Speed Surf

study of 474 U.S. consumers documents the increasing popularity of sites that allow reservations at numerous restaurants—although the telephone remains by far the most common way to make a restaurant reservation. Slightly over half of the respondents to this survey had made a restaurant reservation online. About 60 percent of those who made reservations online used a multi-restaurant site to do so, and the rest used the restaurant’s own website.

This optimistic outlook is the result of heavy technology investments during the recession in an effort to protect margins and lower costs. And now, as the recovery continues to unfold, retailers are expected to utilize technology to drive sales, improve buying and allocation decisions, enhance margins, and leverage stronger top-line trends. So while retailers aren’t opening new stores, they are spending more on technology.

Every amaro is different, and there are hundreds. Many are local and artisanal, though there are large brands, like Ramazzotti and Fernet Branca. Amaro is traditionally made by infusing grape brandy with a (usually secret) mix of herbs, flowers, aromatic bark, citrus peel and spices—a blend that can include anything from cardamom to elderberry flowers. Then it's sweetened with sugar syrup and aged, sometimes for years. It's silky, like a liqueur; bitter and sweet in varying degrees; aromatically complex; and both delicious and fascinating.

Kara Nielsen is CCD Innovation's "Trendologist" and takes her job to heart. She does her best to visit the latest culinary hotspots, specialty stores, and food and beverage industry events to stay abreast of emerging trends. This is her blog.

Let’s face it, starting a business can be very easy, but staying in business can be very difficult given that your customers have too many choices on where to spend their hard-earned cash. So, how do you make your business stand out from the crowd so that people will choose to spend their dollars with you? Here are 30 of responses from businesses located all over the world.

"Daily Unadventures in Cooking" is a food blog written by a full-time computer software developer (who took a 4-month leave of absence to attend culinary school) for the home cook featuring simple recipes. Originally started as a way to document and learn to cook, it chronicles Katerina's journey as she learns a few new things, creates recipes, and survives a disaster or two. All recipes and opinions are served up with a pinch of spice and a touch of sarcasm.

Enjoy Earthly Delights' extensive collection of printer-friendly recipes drawn from their library of guest chefs and from past editions of our online newsletter. You'll find many of the featured ingredients right here at Earthy Delights. Click on any highlighted item in the recipes for easy access to ingredients.

When coming up with financial projections for an organic restaurant, assume your costs will be between 10 and 20 percent higher than a comparable restaurant, according to Sarma Melngailis, proprietor and co-founder of Pure Food & Wine, a renowned gourmet raw foods restaurant in New York City. And if you go whole hog and buy a high-quality water filtration system or compostable takeout packaging, your overhead can run even higher.

Some funds are still shining. Over the past year, for example, the managers at Wells Fargo Advantage Growth Investor fund have returned nearly 13 percent, thanks to some timely big bets on Apple and Whole Foods. Funds specializing in gold, commodities or other alternative investments also have had awfully good runs. During the past five years, in fact, dozens of funds have apparently made some rather intuitive market moves that have put their shareholders in the black. The challenge for investors, of course, is to find the managers who are most likely to do the same going forward -- a challenge that led SmartMoney to their annual best-funds list, divided into four categories.