Restaurant-wise, we had three must-eats on the list: Raymonds in St. John's, Mallard Cottage in Quidi Vidi, and The Norseman at L'Anse aux Meadows. All of them were superb.

Doors closing, doors opening, and a dippy surprise!

...this is home cooking for Silverstein, who was raised by a Chinese-American mother and a Jewish-American father in Tokyo and Atlanta

The most memorable dish I've gotten is the Real Deal Holyfield, a huge breakfast taco with a choice of smoked brisker or pulled pork, bacon, fried egg, potatoes, refried beans, and tomato serrano salsa.

Is there a more perfect meal than a taco? The miracle called taco is versatile, healthy, portable, and fast, all contained on a halo of flour or corn.

So I learned at a breakfast that a friend of a friend of a friend had a dinner club where each month they tried out a new restaurant in the DFW area by working systematically through the alphabet. "Brilliant!" I yelped, and promptly stole it.

Like nearly all fast food, the corporate super-model image of the food is completely different than the I-just-worked-a-16-hour-shift-fighting-spider-monkeys-in-a-forest-fire version you get at the counter.

Allandale needs another pizza pad like it needs another mattress store (What in tarnation are y’all doing out there where you need so many mattresses?).

Ann Richards famously quipped at the 1988 Democratic National Convention that George H.W. Bush "was born with a silver foot in his mouth." That may or may not be so, but Read. My. Lips: You can be culinarily born again at Pitchfork Pretty with a silver spoon in your mouth. And you will elect to come back for a second term.

In a town lousy with excellent BBQ joints, it's easy to question the why for Whoa, but I give them props for pitching some surprises, such as a Whoa Bowl (rosemary cornbread waffle, smoked garlic mac-n-cheese, Granny Smith apple cole slaw, with your choice of meat) or blueberry BBQ sauce.