Larry Hyde, custom grower to an all-star list of winemakers, lovingly tinkers and prods to create unique fruit. >>

When it comes to grill-your-own barbecue, a night at Park's means great food and a hopping scene. >>

EPHEMERAL as the early spring that bestows them upon us, English peas arrive like this season's epiphany. They're only here for a few blissful weeks, and then, once the temperatures rise, they're gone. Serene in their emerald pods, the peas nevertheless come with a quiet sense of urgency. Not only is their time here fleeting, but they're on a clock from the moment they're picked. >>

IS progress taking the farmers out of farmers markets? And is that a bad thing? >>

HERE'S a selection of our favorite places in Los Angeles and Orange counties for the best artisanal gelato and the finest house-made European- or American-style ice cream. >>

Mayumba Cuban Restaurant's top-notch kitchen sends out home-style favorites in an unlikely but lively Rosemead setting. >>

Dear SOS: I had a terrific veal special at Bella in Hollywood: a veal scallopini wrapped around asparagus and mozzarella, bathed in a sauce of mushrooms and wine. It was great! Might you publish the recipe? >>

Just in >>

A favorite Easter dessert, this came from a reader request in 1998. Because the recipe calls for raspberry jam instead of fresh raspberries, it's a great dessert for any occasion. >>

The Il Poggione estate makes superb age-worthy Brunello di Montalcino, but it also, like most Brunello producers, makes a younger wine for earlier drinking. And in 2004, Il Poggione made a killer rosso di Brunello. A brilliant ruby red, it is luscious and ripe, but with enough structure and sheer stuff to carry it from an antipasto of prosciutto di Parma all the way through the entire meal to an aged pecorino cheese. This is delicious drinking. >>

Forget everything you know about leg of lamb. Roasted a bit longer than intuition dictates, it takes on sublime texture and flavor. >>

These appliances promise to blend, chop, whip, slice — some even make ice cream. But do they actually work? >>

The owners of the new Melrose Avenue spot — two veterans of the L.A. restaurant scene — offer more than your everyday Italian. >>

The food business is booming, and with it, there’s a boom in jobs you’ve never heard of. >>

Austria's minerally white wine complements the season's freshest menus. >>

This recipe for a deeply flavorful soup originally ran in 1993 with a story about the fleeting moments of an Italian springtime. >>

Treat luscious asparagus, tender new potatoes and fresh fava beans with finesse, and they’ll beautifully round out the most festive dinners of spring. >>

The business of importing Austrian wines is small and personal. These are some bottles worth picking up. >>

Cicchetti, Chianti, carpaccio, crudo. Santa Monica’s grande dame goes the wine bar route. >>

IT'S not every day we come across a cake that's delicious and sophisticated but also easy to make. At Avenue in Manhattan Beach, chef Christian Shaffer turns out a luscious golden walnut cake. Toasted walnuts are suspended in a tender-crumbed cake that's subtly flavored with walnut oil and glazed with oloroso sherry. >>

Readers welcome wine labels for a more informed purchase >>

Châteauneuf-du-Pape is renowned for its reds, made famous during the 14th century when the Avignon popes had their summer residence nearby. Nothing like a celebrity endorsement to get an appellation going. >>

Wine rules: In a March 28 article on proposed changes in wine labeling regulations, the name of a grape variety was misspelled as Rudy Red. The correct spelling is Rubired. >>

New federal labels may tell us more than we want to know. >>

An urban vibe fills in for the countryside at Santa Monica's Rustic Canyon Wine Bar and Seasonal Kitchen where homey dishes are handled with care. >>

A chef with a passion for travel brings Mediterranean flavors to her holiday table. >>

This story and related information originally ran in April 2005. >>

A chef's sophisticated version goes up against a traditional Passover recipe. Which will be the favorite? >>

Little known outside the Amalfi Coast, colatura di alici brings intense anchovy flavor with every drop. >>

The famed French arbiters of culinary taste are already at work, and local chefs wonder if 'SoCal casual' will be up to classic standards. >>

A menu punctuated with eccentric flair both surprises and pleases at a stylish Westside spot. >>

A bright, pungent tapenade spiked with anchovies and lemon juice and long wedges of tortilla crackers studded with sesame seeds make a winning combination of appetizers. >>

We still love this recipe from 2003 that plays upon cravings to turn out a bigger biscuit, topped with onion seeds, cracked pepper and flaked salt, for a sandwich. >>

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CORKED wine is the ultimate wine disappointment, all the more crushing when the bottle in question is a costly, highly anticipated extravagance. One whiff of the aroma of old gym socks, the signature scent of trichloranisole (TCA), and the only option is to pour the bottle down the sink. >>

Cabernet Franc is traditionally a blending grape in Bordeaux, but in the Loire Valley, in Chinon and Bourgeuil, it comes into its own producing supple wines with a dose of black pepper and spice. >>

I very much enjoyed the article on stocks ["Riches by the spoonful," by Amy Scattergood, March 21]. As an avocational cook of many years now, I have two observations I'd like to offer. >>

Colatura, the traditional anchovy sauce of Cetara on the Sorrento Peninsula, is a powerful condiment — just a few drops will give a dish a rich savor. That's fortunate, because this handmade product is in limited supply. It's mostly sold in one-tenth-liter (3.38-ounce) bottles. Two of the four brands recognized by the Friends of the Anchovy (Amici delle Alici) in Cetara are available online. >>

These Easter eggs from San Francisco-based chocolatier Michael Recchiuti are well worth hunting for — rich, dark, chocolatey ones with thin shells of hand-decorated chocolate. >>

I usually read S. Irene Virbila's restaurant reviews enthusiastically, and did so for the Kitchen ["Meet Dinner, Hong Kong Style," March 21]. We had a great Chinese New Year's meal there a month ago. It would have been nice to see included the name of the chef, Alan Cheung. >>

THERE is another wonderful product out there for knife aficionados ["Seeking — and Finding — Knife Nirvana," by Russ Parsons, March 21], the Mino Sharp. It works extremely well and is simple to use with both German and Japanese knives. I bought it at Sur La Table and it costs just $45. >>