Kate Krader (@kkrader on Twitter) is Food & Wine's restaurant editor. When she tells us where to find our culinary heart's desire, we listen up.

First Bruce Willis reappeared and flashed us back to the ’80s with the latest Die Hard installment, A Good Day to Die Hard. Then Halle Berry showed up at the Oscars in a dress that looked like she got it straight from Joan Collins in her Dynasty heyday. And now New York City’s Museum of Modern Art is debuting its new collection of arcade video games, featuring the most popular one of them all, Pac-Man.
 
So the ’80s are back. And they’re way back in the world of food and drinks. Here are more clues that show the resurgence of the decade in all its neon pink cocktails and carb-centric glory.
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Kate Krader (@kkrader on Twitter) is Food & Wine's restaurant editor. When she tells us where to find our culinary heart's desire, we listen up.

No matter whether you’re hosting or making a cameo appearance, there’s a lot to do before the Oscar night party train starts rolling. You have to secure an outfit that will get you voted best dressed, nail down the winners for the Oscar pool, brush up on your nominated films trivia. (CNN Entertainment has some helpful conversation starters, including that Argo director Ben Affleck had his six key actors and actresses live in close quarters for days, without Internet or air conditioning, to simulate hiding out in the Canadian ambassador’s house.)
 
And then of course there’s the all-important Oscar–viewing-party menu. You can honor the food in the nominated films—maybe find a recipe for Crabby Snacks or serve a big bowl of Raisin Bran in a nod to Silver Linings Playbook. Alternatively, you can go high-style Hollywood and order these fancy snacks and beverages, whether it’s for the Oscars or another fashionable party.
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Kate Krader (@kkrader on Twitter) is Food & Wine's restaurant editor. When she tells us where to find our culinary heart's desire, we listen up.

On Valentine’s Day, the question isn’t whether you’re going to eat any chocolate; the question is how much? If you need something to strive for, the record for the world’s largest chocolate heart is waiting to be broken: It was set back in 2004 in Madrid, by the seven metric ton heart from Match.com.

But there are infinite kinds of chocolate to indulge in on this great holiday; you don’t need to confine yourself to hearts. The following is a gift guide for all kinds of chocolate lovers, from the pizza fanatics to the sports junkies to the very, very rich.
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Kate Krader (@kkrader on Twitter) is Food & Wine's restaurant editor. When she tells us where to find our culinary heart's desire, we listen up.

Don’t worry if you haven’t booked your romantic Valentine’s Day dinner reservation yet. There are a gazillion restaurants doing lovely things for V-Day candlelit corner tables, red drinks galore, primal meat cuts for two, endless amounts of sexy foods.
 
If, however, you’re at the other end of spectrum, if you’re looking for a good place to say some variation of, “It’s not you, it’s me,” then the following list might come in handy. And remember, there’s always someone better out there.
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Kate Krader (@kkrader on Twitter) is Food & Wine's restaurant editor. When she tells us where to find our culinary heart's desire, we listen up.

It’s Super Bowl time, and chicken wing statistics from the The National Chicken Council are flying around fast and furious.

• America will eat 1.23 billion chicken wings on Sunday, February 3.

• If you’re determined to lay 1.23 billion chicken wings end-to-end, you’ll find that they stretch from the Niners' Candlestick Park in San Francisco to Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium 27 times.

• In a poll, more wings fans preferred ranch dressing on the side than blue cheese. Ranch gets 57 percent of the vote; blue cheese is at a shockingly low 35 percent.

But, it’s time to stop talking about chicken wings and start eating. Here are six places to find some excellent ones.
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Kate Krader (@kkrader on Twitter) is Food & Wine's restaurant editor. When she tells us where to find our culinary heart's desire, we listen up.

Finally, we’re down to two teams for Super Bowl XLVII, to be held February 3 in New Orleans. It’s the Baltimore Ravens up against the San Francisco 49ers. It’s the Harbaugh Bowl: Ravens coach John Harbaugh versus his brother, 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh.
 
Do you know what I want to know about Harbaugh v Harbaugh? Nothing. I’ve already heard enough. I also have more info than I can handle on Ravens superstar linebacker Ray Lewis playing his last NFL game.
 
I do have some questions about both Super Bowl-bound teams, though. Namely, what are they eating? Who has the most outrageous diet? I did a little research so I could pick my Super Bowl diet winner.
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Kate Krader (@kkrader on Twitter) is Food & Wine's restaurant editor. When she tells us where to find our culinary heart's desire, we listen up.

The flu is still wreaking havoc across the country. Here’s how bad things have gotten in NYC: The Manhattan Soccer Club recently asked its young players not to high-five or fist-bump one another for fear of spreading germs. Players are allowed to touch elbows to signal their team spirit.

If you’ve already high-fived the wrong person and come down with the flu, there are ways to make yourself better. One is to get out your soup spoon and dig into a bowl of supremely satisfying soup. While there’s not hard, fast scientific research that soup can fight the flu - apart from the steam from hot soup possibly helping to clear out clogged noses - no doubt it will definitely make you feel comforted. Especially if your soup comes from one of the following places.
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Kate Krader (@kkrader on Twitter) is Food & Wine's restaurant editor. When she tells us where to find our culinary heart's desire, we listen up.

You don’t need me, or any chef in the world, to tell you the best ways to keep from gaining weight. They involve breakfast, balanced meals and exercise. Instead, I’ve become fascinated with the less obvious ways that chefs and other people who are constantly around food keep from packing on pounds.
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Kate Krader (@kkrader on Twitter) is Food & Wine's restaurant editor. When she tells us where to find our culinary heart's desire, we listen up.

It’s the big question: What foods are going to top the 2013 hit list?

Earlier I had some ideas - namely rabbit, tricked-out tacos and reinvented spring break cocktails. But not everyone sees the future in Sex on the Beach shots.

I turned to my favorite superhero, chef Mario Batali, who had genius thoughts on the food and wine you should go for in 2013. Super veggies, he says! Lesser known wine varietals!

Here’s what Mario Batali says people will be eating.
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Kate Krader (@kkrader on Twitter) is Food & Wine's restaurant editor. When she tells us where to find our culinary heart's desire, we listen up.

What do you want to be eating more of in 2013? Right now, in the midst of my post-holiday food hangover, my answer is “nothing.” My follow-up answer is “anything that’s associated with the word cleanse.” But I’ll get over that.

So I looked in the crystal ball we have lying around at Food & Wine in anticipation of moments like this, and I discovered five foods and one kind of drink that will be on fire in 2013. So get out your soup spoons and Sex on the Beach glasses.

Happy New Year everyone!
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