http://www.nypress.com/articles.sec-29-1-food-news.html I love Thanksgiving! And hate it. The holiday itself is a wonderful excuse to gather ’round family and friends for a conveniently short amount of time. Just enough hours to get in, reminisce for a day, get a ridiculously sized meal into your gullet and leave before the fam starts to work your nerves.]]> My friend Chris looked up from his glass of Yellowtail Chardonnay (which I did not buy). He squinted at me, pointed and creaked out, “I think you wine people are totally full of BS.” To his surprise, I nodded and replied, “Yeah, your pretty right on...mostly.”]]> THE BIGGEST FOOD-RELATED uproar in New York this past summer had to be the daring invasion of Manhattan by Canadian donut chain Tim Hortons. NYC residents were taken aback by the almost overnight appearance of multiple maple-leafed breakfast stations throughout the city in July, ramping up fears that our northern borders are not entirely secure. As a tireless Hortons supporter, it warmed my cockles to see Tim flex his sugar n’ coffee muscle through the city that never sleeps. However, I was far more excited to learn a Checkers had quietly snuck its way into Brooklyn a month earlier.]]> Like Fashion Week for Foodies, the NYFWF features a slew of events from the Oct. 10 Bob Dylan Wine Pairing to appearances by every celeb chef—that term is used loosely—out there, including a cooking demonstration by Alicia Silverstone.There are also more established dining deities like Mario Batali, Bobby Flay, Alain Ducasse and Ming Tsai strutting their stuff all weekend. ]]> When is a Montepulciano not a montepulciano? When it’s a montepulciano, and not from Montepulciano. Confused? So are most people when trying to buy Italian wine. The amount of grape varietals grown in the big, European boot is staggering—estimated at more than 2,000—and the regions are just as prolific.]]> Chili Pepper Fiesta Oct. 3, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 1000 Washington Ave. (at Montgomery St.), Brooklyn, 718-623-7200; noon-6:30, $8 In some parts of the country (cf. New Mexico) chilis aren&rs]]> Weekends are like mini-vacations for my wife and I. We walk around as though visiting some quaint New England town, perusing the Housing Works Thrift Shop on East 77th Street as if it were a clandestine, highly sought after antique boutique. During a recent Sunday afternoon visit, the shop was having one of its frequent “All Books for $5” sales.]]> WITH A DEAD baby pig in her arms, Anne Apparu receives news that her good friend and former brother-in-law Dash Snow, has died. But instead of breaking down, Apparu has a meal to cook.]]> For more than 30 years, one man has had the privilege of experiencing the greatest marvels the wine world had to offer, and he wrote about them for the New York Times. That man is Frank Prial, and his column, “Wine Talk,” which ended in 2005, was the go-to resource to learn about trends in wine making and to read travelogue accounts of fantastical epicurean excursions. He was also unafraid to deflate and demystify a great many myths that kept the wine world at an arm’s length from the common man.]]> “Rudy’s is not closing.” Danny DePamphilis said this over the roar of the crowed dive bar in Hell’s Kitchen one hot night in August. This question had come up a lot lately after several publications—including the New York Times, Village Voice and L Magazine—published that the 76-year-old Rudy’s might be kaput. But, it’s not the end for this neighborhood institution. Not all such places have been so lucky. It was recently announced that the owners of the storied Upper West Side Café des Artistes, located at West 67th Street, would not re-open.]]> THE PEOPLE AT Grande Monuments, a headstone shop on Graham Avenue in Williamsburg, take life, death and the body of Christ to a whole new level. Lying next to a statue of the Virgin Mary, in front of a handful of polished headstones, are dozens of loaves of bread. “It’s here by popular demand,” says Jerry Ragusa, third-generation owner of the shop. “People come in and buy a monument and leave with three loaves of bread.” ]]> It was a hot summer afternoon at the wine shop and the A/C had broken...again. We coped with the heat and the complaining customers the only way we knew how: by pouring out samples of ice-cold white wine. As I popped open a crisp, thirst quenching bottle of a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, I poured a taste for myself, and a little for my fellow manager, Remy.]]> It’s that time of year again, when New Yorkers emerge from the sweltering subways frothing at the mouth and seeking respite from the dreadful heat. Sure, it’s still raining enough for us to consider building an ark, but summer is undeniably here. Luckily, there are more than enough ways to cool down—and most of them don’t involve going home with people who have central air. That always works, too, though.]]> WHEN I WORKED as a barista, every summer people would whine about the price of iced coffee. “Why does it cost so much? There’s less here than in hot coffee!” they would cry. I smiled, nodded and took their money. I didn’t know why it was more expensive either, but an extra quarter hardly seemed worth all the fuss. And, unlike hot coffee, making the iced variety at home calls for preparation that most people just aren’t willing to put in. At hotspots around town this summer, however, iced-coffee prices can be a whopping $3 more than a comparable cup of the hot stuff. ]]> The wine-bar boom of the early 2000s was one part culinary fad and one part symptom of an over-indulgent and bloated economy. To most New York City diners, wine bars were never viewed as a place to get a serious meal. The wine lists were often voluminous and confusing, the bite-sized “tapas style” snacks were expensive and the vibe was exclusive—and not in a fun way.]]> Whether it’s an over-priced bottle of Louis Roederer’s Cristal Champagne being held aloft in some Manhattan club, or just a humble bottle of Prosecco being mixed with peach nectar on a laz]]> Grapes for wine making have been grown in the Finger Lakes area of Upstate New York for more than 100 years. That’s decades longer than the Russian River or Napa Valley. White wines from the Finger Lakes are exceptionally underrated and always have been—unlike wines from the North Fork of Long Island, which are, for some reason, much more popular and expensive. There are a handful of Long Island wines that are good, but there isn’t the consistency of quality that you’ll find with the whites from Upstate.]]> “It’s the most amazing wine I’ve ever had,” my friend said as he led me to his kitchen. “I drank it the entire time I was in Spain and have been saving a bottle since I went there.”]]>