Food & drink

Food & drink

At the IWSC, it received 98 points out of a possible 100 (a gold outstanding ranking, aka one of the judges' most exceptional spirits). The judges raved over the American-made bourbon, saying, "The alluring aroma presents a delightful mix of apple tart, custard, and intriguing dried apricots. On the palate, a refined medley of buckwheat honey, dried apricots, vanilla, and warm spice unfolds, while the finish offers a satisfying hint of leather."

Buffet-style restaurants are fast becoming a thing of the past. Old Country Buffet and Hometown Buffet used to dominate the all-you-can-eat landscape, and now only a scant few remain. But there was another buffet out there, never quite as popular and always overshadowed by the "main" restaurant that it's part of - the KFC buffet. Some people never even knew these existed, but there are still a handful scattered around North America.

the U.S. cereal market was worth over $13.5 billion in 2024 (per Grand View Research. While many of us grew up with Toucan Sam, Lucky the Leprechaun, Count Chocula, and other iconic food brand mascots, those colorful characters aren't welcome everywhere - at least, not anymore. Even seemingly harmless Kellogg's Corn Flakes have been banned in some countries, partly for health reasons and partly because of its mascot, Cornelius the Rooster.

An ocean of Le and La and L', Chez Whoever and Maison So-and-So, This or That d'Or. If, in a haze of butter and white Burgundy, you sat down to write a parody of the ur- resto for our current culinary Franco-cacophony, you could do worse than to title it "Chateau Royale," a phrase both spectacularly generic and hilariously evocative.

You may not have noticed as you're digging into crinkle-cut fries or biting into a burger, but no two Shake Shacks are alike, and with Shake Shacks located all over the world, even the food and drink menus can look different from store to store. In addition to a list of secret Shake Shack menu items, some Shake Shacks serve alcohol.

Temperature is a key factor in ensuring that salad dressing is safe to eat, so check that the settings on your fridge keep it below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Placement is also important. The door of the refrigerator might seem like the most convenient spot to store the bottles, but as you open and close it, the temperature will fluctuate too much.

Coming out on top was the variety pack filled with packages of M&M's, Peanut M&M's, Snickers, Twix, and Milky Way. In this swoop of a steal, sweet lovers get a range of texture and flavor of different candies in a single buy. These classic Halloween candies are guaranteed crowd-pleasers, so whether you're setting the candy into bowls to place around the house, share at the office, or quickly toss into trick-or-treaters' bags, your savvy grab will be appreciated.

The flagship TGI Fridays opened on Manhattan's Upper East Side in 1965, but it wasn't the family-friendly operation that exists today. The first T.G.I. Friday's, as it was called then - the company dropped the periods and the apostrophe in 2013 - was the world's first singles bar. The bar was founded by perfume salesman Alan Stillman, an Upper East Side bachelor who himself was looking for a place to mingle with other singles.

'The fields at Crockford Bridge Farm are often too muddy for visitors to pick their own in early October (check before you go), but their annual outdoor Pumpkin Market is a much cleaner, still thrilling trip,' said Time Out editors. 'Pumpkins and gourds of every shape, size and colour are piled up on haybales in a display which runs from mid-October until Halloween,

You'll be forgiven if your initial reaction is skepticism and a sternly raised eyebrow. Sour cream raisin pie doesn't have the same delicious ring to it as key lime or Dutch apple pie. To start with, sour cream is not your typical pie filling, and raisins have not been particularly popular as a treat for some time now. But those who have tried this pie can attest that the taste quickly erases any doubt.

It's essentially three steaks together that haven't been separated. You might call it a prime rib roast at that point. They have even offered a 160 ounce extreme cut before. That's too much steak for the average person, so if you want something more manageable yet still intense, you may want to try ordering a tomahawk steak at your local Texas Roadhouse.

For almost 50 years, streams of people have stepped through the restaurant's towering glass door into its light-filled threshold, where a series of polished wooden steps unfolds, leading to the dining room with its walls of windows and the brass-topped bar where a waterfall gently spills behind rows of neatly shelved bottles. Outside, a two-tiered deck overlooks the Tahoe City Marina and, beyond the boat slips, a panoramic view of Lake Tahoe.

Every year, tequila aficionados eagerly await the arrival of the newest and freshest bottles of the agave spirit. It wasn't always this way, though. Tequila was once predominantly known as part of the college party stereotype, where those fueled with the drink would chase shots with lime and salt and regret it the next morning. Today, things are somewhat different, with the drink being a beverage of choice across multiple generations throughout the U.S.

Among a plethora of different types of apples, using the right varieties is crucial for the very best flavor and texture. Tasting Table chatted with cookbook author Mark Filippelli to get his must-know tips for the tastiest apple fritters and he strongly recommended avoiding overly ripe apples as well as varieties such as Red Delicious or Fuji as their tender texture will not stand up to the cooking process.

Sisters but not twins, chia seed pudding and overnight oats offer convenient, nutrition-forward, make-ahead options for a fueling breakfast during busy mornings. Both dishes consist of dry ingredients hydrated in a dairy component to become texturally soft, rich, and creamy. But, just as each dish provides its own tasting profile and mouthfeel, each also comes with its own respective health benefits. When it comes to nutrition, overnight oats win for protein and chia seed pudding wins for fiber.

Whether you like simple chocolate or vanilla, or prefer something decadent like jamocha almond fudge covered in strawberries and caramel sauce, it's hard to top ice cream as one of the greatest desserts ever made. But refreshing ice cream recipes have come a long way since the treat was first created, and thankfully, progress means we no longer use ambergris - which is essentially whale poop.

According to Ksenia Prints of At the Immigrant's Table, it starts with a genuine vanilla bean that's been steeped in full-fat cream. Then we add our favorite packaged cake mix, blitz it for just 90 seconds, and that's really all there is to it. You can dress it up as you like, with whipped cream and sprinkles, or just dig in with a spoon. It's going to taste like pure high-end vanilla comfort, either way.

The full English is a U.K. tradition gracing morning meal tables nationwide - in Great Britain, that is. In the U.S., one of the staple elements of a full English carries a dicey legal status. A full English breakfast comprises eggs (fried, poached, or scrambled), sausages, toast, grilled or fried tomatoes, back bacon, English-style baked beans, and black pudding. Notably, black pudding is also a staple of the full Irish breakfast meal and the Ulster fry.

The stromboli at Tony DiMaggio's Pizza on Monterey Road is a real San Jose gem. So it was heartbreaking - and hunger-inducing - when the restaurant was shut down for nearly a year for repairs following a devastating roof fire in July 2024. Fans checked in on the progress regularly on social media, noticing when the new sign when up last May and hoping for good news.

A frisky Cape fur seal swam up to investigate. She wove in and out of the golden-hued kelp, curiously side-eyeing me as she popped up to the surface, then darted right up to me. I saw a flash of teeth, but she wasn't snarling; she was blowing bubbles in my face. I watched her play for a while before the frigid temperature drove me back to our boat.

The not-so-humble apple is one of the world's most varied fruits, with more than 7,500 known varieties worldwide. Around 2,500 of these grow in the United States, and 100 are grown commercially - a far cry from the few banana options that you'll find available in stores. Apples are an incredibly versatile fruit, starring as a key ingredient in juice, cider, baked dishes, and applesauce. And while it shines in so many recipes, it's also a great snack straight off the tree.

Unless you're a Maple Nut Goodie fanatic, you may not have noticed that the candy mysteriously disappeared from shelves recently, with an emphasis on the mysteriously. Even today, it's difficult to precisely pinpoint when or why these beloved candies were taken out of production. A petition published to Change.org in November of 2022 speculates that the discontinuation of the candies may have happened in April of that same year. Brach's has confirmed that the candies were discontinued indefinitely in a Facebook post in 2024.

Discerning foodies already know that not all mayonnaise is created equal ( we're looking at you, Miracle Whip). In fact, not all mayo is even "real" mayonnaise - which is why every squeeze-bottle and jar of Hellmann's comes labeled with the words "real mayonnaise." The brand placed highly in our definitive ranking of popular store-bought mayo brands. Plus, at a Walmart in Chicago, a 20-ounce bottle runs for $5.98 (bonus points for affordability). But what makes Hellmann's the "real"?

What you see is what you get here: a thin-crust pizza with no frills, no surprises, and unfortunately, not a whole lot of flavor. I will say that there was nothing overtly wrong with this pizza, per se, but when you're paying more than $10 for a frozen cheese pizza, it's only natural to hope it might have a little something special to make it stand out amongst other plain cheese pizzas out there.