New Orleans was on fire this week as luminaries of the spirits world gather for Tales of the Cocktail, an annual shmooze-and-booze fest now in its 10th year. But for cocktail geeks not lucky enough to attend can at least get a taste of the Big Easy...

READ MORE - MH Happy Hour The Sazerac

Encouraged by our last Will It Grill? endeavor (gooey, crispy, flavor-packed grilled nachos) we turned to the next item on our long to-grill list: fruit salad. The agenda was the same—to see if a delicious dish would taste even better on the grill....

READ MORE - Will It Grill? A Bowl Of Fruit Salad

Beer Me! delivers quick beer recommendations with all the information you need to know—and nothing more. Read up, then crack one open. Name: A Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale Brewer: Lagunitas Brewing Company, Petaluma, CA Style: American Pale Wheat...

READ MORE - Beer Me! A Little Sumpin Sumpin Ale

Fish have a handicap when it comes to the grill. Fillets usually need the support of a cedar plank or else they risk flaking into the flames. Whole grilled fish requires an archeological excavation of the meat. Skin always burns more often than it...

READ MORE - Serve Up Spicy Tuna Sliders

As far as fish go, there may be no more perfect catch than wild salmon. It's high in omega-3 fatty acids, which battle your body's inflammation. It's lower in mercury than large ocean-dwelling fish such as tuna or swordfish. And, unlike the now-ubiquitous...

READ MORE - Cure Your Own Wild Salmon

Avocados are in high season right now and you'll find them piled up front and center in most supermarkets. So we're celebrating the bounty with this offbeat twist on the ubiquitous margarita. This cocktail was created by Paolo Votano, proprietor...

READ MORE - Happy Hour Avocado-Cilantro Margarita

Spoiler alert: There will be no upsets on this page. Pitting cheap Scotch from a can against Johnny Walker is like locking Justin Bieber in a UFC cage with George St. Pierre, or signing Mary-Kate Olsen up for a hot dog eating contest with Joey Chestnut....

READ MORE - Can Scotch In A Can Stand Up To The Real Thing?

Among cocktail drinkers, there is a stalwart camp that believes a true martini consists of three ingredients, at most: a spirit, vermouth, and maybe a minimalist garnishment. In their eyes, the instant that sugar granules encrust glass rim and fluorescent...

READ MORE - Shake Up An Olive Oil-Infused Martini

Even if you think all French people sound like this or you still call French fries "freedom fries," you should learn to love escargot. Yes, escargot is made with snails. You have to work past that, because if you do you'll experience one of the...

READ MORE - Celebrate Bastille Day With Escargot

This week we head down to South America to feature The 1684, a cocktail that showcases pisco, a funky white spirit made from distilled grapes in Peru and Chile. (And they are engaged in a fierce rivalry as to who invented it first.) At first taste,...

READ MORE - Happy Hour The 1684

Here’s the thing about eating competitions: The guy you think is going to win never actually does. In the case of the Second Annual Mama O’s Super Spicy Kimchi eating competition, held at the 2012 NYC Cook Out on Governor’s Island this Saturday and...

READ MORE - Ghost Pepper Kimchi: How Much Could You Eat?

Beer Me! delivers quick beer recommendations with all the information you need to know—and nothing more. No geeky beer-brewing technical terminology. No bottles you have to age five years before you can enjoy them. No bull. Read up, then crack one...

READ MORE - Beer Me! Prima Pils

If you're lucky enough to have access to fresh crab, you know there's no wrong way to eat it, whether you put in the effort for crab cakes or just steam some blue claws and serve them with drawn butter and a nice glass of wine. Unless you’re Italian....

READ MORE - Cook Fresh Blue Claw Crab And Tomato Pasta

There are the James Beard Awards. There are Michelin stars. There are Zagat reviews, Fodor's recommendations, and "best ever" lists created by informal Internet polls. And then there are Yelp and UrbanSpoon and TripAdvisor and, look, all of these opinions...

READ MORE - VOTE For The Manliest Restaurants In America 2012!

Master mixologist Kenneth Ward named this week’s Happy Hour cocktail Heroes and Villains, in honor of the Beach Boys song that happened to hit the radio as he was creating it. We’re showcasing this drink because we want you to see how easy it is to...

READ MORE - Happy Hour Heroes And Villains

Your grill, the wonderful cooking medium that it is, has its limitations. Those same grill grates that crosshatch dark marks across steaks, chops, and whole vegetables also allow smaller foods to fall through the cracks and into the fires below. You...

READ MORE - Test Drive: Sizzle-Q Grill Top Griddle

The only way to celebrate the Fourth of July is with a meat-juice-covered spatula in your right hand and a cold beer in your left hand. And while celebrating American history, you should look for two qualities in that beer. First, it should be 100...

READ MORE - Drink American On The Fourth Of July

Praise be to the cow, but let's not make the mistake of thinking it's the only animal capable of producing a good burger. Any meat can go through a grinder, and by all means, most should. Lamb, bison, and salmon are all worthy. But using nomenclature...

READ MORE - Make Your Next Burger From Pork