The six cities below represent regions of the country that are disparate for many reasons, including food. San Francisco and Detroit are nearly identical in population size, though they lie on opposite sides of the income scale, with per capita incomes of $46,000 and $15,000, respectively.

It wasn't until the 1950s, long after Prohibition, that bartenders discovered the appeal and popularity of sweet cocktails. In the following decades, a sugary rush of mixology produced the Mai Tai, Pina Colada, Screwdriver, Daiquiri and Margarita, writes Harold McGee in On Food and Cooking.

The days of Julia Child's 12-hour pot roasts and intricate souffles have in large part vanished, at least on television. More popular cooking shows today include Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals and Giada De Laurentiis, Everyday Italian, both of which emphasize timely preparation for a busy individual.

In a rigorous assignment called Tacoshed, students at the California College of the Arts (CCA) in San Francisco traced the origins of a single taco sold at a street stand in the city's Mission District. The project revealed that the tacos components had traveled a total distance of 2.

After years of trying to win him over, after stir-frying and roasting and strewing bits of bacon on things, I've mostly accepted defeat. I make whatever vegetables are seasonal and local, and I make sure there's always salad for him. I look away discreetly when iceberg sneaks into the vegetable drawer.

Which is why she limits that activity to about a couple of hundred pounds of grapes a year. Otherwise, she crushes them through mechanical means. This year, she expects to produce between 5,000 and 5,600 bottles of wine, out of a space smaller than many convenience stores in an industrial-business strip off north Broadway.

Think of the last meal you paid for. How was the service? Did a server fill your water glass before it emptied, or were you left stranded and parched? Did an employee smile graciously, or did he barely glance up as he took your order behind the counter?.

Food and drink are a crucial element to such gaiety. According to Colm O'Neill, owner of Boulder's downtown Irish pub Conor O'Neill's, the most widely sold dishes in his restaurant on St. Patrick's Day are corned beef and cabbage, Reuben sandwiches and fish and chips.

Denver-based burger restaurant Smashburger opens its first Boulder location on Wednesday, March 10, at 1650 28th Street, in the 29th Street Mall.

Imagine slurping down 111 oysters in one sitting. Now imagine consuming all of that slimy saltiness in a mere 90 seconds. For many people, it’s a repulsive thought. Yet such was the record at last year’s Oyster Eating Contest put on by Jax Fish House in Boulder, proving that the stomach is capable of amazing feats when under pressure.