If you ever have the opportunity to meet one of your idols, do it at all costs. Call every friend possible to watch the kids, break out the emergency credit card and go. ...more

October 24, 2008

"Field Guide to Cookies," by Anita Chu (Quirk, $15.95) ...more

October 12, 2008

Daniel Boulud learned how to cook at the side of some of France's most renowned chefs. Best known for his restaurant Daniel in New York City, he now owns six restaurants across the country, including Cafe Boulud in Palm Beach. ...more

September 24, 2008

The nation's best chefs compete at the Epcot Food & Wine Festival to represent the country in the world's most prestigious cooking contest. ...more

September 23, 2008

We first met Francesco Lafranconi at the 2007 Tampa Bay Food & Wine Festival. There he was, in white linen pants and a pink pinstriped tailored shirt, sleeves rolled up, relegated to an oak barrel just a stone's throw from the painted naked lady. He was mixing a heavenly concoction of Dom Perignon, rose nectar and fresh blueberries. Sweat poured from his European brow, thanks to the Florida humidity. ...more

July 15, 2008

GEARING UP FOR BOCUSE For all the ground American chefs have made up in the past two decades in an effort to establish cuisine worthy of mention alongside their European counterparts, they still have never won the Bocuse d'Or worldwide cooking competition. In fact, U.S. teams have never placed better than sixth in what has been described as a culinary Olympics. ...more

July 9, 2008