The third venture from the team behind Toko restaurant, tokonoma shochu bar + lounge,opened in Sydney on 2 December 2009 - and with it came a new Japanese drinking trend - shochu.

Blame Adriano Zumbo and THAT cooking show, but 2009 has seen the rise and rise of the pastry chef. And thank goodness for that, I say.

If a head chef is the conductor of the kitchen orchestra, then a good pastry chef is a true alchemist.

My mama used to say, "If people are busy enjoying their food, you can hear everything but their voices".

I had never heard Sydney's Wynyard park as quiet as it was last Tuesday, when Domino's CEO Don Meij and his trusty helpers hit Sydney's CBD with the offer of a lunch swap.

Western consumer concern over climate change can do more harm than good if it cuts demand for food produced in developing nations, warns a new book by Oxfam and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).

The authors say locally produced food can actually cause greater emissions of greenhouse gases, and that consumers can harm the livelihoods of poor farmers in developing nations if they stop buying their produce.

I carry my toothbrush on dates. It's not because I have poor dental hygiene, or that I'm a clean freak.

I carry my toothbrush around because I want to be ready to fight red teeth, in case my date orders red wine.

The very first worldwide Terra Madre Day is to be held on December 10, 2009 to celebrate locally produced food that is good, clean and fair. It is also the 20th anniversary of the Slow Food Movement.

Ladies, has love really been dragged through the mud so bad that we watch movies like "How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days" to teach us how to break up with a man before he has the chance to do so, or read books like "He's Just Not That Into You" to make us think that in a potential partners' eyes, we are just not that good enough for them?

Functional foods and dietary supplements with ingredients aimed at bolstering the immune system and optimizing brain functioning will be some of the key trends affecting the nutrition sector in 2010, according to research to be published in Nutrition Business Journal.

I once designed an entire house around a walk-in pantry - not a kitchen, not a separate parents retreat, not a series of rooms with views, but a single walk-in spacious pantry with Room To Move.

While holidaying in Mollymook I took myself off to Cupitt's winery and restaurant on Wednesday lunch time. I've been before, always with friends, but as they are near the South Australian border learning moonlight photography, this was a solo venture.