Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

CAREY! This is my existence right now. I totally quit Diet Coke cold turkey a few months ago. I stopped buying it for my house and I didn't have it for nearly two months. I had gotten myself down to a can a day before quitting and then I just stopped. Now I only have Diet Coke on occasion, maybe if I am out to dinner or as a treat, no more than once or twice a week mind you. And I definitely keep it to that--there is still no soda in my home. I drink a lot of green tea now instead of Diet Coke. I am definitely happy I mostly quit soda, it is definitely less expensive!

I did not like Sifton as a restaurant critic. He placed far too much importance on the mood, scene, and ambiance and not enough importance on the food. His writing was a little flowery and twee for my taste. Bruni was amazing, I loved his reviews and am glad that he still has a presence at the Times.

No real thoughts on a replacement, I'm afraid.

I actually find the original poster rude and ungrateful. People are kind enough (and like you enough!) to invite you to their house for dinner and all you do afterwards is complain about the food? For some people cold fried chicken and supermarket salads are a great, relaxed summertime meal. I doubt that they view their choice of food as insulting and are probably perplexed by your demeanor. If you really hate the food your friends are serving you then maybe suggest social interaction at a restaurant or do something with your friends that doesn't involve eating, such as taking a hike or playing tennis.

I want to add I used to be very much like this--very critical of everyone who didn't do things "my way." Their house wasn't clean enough. The food wasn't good enough. The table setting was poor. Etc. And then I realized that I was being an ungrateful, miserable snob. If you go through life expecting people to do things as well as you do it then you are bound to be disappointed. Everyone is different and we should all be thankful to have friends who want to share meals and time with us, whether it be cold fried chicken or a fancy roast and souffle.

Seriously dude, get over yourself. You are going to end up with no friends.

Woo hoo this is exciting. I'm 70% through A Dance With Dragons. SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

I hope he makes the Frey Pies served by Lord Manderly at the Ramsay Bolton/"Arya Stark" wedding feast. Every pie tastes a little better with some Frey thrown in for good measure!

To add: the yogurt place is still up and running, just with a different name and paint job. Milk Burger should probably change their menu language and tweak a few other things so it doesn't seem such an obvious knock-off.

Okay so while I am jealous here is the question: How are y'all not 500 pounds? All this food looks delicious and amazing but I think I gained 15 pounds just looking at it! Y'all must train like Kobayashi and Joey Chestnut!

Oh my lord Cedar Point, haven't been there in forever, best coasters in the world truly.

This isn't outside the park, but if my memory serves me correctly there is a custard stand inside the park, in the "midway" area, that has great custard.

SO JEALOUS. The coasters are really the best, you'll have a great time!

Woo hoo, I remember finding this place in Paris after spending 6 weeks studying in Rome (and eating their Gelato). I'd been in Paris about a week and was really craving a gelato fix. This hit the spot! That was back in 2004 so I'm excited to see it has come to the states.

Oh well, there goes my whole "healthy-eating" plan (maybe I'll just stick to the fruit-centric desserts...maybe).

Will you have a car and are you willing to explore? Durham, Chapel Hill and Hillsborough all have restaurants that are definitely worth trying.

Downtown Raleigh: The Pit is probably the most famous Q-stop in Raleigh and in terms of ambiance is the most upscale of the barbeque joints. It is very good and you could try to get a reservation, but my advice if it is just you is to just get a seat at the bar and eat at the bar. The bartenders are super friendly. Poole's Diner is also closeby, right around the corner really, but I'd go there just for their mac-n-cheese. It is an enormous portion and extremely delicious. I personally found Duck & Dumpling to be disappointing and Angus Barn is just an excellent steakhouse with super-upscale prices and chaotic Cracker Barrel decorations (it is literally in a barn). Angus Barn is about 15-20 minutes from downtown Raleigh. Downtown Raleigh also has a great food truck in the form of Klausie's, which parks on NC State's campus a few times a week.

Cary has a lot of great ethnic joints and one supposedly excellent Neapolitan pizza joint (I have yet to try it) called Bella Mia. I've read many good things.

I live in Chapel Hill and tend to split my eating between Chapel Hill and Durham. Lantern is probably the best restaurant in the area--Andrea Reusing, the chef, just won the James Beard award for best chef in the Southeast--and you will not go wrong with a meal there. It is on Franklin Street and you should get a reservation. Crooks Corner, also on Franklin Street, is classic Southern cooking. Franklin Street is also home to Vimala's Curryblossom Kitchen, which makes great, affordable Punjabi-style food, and Sandwhich, an excellent and upscale Sandwhich shop that's gotten a few shout-outs from Bon Appetit. If you venture into Carrboro (Chapel Hill's little, hippie sister city), Neal's Deli is an amazing lunch, Southern Rail is a great hang-out bar, and Orange County Social Club is a great people-watching hipster bar. My favorite barbeque in the area is away from Franklin Street, tucked into a tiny strip mall in a residential part of town. It is called The Pig (not to be confused with The Pit) and it is FANTASTIC. Get some pulled pork, some sprouts-n-shrooms, some mac-n-cheese, you can't go wrong. I would skip Allen & Sons--yes, it is famous, but they are always closed when you want them to be open and when I finally ate there I was really disappointed. The Pig is so much better, and so is The Pit in Raleigh. Regardless of whether or not you eat in Chapel Hill, I'd definitely recommend coming to town and strolling through campus, along Franklin Street and into Carrboro, it is a lovely little college town and the oldest college campus in America. You'll see a lot of history and charm!

Durham is fantastic too, for food. Vin Rouge and Rue Cler for good French, Four Square for a great meal, I've heard good things about Revolution in downtown Durham but I have not yet been. Durham has a great burger in Only Burger, you can find their food truck or visit their storefront. Toast, in downtown Durham, is a fantastic lunch or early dinner place. The owners are the nicest people and the food is fresh, simple, and tasty. A big Durham hang out is the Fullsteam/Motorco area. Fullsteam's a local brewery with an appealing, garage-y patio space that is always hopping and Motorco is the music venue across the street. There are almost always fantastic food trucks parked there too. My favorite is The Parlour, a new ice cream bus with INCREDIBLE ice cream (try the salted butter caramel!) but if you are hungry for dinner there is usually for Farmhand Foods Sausage wagon, Pie Pushers pizza, and sometimes an Indian food or Korean taco truck. You can't go wrong with any of these. Grab a beer, grab some food truck food, grab a seat...a great summer evening! Durham is also a super up-and-coming town that NYTimes named one of the 41 places to visit this year, so an absolute must visit!

Finally, for a really special experience, drive out to historic downtown Hillsborough (much of Hillsborough is either ugly and nondescript strip mall territory or open country, but the tiny downtown is very picturesque and lovely) and have dinner at Panciuto (they are only open Wednesday-Saturday). Great food, Italian with a Southern twist (if that makes sense) and a fanatical emphasis on local ingredients. I have been multiple times and have never had a bad meal. Chef Aaron Vandemark was also nominated for a James Beard this year.

You should also stop by one of the many local farmer's markets to pick up a foodie souvenir. We take our food seriously and we're lucky to have a lot of amazing food!

This is one of the few articles on NY Serious Ears that doesn't make me wish I lived in NYC. Living 20 minutes from Raleigh and the Pit is good enough for me!

Falafel at "Israel Day" at my JCC summer day camp, absolutely! Please pick me I have never wanted a Cook the Book book more than I have wanted this book!!!

Hi Ed!

My parents are currently on their long-awaited (they've been talking about it for a decade!) trip to Italy and their last stop is a week in Rome. They've hit Lake Como, Venice, Florence, and Sienna thus far and are loving it and the gelato from what I can tell. They'd been on a low-calorie plan before leaving for Italy but I know they've abandoned that for the trip. I'm curious to see what happens with them. They're both in excellent shape for their age so we'll see if they gain, lose, or stay the same.

As for me, I definitely gained when I was in studying abroad in Italy! Twice a day Giolitti runs will do that to you! I also went to Rome on a school trip (like Robyn) and so don't entirely remember where I was taken to eat. But man, I had so many great slices of pizza at Forno, I totally miss it.

On a semi-related note, I'm trying to lose ten pounds and I've started calorie counting with myfitnesspal.com. It is a great site and has a lot of data (calories, carbs etc.) for a lot of foods out there, packaged and not, and I've found it really helpful. It tells you how many calories a day you should be eating to achieve your weight goal. You can also factor in exercise. I've been doing it for about a week and I've dropped a few pounds.

Will you be posting your Rome eats soon? I'd love to e-mail it to my parents so they have a guide for their week in Rome!

So jealous of your trip, I miss that city, it is one of my favorites...