Dining

By Jack Smith Man fished before written history using birds’ beaks and bones for hooks, with plant fiber for lines. Piles of cast-off shells - shell middens - have been found in caves in most of the world, including the United States, and date back thousands of years as well....

By Jack Smith Hamburgers may well be considered America’s favorite food, but the origins of the hamburger are fuzzy at best. The Germans claim it started in Hamburg (hence the name, hamburger), influenced in turn by the 12th century Mongolians’ steak tartare. In the 19th century, beef from German Hamburg cows...

The word dessert comes from the French word desservir, which translates to “to clear the table.” Sweets were fed to the gods in ancient Mesopotamia, ancient India and other ancient civilizations. Dried fruit and honey were likely the first sweeteners used in most of the world. It was the spread...

By Jack Smith Southern cooking has some international roots showing. Fried chicken, rice and gravy, sweet potatoes, collard greens, and spoon bread - all good, old fashioned, down home Southern foods, right? Wrong. The fried chicken and collard greens are African and the rice is from Madagascar. Southern cooking, as...

By Marta Rose-Thorpe Dining at The Grand Marlin always feels like a celebration. A trifecta of delicious food, great service, and a cozy, alluring atmosphere bustling with neighbors and friends abounds. On a recent Friday night, my husband and I enjoyed a multi-course dinner served by Hunter, a soft-spoken, very...

By Jack Smith The origin of the Bloody Mary revolves around two of the world’s greatest bars. The tale begins in the roaring twenties at the famous New York Bar in Paris (later known as Harry’s New York Bar), one of Ernest Hemingway’s favorite haunts. There, bartender Fernand ‘Pete’ Petiot...

By Marta Rose-Thorpe When I enter a restaurant, even if not for the first time, I like to take in and savor the atmosphere. Some call it the “space” … the “vibe.” My son Leo and I arrived at Craft 850 a little before 5 p.m. on a Thursday evening....

By Jack Smith The French are known for their cuisine, the Italians for their fashion, the Scottish for frugality, and the Germans, well BEER. They make it, they sell it, they drink it, hell, they even celebrate it. Oktoberfest started a long time ago when some dude married some princess,...

By Susan Benton and Caroline Coker, 30aEats.com Apalachicola, the old city on the “Forgotten Coast” that produces fresh wild oysters — not farmed — is not that far off, which makes our region the premiere destination for all things having to do with bivalves. Locals and tourists alike can’t get...

By Jack Smith I think 18th-century satirist Jonathan Swift said it best: “He was a bold man that first ate an oyster.” Oysters are a somewhat divisive issue and as my wife likes to put it, “I would rather eat a tire.” Growing up on the Chesapeake Bay, oysters were...