Pictures bring back so many memories. My pal Oyaji’s restaurant Kurobotei, located in a small seaside village on the Japanese Big Island about 3 hours outside of Tokyo, serves some amazing tuna. The melting grilled tuna with soy-mirin syrup and sashimi tasting plate of 11 cuts from one fish is some of the best that I have ever had….Oh yeah, they also will roast a whole head on request and let you have at it. I love this place.

B Roll they forgot: A) Wrestling with a tangled garden hose, B) Painful hair removal processes (tweezing, shaving, waxing), and C) Temperamential blender exploding contents all over your clothes, face, wall and kitchen counter. 

This is what happens when Bon Appetit pastry chef of the year, JBA nominee 2010, co-author of Charlie Trotter's Desserts and all around goddess Michelle Gayer of Mpls' Salty Tart makes your kids birthday cake. Heaven.

For food lovers, the sheer number of renowned restaurants makes it near to impossible to figure out where to eat. We've weeded through the best of the best so you don't have to. Without further ado, here are our top Sin City restaurant picks.

The Strip: Bartolotta

This elegant restaurant, located in the Wynn, offers something extra-special: the next best thing to dining in an Italian fishing village. James Beard Award-winning chef Paul Bartolotta hails from a big, Italian, Milwaukee-based family, and wanted his restaurants to pay homage to his roots. His goal? To transport guests to Italy--no small feat, given the fact you’re in the middle of the desert. However, this chef does just that, sourcing his fish from the motherland, daily.

If you can, opt for an outdoor, lagoon-side cabana. Even if it’s a little chilly, each table comes equipped with a heater (hot enough to cook your pesca crudo). Be sure to check out the cart teeming with the day’s fresh catch: clams, Sicilian amberjack, Mediterranean turbot, cuttlefish—a smattering of fish that were swimming in the Mediterranean just hours ago.

Check out www.lovinspoonfulsinc.org and see what my friends in Boston are doing to make the world a better place.

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Why are my two favorite NBA teams so gosh awful bad? My Knicks and Wolves need help.

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This is vintage GQ mag from 1997, the year after Tiger went pro, and, according to a NY Times article yesterday, the last time he permitted a journalist to see it all. Unbelievably prescient.

I'm headed to Namibia and Finland. What restaurants and markets do I have to visit? Any of your suggestions are appreciated-- we read 'em all, and the good ones really do end up in the show. Fire away!

While Scotland might not seem like the most promising place for a “warm weather” vacation when everyone is traveling south to the equator, it holds a special place in my heart.  During my junior year of college I spent the fall of 2009 studying in Edinburgh and had the most amazing time.  It’s so cliché to say you learned a lot about yourself, but I know that when I came back I had gained something that I couldn’t quite explain.

Last month during my school’s J-term break I finally had a chance to go back for a visit.  The heavens seemed to smile upon the Edinburgh for a short time and let the sun break through the ever-present drizzle, warming the pale and Vitamin D-deprived faces of Great Britain’s northern residents.  Anyone from the Midwest would jump at the chance to walk around in the dead of winter without looking like Randy Parker; the hardships of living through 22 rugged Minnesota winters have taught me how to value anything above freezing.

I mostly stayed in the Old Town area of Edinburgh, near the university.  It’s really old, intensely gothic and impossible to navigate, but I’d forgotten how much I love it.  The city has an amazing historically a dark past full of plagues, beheadings, and other rather unpleasant things that are easy to picture almost anywhere you are. 

The famous Royal Mile that was once one of the filthiest spots in the city.

So stupid, but you can't help but laugh.

Celebrating our wedding anniversary over a long weekend, we enjoyed wonderful Vietnamese food at The Slanted Door in The San Francisco Ferry Building. We stopped in Carmel for amazing fire roasted Castroville artichokes with balsamic vinaigrette and sun dried tomato aioli at the Rio Grill and incredible linguine with scampi at Casanova.  Our three favorites on this trip were:

Quince (San Francisco)

Michael Tusk has taken his cooking to another level at his new location on Pacific in historic Jackson Square. The tasting menu prepared for us featured 10 special courses and among the most memorable were the carpaccio of monkfish with black winter truffle butter, a tortellini with cauliflower, sea urchin and green romesco sauce, spaghetti with black truffles and Parmegiano Regiano, and baby sweetbreads in risotto with leeks and black truffles.  The new space features high ceilings and a beautiful, understated elegance which makes every one feel part of something special. Michael’s wife Lindsay is there to make sure every one really does feel special and welcome and comfortable. This is a real winner! Quince, 470 Pacific Ave, San Francisco, (415) 775-8500

The Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton (San Francisco)

I don't know about you, but I'm nuts over Top Chef Masters. Needless to say, I was thrilled when Magical Elves (aka the show's production company) asked me to be a guest judge on the upcoming season. Wish I could spill all the dirty details right now, but alas, you're going to have to wait 'til the episode airs later this spring. I will say there are a lot of talented chefs (many of which I've worked with in the past) this season.Here's the complete list of cheftestants:
 
Jody Adams – Rialto Restaurant, Cambridge, Mass.
Govind Armstrong – 8 oz Burger Bar, Los Angeles, Calif.
Graham Elliot Bowles – Graham Elliot Restaurant, Chicago, Ill.
Jimmy Bradley – The Red Cat, New York, N.Y.
David Burke – David Burke Townhouse, New York, N.Y.
Wylie Dufresne – wd~50, New York, N.Y.
Susan Feniger – Street, Los Angeles, Calif.
Debbie Gold – The American Restaurant, Kansas City, Mo.