If a cocktail sounds really strange, you might want to take a chance, trust the bartender and give it a try before dismissing it out of hand. You might be surprised.

Whiskey is growing in popularity, so you might want to know what kinds of nibbles go well with it.

Long-aged tequilas are in higher demand, too - and they're not meant for making margaritas.

A specialty tonic water can really improve the quality of a drink, adding a subtly sweet flavor to take the edge off.

Tailgaters like to bring out the blenders and serve mixed drinks before the big game.

Drinking during pregnancy - not to mention a number of other food-related pleasures - is definitely frowned upon by others in the US, although not necessarily by doctors or people elsewhere in the world. It seems that there are risks associated with heavy drinking, but to be on the safe side in all situations, there is no standard for "heavy drinking" and is just considered to be a big no-no.

Big beers, usually produced by small brewers, are beers that have an alcohol content of more than 7% - far stronger than the average of 3-5% that is a common standard in most places. Fans feel that a lot more goes into making them than other beers and revere them almost as much as a fine wine.

Frank Bruni dines at Spicy & Tasty and gives it two stars.

Mark Bittman, the minimalist, makes party food: Polpetti, Grilled Chicken Wings, Gougères and Asian Corn Fritters.

Only one week into season two of Bravo's Top Chef and things are already getting a lot more interesting, primarily because we are getting to know the players a little bit better. The honeymoon seemed to wear off quickly, as at the start of the show everyone agreed that they really felt like they were in a competition now that someone had been asked to pack their knives and go.

This week, things started off as usual with a quickfire challenge, though this one required a 4:30 am wakeup call. All the chefs headed off to the Los Angeles fish market where they were given $100 to pick out fish for sushi. Once they returned to the kitchen, they were given 30 minutes to prepare a dish for the guest judge, Chef Hiroshi Shima, an expert in the field.

Meats are great dishes to serve cold, especially at a picnic, on a hot day, but because they seem to loose some of their character during overnight storage, make sure to up the flavor to begin with. Marinades and rubs are great choices and result in less mess than sauces do. Serve them with easy summer salads.

Don't bring your Blackberry to a dinner party. Sitting at the table and using it is simply rude, even if the food is awful.

Up and coming chef Andrew Weissman is setting a new standard for french food (pictured) - from San Antonio, Texas.

Some NY wine lovers still have issues with California wines, but the chardonnays seem to get better all the time. Try pairing them with a great salmon dish.

Learning how to cook when you shop exclusively at a farmer's market can be challenging, since it is so different and so seasonal. But when you live above NYC's Greenmarket, there isn't much choice and once you've eaten food that is "fresh off the farm" in the middle of the city, how could you go back?

Barley is good for you and full of fiber. It also tastes great in summer dishes like Corn and Barley Salad and Chilled Yogurt and Barley Soup.

The Shake Shack lets you get a look at the line, which will be a long one, via its webcam before you even get there.

The minimalist, Mark Bittman, tackles tomatillos.

Frank Bruni gives the new Mr Chow a "satisfactory" rating. You might want to opt for Daisy May's BBQ U.S.A., which is a Times "Top Pick."

 

"What quenches your thirst depends on who you are" and New Yorkers are so diverse that there is an almost endless number of refreshing summer drinks to choose from, from sweet Greek frappés and Mexican agua fresca to strong African ginger beer and the bubble teas favored by Chinese students.

The recipe for refreshing in a summer cocktail comes down to a few key points, the most important being the inclusion of ice. Ice not only lowers the temperature of the drink, but helps the ingredients to blend together and, since it results in more water in your system as it melts, helps you stay hydrated in the summer heat.

 "The Cuke" (recipe below) wins the NY Time's summer cocktail contest, as it is light, refreshing and not too boozy for sipping in the hot sun.

Prosecco might be the ultime summer sipper, though, as it is refreshing, stylish and soothes the heat better than "the gentle cooling of a rippling breeze."

People are starting to get a taste for cachaça, the national spirit of Brazil, which is made from fermented sugar cane juice.

Frank Bruni eats at Degustation and gives it two stars, while giving Jewel Bako one star.

Only time will tell how the newest incarnation of Le Cirque fares - and whether diners are still looking for flash and glamour in a new restaurant. Judging by the A-list of diners (from Martha Steward to Donald Trump) that were at the opening, it seems that they do.

With Big Green Truck Pizza, it's not pizza delivery, it's pizzeria delivery. The company has a brick oven, imported from Italy, built into what was once a fire truck. They travel to events (mostly in Conn.) and "wow" customers with real, thin-crust pizzas.

A new farmers market in New York has modeled itself on other farmer's markets throughout the country and, unlike Greenmarket, will allow "food artisans" to sell their wares there.

Even a Southern girl isn't above buying something and passing it off has her own. And when the food comes from a great specialty store like William Poll, guests will be too satisfied to notice the boxes in the waste bin in the kitchen.

Frank Bruni eats across the country (full summary here), but he also makes a stop in to review Sascha and give it one star.

The minimalist, Mark Bittman, cooks soup with fresh basil

[Image NYT]

Dry-cured sausages are uncooked and hung to age in all their smelly, molding glory. Very few people  still make them due to health regulations, which are in place to address food safety concerns but can adversely affect the flavor that would result from a traditional curing process, which has been developed over thousands of years. Instead, vendors are buying them from commercial producers, some of whom offer only a cooked variant. The Times has a list of the places to get the real thing in New York.

Cured culatello, said to be a prince among pork products, and Armandino Batali (father of chef Mario Batali) learned how to make it in Italy and produces the $35/pound treat in his Seattle Store. He faces some of the same regulatory challenges as the salami makers (above).

Sometimes the desire for precision that a pastry chef has can be useful to savory chefs, especially when recreating recipes. Iacopo Falai, both chef and pastry chef, lets himself wing it - just a little bit - when preparing dessert, especially when dessert is disguised as a salad.  Salad then takes a turn as dessert in celery pudding cakes with strawberry rhubarb compote.

The minimalist, Mark Bittman, talks about fat vs thin asparagus and then cooks some.

Frank Bruni dines at Crema and gives it 1 star.

The next Le Cirque is scheduled to open on May 30.

 

 

The second episode of Top Chef ran Wednesday night on Bravo. The bulk of the episode took place inside a fetish shop in San Francisco, since the main challenge involved making a sexy dessert. It was interesting to see some of the contestants cutting loose among the latex-clad party goers - one of which was RuPaul - while others were clearly out of their comfort zone. But as usual, there were two challenges on which the contestants were judged.

The first, quick challenge for immunity, dealt with presentation and the chefs were asked to make a fruit plate in 30 minutes. Elizabeth Faulkner of San Francisco's Citizen Cake served as the judge for this challenge. Some of the chefs really didn't seem to understand that not only were they making a fruit plate, but that they were competing against other people, so originality was important. Half of the chefs had garnished their plates with pineapple tops, which Ms. Faulkner didn't like, and the majority of the other plates looked very similar. She criticized some plates for looking like they were part of a buffet. The three top plates were Cynthia's, which was minimalist and used papaya seeds as a garnish, Harold's, which showcased his knife skills, and Stephen's, which used fruit and herb combinations served in espresso cups. Stephen won purely on originality; his presentation was gorgeous.