In a world obsessed with the new, travel website TripAdvisor has revealed its list of the UK's top "real ale pub hotels."

"September is one of the busiest times in the British beer festival calendar so why not really indulge your love for real ale and make a weekend break of it," said Emma O'Boyle, spokeswoman for TripAdvisor.  "These British pubs all have the winning combination for ale fans - the chance to sample the local brew with the added bonus of a nice bed for sleeping off the effects."

Any grillmaster will tell you that a burger is only as good as what you put on it.

Hard roll or soft bun? Fresh cut onion or caramelized? Lettuce and tomato? Or should you skip the formality entirely? Then comes the issue of condiments, and that’s enough to turn any barbecue into an all out brawl. Somewhere along the line, ketchup became more of a reflex than a conscious decision. You may not even necessarily like taste of the neon red goop in the plastic bottle. At some point, you enjoy the rude sounds the bottle makes more than what is inside it.

Oktoberfest comes early this year for one top New York City chef.

September is officially known as German-American Friendship Month in the Big Apple--with festivities kicking off on September first.  German-American Friendship Month honors the German-American culture and the many contributions made by German immigrants by holding an entire month of celebrations, including the 53rd German-American Steuben Parade.

The Oktoberfest festival in Germany most people associate with the name doesn't start until September 18th.

The staff of Dine & Cook had to make a pilgrimage to the Charlotte Motor Speedway for their annual auto show.

We didn't go for the cars however, we went for lunch.  We just had to try out the Mac Daddy Dog-- a hot dog smothered in pimento macaroni and cheese, breaded and then deep fried.

Who doesn’t love a tasty cupcake?

In Boston we have more than enough options of where to find a single serving delight, but only a few rise above the rest to really provide us with delicious and creative cupcakes.  One such of these recently made headlines in the national scene when the shop was showcased in the first segment of the first episode of The Food Network’s newest show, Kid in a Candy Store.

With temperatures flirting with the 90 degree mark and humidity way above 50 percent, golfers at this year's Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, NC, were slightly more conscious of what they were eating than the spectators there watching them-- health reasons aside, there was a $5.1 million purse at stake.

At the Wyndham the responsibility for feeding the golfers fell on the shoulders of Dave Marra, food and beverage director for Sedgefield Country Club.  With decades of PGA experience under his belt, Marra is a pro when it comes to dealing with golfers' needs.  Sedgefield converted the men's lounge in their clubhouse into a private space closed off to the public and media for the golfers and it was in this space players were able to beat the heat, relax and eat buffet style during their downtime.

It's been a long week for Pepper Moon Catering, but it's an ordeal they have down to a science.

Pepper Moon's presence here at Wyndham is an unrivaled one. With seven viewing stands and beer tents along seven holes and food being served at other various locations throughout Sedgefield's course, it's a tremendous undertaking.

The Wyndham Championship is a golf tournament sponsored by a company that prides itself on hospitality, so naturally vendors are putting their best foot forward.

Dine & Cook is attending this year's Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, NC, not for the golf but for the food and drink.  We are here for a hands on look at an often overlooked but very important aspect of a golf tournament-- the dining options.  On top of the typical concessions you would expect at a major sporting event, championship organizers have teamed up with several local companies to provide spectators a taste of local fare.

Fast food chain Wendy's takes the top spot on Zagat's fast food survey, beating out 136 major dining chains.

According to the Zagat Survey, Wendy's is this year's "Top Food Champion," dominating the mega-chain category. Also holding onto its title is west coast burger chain In-N-Out Burger, which again takes "Top Food" among Large Chains.

New to the survey is regional seafood chain, Bonefish Grill, which took top food honors in the "Full-Service category," while Ben & Jerry's prevailed in the "Quick-Refreshment category."

With only days left until the start of the Wyndham Championship, there isn’t much of calm before the storm. There’s mayhem all around to be sure, but the preparations for the 2010 match have been in motion since the end of 2009’s competition.

Hundreds of spectators, dozens of news organizations and millions of viewers from all over the country will convene on the Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina this week for the biggest sporting event in the southeast that doesn’t involve a pit crew or a checkered flag. And with the only thing left to chance being the weather, the chaos surrounding the otherwise serene country club takes on the precision of a Swiss clock.

After a South African Wine Tasting at the Southern Food & Beverage Museum, the only logical thing for my friends Eric, Brandon, Katie, and I to do was find some food to soak up the delightful wine in our stomachs.

Fortunately we were in downtown New Orleans, so there happened to be quite a few dining options for us to choose from.  I heard wonderful things from various sources about Cochon Butcher in the Warehouse District, so we decided to give it a try.

Summer is certainly here-- the last thing that anyone really wants to do in this record heat wave is spend all day in the kitchen with a hot oven.

Desserts around this time of year usually revolve around fresh berries and other fruits, frozen desserts, and generally anything else that does not require a hot oven. If you do any baking it is generally as quick as possible.

Shortcakes are a great example-- Quick to put together, quick to bake, and very versatile. Of course I’m not one for conventional so as I look at my recipe for shortcakes I realize that there isn’t much more work that would go into making a quick or blitz puff pastry.

Andrew Gruel manages Seafood for the Future, a non-profit seafood advisory and promotional program based at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Southern California. Gruel holds a degree in Food Marketing and Culinary Arts from Johnson & Wales University.

Ask yourself, how many people do you know who have died-- or even gotten sick-- from eating seafood tainted by mercury? Note: Actor Jeremy Piven's alleged mercury poisoning from sushi doesn’t count.

Here’s a fact, there have been no documented cases of mercury poisoning resulting from the regular consumption of seafood.  It is more likely that you’ll get sick from “eating in fear” than from the mercury itself-- heartburn from excessive anxiety, a symptom perpetuated by sensationalized news stories.

Some of New York City's biggest names in food and drink are teaming up to bring gourmet dining options to the city's LaGuardia Airport.

Delta Airline tapped Chefs Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson, both are behind New York City's Balthazar, Pastis, Schiller's and Minetta Tavern; Chef Michael Lomonaco, from the city's famous Porterhouse Restaurant; Chef Jamison Blankenship, of Morimoto fame; Dominick DeMarco, who is behind the local DiFara Pizza chain; Baker Jim Lahey, from the Co. and Sullivan St. Bakery; and Butcher Pat LaFrieda of Pat LaFrieda Wholesale Meat Purveyors.

A resort in Florida claims to have created the ultimate destination picnic.

Little Palm Island Resort and Spa, a private island resort in Little Torch Key, teamed up with their chef, Luis Pous to create the picnic menu.

Summer is fully upon us, and, as the sun begins to shine, nothing can quite compare to unfurling a blanket and lolling around in some dappled shade, fork in hand, enjoying the lush countryside, or sitting on golden sands hearing the waves lap against the shore.

In our world today, picnic simply means a pleasurable outing at which a tasty meal is eaten outdoors, preferably in a beautiful landscape. But did you know that the relaxing and carefree act of eating outdoors and sharing quality time with those you care about has its roots back in the medieval times in England?

It's a big hit with attendees at this year's Ohio State Fair-- chocolate covered bacon on a stick.

Affectionately called "muddy pigs," fair goers say the treat combines the perfect amount of savory with sweet-- and if the chocolate wasn't enough, each one is topped with a candied cherry.

You have to be in search of dinner in a truly small American town to not walk past a Thai restaurant. They’ve become almost as ubiquitous as a McDonalds or a Starbucks. Good for them, and for us.  What’s not to like about Thai food?  It’s healthy.  Meat is used as a flavor not the main event, stir fries are quickly cooked in little fat, vegetables play a dominant role.

A new study released this week shows that Americans like to cook, but age and gender play a factor in who loves to spend more time in the kitchen-- also a factor, the definition of cooking itself.

According to a new poll released this week by Harris Interactive, four in five U.S. adults said they enjoyed cooking and three in ten said that they loved it.  That's compared to only 14 percent saying that they do not enjoy cooking and seven percent said that they didn't cook at all.

In Brooklyn, we live summertime outdoors.  Our apartments are small, we don’t have central air, and we lack backyards with grills and patios and privacy.  While the rest of America comfortably closes up windows and doors from June to September, we linger on fire escapes and front stoops. 

Instead of escaping to country club swimming pools and sprawling malls, we bike to McCarren Park with old sheets stuffed into tote bags, haul coolers packed with quickly warming beer and farmers’ market sandwiches, and stream well thought playlists from ipod docks.  In Brooklyn, when the temperature levels around 90 degrees in the shade, as it’s done the past few weeks of July, we start to once again live our lives publically, we live summertime outdoors.