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The best burgers in America, according to Travel + Leisure magazine.

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Frannie Von Furstinshow Strikes Again

Agenda: Coffee 101, Chili Championship, and Valentine's Day Dining

FEATURED EVENT

Coffee: Tasting and History
Francine Segan's "World of Tasting" series will be exploring the history of coffee. Discover how it was eaten in ancient Africa, learn to brew the perfect cup, and sample several different types of roasts. The event will take place at the 92nd Street Y (Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street) on Wednesday, February 4th from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Tickets: $40/person.

Agenda: Year-End Edition

With so little time left, now is the perfect opportunity to plan out how you will be spending your final days of the year. Whether you're looking for a last-minute Christmas dinner reservation or a crazy New Year's Eve extravanganza, here are a few ideas to help you say goodbye to 2008 your way.

Eric Ripert on Los Angeles

"There are great restaurants in L.A. It wasn't like this 10 years ago. There's great respect for the quality of ingredients -- I'm talking about the produce -- here. I think in New York, you have to use more tricks, maybe manipulate a little more to get the full flavor of vegetables sometimes."

Agenda: Thanksgiving Dining Edition

With Thanksgiving only a few short weeks away (Thursday, November 27th, if you need a reminder), now is the perfect time to plan your dinner...reservation. If you're looking to skip entertaining at home, here are some pre-fixe dining options being offered around New York City.

FEATURED RESTAURANT

PRANNA (79 Madison Avenue, 212.696.5700)
$65/person
$85/dinner with wine pairing
$95/dinner with cocktail pairing
Seating available from 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

For its first Thanksgiving (the restaurant opened just last month), Pranna's Chef Chai Trevidi has infused Southeast Asian flavors into an otherwise traditional holiday feast. The follow items will be featured in their Thanksgiving menu:

• Pumpkin soup with mushroom wontons
• Roasted fennel salad with endive, mizuna, and chili-lemongrass dressing
• Roasted mandarin, sweet soy and apricot glazed stuffed turkey
• Kumquat and cranberry compote
• Roasted sweet potatoes

Gastronomics: The Hanging Brochette

Recession Special: Brasserie Julien wants to attract budget-minded customers with a vertical skewer of "smaller, more cost-effective pieces" of expensive meats.

According to several recent reports, the abysmal economy, increases in the cost of doing business, and rising food prices are starting to make their impact felt on the restaurant industry and consumer spending on food. As reported in the Wall Street Journal, chefs at premier dining establishments are finding it difficult to strike a balance between quality and cost. Signaling the fluidity of food costs, Chef David Chang has just just raised the price of a prix fixe dinner at his coveted Momofuku Ko  from $85 to $100. And, the New York Times brings news of a boom in vegetable gardening by Americans trying to save money on groceries.

Into this changing food environment comes news of the latest in food marketing ploys to targeting current economic conditions: enter the "hanging brochette." According to a press release we received in our inbox yesterday, the restaurant Brasserie Julien is promoting this new menu item as a dining option designed specifically for the budget-minded customer. Can't afford an entire entree of lamb, filet mignon, fish, or game? Then order "smaller, more cost-effective pieces" of these expensive meats served on a skewer dangling before you. Does this PR stunt represent the first in a new wave of "recession specials"? What's coming next?

The complete press release after the jump.

Ryan Magarian, Ambassador of Imbibing

At S Bar in Hollywood, master bartender Ryan Magarian (second from left) watches approvingly as mixologists-in-training learn the nuances of crafting cocktails.

If cocktails everywhere were designed by Ryan Magarian and made by bartenders who have been through his training program, we'd be a country of seriously raging alcoholics.

But such a scenario would be very expensive. And more importantly, he'd never want it that way.

"I’m not trying to get people to drink more. I’m getting people to drink less. I just want you to drink better," he says. Although some existing and invented buzzwords are tossed around, he uses "passion," "awesome," and "excited" with such frequency and conviction that you just have to believe him.

The 10-plus years Magarian has spent concocting thousands of drinks and customizing cocktail menus for clients large (Holland America Cruise Line, Fairmont and Sofitel Hotels chains) and small (restaurants in Portland and Seattle) have not dampened his enthusiasm one bit. But lately the "associates" in his firm, Liquid Relations, crisscross the globe when he needs to stay closer to home in Portland. Magarian's other venture, Aviation Gin, takes his ambition one step further by allowing him to formulate actual raw materials, not just ingredient combinations. Such is the life of a master mixologist in contemporary American cocktail culture.

Lost in Translation

VEGAS, BUBALA? Above, the original Canter's in Los Angeles, and at top, the Vegas version.

A few years ago, Jessica of Ritz Bites tipped me off to the weirder than weird news that Canter's Delicatessen, the Los Angeles institution, had expanded to open a branch in Las Vegas. On one level, this made a certain kind of sense: You can have anything in Las Vegas, from a scaled down Eiffel Tower and Brooklyn Bridge to restaurants serving the culinary creations of Thomas Keller, Joel Robuchon, and Daniel Boulud, so . . . why not a Jewish deli? On the other hand: Whaaa?