Here in the United States, the Chinese New Year, Cinco de Mayo, Oktoberfest and St. Patrick’s Day have taken on a significance beyond their countries of origin. Americans love to celebrate the culture and experiences of ancestry, whether it’s their own or not.

Pull up a search on the Internet for vegetarian restaurants in the Milwaukee area and you’ll find a growing list of places that offer vegetarian food—not just bread and french fries, but nutritionally balanced vegetarian meals. However, few of them commit to a 100% meatfree menu.

Snacking is an American pastime, a well-loved tradition that we manage to associate with whatever activity we can. There are those of us who can’t imagine a movie without popcorn, a baseball game without peanuts or a road trip without sweets. Finally, there are some nutritionists on our side!

Some people have it, some people don’t—the magic touch that marks a business with undeniable success. When Bruno Johnson and his wife, Adrienne Pierluissi, opened the Palm Tavern in 2003, the Bay View bar became nothing short of a mecca for beer aficionados and scotch connoisseurs alike.

Pulling off the perfect party is truly a form of art. It requires foresight, organization, diplomacy, creativity, style and stamina. There are those of us who can lay claim to three or four of these traits—enough to critique the host’s choice of centerpiece or color palette—but to be able to unfurl each one of these skills in the execution of an absolutely seamless event, you have to be kissed by Bacchus, the Prince of Parties, himself.

A chef without tools is no chef at all, but merely a cave man who discovered the advantage of cooking with fire. Yes, some chefs will tout their self-sufficiency and creativity and their utter lack of dependence on kitchen utensils, but throw a furry carcass at their feet and observe what mere hands can do.

Airline food has been a long-standing topic for stand-up comedians everywhere. But now that financial pressure within the industry has led airlines to abandon inflight dining for coach passengers in lieu of a miniature serving of snack mix, a meal— no matter how tepid and bland—is missed.

Every culture has delicacies—dishes so rare, distinct or costly that they tend to be enjoyed on the most momentous occasions. Some, like Japan’s revered Kobe beef, will appeal to a broader constituency than others. The legacy of Kobe beef reads like tales of medieval royalty, in which the purity of bloodlines, pampered...

Convenience is more synonymous with the drive-thru than it is with eating well. The time between rolling down the window to order and busting into that bag full of fast food is all of five minutes.

After visitors pass through a pair of refurbished silos to enter The Elegant Farmer, they are greeted by a wooden sign that reads, “Enter as Strangers. Leave as Friends.” The market’s physical layout is designed in such a way that customers must walk through The Elegant Farmer’s voluminous selection of...