I have plenty of experience ordering food from Hickory Farms, Omaha Steaks, and Honey Baked Ham (almost every Thanksgiving), but have you ever had seafood delivered to your door? I’ll admit, I’ve always been a little skeptical, but this past weekend definitely changed my mind a little bit.

My girlfriends parents ordered the Alaskan King crab from Alaska Harvest, and they were phenomenal. I didn’t know it at the time, but Red King Crab is supposed to be the top of the line, and after eating a few legs dipped in the golden drawn butter… mmm mm mmm … I can certainly understand where they get their reputation.

Just in case you were wondering, the meal was paired with Domaine Chatelain Chablis, which costs about $20 at your local wine store. The Chablis, which is a type of Chardonnay, was very light and crisp, which went well with the buttery crab leg goodness.

I’ve had sushi in NY, San Fran, LA, Chicago, Atlanta, and I still keep coming back to Shiki Sushi. The Shiki chefs put incredible creativity and imagination into their craft - their sushi is pure aesthetic perfection with beautiful colors and display complemented by a euphoric taste experience of flavors and textures. Along with its upbeat ambience, Shiki provides the ultimate sensual satisfaction . I love all the new hybrid restaurant lounges starting up that realize dining out is about the complete sensual experience. If ever in the Research Triangle Park, NC, Shiki is a must. Oh ya, and it’s always buy 1 get 1 free! *****, $$

I’m up in NY for a long weekend to see some friends and stopped by a buddies place in Clinton, NJ last night. He took me to this little hole in the wall pizza joint called Pizza Como and I had to write about it because it’s the best pizza I’ve ever had. I grew up in the South where you always hear that the pizza doesn’t compare to up north, and no one ever believes it until they come up here. I’ve learned replicating that perfectly crispy chewy crust and use of simple fresh ingredients is a fine art that only the pizzerias of the tri-state area have mastered. Sure there’s a lot of commercial joints that don’t do it right up north, but when you find a hole in the wall spot like Pizza Como that has family history in Sicilia, Italia, you know its good. 5 stars ($)

After a lengthy evening of sipping (and sometimes chugging) champagne, and fun filled conversation, it is now officially 2008. Someone pointed out last night that it will be extremely easy to turn the accidental 2007 into a 2008, which further brightened my excitement for the coming year and a common problem of mine.

Someone else also pointed out the chip dip was AMAZING. I took some photos during the easy 5 step process of making it to share with you, as we did a little tweaking to the recipe.

Step 1 - Get it together

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When buying a bottle of Champagne, if the label says from “Champagne, France“,“methode traditionelle”, or “Méthode Champenoise”, the wine is in fact truly a “Champagne“. All other wines are “Sparkling Wine”. While this does sound somewhat snobbish and aristocratic, it does serve a good purpose in protecting the brand of the area. Another example of this type of “rule” that you may be more familiar with is the Vidalia Onion, which you can easily cook with champagne, or sparkling wine, to create some great hors d’oeuvres for this New Year.

You have to check out these Champagne Onion recipes we found over at The Gilded Fork. I’m going to make them tomorrow, and have a good idea at the different flavors I can create by using different combinations of sparkling wine and onions.

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