Food has become part of cocktail-party conversation everywhere, with plenty of name-dropping and one-upmanship. For anyone who needs a cheat sheet, writer Bryan Miller has compiled a 30-second guide to 30 years in food history, with the most important chefs, restaurants, wines, cooking gizmos and more.

Food

• Reimagining Luxury Dishes
• Early Artisanal Cheesemakers
• Chocolate: A Timeline
• 5 Defining Moments in Foie Gras History
• Single-Estate Everything
• Spicy Cravings

Restaurants

• 5 All-Star American Restaurateurs

Wine & Spirits

• 5 Foolproof Vintages
• 5 Napa Cabs You Need to Know
• Bar Trends: Then & Now

Travel

• British Invasion
• 5 Facts for the Italophile
• Francophilia: Then & Now

Gurus

• Cookbook Goddesses
• Ferran Adrià
• Kevin Zraly

Obsessives’ Gear

• Big Green Egg Smoker
• Japanese Knives
• The Microplane Grater

Cheat Sheets

• 5 Essential Websites
• Pronunciation Guide

Published September 2008