Yesterday, I went to an event for WorldofGood.com by eBay, a new online marketplace devoted solely to selling ethically sourced and eco-friendly products, including items from food and tabletop artisans around the world. One of the things I was excited to see was Divine Chocolate, a line of fair-trade-certified chocolate bars that are exceptionally good (I especially like their surprisingly creamy 70% Dark Chocolate), and which have an amazing back story. The company is co-owned by more than 52,000 cacao farmers who make up the Kuapa Kokoo co-operative in Ghana. At the event, one of the members, Cecilia Appianim, told me how drastically her life has changed since becoming a member of the co-op. I also discovered boldly colored, hand-painted ceramic platters, bowls and plates inspired by Mexico's traditional Talavera pottery and supercute animal-shaped napkin rings made with banana fiber by a group of craftswomen in Kenya.

Boston’s South End keeps getting hipper. Every time I return to the charming neighborhood in my college town, I discover new chocolate shops, design stores and restaurants.

Last weekend I was in the city for the Red Sox game (and Celtics celebration), and even though I was craving a Fenway frank, I made time to swing by the much-buzzed-about South End restaurant the Beehive. The space and concept were inspired by and named for a 1920s artists’ residence in the Montparnasse district of Paris, and the downstairs truly feels like an artist’s studio, with live music performances and local art hanging on the walls. Despite the fabulously designed interiors, my friends and I were lured outdoors to a patio table because we wanted to try the new “urban picnic” menu.

My friends and I were handed a list of about a dozen simple yet delicious-sounding items, and after much back and forth, we checked off the Sicilian tuna with artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes, Manchego cheese with honey, tuna tartare and seasonal red cherries. Within minutes, our server dropped an oversize picnic basket on our table. Tucked inside were adorable glass jars containing each of our dishes, along with two butcher-paper-wrapped French baguettes. After a round of Beehive juleps (made with two rums and a drop of honey) arrived, we passed around jars, taking forkfuls from each and battling for the last scoops of our favorites (there aren’t plates, so things got a little messy, which was part of the fun). It was the perfect prelude to a game—satisfying, yet not so overwhelming that I couldn't make room for my ballpark dog by the sixth inning.

When I arrived in the Twin Cities last week, the first place I headed was Nick and Eddie, a new restaurant on Minneapolis’s famed Loring Park. It was 9 p.m. and, this being a city that still largely operates on the farmer’s schedule, the bar and dining room were nearly empty. In other cities we would have been turned away or stuffed into a corner so the waitresses could start flipping chairs, but, this being a city that still largely operates on a code of courtesy dubbed “Minnesota Nice,” we were offered the best seat in the house and told to take our time.

While we fought over chef Steve Vranian’s airy baked gnocchi (you should really make them sometime), I noticed a familiar figure strolling around the dining room: Greg Norton, the magnificently mustachioed bass player of the legendary Minnesota band Hüsker Dü. After his career in rock-and-roll, Norton became a formidable chef, cooking at the gone-but-not-forgotten boîte Loring Café (once located in the space next door), and later opening his own restaurant across the river from my hometown.

Norton and Nick and Eddie’s “head waiter” Doug Anderson (his wife, Jessica, is the owner) spent most of our meal marveling at the restaurant’s insane audio system, which includes more than 250 speakers strategically placed around the dining room. Built by a company called High Emotion Audio, these stacks of woofers and strips of tweeters dominating the space are supposed to deliver a rich spectrum of sound that won’t interfere with dinner conversation. “The sound’s supposed to come from everywhere at once,” Norton said, stopping by our table. (I’m no audiophile, but it does. And I can’t remember a restaurant more geeked-out about its stereo.) “Exactly,” Anderson added. “And it looks like the back of someone’s hoopty."

It seems like every other New York restaurant I pop into has plates adorning its walls. Some of my favorites:

Most Glam Reuse Lining the walls of Mia Dona—the newest Upper East Side spot by seemingly ubiquitous restaurateur Donatella Arpaia—are the haunting black-and-white female faces of the "Julia" line of plates by Fornasetti. Where the plates were last spotted: on the tables at Arpaia's now-shuttered restaurant, Dona.

Most Oddly Situated Ornate vintage plates hang on the bathroom walls of Dell'Anima, my favorite new West Village spot (can't get enough of the Chicken Diavolo). The thinking: Designer Brooke Maples wanted a touch of classic Italian country to contrast with the rest of her modern space.  

Most Ingenious New Use (Beyond Wall Decoration) Chef Jody Williams now has her private collection of Ginori white-on-white dishes and platters up along the brick-lined walls of her new West Village "gastroteca" Gottino. Soon, they'll be stenciled with the names of changing menu items. "The traditional way is to list your menu on the wall," says Williams. She'll technically still be doing that.

Just launched hours ago: Teroforma, an intriguing tableware website by husband-and-wife team Andrew and Anna Hellman that lets you set a virtual table as you shop for artisanal plates, linens and glassware. For example, if you pick a white dinner plate with a green blade pattern by Brit designer Maria Lintott, you can watch it drop onto the green linen placemat you've chosen (Anna designed all the linens). Unfortunately, launch-day glitches (I hope) mean that tablecloths and runners don't actually fold out. The smart "Explore" button links to images of the artisans at work as well as more information about them.

Leslie Hoffman, the executive director of the nonprofit group Earth Pledge, thinks fashion is about ten to 20 years behind the food industry when it comes to sustainability. But after making the rounds at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week shows, I noticed that fashion is quickly following the food world’s obsession with all things organic, sustainable and local.

Soybeans, banana leaves and piña, a fabric derived from pineapples, were key “ingredients” at FutureFashion, the green runway event hosted by Earth Pledge.

This year’s event was embraced by 28 top designers, including Behnaz Sarafpour, Yves Saint Laurent and Narcisco Rodriguez — all following the lead of eco fashion pioneers like Edun and Stewart + Brown. (Check out highlights from the runway here.) After spending months researching and drinking tea for our March tea feature I found Donna Karan’s tea-dyed evening gown genius.

In Milan, brilliant fashion designer Kean Etro took things a step further, transforming the runway into a garden complete with soil and herbs. The models showing off his Fall/Winter Collection, aptly named Harvest Style, carried produce down the catwalk to the anthem “Let the Sun Shine In.” There wasn’t a hint of hippy-style in his designs. Instead, the clothes were plush (lots of velvet) and edgy, with vegetable and legume themes tastefully integrated into herringbone fabrics and checks. He even worked coffee-bean prints into a trench.

At the end of the show, “cookbooks” were distributed to the audience with “recipes” for Etro’s newest innovation: a line of “edible” shirts  which he’s playfully titled “Cooked.” The idea behind the collection is to enhance stained clothes in the kitchen rather than throwing them out. I love the recipe for baking a white Etro shirt like a blueberry pie at 330 degrees for 40 minutes: the result, an eco-chic tie-dye look. The Cooked line will hit stores next month.

The cover article of a recent House & Home section of the New York Times declared that the Slow Food movement—which aims to preserve traditional regional foods—is spreading over to the rest of the home. The once-old-but-new-again approach is known as Slow Design, and one of its more vocal proponents is Natalie Chanin of the housewares and clothing company Alabama Chanin, whose Alabama Stitch Book: Projects and Stories Celebrating Hand-Sewing, Quilting, and Embroidery for Contemporary Sustainable Design is being published in March by Stewart, Tabori & Chang.

But as Natalie and her friend Angie Mosier, known for her decadent Southern cakes, have shown in our pages, Slow Design and Slow Food intermingle nicely. In March, the duo will be joining their talents again in two weekend workshops together at the GAS Studio in Tuscumbia, Alabama—one will center on stitching corsets and creating fabric flowers, the other, on demystifying some of the most iconic Southern dishes, like deviled eggs, pan-fried chicken, skillet cornbread and fried pies. And of course, they'll be showcasing their Southern hospitality: The weekend will include a brunch, lunch, two cocktail sessions, and a dinner with, yes, a number of Southern cakes. Space is limited, and four scholarships are available.

Last week, DailyCandy had a posting about Live Wire Farm's gorgeous hand-carved kitchen and tabletop items, from cooking spoons to napkin rings, crafted by John Robohm from trees on his 100-acre property in Jackonsville, Vermont. (The eco-conscious Robohm recently installed solar panels and wind turbines on his property, and carves the small branches from logs that end up in his wood-burning stove.) What DailyCandy didn't mention: he's planning to expand his line to super-dainty saltcellar spoons, smooth spreading knives, butter dishes and cutting boards. Plus, Robohm has an apiary on his property and makes a superb raw honey. His bees work off wildflowers and nearby apple trees, producing honey with a buttery, rounded flavor, and a distinct, almost apple-y taste—perfect for drizzling over waffles and pancakes.

Our December issue is overflowing with incredible gift ideas for the wine lovers, food snobs, and style mavens on your holiday shopping list. We found so much great stuff that we added some extra web-exclusive bargains online.

Two years ago my friends and I started holding our gift exchange the second week of December with the idea that we’d all give something useful for holiday entertaining. A sneak peek at what I’m giving this year:

L.A.-based furniture designer Charles Fradin’s new letterpress invitations and note cards he designed for Williams-Sonoma have whimsical drawings of cupcakes and dinner plates.

Alessi's adorable Lilliput salt and pepper shakers are a definite conversation starter for the table.

Modern Twists’s new placemats are made from hand-silkscreened, non-toxic silicone so they are super-easy to clean. They come in fun floral and nature-inspired designs.

Lupicia’s seasonal tea blends like White Christmas (flavored with white chocolate and apricot) and Christmas Wreath (blended with apple, cranberry and spices) for serving after dinner.  

Bottlerocket’s Find the Love gift pack is like a wine party in a box. One box serves up to 12 people and includes basic information on how to taste wines as well as tasting sheets and six bottles of wine. You can pick your box of wine based on themes like Explore Spain and Bubbly.

Playful inside-out Champagne glasses from Alissia Melka Teichroew look like tumblers on the outside but have the iconic Champagne glass silhouette on the inside.

For a few months, I talked regularly with meat master and cookbook author Bruce Aidells for the November story about his incredible Sonoma kitchen. Because Bruce likes to chat, I set aside an extra half hour each time I called with a question. I never minded though, because we always talked about my favorite thing: Cooking huge meals in a seriously dreamy kitchen. Here are a few extra tidbits I learned about Bruce and his house that didn’t make it into the story:

• He took the dimensions of his custom-built hearth in his kitchen from Chez Panisse.
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• Hunters bring game meat, like wild boar, venison and quail, to Bruce to cook, and someday soon, he hopes to start a sort of unofficial chefs’ camp to teach them how to cure meat. He has a crumbling building on his property with a perfectly intact cellar where he plans to store the meat. When I asked Bruce if he planned to take up hunting, he said, "No, I’m more of a dead animal guy.”
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• Bruce is working on a consulting job with a bison producer, learning to cook the underutilized cuts that so often end up getting ground. If bison tails become the next hot cut, it might be thanks to Bruce. 
  
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• He has a collection of gorgeous copper pots, but when I asked him about the best kind of roasting pan, he admitted using old cheap aluminum ones that someone might use for a sheet cake.
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• He is a real geek about Arts & Crafts design and architecture—the style of his grand house. His obsession started innocently by buying a few pieces of British Arts & Crafts furniture at an antique shop. Soon he was delving into books, visiting historic houses and collecting furniture relentlessly until he could afford to build his own dream house.