The Geek Gourmet: Food Web Guide

About Food & Drink
Covers general cooking categories (low-fat, vegetarian) as well as world and regional cuisine (Italian, Japanese). Drink topics range from roasting your own coffee beans to mixing Harvey Wallbangers.

allRecipes
Takes three clicks of the mouse (and about two seconds over a broadband Internet connection) to pull up 81 ways to barbecue pork, each with ratings and reviews by those who've been there. Comprehensive, well-organized and easy to search.

Amazon.com's Restaurants
Yup, Amazon has a restaurant guide, and it posts pages from actual menus. Check out thousands of eateries in six major cities.

Betty Crocker
Sure it's blatant brand promotion, but it's worth visiting for the practical tips on everything from baking pies to grilling meat.

Chowhound.com
If you spend every waking moment planning your next meal, then you qualify as a chowhound, according to the site. Lively message boards attract dispatches from these superfoodies in the field; "When Bad Food Happens to Good People" advises on food poisoning.

Cooking.com
This is an e-commerce site first and foremost, so the what-to-do sections go hand-in-hand with the what-to-buy — and the selection of cookware, appliances and other accoutrement can't be beat. Find cooking articles, holiday menus and more under the Recipes tab.

Cooking Light
The recipe finder lets you refine your search by specifying course, ingredients, themes and type of cuisine. Access is restricted to subscribers of the print magazine of the same name and to AOL members. (Cooking Light is owned by Time Inc., which also owns TIME and
TIME.com.)

Culinary Communion
The online home of a mom-and-pop cooking school located in Seattle. The professional look of this site should serve as a model for other small operations that want to be taken seriously.

The Daily Gullet
Food news, digests, feature articles and discussions about food and wine. Recent entry in the "Kielbasa Diary" included a digital image of an empty hog casing (ew!). Check
The Fridge for archived Q&A sessions with popular food writers.

EatChicken.com
Run by the National Chicken Council and the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association. The Ultimate Chicken Recipe Database lets you fine-tune your search according to chicken part, preparation method and cuisine style. Topical sub-categories include "Chicken Nutrition" and "Show a Little Leg."

Epicurious
A perennial favorite, this site is beautifully designed and rich with content. Boasts more than 16,000 recipes in its searchable database. Don't miss the Learn section, where you'll find, for example, crib sheets on 16 varieties of apples and the low-down on eating etiquette. A Condé Nast property, it's affiliated with
Gourmet and Bon Appetit magazines.

911 Chef Eric
An online cooking school for novices. Seven bucks a month buys access to step-by-step video instruction on everything from soup to sweets. You'll need
Quicktime to watch the movies.

FoodandWine.com
Great content from the glossy magazine of the same name, and you don't have to be a subscriber to get it. The downside: you'll see quite a few ads, but nothing too hard to ignore. This month: Thanksgiving menus to match your personality.

The Food Network
The Web companion to this popular cable channel features celebrity chefs such as Emeril, Rachel Ray and Barefoot Contessa. Currently testing a new virtual recipe-box feature.

The Food Section
Original articles and images plus links to other points of interest. The
Agenda page lists various food-related events and developments in the New York metropolitan area; Media tracks celebrity chefs;
Street Fare is an photo gallery of food culture.

Kraftfoods.com
Simple recipes featuring Kraft-brand ingredients and some presentation tips. The
Garnishes section under Cooking School/Tips & Techniques reveals the best way to fan fruit, swirl sauce and fashion flowers out of gum drops.

Martha Stewart
In
Cooking & Entertaining, listed in the Learn section, you'll find practical advice (i.e. to ensure a fluffy omelet, whisk the eggs right before pouring them into the pan) and recipe suggestions that won't take all day. The pretty photos and seasonal spin mirror the
Martha Stewart Living magazine.

Roadfood.com
The best delis, diners, steak houses, clam shacks, sandwich shops and ice cream parlors in the country. Search reviews by type of joint or by state (alas, there's not a single entry for Alaska).

RecipeSource
Organized by ethnic cuisine (Armenian, Spanish, Welsh) or type of dish (salads, stews, sherberts). What it lacks is any discussion or commentary from those who've tried the individual recipes, making it difficult to choose, say, one of the 26 listed to make white chili.

Saute Wednesday
For foodies who like to read what everybody else is writing about food. You'll find a comprehensive directory of links to every major newspaper's food section, recipe sites, chefs' sites and more. Named for the day of the week most weekly Food sections appear. "And 'saute' just rhymed," says creator Bruce Cole.

Southern Living
Has its own Food section featuring recipes and menu plans. The site is an extension of the print magazine of the same name, which is owned by Time Inc. (like
TIME.com); access is restricted to those who buy the magazine or subscribe to AOL.

What We Eat
A portal of sorts that lists other websites worth visiting, along with a brief description and rating for each. Categories include
Health & Nutrition (dieting, food safety) and Let Others Cook (restaurant guides); International cuisine is broken down by continent.

Williams-Sonoma.com
Recipe for generating sales: display products right next to the ingredients lists and step-by-step how-tos. No wonder Williams-Sonoma has been so successful online.

Wine Spectator
Search the free wine database for vintage info; pay for a premium membership and you'll multiply your search returns. The Forums attract a knowledgeable crowd.

Zagat.com
Restaurant ratings and reviews in 45 cities and regions in the U.S. and abroad. Only subscribers who pay $14.95 per year or $2.50 per month are permitted access to most of the site's content.

Time.com, October 24, 2003