Esquire

By Eric Vilas-Boas

Don't get us wrong: The evidence that America as a whole is moving into some bold new direction of healthy eating is tenuous at best. The fact that Burger King and McDonald's tiffs are national news is still a sign we have a long way to go. But there is some wisdom, a few shining lights of gastronomic intelligence that our nation as a whole can't hurt to reference. Heck, we just learned that eating salt is kind-of OK, after all. You don't have to deny yourself life's purest pleasures. As nutrition consultant and author Karen Ansel puts it: "It's really what you're doing the majority of the time." So keep these notes in mind when sitting down for your next meal:

1. We want our products local, "fresh," and "healthy," according to Food Technology magazine. Eighty percent of consumers specifically look for the word "fresh" in stores and 58 percent do so in restaurants. Seventy-eight percent of people are also making a strong effort to get more vitamins out of

Find out which cupcakery is home to the number one cupcake in AmericaIt's a fact: America loves cupcakes.

These cute little confections first stole our hearts on a national level in the early 2000s thanks to a famous reference from Sex and the City. Soon, bakeries dedicated just to cupcakes - or cupcakeries, as they prefer to be called - popped up around the country, and people saw potential for greatness. Later on, when the cupcake craze exploded into a full-blown industry, there was talk of a "cupcake bubble" and everyone speculated as to when it would pop.

The Top 50 Cupcakes in America

Clearly, they were wrong. Today, cupcakes have grown into much more than bake sale fodder. From gowns literally made of cupcake tiers to $55,000 red velvet cupcakes used to pop the question, cupcakes have become a food trend that just won't die.

America's Weirdest Cupcakes

In fact, they're kind of everywhere.

To help you tell the good from the bad (and the ugly), The Daily Meal has come up with a list of the 50 best cupcake shops in America - and the must-try

Starbucks locations break from the cookie-cutter moldIt's been said that you're never farther than 170 miles from a Starbucks in America - and we can assume that will become only more true as Starbucks continues its global domination. As of July 2012, there were 17,651 Starbucks locations worldwide, with an additional 1,500 planned for 2013. In fact, the company just recently announced that it would be opening its 1,000th location in Japan this summer.

The Coolest Starbucks Stores Around the World

And while a Starbucks location has a certain aesthetic - dark wood paneling, Pantone green accents, chic and comfortable seating for a true coffeehouse vibe - we can all admit that our Starbucks locations have a big box store, cookie-cutter feel to them. So when we find uniquely designed Starbucks stores from Singapore to Amsterdam, we get excited for the unusual. With innovative design, unique architecture that fits within the city's landscape, and unusual concepts, these are the Starbucks worth visiting.

The Ultimate Guide to

By Hilary Meyer, Associate Food Editor, EatingWell Magazine

Do you love pancakes but want to make a healthy pancake recipe for breakfast? Pancakes can be part of a healthy breakfast if you use a few tricks to make them a little better for you by adding whole grains and using low-fat dairy. They'll still be delicious and will be much healthier for you than a traditional stack of white-flour cakes smothered in butter and syrup. Here are our secrets for how to make healthy pancakes.

Don't Miss: See How to Cook Pancakes Perfectly

1. Use Whole-Wheat Flour to Boost Fiber
Most traditional pancake recipes call for white flour, which has a neutral flavor but doesn't offer much in the way of nutrition. To make healthy pancakes, use whole-wheat flour instead. Whole-wheat flour has 16 grams of fiber per cup compared to 3 grams of fiber in white flour. For milder flavor, you can use white whole-wheat flour, which is most similar to white flour with a slightly nutty flavor, but

Think beyond the lunchbox -- oil-packed tuna is loaded with flavor (and protein), making it a real catch for all kinds of meals. Use this pantry staple to make five delicious and easy fish recipes.

More from Everyday Food:
15 Kitchen Shortcuts That Will Change the Way You Cook
Favorite One-Pot Meals for the Family
31 Delicious, No-Fail Cookie Recipes
Bacon, 46 Ways to Cook and Eat It

Memphis in May World Championship BBQ Contest

The Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest in Memphis, Tennessee is the largest pork barbecue competition in the world. Over 250 competitive barbecue teams come from all over the world to compete in this contest with a $110,000.00 grand prize. Teams must compete in one of three pork categories: Ribs, Shoulder, or Whole Hog. This year, the title of Grand Champion went to team Sweet Swine O' Mine from Memphis, TN for their pork shoulder. We met up with them and some of America's best pitmasters to learn their secrets for making award-winning barbecue.

Don't go above a temperature of 210 degrees Fahrenheit. Water boils at 212 degrees, so you want to keep your barbecue under that to avoid losing moisture. Most of the pit masters we spoke to cook between 200 and 210 degrees.

Practice makes perfect. No barbecue team ever came into a competition and won on their first try. Barbecue is an art form that requires a

Is it us, or has coffee become the new wine - all of a sudden, everyone's geeking out over the finest artisanal blends. Upgrade your morning Joe with these hand-selected picks from the top coffee labs from coast to coast. By Laura Li, REDBOOK.

1. Four Barrel
Four Barrel prizes human interaction with coffee above all else, which translates into lots of human hours spent sourcing, roasting and cupping to ensure quality. The San Francisco-based shop also offers subscriptions so connoisseurs can receive premium brews year-round. The store's current favorite is the Colombia Cannor, says Accounts Manager and "Coffee Helper" Matthew Hein. "Jasmine and strawberry fragrances precede a heavy cream mouthfeel, punctuated by plum and cranberry acidities with caramel and vanilla sweetness throughout."

2. Fonté Coffee

The draw of Fonté Coffee is its micro-roasting, which Master Roaster Steve Smith describes as a balance between available and commercially viable, high-quality

Yikes - UK pizzeria Paul's Pizza is really upping its spice factor, as the Daily Mail reports that the Saltdean Sizzler pizza might just be the spiciest in the world. Only nine challengers have been able to eat the entire pizza since last year, although 1,307 have been sold.

10 Spiciest Dishes in America

Accoding to creator Paul Brayshaw, the 10-inch pizza uses the ghost chili to create a chili paste, topped with chili extract to amp up the spice. Those who end up eating all six slices get a photo on the "Wall of Flame," while everyone else ends up on the "Wall of Shame."

The World's 10 Spiciest Hot Sauces

Brayshaw has sent along a pizza to Warwick University to be tested by Guinness World Records, saying that if his pizza was over 1 million Scoville units, it would be the spiciest on record. There has yet to be a Guinness World Record for spiciest pizza, but the spiciest pepper to date is the Trinidad Scorpion pepper, at 1,463,700 Scoville units.

Bring the Heat! 5 Spicy Vegan