Cafe G (photo: Jesse Costa, WBUR)

LOCAL BITES

But What Did You Eat??
The new wing of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum opens today to much acclaim and great anticipation. The grand-scale architecture, the new galleries and intimate concert hall are nothing short of inspiring. But don’t forget the food! Cafe G has a wholly new profile due to its larger digs, and chef Peter Crowley is excited. Read more about his offerings, and tell us what you ate if you go this weekend…

Engaging Your Palate
Reminder: the Boston Wine Expo is ongoing this weekend, through January 22. Tickets are still available, and there truly is something for every palate, every mood. Seminars, Vintner dinners, chef demos and, of course, a host of wineries offering tastings. The comprehensive website gives you full details.

Food Ed, Food Policy 101
Save the date. On Sunday afternoon, Jan. 29th, the MOS is hosting a Farm Bill Teach-In, with keynote speakers Marion Nestle and Maine Rep. Chellie Pingree. Learn what you need to know about this mammoth, critical and pending legislation — the 2012 Farm Bill. Organized by Let’s Talk About Food, the cities of Boston and Cambridge, MIT, and Food law Society at HLS. Registration required, wait-list only at this point. But put your name in anyway; they’re trying for a larger space!

Dine Out to Conquer Diabetes
CityFeast, in its 7th year, is being organized on Sunday, January 29, to benefit the Joslin Diabetes Center. Five North End restaurants — Antico Forno, Terramia, Lucca, Taranta and Tresca — will participate in this annual fundraiser which features a five-course diner with wine pairings. They’re also auctioning off a Vespa! Details and tickets here.

What Did They Eat Back Then?
A professor of History and some ambitious (hungry!) students at MIT spent their break between semesters researching and cooking a meal that noble folk from the 14th century might have had. Not surprisingly, the fare is healthy and mostly plant-based. But the flavors!

Hot Spots
All you hot chocolate aficionados, all you chilled urban dwellers looking for somewhere to de-numb: have a look at this list of hot chocolate hot spots around town from Boston.com. You can now head out, fearless and hopeful, in Saturday’s snow.

NATIONAL TREATS

Deen, Diabetes and Debate
The word is out, and quite publicly. Paula Deen has Type II diabetes, and she is changing her ways and her website, with the help of drugs and her new role as a paid spokesperson for Novo Nordisk. Here are but two reports from earlier in the week (NY Times and an essay from The Atlantic). This is surely the beginning of an ongoing debate over honesty, good health and the responsibilities of celebrity chefs.

Keep Your Recipe Cards
Here’s how you can have your cake and eat it, too, if you have undying loyalty to your recipe card collection (I do); Use this template, posted by The Kitchn, to cut and paste online recipes onto recipe cards, then print them!

Just Label It
Genetically Engineered food is right at our doorstep, with  (GE) salmon up for approval by the FDA. In California, consumer groups are taking a strong stand and legislators are listening. Read this report from the San Francisco Chronicle, complete with a compelling video, Labels Matter, by filmmaker Robert Kenner of Food, Inc.

The Future of BBQ
From Peruvian grilling to gluten-free sauces, leading writers on America’s beloved sport of BBQ’ing offer their forecasts in this Washington Post article for the coming year on the grill. Move over, ribs.

GLOBAL TASTINGS

Eat Game
This U.K. gamer actually makes the food featured in popular video games, and posts them on her blog Gourmet Gaming. As a complete non-gamer, I was surprised to learn how often food appears in video games as more than just a detail. Kristofor Husted posted this report for NPR’s The Salt.