FAB FIRST COURSE: lobster-stuffed deviled eggs, created by chef Jennifer Jasinski of Rioja. Appetizers and creativity go hand-in-hand. Familiar ingredients—eggs, for instance—take on a new image in the hands of the country’s chefs. In Cleveland...

QUALITY FIRST: The Kitchen is Boulder’s exceptional neighborhood place. The Kitchen pays way more than lip service to the green philosophy. The acclaimed Boulder, CO, restaurant evolved almost naturally from a blueprint of finding the best...

TAKE A FLYER: Can a hotel restaurant become hip? The Renaissance Long Beach thinks they’ve found the formula with Tracht’s. Remember when steakhouse operators thought that brightening their interiors and adding a handful of non-meat options to...

MOTHER TONGUE: Need to communicate with your staff? All of them know the common French terms. Publishers Weekly, in an early review of my new book, The Elements of Cooking, criticized it for being Francocentric (it should have been called The...

For the podcast with Steve Petusevsky and Gail Bellamy, and recipe ideas, visit www.restaurant-hospitality.com then click on the podcast icon. Chef Steven Petusevsky, a Culinary Institute of America alum and the author of The WholeFoods Market...

Good locations for restaurants are gett ing harder to find. Not only are operators competing against other restaurants, often they’re angling for the same spots as retail behemoths like Walgreen’s or Staples. “You’ve got to be very nimble, quick...

And the edamame for $25, you'd think someone could feed them to you, like grapes...

A happy, cheerful leader can move mountains.

PEAK FLAVOR: Asian Chicken Salad, served at Rattan Pan-Asian Bistro in Houston. Adaptability might not be the first thing you think of when it comes to Asian cuisine, but this month’s recipe pages are filled with great examples of that principle...

OH BROTHER: A number of siblings are involved in Drago’s food-related holdings. CELESTINO DRAGO, recognized as one of “The 10 Best Chefs” in the United States by Food & Wine, is an extraordinary chef who has gained both the admiration and...