Celebrate without a cake? Never.

Don’t you love those succulent shrimp with the crunchy, golden coconut coating? You know, the ones they have at all the big chain restaurants.

Polly Lappetito is as likely to talk about surfing as sweetbreads, and her entry into the culinary world came by way of a stint as a cook on a fishing boat, but the fun-loving chef has nonetheless risen to a top spot in the restaurant world.

Tucked amid the hills of Napa’s Stags Leap District, a small winery that broke ground more than a decade ago is drawing international attention — and many visitors to Carl Doumani’s Quixote winery are as interested in the place itself as in winemaker Mario Monticelli’s elegantly powerful petite syrahs and cabernets.

Paul Frank of Gemstone Vineyards has been elected to the board of directors of the Emeril Lagasse Foundation, an organization dedicated to raising funds to help children in the New Orleans area and support children’s organizations that have a culinary or educational component.

AYTHAYA, Myanmar  — The landscape could well be mistaken for the rolling, sun-drenched hills of Tuscany.