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We are utterly thrilled when readers want to hang out and talk – whether it's amongst themselves or in response to pieces we've posted. We want Eatocracy to be a cozy, spirited online home for those who find their way here.

Consider the daily Coffee Klatsch post as your VIP lounge – the primary comments thread for readers who'd like to chat about topics not related to the articles we're running. That way, everyone knows where to find each other, and each post's comments section remains on topic.

Fame Bites goes inside the belly of the entertainment beast. We're dishing out where the celebrities are eating, what they're eating and who they're eating with.

Though he lives in Colorado now, Jeff Austin will always call Chicago home, and that, perhaps, is a rather unlikely place to spawn a professional mandolin player. On the other hand, the Windy City is ripe for churning out foodies, and if you follow Jeff on Twitter, you’ll know that food is one of his favorite topics.

Most people, however, simply know him as one-fourth of the Nederland, Colorado-based Yonder Mountain String Band with which he tirelessly tours to audiences around the world.

When the progressive bluegrass band rolled through Atlanta on their current Cabin Fever Tour, CNN joined Jeff for dinner at Rathbun Steak where we managed to order probably enough food to heartily feed everyone in attendance at their sold out show at The Tabernacle. Alas, nothing was left but bones...

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Chefs with Issues is a platform for chefs and farmers we love, fired up for causes about which they're passionate. Chef John Ash serves on the Board of Advisors of Seafood Watch, an educational initiative for sustainable seafood by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. He recently hosted a panel discussion about seafood sustainability as a practice. Among the participants were Chef Bun Lai, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Sustainability Leader of the Year, and Yousef Ghalaini, executive chef of New York’s sustainable seafood restaurant Imperial No. Nine.

Recently, nearly 30 thought leaders in the seafood, restaurant and sustainability worlds came together to have a conversation about how chefs can embrace seafood sustainability in a greater, more mainstream way.

“Thought for Food: A Discussion on Sustainable Seafood” was facilitated by James Beard award-winning chef and author John Ash, widely respected as a sustainability pioneer. Participants came from a variety of backgrounds: chefs, NGO leaders, journalists and other members of the food industry vanguard.
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Sink your teeth into today's top stories from around the globe.

• Panda Express, one of the fastest-growing chains in the U.S., is moving on up and out of the food court. - NPR

• This just in: Taco Bell no longer wants you to "Think Outside the Bun." Instead, they urge you to "Live Mas." - Ad Age

• And after the party, it's the after-party drink. Pass the digestifs! - New York Times

• Bill Gates announces $200 million in grants toward agricultural productivity; urges the United Nations to help farmers in impoverished countries more. - Star Tribune

• A new study shows that if you can't pronounce the wine, you think it's worth more. Rkatsiteli must be real expensive then. - Globe and Mail

While you're frying up some eggs and bacon, we're cooking up something else: a way to celebrate today's food holiday.

Go bananas over this sweet, sweet bread because February 23 is National Banana Bread Day!

If you've got a bunch of bananas wasting away on your counter and you're thinking about giving them the heave-ho, STOP in the name of banana bread! You'll never have a better excuse to grab a fork and mash up old bananas than this moist quick bread.

When baking soda and baking powder gained popularity in the 1930s, the landscape of breads, cakes and cakey breads changed forever. Although there is evidence that housewives in the 1700s experimented with a type of banana bread using pearlash, both Pillsbury and Chiquita published recipes for banana bread in 1933 and 1950, respectively.
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Pssst! Got a sec to chat?

We are utterly thrilled when readers want to hang out and talk – whether it's amongst themselves or in response to pieces we've posted. We want Eatocracy to be a cozy, spirited online home for those who find their way here.

Consider the daily Coffee Klatsch post as your VIP lounge – the primary comments thread for readers who'd like to chat about topics not related to the articles we're running. That way, everyone knows where to find each other, and each post's comments section remains on topic.

Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack and...on second thought, I'll just have a brat and a Miller Lite.

For millions of allergy sufferers across the country, someone else's snack can mean a deadly attack. Now one more major league team has been added to the roster of baseball parks offering dedicated peanut-free seating at some games.

The Milwaukee Brewers announced in a press release that there will be a 100-seat peanut-controlled area at Miller Park for games on Monday, May 7, Thursday, July 26 and Friday, September 14, with tickets available for pre-order starting March 1 at Brewers.com/peanutcontrolled. Because the entire venue will not be peanut-free, those seated in the area will be required to sign a waiver.
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Sink your teeth into today's top stories from around the globe.

• How waiters read your table. - Wall Street Journal

• More sugar could sour your happiness project. - The Atlantic

• "It’s interesting that this is happening in Texas, the land of beef and cattle." The University of North Texas boasts the nation's first vegan college cafeteria. - The Dallas Morning News

• A survey of the nation's best chefs on the worst cooking in America. Spoiler: They kind of dig Outback Steakhouse in a bind. - Esquire

• To eat like a local or not to eat like a local - and the "it's not the same" mentality when local delicacies are consumed outside their place of origin. - Guardian

Being waited on hand and foot now comes at an affordable price in Tokyo. A new butler-themed cafe in the Japanese capital is proving a hit with young females in search for a relaxing afternoon, an English lesson and just as importantly the chance to interact with friendly foreign men.

Shibuya's "Butler Cafe" in the heart of the city has surroundings that bring to mind a Victorian grandmother’s sitting room, with classical music, ample accents of lace and more hearts and roses adorning the furniture than can possibly be counted.
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