Wire Food & Wine

It's getting easier to "go gluten-free" when dining out because more restaurants are offering dishes designed for customers with celiac disease or a gluten sensitivity. According to Mintel, a marketing research company, mentions of gluten-free options on restaurant menus increased by 275 percent between 2009 and 2012. Whether it's a menu listing for alternatives such as gluten-free bread and gluten-free beer, or a notation that certain dishes can be made without croutons or breadcrumbs, restaurants are helping to make it easier for these diners.

Every once in a while Mr. Tidbit discovers that a quiet little product he hasn't looked at in a while has grown an army of varieties. Such is the case with Hormel Compleats line of shelf-stable microwave meals.

Michael Pollan, who has transformed how many Americans think about food, has a new message, which he offers in his new volume, "Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation" (Penguin Press, $27.95). The professor of science journalism heads to the kitchen - and history - to make a case for cooking. At a recent talk at Beth El Synagogue in St. Louis Park, Minn., he offered these thoughts on food in an advance interview.

NEW ORLEANS - She grew up crawling around the dining room of her family's French Quarter restaurant, lost under crisp white tablecloths stamped with fleurs-de-lis and smoke drifting from gentlemen's cigars, a towheaded child nicknamed "The Wildness."

This is a stunning Arneis from Giovanni Almondo in the Roero region of Piedmont. And to think this grape was once almost extinct. It may be temperamental, but whatever pains must be taken to produce this lovely white are worth it. The 2011 wafts the scents of ripe pears, melons and flowers from the glass. It's fleshy but lithe, cool-toned and with a vivid minerality. I'd pour it with mozzarella and pea shoots, with summer soups and pastas, and grilled whole fish. It's a terrific basic that doesn't cost the Earth. And if you don't get around to drinking it any time soon, it can wait. Almondo makes a more basic Arneis too, also very good, just lighter and less expensive.

Dear SOS: On a trip up the coast of Maine, we found a wonderful bakery in Portland called Standard Baking Co. Everything was delicious, but my husband declared the oatmeal cookies the best he'd ever had, and we made a special detour on the return route to buy more cookies. I'd love it if you could obtain their recipe, so I could surprise him with a batch.

Here's a quick pizza dinner that takes less time than ordering one. Sweet onions, mozzarella cheese, bell peppers and mushrooms top a ready-made thin crust for this quick meal.

Bringing home baby is one of life's most treasured moments, but it also can mean the beginning of chaotic days and sleepless nights for a while.

At first, Tristin Beck thought it was a really bad stomach cramp.

The federal government's decision to allow the import of more Italian cured meats already has food lovers salivating. Ask for particulars, and they will reply almost in unison: "Culatello."

It's been a long winter. If you're like many cooks who use the seasons as a guide, you're longing for something fresh.

It's May and that means grilling season is officially here. So fill up the propane tank or buy a new bag of charcoal and get your flame on.

Call him the ambassador of Minnesota cooking.

In back of a plain brick building on bustling Southwest Boulevard, Pete Licata is deep in training to become the best in the world.