Table Settings Trends Equipment

top10 list

Wondering how well the pilgrims ate before landing at Plymouth? According to The Food Chronology (Owl Books), here's what was served aboard the Mayflower:

1. Preserved beef
2. Dried fish
3. Hardtack
4. Biscuits
5. Moldy cheese
6. Root vegetables
7. Grains
8. Dried peas
9. Smoked bacon
10. Beer

buzz

In bistros and (cook) books, Belgian is big. While two hot eateries on either coast--Waterloo Brasserie in Manhattan and Plouf in San Francisco--feature pommes frites and bowls brimming with steamed mussels, hardcover sales of the Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook (Workman) have soared by 30 percent, and the British Belgo Cookbook (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) is easily the year's quirkiest.

Caviar Chic

Some of the country's best chefs choose Paramount Caviar. Happily, so can the rest of us (800-99-CAVIAR).

• By Lettie Teague
• By Monica F. Forrestall