Saturday before the Super Bowl, I had some spare time on my hands and made a decision to go to Costco. I didnt need anything or want anything, but I jokingly told my son, You never know what youll find that you never knew you needed, and they have lots of free snacks.

Nestled just off the courtyard in the back of the historic JH Adams Inn on Main Street in High Point, is an intimate 28-seat restaurant called Hampton's.

The timing was fortuitous, as the brewery plans to release a batch this month, but today there is no Sexual Chocolate at Foothills as I sit at the bar with my film writer, Mark Burger. But what they do offer today is one of the best bar menus in the Triad, as befits a brewpub of its stature.

Julie Wilson surveys the space at the Venue in downtown Greensboro. The pill bottles make a neat stack on a promo table and the T-shirts cling provocatively to nippled mannequin torsos. The cake, white, adorned with the red Hot Rawks logo, sits atop a rear table, awaiting its first slice.

"So what do you like," I asked my friend behind the well-stocked deli counter, "the Armenian or the Turk?" "I like the Turk," he said. Presumable this had nothing to do with politics or history - the Armenians were famously persecuted by the Turks during the days of the Ottoman empire in one of the modern world's first attempts at Genocide.

While everybody else is fretting about what to serve at their Super Bowl parties - Should I do chili? Nachos? Do people still eat wings? - I'm here to spit out a fundamental truth: This weekend's conference championship games are going to be way better than the Super Bowl

As I pulled up on the crisp January morning, the frost on the grass still flashed in the sunlight and my stomach growled. It wass that time of day when breakfast wasn't exactly the right choice anymore, but eating standard lunch fare appealed about as much as free-diving with deadly jellyfish.

I was encouraged to give the duck and collard green spring rolls ($12) a taste by my wife, who had enjoyed them just the other day for lunch. They were delivered to the table by Chef Kristina Fuller, who opened the place with her mother Rhonda in October 2008.

Call it Indochine penicillin. So I headed over to Binh Minh, which is, in fact, not the name of a professional poker player but a fantastic Vietnamese restaurant in a city full of them. I secured a pot of jasmine tea and place an order for a dish called mi hu tieu thap cam,.

Since 1816, the Old Salem Tavern has been a fixture in the historic village that has become nationally renowned for its gardens and museums. Entering the tavern on a cold winter's night is like stepping back in time.

Something primal kicks in when the snow is sifting down and the air has that snappy bite to it, something that harkens back to our pelt-wearing, cave-dwelling ancestors that puts every cell in our bodies on high alert: Winter is coming, and you'd best have laid on an extra layer of fat if you hope to make it through.

Yum Yum Roll; Kiha II of Japan; 3818 High Point Road, Greensboro; $10.75 I do not consider myself a sushi expert, simply a hardcore fan. The family and I usually go to various places around town to feast on a variety of rolls at least once week.

1575 New Garden Road #D Greensboro 336.632.0072 4215 W. Wendover Avenue #A Greensboro mariospizza.org Š $ Spring Garden Bar Pizzeria.

Cranberries are being touted as the newest superfruit and for good reason. The berry's popularity has been growing quickly because of the high nutrition value, beneficial antioxidant properties and ability to be used in diverse preparations.

Jonathan Cooke, an eighth grader at Hanes Middle School, compared the experience of eating one of Dewey's Bakery's signature cream horns to eating a cloud. Jonathan's younger sister Sarah, 11, kept her description of Dewey's Moravian coffee cake simple and straightforward.

The crime went down the night before Thanksgiving, a proper time, I figured, to put together a couple pumpkin pies. I generally do not bake - my wife has a much finer touch when it comes to patisserie - but my little girl asked me to make her one for Thanksgiving and it is not in me to deny such simple requests from such a sweet little kid.

AMERICAN Best Diner 336.632.4400 5339 W. Market Street Greensboro $ The Box Seat 336.297.0073 5006-E High Point Rd. Greenboro theboxseat.com Š $ The Summit Station Eatery 336.373.1123 125 Summit Avenue Greensboro thesummitstation.com Š $$

There are reasons for this, of course. For one, the scope of indigenous cuisine is fairly narrow, primarily including barbecue, all manner of agricultural products and certain blends of sausage, among other delicacies.

Winston-Salem 336.882.2653 3875 John Gorden Lane High Point 336.992.2525 960 South Main Street Kernersville 336.294.9242 4203-B West Wendover Avenue Greensboro coldstonecreamery.com $.

As you walk up on the corner of 4 th and Spruce you'll notice young professionals strolling along the streets as the trolley goes by. The trees are lit up, with the foliage glowing in shades of red, orange and yellow.