“In the San Francisco Bay Area, a growing scene of local distillers and bartenders capable of wielding their elixirs to maximum effect has emerged. With wry flair, they combine technical perfection with subtle, deniable showmanship and an eagerness to experiment with Northern California’s agricultural bounty.”

“The answer, in short, to the question of why key players didn’t see the problem coming is that they didn’t want to know.”

“Over the last three weeks, Serious Eater Robyn Lee and I have subwayed up and down the boroughs, making many doughnut stops. The doughnut variation and varieties we found were endless and fascinating. From the high-end indulgences where doughnuts ran more than $4, to the low-brow 70¢ numbers, we ate them all with great gusto. We even took a dip in at Dunkin’ Donuts and Krispy Kreme for “quality checks.” We ate and we ate. And then ate some more. We analyzed, downed cups of coffee, and then continued. Below, we bring you the best of New York City doughnuts.”

“The Honest Whigs were wired before wired was fashionable. Not only were their laboratories rigged for electrical experiments, but their brains were also juiced on java, which had replaced alcohol as England’s daytime drug of choice. “Create enough caffeine abusers in your society and you’ll be statistically more likely to launch an Age of Reason,” Johnson dryly notes. “

“To truly integrate Chicago, 84 percent of the black or white population would need to change neighborhoods, the data show.”