The holidays can keep us busy--but try and make some time for Seattle lit events this week. Cheers! more ›

No doubt about it: America loves salt. And it's everywhere - in snack foods, in artisan caramels and in almost everyone’s kitchen. But how long have you really spent thinking about and really tasting salt? If the answer is "not at all", Mark Bitterman, Selmelier (which means expert salt-taster) has you covered. more ›

Today brings a flurry of food related news, locally and nationally. more ›

The James Beard Foundation has announced its semifinalists for this year's round of the coveted culinary award. We like Nancy Leson's term, "long-listed," since this list will get narrowed down to actual nominees next month. more ›

Each month, City Arts' Dish-Off challenges two chefs to prepare a dish based on a song. This month's may be the most provocative to date. more ›

We're long overdue in telling you that, earlier this week, Maria Hines of Tilth Restaurant won the James Beard award for Best Chef Northwest. You'll recall that Maria was part of an amazing, collaborative dinner featuring all of the nominees. Her Skagit River Ranch pork cheek with trotter cake, charcroute, and parmesan broth was fabulous, and illustrative of her local, organic approach to cooking. more ›

As we mentioned on Friday, we've got a dinner invitation of sorts for you tonight. more ›

While we're all still reveling in the Academy Awards, the restaurant industry is honoring its finest as well. A slew of local chefs are semifinalists for James Beard Foundation restaurant and chef awards [pdf], with nominees to be announced on March 23. more ›

Just announced, the 2008 James Beard award nominations and Seattle does just fine, thank you. Tom Douglas, left, is one of five nominees for outstanding restaurateur in America; Canlis a nominee for best restaurant service, and four Seattle chefs in the running for "Best Northwest Chef:" Maria Hines, center (Tilth), Holly Smith (Cafe Juanita), Ethan Stowell, right (Union) and Jason Wilson (Crush). Winners to be announced early June. more ›

Stand at the corner of First and Pike, and you almost hear the thunder of Seattle's hotel wars, the howitzers of the future as they battle for attention in the trades, the travel mags, the lifestyle glossies. more ›

Starbucks, give 'em credit, is able to do more than one thing at a time. Mark of maturity, that. The papers are full of its plans to expand into every corner of the globe; this week it's Russia. On the domestic front, meantime, they're promoting a slogan to follow up on last year's "Geography is a Flavor." The new catchphrase: "Coffee is Culinary." more ›

Substitute restaurant reviewer Leslie Kelly has reached the end of her stint at the Post-Intelligencer and Managine Editor David McCumber (among many, many others) is breathing a huge sigh of relief. How'd this kid from Spokane end up in a big-city newsroom, anyway? Hsaio-Ching Chou, who signed off on the deal for Kelly to cover Rebeka Denn's "family leave," ain't around to answer, having gone off to PR-land. But Kelly's six-month tenure leaves a mound of unhappiness. more ›

Mom always told me not to talk with my mouth full. But that's just what Leite's Culinaria wants local food writers to do for a project about food writing. Launched last year in New York City, now spreading around the country, "Talking With Your Mouth Full" is a night of reading by food writers "to highlight the versatility of the craft." more ›

Yeah, we know -- out-of-town guests are the only reason you visit the Space Needle in the first place. But there's more to this city than really tall spires with Galileo-inspiring drops. Got friends or family coming from out of town? Here's 43 suggestions for things to do with them. more ›

Seattle chefs are making national news: here's a roundup of the latest. more ›