When the doors of Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen opened in 2008, the owners had a good idea where they’d be in 10 years but we diners did not. What we saw was a cozy Italian restaurant run by two baby-faced kids who surprised us by actually knowing what they were doing.

Nabbing a $10 deal at a Mexican restaurant for lunch doesn’t take much effort – go to just about any place in town. But Steak Monterrey at Las Margaritas in Cordova is heads above your typical tacos and tamales with rice and beans.

Nothing gets old at Hog & Hominy, where the cocktail menu changes at least seasonally and sometimes more often.

Rebecca Hartman almost threw her golden ticket away because she didn’t know what it was, then almost gave it away when she found out. But in the end, she kept it and on Thursday afternoon created a chocolate known as The Hartman at Phillip Ashley Chocolates in Cooper-Young.

I hate to push Christmas on you when Halloween isn't even here, but we all know I'm not the first to do that. And this is for a good reason.

Gary Williams can cook and Memphians know it: We’ve been eating his mashup menu of Creole, soul and vegan food for 10 years now. But there have been some ups and downs – including a complete shutdown – in that time.

Memphis Made Brewing is one of six breweries in Memphis and so happens to be the one in Cooper-Young, just across the street from where the ninth Cooper-Young Beerfest will be held Oct. 20.

Jonathan Cole is the founder of the blog placeatthetable.net and the Memphis Cooks Facebook group. The Midtown resident (and native Memphian) is a social worker by day and a home cook who likes to cook for sustenance and for fun (noodle around on his blog and check out his upscale adaptation of the bologna cake with Ranch dressing that periodically makes the Facebook rounds). We recently caught up with him to make a batch of soup.

Visitation for Jack Dyson is Friday, Oct. 12, 4-7 p.m. at Bethel AME Church, 2011 Alcy Road. The funeral will be held 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, at Brown Baptist Church, 7200 Swinnea Road in Southaven, and burial is 1:15 p.m. Monday, Oct. 15, at Forest Hill Funeral Home and Memorial Park East, 2440 Whitten Road.

Jack Dyson was an iconic figure at Memphis’ most iconic restaurant, a 48-year veteran of the Rendezvous, the waiter to big shots and celebrities who took it all in stride.

P.O. Press Public House and Provisions opened in Collierville on Monday and it’s fair to say that owners Jimmy Gentry and Chris Thorn have pulled together an excellent team and created a top-notch fine-dining restaurant with reasonable prices.

No one can complain about lack of new dining, particularly on the East side of the county. Raven and Lily opened in Collierville in August, P.O. Press Public House and Provisions opened last week, Ronnie Grisanti’s at Regalia opened a day before P.O. Press, and now David Grisanti’s is in full swing at the former Ronnie Grisanti’s spot in Sheffield Antiques Mall.

Harold Cook, the head bartender at Sweet Grass and Next Door in Cooper Young, turns to gin and muddled aromatics when asked to pair a cocktail with the oysters at Sweet Grass' oyster bar. This one holds up to the brininess of the oysters, but is light and has a bit of a kick from the chile pepper, too.

About two years ago, Sear Shack showed us how good simple can be. The restaurant opened in Collierville with three items: Burgers, fries and shakes. Sure, you could customize a little—a single or a double, add bacon, put cheese sauce on your fries—but the core menu was limited.

Neighboring restaurants McEwen’s and Curry N Jerk on Monroe are both closed after an electrical fire.

Today’s consumers have higher expectations. They not only want a great product, but they are willing to buy from or boycott companies based on corporate values.

Soon a tiny strip mall in East Memphis will offer all the basics: Garibaldi’s Pizza is opening next to Gibson’s Donuts on Mt. Moriah.

When October comes around, so do the festivals and dinners. You can stay busy from now until the end of the year with good food and drink if that’s what you like – and I’m guessing you do. Coming up soon (more later in the month):

After a couple of weeks of serving a limited menu to invited guests, Ronnie Grisanti’s Italian Restaurant opens its big mahogany doors and its full menu to the public Friday, Sept. 28.

David Parks, a popular longtime bartender, has gone to work at Restaurant Iris. He’s joined the team that includes bar manager Larin Culp and Jacob Leonard, bartender at The Second Line.

Bert Smythe likes whiskey so much that he keeps a selection of 185-plus bottles behind the bar at McEwen’s, the restaurant at 120 Monroe he owns with partner John Littlefield.

Almost everyone loves pizza, and Rock’n Dough Pizza + Brew Co. makes, hands down, one of the best in town. From the USA! USA! (always known in my family as LISA! LISA! because of a boxy font used at the closed Poplar and Highland location) to plain pepperoni to the superb and odiferous Garlic My Pie, the pizzas are solid from the crust up.

As near as anyone can tell, people have been frying food since the Middle Ages. I like to think that this unknown date, when a first fritter was dunked in boiling fat, was our true moment of civilization. Around the world, perhaps nothing fries up as nicely as a chicken. Setting aside vegetarians and the extremely health conscious, it is everyone’s favorite food. Right?

People have emailed me since we launched last week, wondering if we planned to start having Friday lunches again.

Cooper-Young is getting a new restaurant and it’s one Memphians have been waiting on so long they might’ve forgotten about it: Elwood’s Shells will open at 916 Cooper in the former Jasmine Thai & Vegetarian Restaurant by the end of the year.