Carnival of Dining Out II - Now With Smell-O-Vision!

Welcome to the Carnival of Dining Out II. I mentioned last month that I wanted to increase participation, and we have about 50% more submissions than last month. I am glad to see more and more people participate - even if I have to weed out a few submissions that are completely irrelevant. Last month, I organized things geographically - but, this month, since I am such a rebel, I am going to shake things up and organize things by type of food.

Fine Dining Experiences

Anne-Marie presents On becoming a gourmet nation...in Vegas posted at Anne-Marie. She shares her experiences with the seven course tasting menu at Charlie Palmer's Aureole - complete with a picture log. I do love other bloggers who photograph their meals - my friends think I am a freak!

I thought that I might get a few submissions from some romantic Valentine's Day dinners this month. Well, if you take the plural out of the last sentence, then I was right on track. Brute Force reports on V-Day 2007: Plouf. The lesson that we should take away here is that people who photograph their food get prime real estate at the Carnival of Dining Out (photo credit to the left)! Check out the rest of Brute's blog at Adventures of BruteForce.

Steve Madsen checks in with Sip Restaurant Review posted at South Bank Projects. Usually, when I am out in the Seattle area, I stay downtown, but Steve makes a good case for making a trip out to the suburbs of Issaquah.

For the Sushi Fans

Jennifer Miner makes her case for The Best Sushi in the Country. If I were the kind of guy who liked eating sushi, I suppose that southern California would be one place I would start if I were looking for the best. But....

...our mileage award (distance from home base here in Hooterville) goes to Jul, an ex-pat living in Zurich who wants us all to know that Seefeld doesn't suck. She writes This non-American Life.

"Man Food" - Pizza, Wings and BBQ

Toby Boyce presents Delaware Ohio's Best: Wing Store posted at Sadie's Take, saying, "Every college town has to have its share of wing establishments and Delaware is no exception. So which is the best? Well..."

My own late entry to the dance is from a trip that I took this month to go eat BBQ in Texas. The Lowdown on H-Town is part one of a multi-part series on my trek through the barbecue heartland. Check back and see the posts that follow, too.

Since I don't know of a Carnival of Dining *IN*, I am going to let KevinL slide on in with Ordering Pizza For Delivery - A How To Guide posted at Pizza Delivery Stories. Fortunately, pizza makes a good addition to a section that includes BBQ and chicken wings! Whenever I get store-bought pizza, I usually pick-up, because I like the pick-up place better than the delivery places, but if I am ever going to phone ahead for delivery, I will make sure I follow Kevin's tips.

Snackie-poos

One of the places on my summer vacation radar is the DC area - one more major league baseball stadium where I have never seen a game, so I am glad that Elizabeth stoppped by to talk about Snickers Non-Fat Frozen Yogurt Blend In at Thomas Sweet (Georgetown, DC), which she has posted at A Daily Scoop: Ice Cream Reviews. While this blog is not quite updated daily - someone call Lionel Hutz - this is the most blatant case of false advertising since 'The Neverending Story!' - there is new content added frequently.

Now, one of my favorite sections - Food in the News!

My buddy Lazy Man always has good takes on finances. This month, he talks about the The $25,000 Meal over at Lazy Man and Money. I don't see the big deal. Come on, Lazy, if I get the plane tickets to Taiwan, you buy dinner? :-)

Matthew Paulson presents Getting Green: Information for Those Who Want to Be Millionaires. posted at Getting Green. I suspect that he would be appalled at a dinner check of $25k for one! But, if Lazy Man is buying, I say the more, the merrier.

Arun tackles the seemingly endless problem of The Assumed Tip at Arun is bringing you...Your Daily Remedy. Having participated in a few food discussion boards over the years, this topic always seems to bring out the best in people. To those who choose to leave comments, please play nice.

savingadvice would never stiff anyone on a tip - and doesn't think that you should, either. As a matter of fact, he wants you to know 5 Great Ways To Leave A Tip. Personal Finance Advice, is loaded with other wonderful tidbits to mind your money, but I don't think anyone can put a price on cool money folding tricks.

This post isn't really about dining out, but it is, at least, about food - well, Food TV personalities, but, it made me laugh - and you really can score extra points with that. While the Travelin' Man does not condone anyone referring to themselves in the third person, no one talks about Rickey better than Rickey. In this case, pour yourself a cup of joe and sit down and read Rickey Henderson's take Rickey Examines The Food Network posted at Riding with Rickey. Thank goodness Rickey can find time to post a blog about Rickey while coaching my beloved Mets at spring training.

The last article warrants it's own section. If I had the time, I would immediately start the Carnival of Bad Carnival Submissions. I would probably have more articles than I could ever manage if all the other carnival hosts sent in submissions. Instead of starting a new carnival, I present to you, my faithful readers, a single-post sub-carnival. Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, the first (and I assure you, ONLY) edition of....

The Carnival of Bad Carnival Submissions

Katie presents IMPACT Defense Against Multiple Assailants class posted at KitKat's Critique. What earns Katie a link here is her sales pitch to me. She wrote "Please post this in an upcoming carnival so everyone who's wondered what a good self-defense course against street muggers (which, if you dine out at interesting places, you might be more likely to run into than the average person!) is like can read a detailed description from a student's point of view." Katie, this post clearly is important, but has a place elsewhere....but, you got stones, kid.

Well, that about wraps things up for this month. I hope that you enjoyed what we had to munch on this month. Last month we had 10 posts and this month brought 15. Hopefully, we can continute the upward trend next month with a very, very, very special April Fool's Day Edition of the Carnival of Dining Out, starring Marlee Matlin, Rick Schroeder, and that chick from 'Blossom'. Submit your articles to the next edition of the Carnival of Dining Out using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.