drinking - If I were to pick the best books on drinking, this would definitely be in the top 5. And writer David Wondrich gets extra points for really getting into the history of certain drinks, giving recipes for long-forgotten drinks, and just an overall great tone. Very much recommended.