Want to earn extra kitchen cred for saying you learned Chinese cooking in China? I recently started teaching cooking classes at The Hutong, a workshop center founded by two Aussies. They have hands-on classes each week on different Chinese regional cuisines, tea tasting, qi gong, tai chi, TCM, and just about any other topic you would want to learn in China. Feel free to drop me an e-mail to find out which classes I'll be teaching.

In other news, a couple of articles I wrote on New York (still where I call home) got published this month. In this past Sunday's Boston Globe there is an article in the Travel section on chocolate cafés in New York. As in, not only can you buy truffles and bon bons, but also eat chocolate sandwiches, sip chocolate teas, or quaff chocolate beers.

And in July's US Airways Magazine, I have a short piece called "Literary Nightlife", on bars where you can soak in literary readings and poetry slams.